Dark Light

Dark Light by Jayne Castle

Reporter Sierra McIntyre's stories on Crystal City's ghost hunters—and their mysterious guild—have earned her tabloid a bit of respect. And they've allowed her to clothe her dust bunny companion Elvis in rock-and-roll style. It helps that she has mega-rez intuition to fall back on...

Especially when she interviews Ghost Hunter Guild Boss John Fontana about the disappearances of retired, homeless hunters. She doesn't want to trust the physically and psychically powerful man, but her senses—and Elvis—give her the green light. To uncover the conspiracy within his own organization, Fontana proposes...marriage. And though it's purely a business arrangement, there is nothing pure about the attraction that sizzles between them...

--Dark Light by Jayne Castle, Copyright ©August 2008 by Jayne Ann Krentz, published by Jove Books

My Review

Sierra McIntyre has always been the family misfit. In a family full of overachievers who set their goals early in life and pursued them almost single-mindedly, Sierra drifted, trying out this career and that, until she finally seemed to find her calling in journalism. Only problem was, she worked for The Curtain, a Crystal City tabloid. Her stories were good, though, and they were getting noticed by everyone in the city, including the new Ghost Hunter Guild boss, John Fontana. Especially her stories on the “burned out” Ghost Hunters who were being kidnapped by aliens.

Fontana grants Sierra an interview and the attraction that flared between them was immediate. But Fontana has more pressing matters, namely protecting Sierra from those who would wish to stop her investigation…permanently. Within minutes of their introduction, Fontana is proposing marriage, and Sierra surprises herself by accepting.

Being a Guild Boss’ wife does afford Sierra a level of protection, and she has a new partner in her investigation, namely her husband. Together, with the help of her dust bunny, Elvis (bedecked in rhinestoned white cape and sunglasses), they work to uncover the mysterious aliens suspected of kidnapping the Hunters

Both Sierra and Fontana come into their Marriage of Convenience with secrets. Fontana is a bit of a rarity on Harmony—his father was in a Covenant Marriage to another woman when he was born, making him an illegitimate child, and it’s something he fears her family will hold against him. Sierra, unlike the majority of those on Harmony, does not use amber to focus her psi abilities. Her intuition is a natural-born thing, which makes her an oddity amongst the general population.

Plus there’s her connection to an intriguing secret psychic society here on Earth…

When I decided to re-read/listen to the entire Harmony series (at least, those books I have…I’m missing the very first two), I didn’t realize I would run into one little … well, “problem” really isn’t the word for it. Anyone who has read or re-read a series (any series), back to back to back (to back to back to back) realizes that they really get tired of reading the back story over and over (and over and over and over and over) again. Each story in this series was written to stand alone, which means the origin of the planet, how we humans came to populate it, the alien ruins created out of luminous green quartz and the effect it has on the population, etc, must be explained over and over (etc.) again. So I’m a bit tired of the repetitive back story at this point, but there are just two more stories to go--Obsidian Prey which is next and Midnight Crystal, which also happens to be the third book in the Dreamlight series. See how it all ties together? No? Well, that’s because you’re not in my mind and trust me, you don’t want to be there. Navigating through that maze is like navigating the Harmony Catacombs. Without your tuned amber, you’re lost forever.

I give this story THREE STARS.

Silver Master

Silver Master by Jayne Castle

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...

--Silver Master by Jayne Castle, Copyright ©August 2007 by Jayne Ann Krentz, published by Jove Books
My Review

When Davis Oakes arrived at her office, accompanied by local police detective Alice Martinez, Celinda Ingram immediately felt a strong attraction. He’s working on behalf of the local Ghost Hunter Guild, tracking down a peculiar alien relic that she recently purchased. Celinda happens to have the relic with her, but before she can hand it over to Davis, her pet dust bunny, Araminta, snatches the relic and runs away with it.

Determined to complete his assignment, Davis sticks with Celinda, knowing Araminta will return with the relic…eventually. That means Davis will have to go with Celinda to Frequency City to attend her sister’s wedding.

Having left Frequency only four months earlier to escape a sex scandal involving powerful Guild Council member Benson Landry, Celinda is not exactly happy to go back, but she can’t not go to her sister’s wedding. She was, after all, the matchmaker who paired her sister Rachel with Josh Santana. She has to go…even if she does have to wear a nauseatingly pink maid-of-honor gown. And even if that means Davis will have to go with her.

