Ghost Hunter

This third Harmony paranormal romance takes place in Cadence City. Elly St. Clair is from a Guild family but she doesn't have the usual ghost hunter or tangler paranormal powers. That makes her family think that she is somehow fragile and needs protecting. But Elly has a new unusual paranormal power and she is neither fragile or helpless.

When her romance with new Aurora Springs Guild boss Cooper Boone disappoints her, she decides to start again in Cadence City. She had fallen in love with Cooper but doesn't think he loves her. She's afraid that he only wants her because of her Guild connections. She opens an herb shop, adopts a dust bunny named Rose, and makes friends with some of her neighborhood ruin rats.

But Cooper isn't willing to show more let her go. He has a plan to win her back but decides to give her some time in the hopes that she will miss him. After six months, he heads to Cadence City to win back his girl.

Cooper arrives at a bad time. One of Elly's friends has been attacked down in the catacombs. Elly is determined to find her and Cooper's reappearance in her life is fortuitous since she needs a ghost hunter to help her locate her friend. Finding her friend leads to all sorts of problems including a new drug sweeping the city and someone determined to frame Cooper for its presence. Also, Cooper himself has an unusual and secret paranormal talent.

Besides the usual romantic misunderstandings between the two characters, there are all sorts of secrets to uncover for both characters. Elly's ability to see the psi emanations of plants and Cooper's ability to work with blue light mean that psychic talents are increasing and diversifying among the settlers of Harmony. They are also dealing with a villain who wants what Elly can do for him since he is eager to use her and her Guild connections and doesn't care who dies along the way.

I thought Elly was a little bit whiny but ultimately enjoyed this science fiction lite paranormal romance. I am especially fond of dust bunnies and Rose is a great one. I loved her fascination with wearing Elly's bracelets as necklaces. I also like the idea of hidden rainforests down in the catalcombs built by long-fone aliens.

This one would be great for people who want a little science fiction and lots of romance in their reading. The narrator did a nice job with the pacing of the story. show less

In the third Harmony series book, botanist Elly St. Clair breaks off her wedding engagement to her Guild boss fiancé after she finds out that he was just using her for her family’s Guild connections. She leaves her small hometown of Aurora Springs for the bright lights of Cadence City to start her life over. After her friend Bertha goes missing in the dangerous catacombs beneath the city, she has no choice but to call in a ghost hunter—her ex—for help. Despite the pain he’d caused her, she still trusts Cooper and knows that he’ll help her find her friend.
When Elly left, Aurora Springs Guild boss and powerful ghost hunter Cooper Boone realized he’d made a terrible mistake. He didn’t use Elly for her connections, but he show more didn’t tell her that. After six months apart, he decides to win her back, but the shy woman he’d fallen in love with has blossomed into a kickass woman. Cooper’s planned courtship and seduction soon takes a drastic turn, but draws him closer to Elly than he’d ever expected.
I really enjoyed this book. Elly and Cooper are wonderful characters. They’re both strong, stubborn, and determined to protect each other. Elly was completely right to leave Cooper for his transgressions, but they were both to blame for the lack of communication. Cooper had a lot of secrets that he didn’t think Elly would be able to handle. Once he’d realized she wasn’t the fragile type, he started to confide in her, and their tense relationship bloomed into something strong and beautiful. All in all, they just needed time apart to figure out what mattered most to them.
The side characters were great. Lydia and Emmett from the previous two books made an appearance. Mercer Wyatt, the Cadence Guild boss, was mentioned a few times but never showed up on page. Elly’s friends, Bertha and Doreen, were great additions. The best characters in this series are the dust bunnies. On the alien world of Harmony, there are little fuzzy animals with two sets of eyes and six arms and legs. They’re loyal companions and have a psychic connection with the people they claim for themselves. Rose is Elly’s dust bunny, and she’s soooo adorable with her jewelry fetish.
I totally didn’t expect the twist at the end. I thought I knew who the villain was, but I turned out to be wrong. That’s awesome because I can usually guess correctly at the beginning of the book.
The story is fast paced and kept my attention. I definitely recommend it.
5 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

A more engaging novel than the two previous in the Harmony series, Ghost Hunter is the tale of Cooper Boone, ghost hunter guild boss of the Cadence suburb of Aurora Springs, and Elly St. Clair, daughter of a guild boss with a new psi talent, the ability to resonate with plants. Cooper and Elly are on the trail of some drug dealers and a 'blue freak,' a hunter who can make and manipulate blue ghost energy, something previously unheard of.
Because of the nuances of these two rare psi talents, I found this story to be more interesting. Castle is a master of creating a world and then building up on it. Her paranormal romances resonate with exciting twists. Really, it's like reading three genres at once: romance, science fiction, and show more mystery. I would definitely recommend this book to a fan of any of those genres. show less

She may be engaged to, and in love with, Aurora's new Guild boss, but Elly St. Clair is pretty sure that her fiance doesn't love her back. Unwilling to stick around and play the dutiful wife to a man whose mind is totally consumed by business, Elly heads to Cadence, opens an herbal shop, and starts enjoying life.

Ghost hunter Cooper Boone figured he'd give Elly six months to tire of city life, then go reclaim his wayward fiance - unfortunately for him, what he finds isn't exactly the shy little country mouse happy to return home. Elly's perfectly happy with her new life - but she does have another little problem Cooper can help her with...

Two characters with hidden depths, a dust bunny with great fashion sense, and the problem of romance show more complicated by murder and drug dealing. The world of Harmony continues to entertain. show less

This is number three in the Harmony series. Harmony is a earth colony which was cut off from contact with Earth. In the two centuries following, the humans developed psychic powers which were triggered off by the extensive alien ruins which give off psychic energy. In this book, a different viewpoint is taken from the previous two, as we switch to a different couple, although Emmett London and Lydia Smith, since married, do make a cameo appearance.

