Jayne Castle - Midnight Crystal

For many earthly centuries, a legendary curse has plagued the Winters family, stemming from the tumultuous founding of the Arcane Society. But now, on the futuristic world of Harmony, the curse's final mystery will be unraveled... Head of the ghost hunters guild Adam Winters and dreamlight reader extraordinaire Marlowe Jones must break the curse, save Harmony's entire underworld-and fight a passion that could destroy them both.

Comment: This is the 7th installment in the Ghost Hunters series by Jayne Castle. It can be confusing to place the installments, actually, because the author does plenty of crossovers with other series she has under other names and pseudonyms and this title is also listed as part of two others. 
Still, I have only been interested in this specific Ghost Hunters one.

Marlowe and Adam come from families which have historically been adversaries. Now that their descendants live in Harmony, they are the ones who need to deal with sort of curse, which can only be fixed by finding the midnight crystal, a device of a kind that has special powers. If the wrong people find it, they might cause harm to many people, but the problem first is to find it. Marlowe and Adam join forces after a clue about is location is shared but will they get to it on time before someone else does it? And will they be able to separate the task at hand from the personal feelings they suddenly start having for one another?

I'm certain I have said this before, but the books in this series are both comforting and predictable if one has read more than one, but also full of great ideas and descriptions if it's a new discovery. This said, for me it is already like a comfort read although I should say that it also means some things are just too repetitive and don't really seem very stimulating anymore.

The plot is quite simple, the main characters are seeking a special artifact, created a long time ago by members of their families, and because they were enemies back then, they have always been in opposed sides of what it meant to find it. Now, with a way of life that is so different from anything their ancestors knew, Adam and Marlowe, the youngest of both their families, are finally putting an end to the "curse". In fact, there is no curse, only some forces at hand, derivative of alchemy.

I liked this story enough but to be honest, it wasn't as incredible as others in the sere have been. The setting and everything related to it, yes, and the dust bunnies remain as wonderful as ever, no doubt about it, but the plot is quite repetitive. As I've said, this doesn't have to be an issue, if one starts reading already expecting this, but there were still some transitions here and there that felt a little dull. I also think the two or three scenes we got from the POV of secondary characters were avoidable, and having them just made those sections feel jarring.

Perhaps, an element the author could improve on - but I can already guess this won't happen, since it is her trademark, in all of her pseudonyms (I have tried three) - is the romance development. These stories all revolve around the same pattern/formula, whether the protagonist just met each other or not, which is like this: they talk because of business, they immediately have the "magical" vibes letting them know the other person is their intended soulmate, they face some tasks and problems, they help each other, they have sex and they just accept they are it for one another.

There's nothing wrong with a formula if it works, and it certainly does work for the types of plots the author envisioned for these series, but even allowing for this, there is a lot an author can still do in terms of romance. In my opinion, the author relies too much on the formula and her characters simply seem cardboard of one another, everyone is pretty much the same, apart from names, physical descriptions and one or two other minor details. I just wish the romance part would be more exciting and the characters would have more personality and depth. Even interactions with others would improve the story but every character is a little stereotypical.

This aside, reading this book was entertaining enough and it does fit a purpose, in the sense that I knew what I would get and I knew this would be a quick read. However, it wasn't the most interesting installment for me.

Grade: 6/10

Jayne Castle - Obsidian Prey

The world of Harmony has its own special glow, thanks to the aliens who left behind powerful amber and twisting underground catacombs. Sparks fly, senses are rezzed, and passion can take you by surprise...
Three months ago, amber tuner and independent prospector Lyra Dore made the find of the decade in an underground rain forest: amethyst ruins. But the very man she was dating stole her claim -- and her heart. At least she has her artistically talented dust bunny, Vincent, to comfort her...
Amber Inc. CEO Cruz Sweetwater never meant to hurt Lyra. His affinity for obsidian amber gives him the ability to sense that she is his true love. But the ruins have mysterious powers, putting everyone involved with the project in danger. Only by trusting their psychic instincts will Cruz and Lyra survive -- and surrender to the desire that binds them.