On the way to Frequency, Celinda finds herself confessing to Davis the real reason she left Frequency City. Benson Landry was the cause, but the sex scandal was faked. When Landry shows up at her hotel door, Davis takes action, letting Landry know Celinda isn’t alone any longer and he’s more than capable of defending her. He leaves, but Landry isn’t finished yet.

Celinda figures out exactly what the ruby artifact can do in the right hands, and realizes what it can do in the wrong hands. She must do whatever she can to keep the artifact out of Benson’s hands…and out of the Guild’s hands.

I give this story THREE STARS.

Ghost Hunter

Ghost Hunter by Jayne Castle

Local Guild boss and powerful ghost-hunter Cooper Boone is everything botanist Elly St. Clair could ask for - the handsome, strong, and silent type. Maybe too silent. For when Guild secrets threaten her career at the college, Elly has to call off their marriage - and leave small-town life behind...
But starting over in the thriving metropolis of Cadence City isn't easy, especially when one of Elly's new friends disappears in the eerie catacombs beneath the streets. Cooper turns up just in time to help Elly investigate. And as the mystery deepens and dangerous ghost myths and legends come to light, Cooper makes it clear he intends to stick around - and this time he's holding nothing back...

--Ghost Hunter by Jayne Castle, Copyright ©May 2006 by Jayne Ann Krentz, published by Jove Books

My Review

Botanist Elly St. Clair has discovered that her fiancée Cooper Boone—head of the Aurora Springs Ghost Hunter Guild—has been keeping secrets from her. Secrets that are getting out and threatening her career at the local college. Feeling she has no other choice, Elly ends her engagement and leaves Aurora Springs for the big city.

“Give her six months,” Cooper assures her distraught father. “She’ll be ready to come home then.”

But when Cooper arrives in Cadence City to take Elly home, he finds a completely different woman than the one that left Aurora Springs. This new Elly is confident, strong and self-assured. And she needs a Ghost Hunter to go with her into the catacombs on a rescue mission.

Elly’s friend, Bertha Newell, is a ruin-rat who regularly combs the alien catacombs under the city for alien treasures to sell in her shop. When she failed to return from her latest expedition, Elly knew something had to have gone wrong. She needs to search for her, and for that, she needs a Ghost Hunter. Luckily, her Ghost-hunting ex-fiancée happens to be in town.

They find Bertha below, but they also find a rare and dangerous blue Ghost, which Cooper has no trouble dispatching. Another of his secrets, Elly realizes. She never knew Cooper could work blue Ghost light. Unfortunately, Cooper had to melt amber to take care of the spectre, an act that comes with its own unique consequences.

Bertha remembers little of what happened to her in the catacombs, but in her pocket is a handful of twigs and leaves. Elly quickly recognizes them as the plant source of a powerful new street drug called Enchantment, or Chant. Whoever is manufacturing the drug is using the catacombs as their lab and storage site.

Cooper contacts the local Guild and offers his services as an investigator—another secret, Elly realizes. The Cooper Boone she knew was a librarian before he became Guild Boss. She knew nothing of his investigative background. All the more reason to cancel their wedding, she tells him. How can she marry someone who keeps so many secrets?

Whether Cooper likes it or not, he’s got a partner for this investigation. Can Cooper and Elly find out who is responsible for the new street drug before they themselves are arrested as the suspected drug dealers? And how is it all connected to her family and the Aurora Springs Guild?

I give this story THREE STARS.

While Galileo Preys

When Galileo Preys by Joshua Corin

“If there were a god, he would have stopped me.”

That’s the message discovered atop an elementary school in downtown Atlanta. Across the street are the bodies of fourteen innocent men and women, each quickly and cleanly murdered. The sniper Galileo is on the loose. He can end a human life from hundreds of yards away. And he is just getting started.

Where others see puzzles, Esme Stuart sees patterns, and these outside-the-box inductive skills made her one of the FBI’s top field operatives. But she turned her back on all that eight years ago to start a family and live a normal life. She now has a husband and a daughter and a Long Island home to call her own, far removed from the bloody streets of Atlanta.

But Galileo’s murders escalate and Esme’s beleaguered old boss at the Bureau needs the help of his former protégée. But how can she turn her back on her well-earned quiet life? How would she ever be able to justify such a choice to her husband? To her daughter?

And what will happen when Galileo turns his scope on them?

