After Glow

After I listened to the audiobook of the first book in this series, I looked at the icon for the second book on my computer and figured it was as good as anything to listen to while doing other things. So I queued it up. I do silly things like that now and then.

And there they all were, the issues that annoyed me in the first book: repetition galore, long moments and lost weekends even moreso, one fluffy creature standing in for the entire native fauna of a planet, and rezzing. So much rezzing. And rezzes. Hey, look, I can do a search through Google Books: there are rez-shrinks and mag-rez locks and para-rez and rez-jazz and rez-screens and instincts going into high rez and oh lord what does that even mean? Oh, and rez-tea, for heaven's show more sake. It's as though instead of actual world-building the author decided to just add "rez-" to everything. Dinner rezzes on the stove. Characters rez a lock or the ignition of the stand-in for a car or the stand-in for a tv. (The latter two things are absolutely indistinguishable from plain old televisions or cars. Again, what's the point?) All the rezzing irritated me more in this outing. Obviously.

The word "munch" is wildly overused, too. Somebody needs to use a word cloud or something.

The writing in general annoyed me more in this one. Dialogue is simultaneously stilted – how many people really say things like "I clutched it"? – and too current; this book takes place in the very, very distant future, since it's over a thousand years after the curtain closed between here and there, and the curtain opened somewhere around now. And yet someone names an off-limits place "Area 51"… and as I mentioned in my review of the last one otherwise the whole thing could easily take place in 2016 Milwaukee with just a few simple changes.

Characters have a habit of asking questions that were answered about a minute ago – "They found [so-and-so's] body…" "Dead?" Yes, that is usually what that means. And Captain Obvious is an unbilled star … as, for example, when the explorers come across thousand-year-old skeletons. Lydia: "I remember them. They were here last time." WERE THEY?? So – you were there within the last thousand years, then? Got it.

There's no point in arguing the finer points of writing with these books; they're meant as pure popcorn. As someone in a podcase I listen to said a while ago, "popcorn fare" keeps the muscles warm, but doesn't give your brain a workout. My mistake is trying to make things make sense – like why this is supposedly set so far away in space and time when the writer obviously doesn't feel like making much effort at incorporating that into her world or writing. Or why characters are so insta-jealous with absolutely no cause – they just are, maybe because the author finds it entertaining. I must remember to put these books on my just talk to each other shelf, because the diffident "I'm not worthy" nonsense coming from the heroine and the primal "my woman, other men must stay away or I will kill them" crap coming from the hero is … nonsensical crap.

So these two books killed a few hours, and perhaps a few brain cells, and my patience. I don't quite regret the time spent listening to them. But they are sure as sure can be the last books by this author I ever try. (Note to self: investigate writer's pseudonyms in order to avoid them.) show less

Lydia Smith is still working at Shrimpton's and trying to build her career as a consultant. She's dating Emmett London despite the fact that he's a former hunter turned business consultant. Lydia has found a rich new client who wants her to find artifacts to decorate his new development. But she is still trying to find out what happened during her "lost weekend" when she spent 48 hours lost in the catacombs under Cadence City.

When an old colleague contacts her saying he has some information about the time that she lost, Lydia is quick to go see him. Only she arrives too late and she finds his body. She immediately calls the police but there are suspicions of her involvement since she had recently found another body. When she and Emmett show more return to the scene of the crime, they find a carefully hidden clue but it isn't clear what the clue is supposed to tell them.

Then Mercer Wyatt is shot and Emmett is chosen to take over temporary control of the Cadence City Guild. This causes all sorts of conflicts between Lydia and Emmett because Lydia still blames Guild hunters for abandoning her in the catacombs which led to her lost weekend and losing her job as a para-archaeologist.

Things get even worse when someone tries to kill Emmett by setting a large green ghost on him. And there is a plot that someone wants to challenge him to a hunter duel to take control of the Guild. This leads to Lydia proposing a Marriage of Convenience to Emmett so that she can protect him from being challenged to a duel.

Now, Emmett wants to marry Lydia but he would prefer the more permanent Covenant Marriage and he would prefer that Lydia is marrying him because she loves him, not just because she wants to protect him.