Comment: Almost one year later, and I've read one more installment in the Ghost Hunters series by Jayne Castle.

In this installment Lyra Dore is still resentful that Cruz Sweetwater, the CEO of the powerful Amber Inc. company, stole her rights to a relic discovery when it seemed he liked her for herself. Months later, he's back and wants her help because some people got trapped and only her specific connection with amber can open up the trap. Lyra isn't the type to turn her back on helping innocent people but she won't let Cruz sweet talk her again...

Cruz didn't think Lyra would be as annoyed with how things went and he assume she would understand why his company«s tactic was for the best. This didn't happen, of course, and to make it worse she is personally angry at him, which means their personal relationship isn't good. This is quite the problem since he knows Lyra is the woman for him.

As the two of them reconnect, it seems something went wrong with the relic extractions but who is behind the whole plan to cause problems to Amber Inc. and to Lyra?

I might have said it before but the books in this series are quite self sufficient and can be read in any order. Perhaps it's not as fan in the big picture, but it's totally doable. I didn't remember anything from the plots of the past books - mostly just names and a few general details - but going into this one was as if I had never left the world. I think this series is one of those that reading one book now, another sometime later is quite enough, nothing major is really lost.

With this I don't mean that the stories are pointless, they certainly fulfill their role well, and I like reading the books even if they aren't as addictive as other things. It's only that I feel the idea here is not to have something mind boggling, but something comforting and steady and always the reassurance things follow a certain pattern in which one knows exactly what to expect. Nothing wrong with this, but it's enough to go at the series n«in well paced quietness.

The two main elements here are, as always, the plot and the romance. I liked Lyra and Cruz enough and we do get to know them through their actions and by how they respond to certain situations and/or declarations. I liked it that the author doesn't need to tell us everything all the time, but sometimes this might come across as sudden, in the sense that they go from one feeling to another without proper conflict on the page or, to my personal preference, enough sexual tension.

As for the plot, it was as balanced as the author traditionally aims for. Lyra and Cruz need to join forces to investigate what happened to the trapped people, who might be behind it and why and, while all this is ongoing, we get several references which, later on, end up being related to something else. Personally, I don't mind this technique and even find it fun at times, because it only shows to prove that stories like this one, seemingly unassuming, can prove readers are, indeed, easily distracted.

In fact, I was easily distracted but I say this in a positive sense: the story is comforting like I said and there's something to be said for a working formula. It's true the plot isn't amazingly complex but I feel this is way better than, for instance, plots that don't make sense or that have a poor resolution. I wouldn't have minded a bit more content to the characters' actions and I would have loved the main couple to be more demonstrative of their feelings in a way that would not come across as being "funny". I did like the hints to Cruz' family and how Lyra might suit him as someone who would fit in with those he cares about too.

All in all, a good enough adventure in the series. I'll read the next one in line some day.

Grade: 7/10

Jayne Castle - Dark Light

Reporter Sierra McIntyre's stories on Crystal City's ghost hunters—and their mysterious guild—have earned her tabloid a bit of respect. It helps that she has her incredible intuition to fall back on. Especially when she interviews Ghost Hunter Guild Boss John Fontana about the disappearances of retired, homeless hunters.
Sierra doesn't want to trust the physically and psychically powerful man, but her senses—and her pet dust bunny, Elvis—give her the green light. To uncover the conspiracy within his own organisation, Fontana proposes . . . marriage. And though it's purely a business arrangement, there is nothing pure about the attraction that sizzles between them.

Comment: This is the fifth installment in the Harmony series by author Jayne Castle. I've read the first book in the series back in 2012, so it's been slow going, but this is, to me, one of those series that I know I can count on to be readable, entertaining and I don't feel pressure to gobble it up too quickly.

In this fifth story, the focus is now on Crystal City and how reporter Sierra McIntyre is determined to write exposes on subjects the readers of the tabloid she works for aren't used to. Still, some people take her work seriously, in particular Guild Boss Joe Fontana, and he decides to make her an offer which is going to be useful for them to unite efforts and discover what has been happening to some previous ghost hunters who were homeless and now disappeared. At first Sierra doesn't see the interest in this partnership, but she has Intuition, a skill to help her distinguish well intended people from those who might not be as good, and her Intuition does give her her some warnings about Joe, but surprisingly she only feels good vibrations from him...

