Rating: 
Summary: Move along, nothing to see here (if you like SciFi)
Review: If you're expecting a good science fiction novel, don't read Unearthed. It borrows the holodeck from Star Trek, dialogue from Star Wars and robots from the Foundation series, but doesn't deliver anything original in turn. What we've got here is a just a run of the mill romance novel set in Space, rather than the Old West.
Rating: 
Summary: "Oh, a lightsaber."
Review: It all seemed simple. Cohl Travers would kidnap Tess Mackenzie, she would sing a song, and he would get an amulet that would free his father from kidnappers. Oh, did I mention that Cohl is an alien and that the amulet is hidden in a labyrinth of booby trapped tunnels on another world?All I can saw is that I have a new favorite author. CJ Barry creates wonderful characters and puts them through a series of space opera obstacles that will keep you turning the pages while the constant bickering and growing passion will keep you smiling. This is great stuff and I cannot wait to read her next book! Highly recommended.
Rating:
Summary: Outstanding romance, outsanding Sci-Fi
Review: Life is moving along rather bumpily for Tess Mackenzie. She does not have very high hopes. Plans for a singing career is heading in the right direction, she has her Darth-Vader in fur tomcat to love, her car is still running - barely - and she just was paid. Then Mr. Ugly-Mugger steps in her path demanding her money, and suddenly, life spins out of control. Fortunately, just as things are starting to get distressing, Tess is rescued. He is tall - very tall - dark and handsome. Oh, boy is he handsome! He is everything a woman could dream about - only one draw back: he is alien and he just kidnapped her! Tess knew with her luck there HAD to be something wrong with him! Now hurtling through space, Tess awakens to a new sense of reality. Aliens DO exist - great they are Hunks in Space instead of ET or the Worm Men from Men in Black. Still, Tess is not too thrilled with the adventure. She has a cat to feed and a career on the edge of taking off, and while sexy space aliens bring to mind all sorts of questions, she would just as soon be returned to terra asap! Cohl Travers, the sexy alien in question, has no intention of doing as Tess asks. He explains he abducted her for a reason - to save his father's life. He is a seeker, a finder of lost treasures (sort an Indiana Jones in space!). On a planet near to his, two brothers rule and war for control. One faction asked Cohl to find an amulet famed to bring peace and power to a ruler. He refused, so they kidnapped his father and are holding him hostage until Cohl delivers the lost treasure. Only, finding the amulet is just half the problem. He must have a singer with a precise pitch and quality of voice to sing a song to release the amulet from where it is magically held. And Tess is that singer, the only one in the whole universe with the perfect voice. Grudgingly, Tess finally agrees to help with fetching the amulet, but without Cohl telling her how dangerous the trek could be or that if she fails to sing the song precisely it will result in her death. Oh, well, leave it to a male to neglect 'small details' such as your life hanging by the thread. Nice to know some things do not change even though you are flying through space. However, Tess soon comes to realize the biggest threat is to her heart! Tess is so charming, so 'down to earth'. She does not want much, just to get back to her cat and her singing career, but she cannot stop herself from being drawn to Cohl. Budding hopes of a romance are nearly dashed when she learns Cohl is a runaway prince from the planet near the warring one. But the heart does not listen. Cohl regrets he is forcing Tess to help, but has little choice with his father's life in the balance. But kidnapping Tess brings a lot of complications. The opposition has found out he is going for the amulet and will do anything to stop him, including kidnapping and killing Tess. Worse, he is feeling really guilty for taking Tess from her life. And despite growing attraction, an attraction he fears is love, he will not stop until his father is freed, risking his life and Tess' in the quest. Tess' and Cohl's adventure is so charming, so steamy, one of those that linger in the mind and heart long after the book has been put down. Ms. Barry shows a brilliance for humour and timing, an uncanny ability to add that touch to a tense situation without it slipping over into farce. She creates strong characters that leap off the page and takes your hand, pulling you into a super adventure, fraught with space aliens, personal robots with an attitude, tense battles, and a quest that rivals the search for the Holy Grail. Barry, a first time author, shows control, a strong voice and the magical ability to conjure marvelous characters. She 'sees' her alien worlds so she is able to make the readers see them, experience them as well. Unearthed is first class romance, but it is also first class SCI-FI.
Rating: 
Summary: Read like a video game script
Review: Parts of this book were great fun but the plot read like a Tomb Raider wannabe with lots of bad SF movie clichés tossed in for camouflage. Ms Barry seems to be write well, she developes nice tension between her lead characters, but her story would have been more enjoyable if set in an original universe and if she had spent as much time developing the Sci-fi part of her plot as she did on the Romance. As a reader who enjoys a well done Sci-Fi romance novel nothing bothers me more than novels where the writer's experience with Sci-Fi seems limited to media franchise fiction and video games. I wish people who didn't "get" the Sci-Fi part of the equation would just stick to straight Romance and the ones who want to write media tie-ins would try for the media market.