Unlike Lydia, Elly St. Clair doesn't have a grudge against the ghost hunter Guilds which act like a cross between a milita, the mob and a union for anyone - men mostly - who can resonate with the green energy clouds that manifest around the alien ruins and especially in the extensive catacombs show more under them. Ghost hunters provide protection for anyone who excavates legally in the ruins, to search for alien relics. The trade in these relics forms a major part of the economy on Harmony. Elly doesn't have ghost hunter powers herself, but instead has a psychic affinity with plants which only her family knows about - mainly because there are only two recognised major psychic talents, ghost hunting and tangling - the ability to resonate with and defuse illusion traps which are also a major hazard of underground exploration - and anyone claiming to have different abilities is viewed as mentally unstable.

In the prologue, Elly calls off her engagement to Cooper Boone, head of her local town Guild, when she discovers he fought a duel over her with another hunter apparently due to Guild politics. Six months later as the story proper begins, she has moved to a city and started a herbal business, utilising her hidden ability to determine psychically which herbs will suit her customers. Then a friend called Bertha, a prospector under the ruins, goes missing, and she calls on Cooper's help, having been told by her mother that he has come to the city. Bertha has been attacked in the catacombs, and it eventually becomes clear that the person responsible is a sociopath who will murder anyone in his way.

As with the other books we have a mystery, a couple who are obviously made for each other but won't admit it or can't communicate - Cooper actually loves Elly, but finds it difficult to show his emotions, and Elly is angry and upset that his dream career from childhood was to be a Guild boss when she wants him to love her as she loves him - and a cute native animal called a dust bunny who is the heroine's companion. This time the dust bunny, Rose, has a penchant for wearing Elly's bracelets.

The author has obviously decided, from this book onwards, where both main characters have powers a bit 'different' from usual - Cooper is a ghost hunter with a difference - that her original set-up was a bit restrictive, so is starting to make this more like her other series set on another colony planet where the humans develop psychic powers (Amaryllis, Zinnia, Orchid). In that series, the psychic abilities were very varied. Having begun to read the book after this one, it's clear that is now the way this series is going to go. Plus a whole new environment has been introduced which I won't explain to avoid spoilers.

A fairly decent read though I actually liked Bertha more than the protagonists who came over as a bit bland, and would have liked to have seen more of her. Again, a 3-star rating. show less

Ghost Hunter
3 Stars

Aurora Springs Guild Boss arrives in Cadence City to win back his former fianceé, Elly St. Clair, but the pair soon find themselves embroiled in a mysterious case involving blue ghosts, a deadly drug and a malicious killer.

This installment in the series starts out slow but picks up pace toward the end.

Cooper and Elly's romance is on the weaker side mainly due to the fact that they have very little chemistry and their breakup was caused by a serious lack of communication.

The investigation is also rather run-of-the-mill, but the tension and suspense ratchet up in the last few chapters and the resolution is satisfying.

In sum, an OK read but the author's Quick and Krentz books are better.

Leaving the small town where she grew up as a member of a prominent Guild hunter family, the heroine struck out on her own-determined to make it in the big city. And she has- much to the hero's dismay. At one time, he thought he had his plans all in order when it came to his and her life together but she's made things difficult for him. She broke off their engagement-fled out of town and got herself a new shiny life without him. But he's determined to win her back. A rather humorless man- serious and addicted to his work as the leader of the Ghost Hunters, he had no idea how to make her happy. Because he had such a hard time expressing his feelings or communicating them to her, she thought him a ruthless social climber- marrying her show more only because of who her family was and what they could do for him. So, she broke off their engagement and in turn broke his heart. Now she needs him. He's the only one she can trust to help her help a friend who's stumbled across a drug smuggling ring. Happy to be of use of her but displeased when she makes it very clear that she has no interest in rekindling their relationship, even though the adrenaline and high of the adventure leads to a passionate one night stand in his car. Now, he has an excuse to be close to her as their search has them encountering a mythical blue ghost and the hero being one of the few hunters in existence to be able to destroy it forces them to work together to find the man responsible. Though their relationship is not a hot and heavy mindless passion sort of affair, there was obvious chemistry. You wanted to smack the hero over the head for being truly obvious when it comes to the heroine's feelings. He didn't do it to be an asshole, or because he didn't find her attractive- he plainly did, but many a time he just became so wrapped up in the case that he could be mistaken for someone indifferent but truth was he just wasn't the open sharing type and really that was okay. Because when he said thoughtful comments or revealed his inner thoughts about the heroine and what she meant to him, it always managed to throw the heroine off guard and she could finally see the real man. Truth was that they never truly knew one another before. The hero revealed himself that he was so focused to achieving her, of putting his step by step plan into motion that he didn't take into consideration the woman he was marrying. And the heroine in turn was kept in the dark about his feelings and about his motivations so it was totally understandable why she would break off the wedding. But now she's not under the pressure of having that small town wedding and can finally get to know the hero and the person he really is. I enjoyed their relationship because it was real. It wasn't flashy or dramatic or another like that but that didn't stop it from being interesting. Over all I enjoyed this book. The one major flaw that was laced throughout the book which prevented a higher rating in my opinion was the authors habit of explaining every single detail. All the traditions and myths and ways of life on this new planet was gone over with a fine tooth comb and it got exhaunting. Especially as I've read over books in the series so I didn't need the whole back story again. It felt like a lot of the conversations was having the heroine explaining a rip off fairytale to the hero. But besides that, I liked it well enough. show less