As I've said before in other comments, reading a story in this series feels like returning to a familiar place and checking up on friends and see how things are going. I will be honest and say I barely remember the exact plots in each book, I can remember some recurrent issues,such as the ghost hunting thing and the world's "rules", but the rest is all mixed up now in my head. Still, as I kept reading and familiar elements were again mentioned, I've recognized them and that made things easier and familiar again.

The plot is quite simple and the author doesn't complicate things with too many elements. Basically Joe and Sierra are interested in discovering what is happening to the missing people and perhaps that can have a connection to the shady business Joe is suspicious of, within the Guild. The Guild is like an association which takes care of the ghost hunting and everything associated with it, and Joe is the most recent appointed Boss in Crystal, after the previous one was proven corrupted. Sierra also wants to investigate the Guild further, thus why they join efforts.

I should say that the Guild isn't seen as such a great thing by many characters, but it's something that also helps with many important situations, mostly related to issues that are pertinent to this world. This means Sierra doesn't have a positive bias about Joe's role as the boss, but since she has an Intuition that seems sharper than most people would consider, she can pretty much feel he is a good person and that he will be an adequate partner in this investigation. As for the need to have a marriage of convenience, I can understand why if I bear in mind the rules of this world, but it was still a "forced" tactic by the author to make these two be close together.

The romance isn't anything special, to be fair. It does follow the usual patterns in these stories, a lot of the characters' feelings are more inferred or shared as if fulfilled, and the reader doesn't see every single scene that leads them to admit or accept them as everlasting. I would not say this bad as it is, because a lot can be gained from simply follow their path and their reaction to even secondary things. But for a new reader who might want something more solid, I suppose the romance does feel weak.

The obvious fascinating element here, besides the world building of this futurist/alternative world in which humans traveled through some kind of dimensional curtain into a new planet, is how the characters are portrayed and if they are likable. I did like Sierra and Joe as a couple, but the scenes between them, romantically speaking, weren't many and the author certainly has the skill to do better. Individually, it felt as if we saw more of Joe or his personality and past. I think I finished the story with a good idea about who he is and his moral value.

As for Sierra, she is a "do-gooder" as Joe believes and she was disillusioned by a past relationship in which the man wanted her for her Intuition and not as much for herself. Since she and Joe also come from slightly different backgrounds, I hoped we see more interactions between them and their respective families. Well, due to plot reasons, more hers, and that didn't happen. I wonder if future books might include characters related to her, but if not this was definitely an element the author could have done better.

All this said, I liked the idea of the story and I'm used to it so many things just feel recognizable enough for me to enjoy the story without focusing too much on details. Still, I'd have liked more effort and more focus on personal details instead of only plot related stuff.

Grade: 6/10

Jayne Castle - Silver Master

Fleeing a lurid scandal, matchmaker Celinda Ingram arrived in Cadence City desperate for a new start. Known for her strong para-resonator abilities, she is able to match up clients by reading their psi waves. It's this talent that sets her body tingling when security specialist Davis Oakes shows up at her office.
A formidable psychic himself, Davis is trying to track down a powerful relic that Celinda supposedly bought as a toy for her pet dust bunny. Trying to wrest the ruby red object from the suspicious duo nearly drains Davis of the energy he'll need to keep his growing desire for Celinda in check--and to keep her safe from those who will do anything to possess the relic...

Comment: This is a series whose installments so far I have enjoyed reading but yes, I admit this has not been a priority and the years pass by... the last book I've read was in 2020, but here I am again, with another one finished.

In this romantic sci-fi series, one day a huge opening suddenly appeared on Earth and that has allowed humans to travel into space at a speed not imaginable before, and many settlers traveled to a new world, with commerce with Earth being a continuous source of trade and money. However, one day the opening disappeared as easily as it had showed up and everyone on the new world could not go back to Earth. Now, in this world, people carried on with their lives, centuries passed by and some humans started to develop some psychic powers, probably related to the planet/world's minerals and such. 

