Rating:  Summary: Bitter Disapointment Review: I have loved all of Jayne Castle's fururistic romances until this one. It was so poorly written I checked to be sure it really was her book. All the things I loved about Harmony in the other three books, are missing from this one and I felt cheated. Part of the enjoyment, for me, was thinking about how things like cof-tea really would have tasted. I realize that remembering and thinking all these things out make it a lot harder to write the book but this most recent effort seemed like it was just thrown together. Those of us who read all your books feel like we know this world you have made, their special talents, moral background, culture. A lot of time was spent designing and explaining this in other books. I am fascinated when you introduce new talents so this book shouldn't have been any different but it was. I felt cheated. Please Jayne go back to your old format, I need your laughter in my life.
Rating:  Summary: A New World Review: Jayne Ann Krentz again brings us a story we want to read and people we want to know. Lydia is going through a bad time in her life. She has lost a weekend, lost her job and lost a friend to murder. The good parts are she hasn't lost her abilities as a para-archaeologist, she has found a protector in Fuzz and she has her first private client for her para-archaeologist business. The sparks between Lydia and Emmett were a joy to read. The secondary characters filled out the story well. My only problem was the ending, or maybe there is no ending. The book left me wondering what happens between Lydia and Emmett. Are they now a couple, is there another book coming with the two as the main characters? Is this the first of a series? Other than the ending I throughly enjoyed the story.
Rating:  Summary: An insulting waste of time and money Review: JAK has finally worn out my loyalty and interest. Her name on the cover USED to mean interesting characters, intense romance and spritely language. Unfortuately, her stuff has become increasingly boring re-treads. This book reaches bottom, the pits. It doesn't work on ANY level. The "futuristic" aspects are embarrassingly bad, with far too many careless slips. The story is supposed to take place at least 3 centuries in the future, but people wear jeans and sneakers, "vehicles" still have fenders and--a mind-boggling Krentzian cliche--trendy cuisine is pasta and itty-bitty vegetables. The examples are too many (and horrendous) to list, but rest assured the reader is consistently jarred by weired, inappropriate details. Off-planet society in 2300 is a dead-ringer for downtown Seattle in 2000. The characters and situations are recycled, too. The plucky heroine is an aspiring entrepreneur and the hero is a CEO, even though they can do some glitzy paranormal stuff. The hero has a rash young relative who exists solely to set the plot in motion. Does this all sound familiar? It should; JAK's been recycling it for years. Worse, the romance is practically nonexistent. The characters are so cardboard and cliched it's hard to care if they fall in love with furniture instead of each other, though it'd be hard to tell the difference. There's some half-hearted sparring and misunderstandings, then they have sex in an armchair. A few hasty adventures later, the book ends with the heroine chirpily accepting a future DATE. All relationship issues are left hanging, no meeting of minds, no hearts in evidence to worry about. No lift of the heart, no shiver-and-sigh, no NOTHING. PHONE BOOKS have more depth, personal interest and romantic zing. Finally, After Dark is unforgivably carelessly written. Major plot devices and characters are thrown in, never to be see again. For example, the disapperance of the the young relative with a priceless antique "cabinet of curiousities" starts the action. The young guy crops up--abruptly, and almost as an afterthought--but the priceless family heirloom, with all those intriguing hidden drawers? Never mentioned again. The hero? plucky heroine despises his almost mob-like "Guild" of paranormals. He cleaned up the Guild in another city (with an iron hand, of course) so it resembles a corporation (!). He's urged to take over local Guild leadership, though the plucky heroine despises nothing more than the Guild and all it stands for. At the end?--nothing, NOTHING mentioned or implied. In short, this book finally exhausted my patience with JAK. A previous reviewer nailed it perfectly: for intense, involving alternative romances that sizzle and sing, try J.D. Robb's (Nora Roberts) excellent series, or Linda Howard's Dream Man, Now You See Her and Son of the Morning, or Diana Gabaldon's Outlander series. I paid money for this book, hoping against experience for something even faintly resembling what the author used to provide to the reader. No more. Done. This reader's loyalty has been burned out. I'll borrow or buy used, but enough is enough.
Rating:  Summary: Good, ...... Review: But not the "SPELL-BINDER" of the other Harmony books. I really like this genre, Futuristic/Sci-Fi/Romance. I liked the people. Zane & his aunt were great. Found the male lead ~ Emmett..sexy, maybe more so than the female lead Lydia did... ;-}. Just missing some little spark....