--When Galileo Preys by Joshua Corin, Copyright ©2010 by Joshua Corin, published by Mira Books

My Review

The story opens in Atlanta in January. Andre Banks is out waking his dog at 3:16 a.m. when he spies the dead man wearing a pink taffeta prom dress laying in the middle of the road. He calls the police. Within half an hour, Andre, his dog, and the two responding police officers are dead. When the don’t respond to calls from base, additional officers are sent to the scene, and upon seeing the four corpses, they immediately call for backup. More officers arrive. By dawn, fourteen people lay dead. Fifteen, counting the dog.

The following month, someone set the Amarillo Aquarium on fire. Firefighters respond and enter the building. When they realize they have the wrong equipment (the fire went from standard combustible to chemical), they head outside and run into a hail of sniper bullets. It’s the same sniper.

And he’s just getting started.

In her home on Long Island, former FBI Agent Esme Stuart reads the stories about the Atlanta killings. Her interest is piqued, but she restrains herself. After all, she’s a wife and mother now, not a go-get-em hotshot agent. After the second set of killings, however, she speaks to her former boss and mentor, Tom Piper, and she agrees to join the task force—temporarily—in Amarillo. By midnight, she’s in the hospital, severely wounded, thanks to Galileo.

This guy is serious.

In the short period of time she had after arriving in Amarillo and before she was injured, Esme believes she found the connection. There’s a presidential election coming up, and one particular candidate held rallies in the cities where the killings took place. Follow the candidate, she says. Check his schedule and see where he’s speaking next. And check out his main supporter…there’s something fishy there. But stubbornly, the powers-that-be at the FBI refuse to listen and Esme returns to her family on Long Island. The killings continue and Tom tries to enlist Esme’s help, but she refuses. She gave him all the information she could and it would now be up to Tom to solve the case. She’s out of it.

Until the killer arrives in Long Island.

And he has Esme in his cross-hairs.

Mmmm…okay, so he doesn’t exactly have Esme in his cross-hairs, at least not at the point he arrives on Long Island. He has other business to tend to first. Only then does he aim for Esme.

This is a great story that moves at a good pace from beginning to end. There were a few areas where the pace seemed to slow a bit, mostly when background information was given about a particular character, but those scenes helped enrich those characters and the slower pace helped the reader catch their breath, so I don’t know that’s I’d change any of those scenes.

While Galileo Preys is a neat, intense thriller that quickly grabs your attention and takes you for a ride that never slows down. (Am I using “ride” metaphors too much? I need to work on that.) I would definitely recommend this book for those who love thrillers and killers with a unique “twist” on their craft.

This is another of my NetGalley reads.

Galley copies sometimes contain errors and I found one here. At the start of Chapter 26, Kellerman and Piper go to a shooting range owned by a man named Will Clay. Three pages later, Will Clay is now Bill Clay. Later on, he goes back to being Will. Oopsie! I think I’ll go to a book store once this is released (September 1, if you’re interested) and see if they fixed that.

**UPDATE**I checked, and the error was not fixed. I find it odd that such an error could get past the editors and proofreaders like that, but these things do happen. Hopefully, if/when this book goes into additional printings, someone will fix it.

I give this story FOUR STARS.

Cut, Paste, Kill

I’m not sure what I was expecting when I started this experiment. To keep track of my readings for one year, sure. To entertain and inform others through my reviews, okay. Perhaps turn a few on to authors they may never have read before. Not to mention turning myself on to new authors.

I’ve read several books this year by authors I’ve never heard of, simply because I decided it was time to open my eyes and expand my boundaries. A few of them were by good authors, but the subject matter really didn’t thrill me and I’m unlikely to read more books by that author. Others have completely enthralled me and I am/will be eagerly hunting out their other works to read them as well.

I don’t quite remember where I heard about the author of this book (I really must start taking notes), but Marshall Karp has joined that exclusive roster of “My Favorite Authors.” Read on to find out why.


Cut, Paste, Kill by Marshall Karp

There are 33 million scrapbookers in America. Some are passionate. Some are compulsive. One is homicidal.

When Eleanor Bellingham-Crump—a socialite responsible for the death of a ten-year-old boy—turns up murdered on the bathroom floor of a Hollywood hotel, Lomax and Biggs are confronted with a crime of artistic brutality. Along with the scissors sticking out of Eleanor’s lifeless body, the two detectives find a meticulous scrapbook documenting a motive for vengeance in lurid detail.

As more bodies are discovered, each one connected by the intricate scrapbooks left at the murder scenes, Lomax and Biggs go on the hunt for a vigilante stalking unpunished criminals. They must race to decode the meaning behind the scrapbooks before the crafty avenger has time to cut and paste the story of another kill.