In this book we have the story of Celinda, she is a professional matchmaker, whose life might be in danger after she buys a weird relic, apparently useless, as a toy for her dust bunny, the cute little pets who are native of the planet. However, someone seems to be eager to get the relic and Davies, a private security expert, decides to help and protect Celinda so he can recover the relic and give it to his client. Celinda and Davies join forces to safe keep the relic until it's delivered but will they be ready to protect it with their lives so it doesn't fall into the wrong hands? What about the feelings that they weren't expecting but can't seem to ignore?

This author, also known for her work as Amanda Quick and Jayne Ann Krentz (and others), is certainly known for her kind of formulaic stories, a pattern of plot that is easy to recognize after a few books read. This can seem tiring after a while or might mean one doesn't have much to look for, but in spaced doses, I kind of like going back to this author's work. There is some satisfaction in the familiarity of these stories even if one is reading a new book for the first time.

I don't think this is the type of series one has to always read in order, most of the plot isn't sequential to previous installments, but it's a bit specific in certain elements that reading out of order will feel weird, although the author does try to "explain" how things came to be in this alien planet in each book. I like the idea of how this world/planet came to be and how people live there, so the oddities aren't that radical to be considered. 

If there is one element I didn't like as much here (or in most of the author's novels) is how the characters claim they aren't interested in a relationship but quickly fall into one. If this is done in a convincing way, I don't mind it, and that is the whole point of a romance, but sometimes it feels as if this yet another element to get done and that's it.

Celinda and Davies aren't a bad pair and we are given many scenes and small hints of why they would be a strong pair, especially with all the paranormal details in the world. Nevertheless, their romance felt a little bland and not as strong as the romances in other books by this author, even when she writes under a different pseudonym. I think it is simply too obvious they are meant to be a pair and there's no real fun or novelty in making them a pair. I suppose I wish their relationship had been better paced, so that we could convincingly accept they would be good together.

The plot of this book is centered on investigating the relic Celinda buys by accident and why it is important. This might seem rather silly but it does work in the context of the story, especially because in this world people can increase their powers or can use them in contact with certain types of minerals existing in the planet and because they had been used by other aliens or something. The way the author explains this can make sense for the world she created but the old fashioned investigation methods and structure of the plot aren't that special. In a way, this is good, we can follow a familiar element, but on the other makes the story loose some relevance.

In the end, for a fan, this is a good and imaginative story and quite entertaining. I was definitely interested in seeing how the good guys would solve the issue of the relic and, as expected, the bad guys are predictably caught and punished. The romance, as I've said, wasn't that great but I feel glad enough this was another story that accomplished its goal. I will read the next one some day and hopefully the romance might be stronger then.

Grade: 7/10

TBR Challenge: Jayne Castle - Ghost Hunter

After leaving her too-secretive fianc-powerful ghost hunter Cooper Boone-botanist Elly St. Clair starts over in the thriving metropolis of Cadence City. But when one of her new friends disappears in the eerie catacombs beneath the streets, Cooper turns up just in time to help-and this time he's holding nothing back.

Comment: Time does fly, no way around it, and it's again time for the TBR post. For August, Wendy has reduced the backlist glom to Backlist, and we can interpret anyway we might think of.

Since my imagination doesn't need to go that far, I'm sticking to the meaning of the word and I chose a book by an author whose titles are quite a few in my TBR pile.

This is not the only one I could pick but I decided to go with PNR.

In this third installment of the Harmony series by Jayne Castle, we once again follow the events set in a planet which emulates Earth, after many colonists remained stranded due to a rift in dimensions. Now, centuries after, society is pretty much like the one on Earth but, of course, bearing in mind the differences in the planet, especially the way the minerals there affect humans and even the animals and how many show some paranormal abilities.

It should be said the author included a note in the beginning which explains this a little bit.

