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Ghost Hunters #0.5-1
Harmony
Harmony is a planet in the far future, aglow with an amber light and the psychic energy of its inhabitants. It is here that Jayne Castle casts her spell-over the men and women brave enough to love in a world unlike any we have ever seen before. In this unforgettable volume are two very enchanting tales set on Harmony...
After Dark...The New York Times bestselling novel of romantic suspense with a paranormal twist. A para-archaeologist and one of the most dangerous men on the planet heat up a murder investigation with a passion that cannot be extinguished-or denied...
Bridal Jitters...From the national bestselling anthology, Charmed. An official marriage-of-convenience between paranormal business partners is almost called off-because of love.
After Dark...The New York Times bestselling novel of romantic suspense with a paranormal twist. A para-archaeologist and one of the most dangerous men on the planet heat up a murder investigation with a passion that cannot be extinguished-or denied...
Bridal Jitters...From the national bestselling anthology, Charmed. An official marriage-of-convenience between paranormal business partners is almost called off-because of love.
416 pages, Paperback
First published September 1, 2000
5 people are currently reading
848 people want to read
About the author
Jayne Castle
49 books2,142 followersThe author of over 40 consecutive New York Times bestsellers, JAYNE ANN KRENTZ writes romantic-suspense, often with a psychic and paranormal twist, in three different worlds: Contemporary (as Jayne Ann Krentz), historical (as Amanda Quick) and futuristic (as Jayne Castle). There are over 30 million copies of her books in print.
She earned a B.A. in History from the University of California at Santa Cruz and went on to obtain a Masters degree in Library Science from San Jose State University in California. Before she began writing full time she worked as a librarian in both academic and corporate libraries.
Ms. Krentz is married and lives with her husband, Frank, in Seattle, Washington.
Pseudonyms:
Jayne Ann Krentz
Amanda Quick
Stephanie James
Jayne Bentley
Jayne Taylor
Amanda Glass
She earned a B.A. in History from the University of California at Santa Cruz and went on to obtain a Masters degree in Library Science from San Jose State University in California. Before she began writing full time she worked as a librarian in both academic and corporate libraries.
Ms. Krentz is married and lives with her husband, Frank, in Seattle, Washington.
Pseudonyms:
Jayne Ann Krentz
Amanda Quick
Stephanie James
Jayne Bentley
Jayne Taylor
Amanda Glass
Ratings & Reviews
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Displaying 1 - 30 of 43 reviews
February 5, 2017
This book contained two Harmony stories "After Dark" & "Bridal Jitters". I read "After Dark" first and I really enjoyed the Sci-Fi/Romance mix.
When I read "Bridal Jitters", I liked it too, but I am seeing a definite pattern to this series. Take 1 university trained woman, 1 rough but handsome man, throw in an alien catacomb mystery and romance and ... voila' you have a book.
I liked them enough to give another book in the series a read and then I'll see if the pattern holds and begins to make the series boring, or is different enough to retain my interest.
When I read "Bridal Jitters", I liked it too, but I am seeing a definite pattern to this series. Take 1 university trained woman, 1 rough but handsome man, throw in an alien catacomb mystery and romance and ... voila' you have a book.
I liked them enough to give another book in the series a read and then I'll see if the pattern holds and begins to make the series boring, or is different enough to retain my interest.
June 30, 2016
According to the other reviews I'm in the minority. It could be frame of mind reading this, but I didn't really get into it, even though I usually love a good archeological read. This had an interesting premise on another planet, but just couldn't see it. The romance part...first encounter felt thrown in. Alot of books in the series, so like I said, other people liked it ;)
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June 28, 2008This world is interesting. I like the futuristicness of it ALOT>
March 21, 2018
Loved it.
May 29, 2020
After reading a bunch of mediocre books, it felt good to come back to this author, like putting on a comfortable shoe. I'm not often blown away by the stories, but I enjoy them.
After Dark: 3/5
I liked it, but there were some odd things toward the beginning. Lydia was eating cheese and crackers with wine, and there was a moment where it said she licked the drops off her fingers, but there were no aforementioned activities to indicate she ever got any drops of anything on her fingers. Do people dip their fingers in wine? I don't think they do. The other weird thing was, the story made it clear the elevator was broken, but when going out on one occasion, it was stated they stepped onto the elevator as their way of going downstairs. I think these were things missed in editing.
Aside from those small things, I enjoyed it. Lydia seemed a tad wishfully dense, but that seemed to just be how her character was. Wishful thinking is nice, but she didn't do it to the extent of actually being stupid. She came around to the truth immediately when called out on it.
Bridal Jitters: 3.5/5
As a prequel, this exceeded my expectations. I thought it might be a set up for something, but it was actually its own condensed story. I would love to see these characters in later volumes of the series. I hope I do.