With laugh-out-loud humor and crackling dialogue, the chapters hurtle toward a killer finale in the most thrilling Lomax and Biggs adventure yet.

--Cut, Paste, Kill by Marshall Karp, Copyright ©2010 by Mesa Films, Inc. published by St. Martin’s Press

My Review

As you might gather from that last sentence, this is not the first book in the Lomax and Biggs series, but it is the first one I’ve read. I enjoy scrapbooking occasionally so the subject of a scrapbooking killer caught my attention. What held it was the incredibly hilarious writing. If you don’t find something to laugh about on nearly every other page, or at least once a chapter (they’re very short chapters), you need to get your funny bone checked.

Lomax and Biggs are called away from a family cook-out. A woman’s been stabbed at the Afton Gardens Hotel and they get to investigate. The cause of death is clear—a pair of scissors sticking out of her ribs. The scrapbook on the counter gives the reason for the murder—Mrs. Bellingham-Crump got away with murder nine months ago and someone decided she needed to pay. Now they just need to find that someone and they can return to their cook-out.

It’s not quite that easy, especially when the FBI informs them they have two similar cases—both death-by-scissors with scrapbooks left behind. As they investigate, they discover that the killer may have as many as 20 murders planned. Can they find out who the future victims are and warn them before they get in the way of another pair of scissors?

If you watch any of NBC’s Law and Order shows, usually in the opening scene the cops display a kind of gallows humor, making wise cracks over the body (“Better call his boss…that’s one pizza that won’t make it in under 30 minutes.”). This kind of humor is pervasive throughout the book.

”Excuse me, Detectives.” It was Kelly Jo Brownfield, one of the recent crop of uniforms assigned to our station.

“What’s up, Kelly Jo?” I said.

“There’s a really cute guy out at the front desk. He’s here to see you and Detective Biggs.”

“Name?”

“His name? Oh, damn. He told me, but I got distracted. Cory, Colby…”

“Does he look a little like Matt Damon?” I asked.

“Yeah. That’s what distracted me.”

“Is his name Cody Wade?”

“Yes,” she said. “God, you’re a good detective. What should I do?”

“Take him home and handcuff him to your bedpost till we’re ready for him,” Terry said.

“I wish,” she said.

Terry’s the wiseass, but Mike gets more than his fair share of jabs in. I’d put his best one in here, but there’s this secondary story line about Mike’s father deciding to go into the movie business and he needs a screenwriter and Terry jumps at the chance and they’re calling the movie…okay, that’s all I’m going to say. You’ll have to read it and dig out the great line for yourself (it’s in Chapter 27).

The story has a quick pace with lots of dialogue and very short chapters. I probably could have read this in one long afternoon sitting but actually took me closer to a week. I totally connected with Karp’s sense of humor and will be adding his other books to my reading list very soon.


I give this story THREE and a HALF STARS.

After Glow

After Glow / Ghost Hunters Book 2 by Jayne Castle

Para-archaeologist Lydia Smith has spent her entire adult life digging into the past, and building a career. But all that changes when she finds herself lost in the catacombs below the city, with no memory of how she came to be there. Now it's her own past that is eluding her; and the secret of what happened to her will endanger everything she's worked to rebuild, including her new marriage to Emmett London, who has a dangerous past of his own to overcome.

--After Glow by Jayne Castle, Copyright ©2000 by Jayne Ann Krentz, published by Jove

My Review

When the mysterious Curtain opened, people of Earth were able to travel between our world and a new one, named Harmony. Long ago, a mysterious alien civilization abandoned Harmony, leaving behind green quartz ruins, unusual artifacts and a strange “vibe” that brought out psychic abilities in all the planet’s inhabitants. Before long, people began to colonize Harmony and travel and trade between the planets became commonplace.

Then, as suddenly as it had appeared, the Curtain closed, stranding the colonists. Cut off from all they knew, the new Harmonics had to find a way to survive…or die.

Two hundred years later, Lydia Smith, a para-archaeologist working at a kitschy “alien horror” museum, is dating Emmett London, the temporary head of the Cadence City Ghost Hunter Guild. He’s the temporary head because the current head, Mercer Wyatt, has been shot and is in the hospital. “It’s personal,” he manages to tell Emmett, “not connected to the Guild.” That doesn’t stop Emmett from wanting answers.