Rating:  Summary: Boring Review: I was looking forward to this book and it was a struggle to complete it. It was quite confusing in the beginning with the murder and the search for his nephew etc. The bad guys was a stretch and it ended with them making a date, give me a break. Quite a disappointment for me.
Rating:  Summary: My first futuristic paranormal romance... Review: left me a bit confused at first but left me satisfied at the end. I was a bit lost in the beginning because I didn't understand the "historical backdrop" of the plot and had some difficulty following along. But sexy Emmet London and fiesty Lydia Smith's world was more than interesting enough to keep me reading. I love Emmet's sense of humor and was amazed at Lydia's resistance to him! I love it when two people have instant attraction in the story, it's so much more fun to read. Of course, once I got past the confusion, I really enjoyed the story. (Though, the book was too short!!) I did find Jayne Castle "para-rez" terminology like "UDEMs" and "rezzed" quite entertaining.
Rating:  Summary: terrible Review: unfortunately this is her worst book ever. Although I have enjoyed almost all of her other books tremendously and she is by far my favorite romance novel, this book is not well put together and leaves the reader lost with many lose ends that are not explained properly. a big disappointment
Rating:  Summary: A waste of time and money Review: I have enjoyed Jayne Anne Krentz's novels in the past, but "After Dark" put me to sleep, (literally). The most interesting character in the book is a pet "Dust Bunny" who is cuddly one moment and a hunter the next. The human characters were uninteresting, and at times unlikable with very little sexual chemistry between the hero and heroine. The plot was loosely tied together with issues never being resolved. I kept doggedly reading on hoping that the characters would grow and the plot would start to make sense, but was sadly disappointed. The world of Harmony was as flat and one-dimensional as were the characters, not nearly as believable as the other books written by Ms. Krentz. My recommendation is: don't waste your money!
Rating:  Summary: An unusual bequest was left to her Review: Months ago, Lydia Smith got lost in the catacombs due to an illusion trap. Forty-eight hours of her life were gone as a result and it was a miracle she managed to find her way out. Once she did, however, her career as a para-archaeologist working for the university was over due to the delicate state of her mind. But Lydia knows she's as capable as ever and though, she might be blackballed by the university, she attempts to strike out on her own as a consultant for the private sector. It doesn't seem to be going well when she and her first client stumble across a dead body in one of the sarcophagus in the museum where she works part-time. Emmett London traced his missing cabinet of curiosities to Chester Brady, an associate of Lydia's. When the two find Brady murdered, Lydia and Emmett find themselves racing against the clock in order to discover who, or what, perpetuated his death. It is testament to Castle's talent as a writer that she managed to create a paranormal world complete with background and history as well as spin out a somewhat interesting plot. There is a great deal of historical richness and creativity to this book that can be gleaned through the details Castle provides. I enjoyed this part of the book immensely. In addition, Emmett London was a cool and controlled hero whom I enjoyed and would have liked to read more of in this book. But clearly, this is Lydia's story. A great deal of the story revolves around her and her history with the university, her history with Chester, and her bitter attitude towards ghost-hunters of which Emmett can include himself. It was hard to warm up to Lydia and even more difficult to buy the romance between the two. I felt that Lydia's petulance was a bit aggravating especially when she interacted with Emmett. Lydia is working for him and yet, she is angered by the fact that he keeps things from her, which, in truth have no bearing on her search for his cabinet. For instance, his being the former leader of the guild of ghost-hunters in his own city is a cause for anger with her when in fact his past has nothing to do with what she was hired to do for him. And though she works for him, she breaches the gap between employee and partner continuously. In addition, the ending of the story leaves the reader wondering whether this is, indeed, the start of a partnership. Lydia and Emmett's relationship is in no way cemented or resolved by the end of the story so it was difficult to think of it as a romance. It seemed more suspenseful. I enjoyed the narrative and I enjoyed the plot and the creativity Castle employed in order to develop it. As a whole my impression of this story was good and if this is a series in the making, I'm sure that it can only improve if these two characters have room to develop.
Rating:  Summary: After Dark Review: Let me start by stating that I am a BIG fan of Jayne Ann Krentz and was anxious to read her latest. I was very disappointed. It is not that I am oppossed to futuristic books, have you read JD Robb(Nora Roberts) Death series? I found the plot very difficult to follow, especially if it was not read in one sitting. Each time I came back to it I needed to do a quick review. Too much "rez this and rez that". Also, I found the interaction of Lydia and Emmett to be very cold . No chemistry here. All in all, a big yawn. Sorry JAK, this one didn't do it for me.
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