After Dark: 3/5
I liked it, but there were some odd things toward the beginning. Lydia was eating cheese and crackers with wine, and there was a moment where it said she licked the drops off her fingers, but there were no aforementioned activities to indicate she ever got any drops of anything on her fingers. Do people dip their fingers in wine? I don't think they do. The other weird thing was, the story made it clear the elevator was broken, but when going out on one occasion, it was stated they stepped onto the elevator as their way of going downstairs. I think these were things missed in editing.
Aside from those small things, I enjoyed it. Lydia seemed a tad wishfully dense, but that seemed to just be how her character was. Wishful thinking is nice, but she didn't do it to the extent of actually being stupid. She came around to the truth immediately when called out on it.
Bridal Jitters: 3.5/5
As a prequel, this exceeded my expectations. I thought it might be a set up for something, but it was actually its own condensed story. I would love to see these characters in later volumes of the series. I hope I do.
November 3, 2022
Bridal Jitters - Review:
A quick story to introduce the new land of Harmony. I do like how this new world was introduced.
The offices of Gage & Burch are off and running with their first case together. However, it appears someone wants them dead.
An exciting read for such a short story.
After Dark - Review:
This is the first full length novel of the new world Harmony. I like how this world was created. While you know you are reading about another planet, it is built in such a way that it feels a lot like Earth still.
Lydia & Emmet have teamed up to look for Emmet's Cabinet of Curiosity and his nephew who pawned the cabinet then went missing. In the course of looking for the cabinet, they stumble upon two murders.
I readily enjoyed the book and I'm looking forward to reading more.
A quick story to introduce the new land of Harmony. I do like how this new world was introduced.
The offices of Gage & Burch are off and running with their first case together. However, it appears someone wants them dead.
An exciting read for such a short story.
After Dark - Review:
This is the first full length novel of the new world Harmony. I like how this world was created. While you know you are reading about another planet, it is built in such a way that it feels a lot like Earth still.
Lydia & Emmet have teamed up to look for Emmet's Cabinet of Curiosity and his nephew who pawned the cabinet then went missing. In the course of looking for the cabinet, they stumble upon two murders.
I readily enjoyed the book and I'm looking forward to reading more.
August 5, 2019
This is a novel and novella set in the Harmony world. It was fun to read but I found the characters a little too similar in both stories and the actions in the plots were also too close. I like Fuzz the dust bunny but he is a supporting character, with no speaking lines for obvious reasons, so he could provided enough variety to make a difference. Having said that I did enjoy the book although I felt it could have benefited from the characters in both stories doing markedly different actions to prevent reader fatigue in the plots. For me it was fun but not a keeper to be read again.
January 30, 2018
I thought that After Dark was one of the best Harmony stories, if only because the protagonists dialog had some witty edge. Bridal Jitters on the other hand...not so much
October 14, 2018
Good book but I get confused with all the different "Para's". There's so many, lol. Lots of diffferent twists and good mystery as well. Easy read.
July 20, 2021
This would make an excellent movie.
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September 7, 2021Although I read the main story in this book before, it was a fun revisit. Jayne Castle/Jayne Ann Krentz writes funny, romantic stories that entertain and enthrall. I love them.
October 20, 2022
This combination gets 4 stars really because I have read the rest. I enjoy the world. Nice to escape our current world, at least in the United States in 2022.
July 25, 2024
A good book about the paranormal.
May 13, 2025
Easy read. Enjoyable. Solid characters good plot. Both books were very good. She always writes a good solid story under all her names.
October 8, 2014
Feel like you need some easy reading time? Then join me on the fascinating future planet of Harmony, discovered through and between Jayne Ann Krentz’s different series and pen names! This famous and best-selling author has been writing since 1979, usually with a paranormal twist to her romances. Around the turn of the millennium she began a new series in a new setting—the distant planet, Harmony. Although she has used up to 7 different pen names, currently she only uses three. The Harmony novels are written under her maiden name, Jayne Castle. Recently, however, she has begun tying her other two series in with the Harmony series, which has made for lots of fun figuring out which book goes where.
Personally, I mostly dislike romances. Especially the sickly sweet ones. But a Harmony novel grabbed me one day a half-dozen years ago when I was looking for something else. I snuck one home, secretly, not wanting to get caught reading any “romance tripe.” Surprisingly, it was kinda fun. The planet Harmony has been cut off from Earth for about 200 years, and its human society has developed its own mores and laws. It has also developed new paranormal skills associated with the crystals found everywhere: even whole ruined cities are built of green crystal. There were intelligent beings living on Harmony before humanity discovered it, but they left long ago, leaving behind many artifacts and mysteries. New skills and new crystals are discovered all the time, so each book focused on a new type of crystal for a while. There are about ten novels in the two basic Harmony series (Ghost hunters aka Harmony and Rainshadow), with a few others linked to other series. The Ghost Hunter series came first, and it was in book four, Silver Master, that she introduced the delightful creatures dust bunnies. These cat-sized intelligent animals adopt someone and move in, showing themselves greedy but pleasant companions and truly scary guards. Their cute blue eyes are suddenly joined by a pair of amber ones, and the four-eyed bunny goes ballistic, to the terror and pain of those targeted. If you are pet lover, they will add more enjoyment to the books.