Meanwhile, Lydia receives a call from a former college professor, claiming he has information that will help Lydia uncover what happened during her “lost weekend.” Seven months earlier, while exploring the catacombs beneath the city, Lydia was separated from her group and was feared lost. When she emerged forty-eight hours later, she had no memory of those hours. But before she can meet with the professor, he dies of a drug overdose. He left behind a clue for her, a newspaper article about a young man who disappeared into the catacombs fifteen years earlier.

What’s the connection behind a fifteen-year-old missing person case, Lydia’s “lost weekend” and the “personal” shooting of Mercer Wyatt? Did Lydia see something in the catacombs that connects to the missing person? Why is Mercer’s almost-murder a “personal” matter and not connected to the Guild? What’s the connection to the “Greenies,” a cult of alien worshipers that seems to have taken an interest in Lydia?

And where on Harmony is she going to find a dress for the Restoration Ball?

I give this story THREE STARS.

Naked

Naked by Megan Hart

WARNING Somewhat Explicit Content Follows…

I recently signed up with NetGalley to be a test reader. Test readers read books while they’re still in the “galley” stage and I thought, “hey, what a great opportunity for me. That’s what I’m doing with this blog and this way I can read books for free. Wins all around.” It also enables me to push my boundaries and read new artists and new genres.

So I registered, filled out the profile and selected a few books to review. Two of the ones I selected were in the Harlequin Spice line which I knew mean they would be on the racy side. Well, there’s racy and then there’s RACY. My boundaries have been well and truly pushed out of proportion.

That said, here’s my first review for NetGalley.

No strings. No regrets. And no going back.
I didn't think he wanted me. And I wasn't about to get involved with him, not after what I'd heard. Sure, Alex Kennedy was tall, dark and unbearably hot, but I've been burned before. When I solicited him to model for my erotic photography book, I didn't expect such a heated, passionate photo session. And now that we've crossed that line, our bodies aren't the only things that have been exposed.
But I can't give my heart to a man who's so… unconventional. His last sexual relationship was with a married couple. It's enough that my ex-fiancé preferred men, I can't take that chance again no matter how much my body thrives on Alex's touch. I can't risk it, but I can't resist it, either.
Alex can be very convincing when he wants something.
And he wants me.

--Naked by Megan Hart, Copyright ©2010 by Megan Hart, published by Spice Books/Harlequin

My Review

Naked is your basic girl-meets-boy story with a few hair-pin twists and turns. Photographer Olivia sees Alex for the first time at Patrick and Teddy’s (her former fiancée and his partner) Chrismukkah party. “He’s not into women,” Patrick warns her, and she sees the evidence of that with her own eyes before the night is over.

Patrick convinces her to stay the night in the guest room and when she awakens the next morning, she finds that Alex has also stayed the night. Before the day is over, Alex becomes her new tenant, much to Patrick’s dismay.

She figures she’ll get over her crush soon enough. After all, he’s not into women. But after a steamy photo shoot, Alex lets her know that Patrick doesn’t know everything about him and before long, they become lovers.

As their relationship progresses, Patrick becomes more and more jealous. He tries to convince Olivia that Alex is wrong for her, even telling her that he once slept with Alex. Patrick is obviously jealous, Olivia realizes, but does he want Olivia back, or Alex? And what about his relationship with Teddy?

Olivia must cope with her emotions surrounding the man she’s falling in love with, the secrets in his past, and her own mixed race/mixed religion past which she is still trying to come to terms with. Can Olivia and Alex remain together once the final, shocking secret has been revealed?

There’s a good story in here about a man and a woman, sexually and emotionally attracted to each other, trying to maneuver through the minefields of modern-day relationships and the ending, like good sex, was very satisfying. What Olivia went through trying to deal with her growing love for Alex and at the same time trying to shed the almost-obsessive control of her ex-fiancee Patrick was true to the heart and very emotional. I tried very hard to focus on that story and follow the characters development without getting lost in the sex scenes.

Yeah, I know…It’s like a guy that says he reads Playboy for the articles and not the pictures.

The sex scenes were very well written and, in a word, explicit. If you prefer your sex behind closed doors, do not, repeat, do not read this book. The sex is in-your-face and very contemporary for our time. Megan Hart deals with the sexual preferences of each of her characters in a mature, frank fashion. If you can handle that sort of thing, and you enjoy Harlequin-style romances, then you will thoroughly enjoy this story. If you can’t, then as I said, do not read this book.

But I enjoyed it, and will keep Megan Hart on my Favorite Authors list.

I give this story FOUR STARS.

Naked has been released and is available for purchase.