The protagonists used to be a couple but after Elly discovers some things about Cooper, she decides to put and end to their engagement and moved to a bigger city. However, months later, due to a case on going near her, Cooper returns to her life and besides helping with the ghost case on had, could it be they could go back to how things used to be?

To summarize: the second book in this series I had read in 2013 but surprisingly, I still had a pretty decent idea about the world, how it came to be and some of the main ideas the author developed in this sci-fi/PNR world.

The stories follow a very predictable pattern: there's a mystery/situation the protagonists see themselves in, they need to join forces to solve it and they fall in love in the process. There can be some slight variation but this is it. In fact, there's no real change from the author's contemporary books under Jayne Ann Krentz and her Amanda Quick's historicals.

Since there is no real challenge in how the stories develop (had we read some book of the author, no matter the genre), the fun is on the details of the background and personality of the characters.

This said, I should share I've been a lot more dedicated to the historicals, where in my opinion, the author's style was a better fit, but overall, I prefer when the main couple isn't immediately aware of one another. This trope of the "second chance" mixed with "lovers reunited" isn't really that appealing to me and I wasn't particularly eager to know how Cooper and Elly would fix things between them but mixed with the plot, I thought it wouldn't be too badly done.

It's true the romance doesn't take center stage and the development of it doesn't get too much variation from the expected, but it was still nice to see them talk, explain each other's POV on why the engagement ended and of course Cooper is one of those heroes who acts as if the heroine should know his feelings anyway. At the same time, Elly just assumes things and despite her profession of love - which the reader is aware of - she didn't give enough time for Cooper to explain... yes, yes, otherwise where is the conflict.... but this can become rather annoying.

Still, I liked they fixed things by the end of the book.

As for plot, nothing amazing there, except why the villain acted the way we see. I admit I didn't make that much of an effort trying to guess who the bad guy is but to be honest, who cares, after all we would get to that somehow. This is not a thriller, where motives and means would truly matter. I think it's safe to say the story is quite simple and easy in terms of crime solution and not that too different from the author's usual trademarks.

All this said, though, I suppose one could wonder why would it be worth reading this. The truth is that, despite the obvious flaws, this story was still easy to read, easy to engage with, easy to connect with the characters and offered some hours of quietness and simplicity and a little bit of distraction from the loud and complicated daily life.

It's not literary prizes contended, no, but it fulfills its goal to entertain and to make readers want to know more about he planet and the special little things that exist in it.

This said, I'm very likely going to read the next installments. At some point.

Grade: 7/10

Kerrelyn Sparks / Jayne Castle

It's not every day that Elsa Bjornberg feels delicate, not when she hosts a home renovation show where she can effortlessly demolish a kitchen. But from the moment she meets Howard Barr, this bear of a man makes her feel like a woman. And the way he looks at her, as if she were a pot of honey he'd like to lick . . .
Howard is not like most men. For one thing, he's a shapeshifter. And he always thought his celebrity crush would never amount to anything more than drooling at Elsa on TV. When his meddling vampire employer gets involved, the star is suddenly within his grasp -- and within a hair of her life. For an ancient curse forbids their newfound love, and Howard is suddenly torn between his desire for her and his desire to keep her alive.

*  *  *

Life is complicated for Lydia Smith. She's working at that tacky, third-rate museum, Shrimpton's House of Ancient Horrors, trying to salvage her career in para-archaeology--and dating the most dangerous man in town. Just when she thinks she might be getting things under control, she stumbles over a dead body and discovers that her lover has a secret past that could get him killed. Just to top it off, there's trouble brewing underground in the eerie, glowing green passageways of the Dead City.
Of course, all of these problems pale in comparison to the most pressing issue: Lydia has been invited to the Restoration Ball and she hasn't got a thing to wear.


Comment: Another pair of books I've read, both of them another installment in a series I've started before.

Wild About You is the latest book in Kerrelyn Sparks' paranormal series and focuses on Howard, he's a shifter and is a recurrent characters since the first books. He is in a journey to catch some wolf shifters, guilty of murdering people from his past, and at the same time meets Elsa, she works in a tv show renovating houses and he has a crush on her...

