Berte-Bratt-Forum

Die Bücher von Jayne Castle (alias Jayne Ann Krentz und Amanda Quick), die ich Euch vorstellen möchte, gehören zu meinem absoluten Lieblingsbüchern: Humor, interessante Kriminalfälle, faszinierende mentale Fähigkeiten und vor allem sympathische Protagonisten, bei denen man unheimlich gut nachvollziehen kann, warum sie sich in einander verlieben. Ich habe die Geschichten schon so oft gelesen, dass ich manche Passagen fast auswendig kann! Die Bücher gehören in das Genre „Paranormal Romance“ (Achtung: Sexszenen!) und sind leider noch nicht auf Deutsch erschienen. Lasst Euch bitte nicht davon abschrecken, dass die Inhaltsangaben der Geschichten so vollgestopft mit Informationen und daher nicht immer leicht verständlich sind – die Bücher selbst sind ganz und gar nicht so, sondern ohne Probleme zu verstehen.


Vorbemerkung zu den Büchern:
Two hundred years ago a vast energy Curtain opened in the vicinity of Earth, making interstellar travel practical for the first time. In typical human fashion, thousands of eager colonists packed up their stuff and lost no time heading out to create new homes and new societies on the unexplored worlds. Harmony and St. Helen were two of these worlds.
The colonists brought with them all the comforts of home – sophisticated technology, centuries of art and literature, and the latest fashion. Trade through the Curtain flourished and made it possible to stay in touch with families back on Earth. It also allowed the colonists to keep their computers and high-tech gadgets working. Things went swell for a while.
And then one day, without warning, the Curtain closed, disappearing as mysteriously as it had opened. Cut off from Earth, no longer able to obtain the tools and supplies needed to keep their high-tech lifestyle going, the colonists were abruptly thrown back to a far more primitive existence. Forget the latest Earth fashion; just staying alive suddenly became a major problem.
But on Harmony and St. Helen folks did one of the things humans do best: they survived. It wasn´t easy, but two hundred years after the closing of the Curtain, the descendants of the First Generation colonists have fought their way back from the brink to a level of civilization roughly equivalent to the early twenty-first century on Earth...

Jayne Castle:

Harmony - 1) After Dark

A race of aliens once lived on Harmony and left behind vast underground ruins riddled with traps which can fry people´s mind when they walk into them and „ghosts“ which are free-floating clouds of energy.
Since the closing of the curtain 200 years ago, the people of Harmony have discovered some strange abilities: It appears that everyone has a certain level of psychic ability - probably not psychic as we think of the word, but in fact an ability to operate some machinery, unlock doors etc. with a burst of energy focused through amber. However, some people have far higher levels of this energy which goes in two directions: Some become „ghost hunters“ who are able to manipulate „ghosts“ so they can use them as weapons or to dissolve them when they are found. Others become „trap tanglers“ who are able to dissolve the strange traps of psychic energy in the underground catacombs that can knock the unwary out, sometimes permanently. Ghost hunters and trap tanglers need each other but they also feel a lot of antagonism and professional jealousy.

Lydia Smith, a trap tangler, had a bad experience six months ago (known as her 'Lost Weekend') when she was found unconscious in the catacombs after being caught in an illusion trap. Because most people think that she is likely to have a breakdown afterwards, Lydia finds herself without a job or a professional reputation. In order to pay her bills she becomes a consultant and is hired by Emmett London, a man who turns out to be a ghost hunter, to look for a family heirloom which has gone missing. Unfortunately, while searching for the heirloom, Lydia and Emmett find themselves stumbling over bodies and realize that there is a lot more to the case than initially thought.

Harmony - 2) After Glow

The events in „After Glow“ take place a month after the end of the previous book: Lydia Smith and Emmett London have moved in together, and Emmett hopes to convince Lydia to marry him but he fears that Lydia's experiences in the alien catacombs a few months ago (her „Lost Weekend“) has prejudiced her against "ghost hunters" – and Emmett is a ghost hunter himself. Worse, the head of the Guild, the union/government of the ghost hunters, has been wounded and Emmett has to step into his place to keep things running smoothly. Things become even more complicated when Lydia stumbles over the body of a former college professor who had information about her „Lost Weekend“...