Rating: 
Summary: exhilarating science fiction romance
Review: Songwriter and wannabe singer Tess MacKenzie is heading home having just been paid when some street punk accosts her demanding she give him her money. Refusing, she sprays her mugger with hair spray before running for her life. In her haste to escape Tess barrels into another person Cohl Travers. Talk about jumping from the pan into the fire, Cohl abducts Tess. However, this is not your simple kidnapping as this is a real alien abduction. Cohl believes that Tess contains the voice that will save his world Speculator. Though she cannot accept that she is no longer on earth and that she has the singing talent to save a world, Tess aggress to perform, but of course there are a few preliminary steps like risking one's life to find the amulet that her song will activate. However, kidnapping is becoming away of life for her, as thugs on Speculator abduct her. For the good of his world as much as for his heart, Cohl follows in hot pursuit. Living up to her homonymic last name, C.J. Barry provides an exhilarating science fiction romance that readers from both genres will enjoy. The story line is loaded with action, plenty of humor and romance, and makes Speculator seem like an unearthly but genuine orb. The lead couple is the ultimate star-crossed lovers and Tess is an intrepid Pauline, as peril seems to be her middle name. Though at times the tale turns cartoonish, fans will savor this delightful novel. Harriet Klausner
Rating:
Summary: Nonstop Fun and Adventure
Review: Tess and Cohl, Earth singer and Alien adventurer, come to vibrant life in UNEARTHED. Their story carries them from one danger-filled encounter to another -- but we never lose sight of the fact that the greatest risk, and reward, comes from the gamble they're taking with their hearts. Heat of many kinds oozes from the pages of this book, making it fun, lusty, fast-paced, and UN-put-downable. How good is it? Here's a hint -- how many books can you think of that so gripped a husband that he postponed sex to finish reading? Yep, THAT good. UNEARTHED is the first book to appear from CJ Barry, and it's a wild ride of a start to what promises to be an UNstoppable career.
Rating:
Summary: Fast Paced Science Fiction Adventure w/Plenty of Romance!
Review: Tess MacKenzie is trying her hardest to make it to the big time. She put her singing/songwriting on hold for years to help her parents run their business, but now it is her time to succeed. So when Cohl Travers, a sexy alien and his robot, Pitz, kidnap her, Tess is less than pleased. She can't believe that Cohl needs her voice to find some amulet on a long deserted planet to save the life of his father. Things like this just don't happen to her! Cohl Travers is the best treasure hunter in the galaxy, but he refused to find the amulet for the Trakas, knowing that the warring brothers would use the amulet's power to destroy their people. However, when the Traka-Sou kidnap his father, they have made Cohl an offer he cannot refuse. When he finally found the perfect voice match to sing the amulet, he let nothing stand in his way to bring Tess up to his spaceship. Cohl was determined not to like the beautiful Tess, after all, she may die trying to get the amulet, and, if she lives, she will be returning to Earth, but he is irresistibly drawn to her. Too bad every other person in the vicinity feels the same way! Tess has no idea what she is getting herself in for, but she refuses to help Cohl, until they stop for repairs on Cohl's planet and finds out that Cohl is the prince and heir to the throne. She is persuaded by the love that all of the citizens feel for Cohl and his family to try and retrieve the amulet to save this beautiful world. Still, she cannot understand why Cohl denies his birthright and wanders around space getting into all kinds of dangerous situtations. Doesn't he realize how much the people love him and he loves them? As time goes by and Tess spends more and more time with Cohl as they escape from enemies, ferret out spies and hunt down the amulet, she begins to dread the time when Cohl will return her to Earth - but how can she stay if he refuses to admit he has feelings for her? This is a great science fiction story with plenty of romance thrown in. I loved the characters and felt that they struck a good balance between being stubborn, but not stupid and willing to compromise. There was a great relationship that developed between Tess and Cohl and there are some hot and steamy scenes between the two of them. C.J. Barry's descriptions of the worlds in outer space were great and all of the alien worlds were unique. The plot was fast paced, the book was well written, the romance was hot - this is definitely an author to keep an eye out for!
Rating:
Summary: WOW what a great writer!
Review: This book is full of adventure. Think of Indiana Jones in Space, with with a hot, sexy romance and lots of FUN. It's thrilling and full of chuckles. The characters are so touching, so down to earth, even when they are not on earth!!! I am immediately ordering her two other books and look forward to more of her stories. I saw this own a Pearl Award. Well, earned!!
Rating:
Summary: Sexy and fun!
Review: This is the first of C.J. Barry's books that I've read, and I'll definitely buy more. It was great fun, fast-paced, sexy, funny. I love the way the hero, Cohl, ultimately proves his love to Tess but I won't spoil things by telling how!
Rating:
Summary: A fantastic futuristic romance!
Review: UNEARTHED is a wonderful futuristic romance from a great new author. Being a writer of futuristic romances myself, I'm delighted to see more authors in the genre, especially when they're as talented as Ms. Barry is. UNEARTHED is packed with action and adventure, steamy sensuality, and pure fun, yet Ms. Barry manages to delve into the deeper emotions of her characters. Tess McKenzie is a spunky earth woman who is kidnapped and spirited away to distant planets, all because her voice is the perfect match as a key to free up a magical amulet. Cohl Travers, the man who abducts her, is sinfully handsome and sexy, but also a man of honor and duty. Together, Tess and Cohl blaze a trail across the stars, battling the evil Traka-Sous and Traka-Nors, in a race to save Cohl's father and his home planet. Laced with wondrous adventures, intriguing new worlds, and beautiful love scenes, UNEARTHED is UNforgettable. Buy it now, read and savor it, then put it on your keeper shelf so you can read it again and again.
|