Elsa is a big, Swedish young woman and she never felt very feminine but after meeting Howard, that changes. However, her past isn't as simple as one might think and she discovers she's got an affinity to the forest...

I lied the book, it's true to the storyline and mentions many of the subjects still on the table to be solved, which gives the reader an idea of continuity; I liked that.

The romance is actually sweet and has it's hot moments too. Not the very best, but very good anyway.

After Glow is the sequel to After Dark, a story included in Harmony, the fist book I've read by Jayne Ann Krentz writing as Jayne Castle. This After Glow keeps the same storyline of the 1st book, with the same main characters. In a way it allows the reader to understand better some things we've learned about in that first book but it also has some news I wasn't expecting to see.

Emmett and Lydia take their relationship to the next level, although not as smoothly as one might imagine. Still, I liked the story and was glad to see this book explained the things left unsolved in After Dark. I'm curious about the next books, I'll try to get them soon but I don't think I'll read another one so fast, schedule doesn't allow it. Still, an interesting world to read about.

Jayne Castle - Harmony

Harmony is a planet in the far future, aglow with an amber light and the psychic energy of its inhabitants. It is here that Jayne Castle casts her spell-over the men and women brave enough to love in a world unlike any we have ever seen before. In this unforgettable volume are two very enchanting tales set on Harmony... After Dark...The New York Times bestselling novel of romantic suspense with a paranormal twist. A para-archaeologist and one of the most dangerous men on the planet heat up a murder investigation with a passion that cannot be extinguished-or denied... Bridal Jitters...From the national bestselling anthology, Charmed. An official marriage-of-convenience between paranormal business partners is almost called off-because of love.

Comment: This is another book for the challenge. But the first reason that led me to it was the fact I won book #6 in the series in Nalini Singh's blog last year. Ha. I wasn't aware it was book #6, so I had to get book #1 to see if there was any chance I might reach book #6.
With two goals in mind because of this book, finally I got the chance to try it.
This book is an omnibus, it has two stories inside, the short story "Bridal Jitters" that's apparently the introduction to the series, and After Dark, which is the official full length book in the series. I was glad I could get both in one volume.

First of all, the world. I confess I don't read much sci-fi, it's not a genre I look for and especially if it doesn't have romance. So, to enter a new world with different rules..well, it can be an adventure so this was why I wasn't discouraged from the start. The author has written a note available in her website where she explains a bit the history behind the series, so I'll spare anyone who's not (yet) interested and leave only the link: http://www.krentz-quick.com/harmony/history.html
After reading this it's obviously so much easier to follow some information in the stories.
To summarize, action takes place in a different planet, in the distant future, after a disaster that separated Earth from the new planet. People there descend from colonizers from Earth and they started showing some affinity to amber, a stone prolific in the planet, Harmony.
This aside, the stories focus more on romance and storyline than the environment around them but it shows, so I think sci-fi is an adequate label.

The two stories I've read were interesting and full of information and even with the author's note I found myself confused a bit but that's normal because it's such a different set of rules and dealings, then the fact people there have some sort of paranormal power or close connection to something paranormal also makes it more rich but I was able to enjoy things more because of that too, it's a fulfilling world.
"Bridal Jitters" is about Sam and Virginia, they're going to get a marriage of convenience in order to gain some profit after selling a house, but after all they want more than just that...
After Dark is the story of Emmett and Lydia and how he asks her to help him finding a piece of furniture that has been in his family since colonization and he wants it back but they find themselves in the middle of a mystery and developing feelings.
Like I said, it's hard to get used to things at first but after some chapters we get to understand things more and to be honest the writing style is the same as her writing as JAK and Amanda Quick. This helped a lot to process the information about the world because the writing style can ease out understanding of things. Besides the fact it focus the romance helps too, we want the couple to be together. I have to be honest, the secondary characters weren't that interesting, but they played their part well.
I liked the book, the two stories and will read more, especially to know more about the world, because after a while we just want to understand Harmony and its secrets better.
In the end of the bigger story I was left wondering how the couple would do next and was satisfied with the mystery solving. All in all, a good attempt and I'm glad I enjoyed reading it.