Harmony - 3) Ghosthunter

Elly St. Clair is engaged to the Guild Boss of Aurora Spring, Cooper Boone. Her father and brothers were always involved in the Guild, so naturally they were please when Elly became engaged to Cooper. Getting bridal jitters, she wants Cooper to declare his love and passion, not how suitable they are for marriage. When Cooper doesn't give her the reassurance she needs, fearing he wants her for her connections and not love, she breaks off the engagement and moves to Cadence City.
Six months later, when Elly contacts Cooper and asks him to help her, he believes she wants to reconcile. But that is at the very back of Elly´s mind since her friend Bertha is missing in the alien catacombs, and Elly needs a Ghost Hunter to save her...

Harmony - 4) Silver Master

Celinda Ingram is a professional matchmaker and has been living in Cadence City for four months. Her particular paranormal ability as a para-resonator – a very rare psychic ability – makes it possible for her to feel whether two people are compatible.
Davis Oakes is the owner of Oakes Security and appears to be a normal ghost hunter but he has some unusual psychic abilities himself. Davis is on the hunt for a stolen relic which belongs to the head of the Cadence Guild (= ghost hunter union). It leads him to Celinda who purchased the item as a toy for her pet, Araminta. Davis has has a bad experience with a matchmaker and doesn't care for the strong pull of attraction he feels for Celinda. But when someone tries to kill them, Davis and Celinda have to work together...


Jayne Castle hat außerdem die Geschichte „Bridal Jitters“ – über die „Vernunftsehe“ zwischen einem „Ghost Hunter“ und einer „Trap Tanglerin“ – geschrieben, die neben drei anderen Geschichten von Julie Beard, Lori Foster und Eileen Wilks in dem Buch „Charmed“ zu finden ist. Außerdem ist „Bridal Jitters“ gemeinsam mit „After Dark“ in dem Buch „Harmony“ enthalten.
Weiterhin verbergen sich hinter dem Buch "No Going Back" die beiden Romane "After Dark" von Jayne Castle und "Soft Focus" von Jayne Ann Krentz (dies ist der richtige Name der Autorin, unter dem sie "Romantic Suspense" schreibt).


St. Helen - 1) Amaryllis

Amaryllis Lark is one of the best psychic detectives working for Psynergy, Inc. She's cool, proper and completely professional – until Lucas Trent gets past her defenses. Lucas is head of a big company and wants Amaryllis to help him track down a corporate thief. What starts out as a simple corporate security situation turns into a murder investigation that puts both Lucas and Amaryllis right in the middle of the danger...

St. Helen - 2) Zinnia

Nick Chastain, a casino owner, and Zinnia Spring, an interior designer, meet because Zinnia thinks that Nick has kidnapped one of her clients – a stormy beginning for an exciting relationship. What follows is a mad chase for a missing journal, a murder investigation and the attempt to gain respectability...

St. Helen - 3) Orchid

Determined to rescue his family's company from impending ruin by becoming CEO, Rafe Stonebreaker who is gifted with psychic strategizing abilities has everything in place to make it happen, except the one thing he desperately needs to win over the board: a wife! But it isn't easy for such an exotic talent as Rafe to find a wife through a recognized matchmaking agencies. Then he encounters author, Orchid Adams, who possesses some unusual psychic abilities as well. She seems to be the perfect candidate for becoming Rafe´s wife. The only problem is that Rafe has to convince her of that first! Furthermore, things become more complicated when one of Orchid´s friends is thought to have stolen an ancient relic, and Orchid has to prove his innocence...

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Grüße aus NRW, Kristina.

"The public library is the most dangerous place in town". (John Ciardi)