Most Helpful Customer Reviews
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14 of 14 people found the following review helpful:
3.0 out of 5 stars
More action than romance, September 16, 2008
Before I get to the book (which was OK, not my favorite by this author but not bad), I have to rant about the cover art. If I was unfamiliar with the author, I would have passed on this book purely because of the cover. It is a throwback to the old days of barechested cover models but the model they chose didn't reflect Fontana's appearance or character as described in the book. Sierra thinks no one would describe Fontana as handsome but he is compelling and you would always know he was the man in charge. The cover model doesn't look like a powerful, intriguing man who is head of an organization of dangerous men. He looks like a vaguely pretty boy in a bad wig pouting because the Abercrombie and Fitch closed before he could get to the mall. Even though I wasn't wild about the book, it deserved a better cover than this one. I hope when the publishers do a reprint, they change the cover.
Now to the book. This book continues my general complaint of the author's more recent books (under all 3 of her writing names): there isn't enough romance. And by this I don't mean there isn't enough sex (though readers who want lots of sizzling sex scenes should know there is very little sex on the book). When I read a romance, I want to vicariously experience the characters falling in love. A good romance novelist (and I would definitely put the author in that category) knows how to convey this. I didn't feel much emotional sizzle in the book -- it was a zero hanky read for me.
The action/investigation part of the book is better than the romance aspect, but it wasn't the most compelling plot the author has written. I'm getting a little tired of novels about Guild ghost hunters and dust bunnies. The book references other paranormal abilities in the population so it would be nice to have books about people with those abilities. I liked that Sierra had her own paranormal abilities and it was a nice touch to reference the Arcane Society from the author's books under her Jayne Anne Krentz and Amanda Quick names, but Sierra's abilities weren't used enough except as a warning system. (I note from the excerpt at the back of the book, there is a new Arcane Society novel where the heroine has a similar ability.) The inclusion of the tabloid newspaper as a breaking news source was amusing. A dust bunny Elvis was less amusing. Doesn't anyone in Harmony have a different pet?
My opinion of this book is probably more negative because I had just finished re-reading (for the umpteenth time) "Orchid," one of the author's much earlier "through the Curtain" novels. This book did not compare favorably. "Orchid" (as well as "Amaryllis" and "Zinnia") had all the plot and action of this book plus a lot more romance. I hope the author will look back at her earlier books and remember how she wrote the emotional story.
In the meantime, I highly recommend that readers go out and find Orchid, Zinnia and Amaryllis. I think they are out of print but at least 2 of them are fairly easy to find.
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18 of 22 people found the following review helpful:
3.0 out of 5 stars
A mediocre weak link in the series., August 31, 2008
It is painful for me to have to give this book three very mediocre stars but that is exactly where it falls on my enjoyment scale. I have read the other four Jayne Castle books about the planet Harmony and loved each one. I don't know what happened with this one but for me it was just not very good. The reason I gave it three stars at all is because I am hopeful that any book which follows it will get right back on track and live up to the quality of the previous books. I'm not giving up on the series just because of one middle-of-the-road product.
Years ago a mysterious curtain opened in space and a new planet was discovered. The people of Earth named this new planet Harmony and began to travel there and to colonize it. The atmosphere and conditions were very much like Earth. Then, without warning, the curtain closed again and the colonist on Harmony were stranded. Now, two hundred years later, they exhibit unusual paranormal abilities which not only allow them to survive, but to thrive.
Sierra McIntyre moved to Crystal City to get away from her family of overachievers. She considers herself an underachiever so she wants to start over someplace where she will not be compared to her other family members. Fine so far. Now for the improbable. In order to get a job she starts work for a tabloid newspaper, the Curtain, even though she has no experience in journalism. But, of course, she is writing investigative, hard hitting stories, not like the other stories which appear in the Curtain, and she wants some serious questions answered by the new Crystal Guild boss, John Fontana. The Guild boss is the man in charge of all the "ghost hunters" who have the paranormal power to control ghost energy found in the catacombs below the city. If these powers are not strictly contained they could be used in harmful ways. Fontana immediately sees the advantage of joining forces with this reporter (who has been a true nuisance for him since he took over as Guild boss) so he proposes that they enter into a Marriage of Convenience in order to investigate these problems together. Huh? What?
After being in the same room with each other for about one hour Fontana asks Sierra to enter into a Marriage of Convenience (not a permanent Covenant Marriage) with him and she agrees? Even though her family views the Marriage of Convenience as little more than a legalized affair, she still just says, OK, sure, why not! Pleeese Ms Castle, don't do this!!
None of the characters in this book are very well drawn. The entire book feels rushed, as if it was one of those Uh-Oh,-I-haven't-written-about-Harmony-in-a-long-time books. The plot is not strong, the mystery is not interesting or difficult to figure out (when they caught one bad guy, there was only one other character left!). In this series of stories each heroine has a dust bunny. Sierra states several times that dust bunnies are companions not pets. Her dust bunny is named Elvis and I think Elvis is way, way, too prominent in this story. I understand about the dust bunnies. I really do understand about the dust bunnies, but I still say that Elvis figures too prominently in this story. She took him with her when she went to get married??? Even though she just considered this a business arrangement? The romance aspect between Fontana (could we PLEASE call this man John once in this book?) and Sierra is just not real or compelling for me. At no point in their relationship did I feel that either one loved the other, even the ending was so-so, ho-hum, flat.
I will not give up on this series. I am a huge fan of Harmony and all the other books and characters. I am beginning to wonder if we aren't about to run out of cities to have Guild bosses for. I'm also afraid that Ms Castle might be giving the Harmony books less time and attention than they require and deserve. Let's all hope she gets back on track with the next one. I'll come back after one dud, but not after two.
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12 of 17 people found the following review helpful:
1.0 out of 5 stars
Totally Mediocre, August 29, 2008
Sierra McIntyre is an investigative reporter who is determined to uncover the Ghost Hunter Guild's secrets. Sierra has reason to suspect that homeless hunters are being kidnapped off the streets for criminal purposes, and she is determined to find out the truth. John Fontana is the newest guildmaster. Granting Sierra an interview, Fontana is immediately overwhelmed by the strong feelings he has for Sierra and offers her a business arrangement marriage in order to give her access to the guild, and at the same time woo her. Together, Sierra and Fontana, face numerous dangers to uncover the conspiracy that is going on in his guild.
This latest offering of Castle on her imaginary world of Harmony is easily the weakest yet. Castle assumes that none of her readers have discovered her previous books and spends about 100 pages retelling the history of Harmony, the ability to work amber, the different psi talents, the alien artifacts, etc. etc. I was never so bored with a book in my life. Finally, we get past all the tedious background and get to the story, which really wasn't much better. The chemistry between Fontana and Sierra seemed forced at times, the other characters seemed one dimensional and the mystery/suspense was really flat. The romance was only good in spots. Naturally one can't help loving Jayne's dustbunnies, but even this one was overdone and over the top. Do we really have a heroine who dresses her dustbunny up like Elvis and characters who make lame jokes about "Elvis has left the building"? Yes, we do. One last beef, the hero's name was John Fontana. Throughout the entire book - even in the love scenes, the heroine calls him Fontana. I don't know about you guys, but when I am in an intimate moment, I don't call my lover by his last name, even if he goes by it a lot. I waited eagerly for this book, as I truly enjoy Castle's Harmony series. Most of the books are 4 to 5 star reads. Sadly, this one stunk.
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