This story is science fiction lite. Twentieth Century Earth culture and most technology is just dumped onto the planet of Harmony. There are additions though. The residents are gaining psychic powers as the generations go on and there are alien ruins that provide all sorts of mysteries for scientists and treasure hunters to discover. And there are dust bunnies. Fuzz makes his second appearance in this story as someone who has adopted Lydia and who has a number of paranormal talents of his own including his psychic bond with Lydia which lets him find her when she's lost in the catacombs. Dust bunnies are small, six-legged and four-eyed creatures that look a lot like a ball of dryer lint. They are predators who are quite protective of the humans they adopt.

This was a fun paranormal romance which was also a mystery. I enjoyed it quite a bit. Joyce Bean did a nice job with the different character voices and the pacing of the story. show less

I don't believe I have ever read a book that actually had real, live dust bunnies in the story...although I may have encountered some that I believe were alive and reproducing in the corners of my house:) Anyway...I learned that this is the second story with Emmett London and Lydia Smith....why didn't I see that to start with? Things seem to be going along great for them. They are dating...hoping for some type of wedding in the future, and of course they have the usual problems that most normal couples encounter. I became bored with the two of them...confused by all the activity taking place in their alternate world... and wished the entire book could have been just about those cute little dust bunnies. I have to admit, in case you show more haven't guessed... this is NOT...in any way, shape or form...my type of book, but it fit into...what else???...yelp.... filling a category of a challenge! So, I can't and am not going to be too critical. I knew what I was getting myself in for before I reached the second chapter. I saw that it was only the 2nd book with those dust bunnies that do tend to take over the story...and quite frankly was the reason I continued to read...challenge or no challenge. It's not badly written...the characters are well drawn...if a reader likes this kind of story, it will be their "cupa tea". This author writes under several different names... Jayne Castle...Jayne Ann Krentz...and Amanda Quick. I guess all her books under any of those names, have something in common like her couple characters always being allowed to fall in love. One thing I'm sure they don't have are...DUST BUNNIES! show less

This is the second in the series set on the remote planet of Harmony, which was colonised from Earth before being cut off by the closure of the energy cloud called the Curtain, which had enabled such far distant travel. Two centuries later, Harmony has returned to about the level of 20th century Earth technology, but with various important differences, due to the development of psychic abilities among the colonists.

The sequel to 'After Dark', this book stars the two main characters of the first volume, Lydia Smith and Emmett London. A couple of months have passed and they are dating, though not totally over the prickliness which marked their relationship previously. This isn't helped by the attempted assassination of Mercer Wyatt, head show more of the ghost hunter Guild, early in the story, and Emmett's temporary appointment as acting Guild head. Given Lydia's grudge against ghost hunters - the testimony of two of them after she was lost underground for two days was instrumental in getting her fired from a career she loved - she worries that Emmett will be pushed into taking the job permanently, and has graver concerns that he will be the next target.

As with the first story, this begins with them finding a dead body, this time of an ex- professor who had phoned Lydia saying he had important information about what happened to her during her Lost Weekend as she calls it. Conveniently, he has died of a drug overdose, but evidence eventually emerges which convince both Lydia and Emmett that someone wanted to silence him. Bodies start to pile up, with a strange connection to the supposed deaths of some rather odd people a decade or more previously, as well as to the century ago rebellion, led by a man called Vance, who tried to use his own private army to take over Harmony. It was that conflict which led to the setting up of ghost hunter Guilds in each city and town, as private militia. These days, the Guilds handle training of youngsters - mostly boys - who exhibit the ability to deresonate the dangerous green energy clouds which form a hazard to anyone exploring the catacombs under the alien ruins each city and town has been built around, and also rents out the services of adult ghost hunters to protect official expeditions like the one on which Lydia was lost.

