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....--Obsidian Prey by Jayne Castle, Copyright ©August 2009 by Jayne Ann Krentz, published by Jove Books
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.
My Review
“You’re the woman who broke Cruz Sweetwater’s heart.” That’s what everyone connected to the Sweetwater family says to me whenever I meet one of them and it’s driving me crazy!
First of all, Cruz lied to me about his name. When we met, he said his name was Cruz Marlow. And so now he tells me that Marlow is his middle name. Okay, so I guess technically he didn’t lie, but he never used the name Sweetwater around me, so I call that a lie by omission. Second, he used me. He kept me distracted just long enough so his company, Amber, Inc., could jump all over my find in the rainforest and file paperwork with the government so they could legally claim my amethyst ruin as their own. Right out from under my nose! Can you believe that? And then, once their claim had been accepted, they shut me out, refusing me any access at all. It was my ruin, darn it! I found it, therefore, it belongs to me, not them! And third, oh, third was the worst. Once I was shut out, Cruz walked out of my life. Bam! Gone! So long, see ya, thanks for the memories. And those crazy Sweetwaters actually have the gall to say I broke his heart!
So now here we are, three months later, and look who’s come crawling back. I was all set to enjoy my revenge. I imagined Cruz Marlow—um—Sweetwater, begging to take me back, but I never imagined him asking me for help. It seems an energy storm is blocking the entrance to their—ahem—my ruin and no one within the Amber, Inc. empire can de-rez it. But since I’m the one who opened it in the first place, could I please come do it again? I was all set to say no when Cruz told me there were five people trapped inside. Oh, geez. Guess I’m going to have to help Cruz after all.
So off into the underground rainforest we went and I oh-so-nicely-and-neatly made short work of the energy storm. I now have the gratitude of Amber, Inc. and the Ghost Hunter Guild. I can do without the Guild’s gratitude, but as for Amber, Inc? I need to decide how much to charge them for my skills.
But there’s something else Cruz needs my help with. Seems one of the amethyst relics collected from the ruin has gone missing and he thinks, given my naturally affinity with amethyst, I can help him track it down. I naturally refuse to help him, but the next day, I was consulting with a new client at an exclusive collector’s auction and what did I sense but missing relic. But before Cruz or I can do anything, the gallery owner is murdered. Oh geez again!
So not only do I have Cruz Sweetwater back in my life, I have to deal with a gang of thieves and murders. Oh, and there’s the strange waking nightmares I’ve been having lately, and the feeling that someone is stalking me. Plus all those darn Sweetwaters keep saying I broke Cruz’s heart!
Can’t they understand that it’s Cruz who broke my heart when the cad made me fall in love with him and then walked away from me?
First of all, Cruz lied to me about his name. When we met, he said his name was Cruz Marlow. And so now he tells me that Marlow is his middle name. Okay, so I guess technically he didn’t lie, but he never used the name Sweetwater around me, so I call that a lie by omission. Second, he used me. He kept me distracted just long enough so his company, Amber, Inc., could jump all over my find in the rainforest and file paperwork with the government so they could legally claim my amethyst ruin as their own. Right out from under my nose! Can you believe that? And then, once their claim had been accepted, they shut me out, refusing me any access at all. It was my ruin, darn it! I found it, therefore, it belongs to me, not them! And third, oh, third was the worst. Once I was shut out, Cruz walked out of my life. Bam! Gone! So long, see ya, thanks for the memories. And those crazy Sweetwaters actually have the gall to say I broke his heart!
So now here we are, three months later, and look who’s come crawling back. I was all set to enjoy my revenge. I imagined Cruz Marlow—um—Sweetwater, begging to take me back, but I never imagined him asking me for help. It seems an energy storm is blocking the entrance to their—ahem—my ruin and no one within the Amber, Inc. empire can de-rez it. But since I’m the one who opened it in the first place, could I please come do it again? I was all set to say no when Cruz told me there were five people trapped inside. Oh, geez. Guess I’m going to have to help Cruz after all.
So off into the underground rainforest we went and I oh-so-nicely-and-neatly made short work of the energy storm. I now have the gratitude of Amber, Inc. and the Ghost Hunter Guild. I can do without the Guild’s gratitude, but as for Amber, Inc? I need to decide how much to charge them for my skills.
But there’s something else Cruz needs my help with. Seems one of the amethyst relics collected from the ruin has gone missing and he thinks, given my naturally affinity with amethyst, I can help him track it down. I naturally refuse to help him, but the next day, I was consulting with a new client at an exclusive collector’s auction and what did I sense but missing relic. But before Cruz or I can do anything, the gallery owner is murdered. Oh geez again!
So not only do I have Cruz Sweetwater back in my life, I have to deal with a gang of thieves and murders. Oh, and there’s the strange waking nightmares I’ve been having lately, and the feeling that someone is stalking me. Plus all those darn Sweetwaters keep saying I broke Cruz’s heart!
Can’t they understand that it’s Cruz who broke my heart when the cad made me fall in love with him and then walked away from me?
I tried to channel the spirit of Lyra Dore as I wrote this, but I can’t say I was particularly successful at it. Oh well, it was fun to write anyway.
Jayne Castle/Jayne Ann Krentz has the wonderful ability to create characters that are slightly whacky and a little off center, but spunky. Lyra certainly fits that description and she’s a perfect foil for Cruz. Throw in a dust bunny, a secret admirer, a mysterious modern artist and an even more mysterious collector and you have another entertaining Harmonic adventure.
I was disappointed at the very end, though. Throughout the story, Lyra and Cruz trade barbs and snappy remarks that add to the emotional and sexual tension between them. Even when some of that tension is released (you know what I mean), they still have this great banter between them. He hurt her by stealing her claim and then walking away and now he’s back and he wants her, but she’s not going to go quietly. She fights him every inch of the way, kicking and screaming and just when she’s had enough of those darned Sweetwaters saying she broke his heart, he goes and says “I’m sorry. I screwed up. But I fell in love with you when I first saw you.”
And she melts like putty in his hands.
Yuck.
What a way to ruin an ending.
I give this story THREE STARS.
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