As with book 1, the murder mystery and the characters' own conflicts are interwoven, plus the appearances of a cute furry animal - known as a dust bunny - which has adopted Lydia. The final scene which stars him and a female of the species is the most cute in the book. I did find though that the shopping scenes were a bit tedious - Lydia has a friend who guides her in what to buy for her various social occasions - and slowed down the story. There are misunderstandings between Lydia and Emmett who turns out to have a romantic side she didn't appreciate. As the relationship has now been consummated, there is a little too much low level description of plumbing for my taste; less is more really or sex scenes can become farcical. A good read on the whole, but not spectacular, so it merits 3 stars from me. show less

In the second Harmony series book, Lydia Smith and her boyfriend Emmett London have stumbled upon another murder. The couple starred in the previous book, After Dark, and their love story concludes in this book, which takes place a month after the first book ends.
Lydia is a para-archeologist who works at a third rate museum (a nasty accident in the ancient alien catacombs beneath the city cost Lydia her prestigious job seven months earlier), and Emmett is a powerful ghost hunter who’s now the acting boss of the Cadence City Guild (a mob-like organization that combats dangerous psychic energy, aka ghosts). Lydia doesn’t trust the guild or ghost hunters in general, but she cares for and trusts Emmett despite his loyalty to the guild. show more
Lydia wasn’t nearly as snobbish and prejudiced against the guild as she was in the first book. In fact, she often enjoyed the perks of being Emmett’s woman, and she threw his name around to get her way. This change of character irritated me a little, but I was relieved she’d somewhat jumped down from her high horse.
Emmett was just as secretive as ever, but Lydia had enough brains to call him out when needed. So, in essence, his secrets came to light really fast which saved me from getting frustrated. Very little was mentioned about Emmett’s time as the guild boss in Resonance City, and I really wanted to know more about that. For being a boss, he’s supposed to be a badass, take-charge kind of man, but he didn’t seem dark or moody enough for me.
In the previous book, I didn’t feel any romance, desire, or chemistry between the H/h. In this book, I could finally see them falling in love and acting like a real couple. Their main problem, however, was their lack of communication. By the middle of the book, they opened up to one another and were finally on the same page, which made the book a lot better in my opinion.
The series is set in the futuristic world of Harmony where all the humans have psychic abilities and use the amber gemstone to help them control those abilities. All the cities are run like city-states under a planet-wide Federation.
The story is fast paced but could use a light edit. For example, the author once misspelled the hero’s name and also claimed he was the boss of the Cadence Guild for six years, when she meant the Resonance Guild. This is the second time I’ve read this book, and I like it more than I did the first time. I look forward to reading more in the series.
4 Stars

Disclaimer – I bought this book for my own enjoyment. I am not paid or compensated in any way, shape, or form for this honest review. I will not change or alter this review for any reason unless at my discretion. show less

After Glow
4 Stars

Series note: This is the sequel to After Dark and should be read in order as the story continues directly following the events of the previous book.

When para-archeologist Lydia Smith stumbles upon another dead body, she and her lover Emmett London are swept up in the investigation, which may be linked to the events in the underground passageways that caused Lydia's localized amnesia.

This installment provides more in-depth world-building and additional characterization, and the mystery surrounding Lydia's amnesia is resolved.

Lydia and Emmet's romance is very appealing and they have excellent chemistry.

All in all, a very satisfying conclusion to the story arc, and the next book will focus on different characters.

A race of aliens once lived on the future Earth colony called Harmony, leaving behind them the ruins of a vast, beautiful, and mysterious culture that is still protected by the psychic illusion traps and eerie ghosts that they created.

It's the second time in a month that Lydia Smith has found a dead body. The first time pararchaelogist and museum curator Lydia became tangled up in a murder investigation it brought her together with her boyfriend, ghost hunter Emmett London. So naturally Lydia thinks of Emmett when she stumbles across the body of her former professor, Lawrence Maltby.

While the police believe Maltby's death was caused by his drug addiction, Lydia doesn't buy it. So with Emmett's help, she pursues her own investigation show more even as she tries to figure out exactly what kind of a relationship she and Emmett have. He is a ghost hunter, and it was two lying ghost hunters which ruined her reputation as a detangler. He has also just been made a temporary head of the Ghost Hunters guild. Can she overcome her predudices, can he clear her name?

A fun book, a blend of murder/mystery, science fiction and romance, with more than a touch of humour thrown in; and I so want my own dust-bunny!!! show less