Be warned that the first book was pretty lame, but they get better. Each book contains the requisite two or three sex scenes, but there is plenty of warning so you can skip it if you want. None of the plots are complicated, and all of them have a formula, but the mystery and suspense along with the gradual reveal of the planet’s secrets, make them a great choice for a scifi fan’s evening relaxation. Nowadays I carry Jayne Castle novels proudly.
Personally, I mostly dislike romances. Especially the sickly sweet ones. But a Harmony novel grabbed me one day a half-dozen years ago when I was looking for something else. I snuck one home, secretly, not wanting to get caught reading any “romance tripe.” Surprisingly, it was kinda fun. The planet Harmony has been cut off from Earth for about 200 years, and its human society has developed its own mores and laws. It has also developed new paranormal skills associated with the crystals found everywhere: even whole ruined cities are built of green crystal. There were intelligent beings living on Harmony before humanity discovered it, but they left long ago, leaving behind many artifacts and mysteries. New skills and new crystals are discovered all the time, so each book focused on a new type of crystal for a while. There are about ten novels in the two basic Harmony series (Ghost hunters aka Harmony and Rainshadow), with a few others linked to other series. The Ghost Hunter series came first, and it was in book four, Silver Master, that she introduced the delightful creatures dust bunnies. These cat-sized intelligent animals adopt someone and move in, showing themselves greedy but pleasant companions and truly scary guards. Their cute blue eyes are suddenly joined by a pair of amber ones, and the four-eyed bunny goes ballistic, to the terror and pain of those targeted. If you are pet lover, they will add more enjoyment to the books.
Be warned that the first book was pretty lame, but they get better. Each book contains the requisite two or three sex scenes, but there is plenty of warning so you can skip it if you want. None of the plots are complicated, and all of them have a formula, but the mystery and suspense along with the gradual reveal of the planet’s secrets, make them a great choice for a scifi fan’s evening relaxation. Nowadays I carry Jayne Castle novels proudly.
January 26, 2016
`Harmony contains two stories set in the future on the planet Harmpny:
Story 1 - After Dark
Lydia Smith a talented para-archaeologist, an ephemeral-energy para-resonator, also known as a tangler - one who can unlock or untangle illusion traps. Lost her job with the university following her 48 hours in an illusion trap underground, during an archaeological dig in the old city ruins of Cadence City. Since being let go from the university she has been working at Shrimpton's House of Ancient Horrors. Now she wants to start her own consulting service.
Emmett London a former ghost hunter from REsonance City comes to Cadence looking for his nephew Qyinn who stole an old family heirloom from him. He decides to hir Lydia to help him look for both Quinn and the heirloom.
Neither of them is prepared for the situation they find themselves in during the investigation. It begins with the murder of Lydia's friend Chester and involves rogue ghost hunters, attacks on Lydia, illegal digs in the old city, and much, much more.
Can Lydia get over her disdaim for ghost hunters and work with Emmett to find out who is behind the attacks on her or ???
Story 2 - Bridal Jitters
Virginia Burch a tangler who can unlock illusion traps is in partnership with Sam
Gage a ghost hunter. They have set up a consulting agency and their first job is to clear an underground dig of a ghost waterfall.
Once they are on site they discover someone does not want them to clear the waterfall. They are pushed through the waterfall. Sam manages to keep them from being harmed by the ghosts, but will need at least 2 hours sleep before he can fully function. They find an old structure built by the aliens where Sam can sleep.
Soon Virginia hears two hunters looking for them, but they make the mistake of trying to open one of the rooms.
Both stories good reads by the author.
Story 1 - After Dark
Lydia Smith a talented para-archaeologist, an ephemeral-energy para-resonator, also known as a tangler - one who can unlock or untangle illusion traps. Lost her job with the university following her 48 hours in an illusion trap underground, during an archaeological dig in the old city ruins of Cadence City. Since being let go from the university she has been working at Shrimpton's House of Ancient Horrors. Now she wants to start her own consulting service.
Emmett London a former ghost hunter from REsonance City comes to Cadence looking for his nephew Qyinn who stole an old family heirloom from him. He decides to hir Lydia to help him look for both Quinn and the heirloom.
Neither of them is prepared for the situation they find themselves in during the investigation. It begins with the murder of Lydia's friend Chester and involves rogue ghost hunters, attacks on Lydia, illegal digs in the old city, and much, much more.
Can Lydia get over her disdaim for ghost hunters and work with Emmett to find out who is behind the attacks on her or ???
Story 2 - Bridal Jitters
Virginia Burch a tangler who can unlock illusion traps is in partnership with Sam
Gage a ghost hunter. They have set up a consulting agency and their first job is to clear an underground dig of a ghost waterfall.
Once they are on site they discover someone does not want them to clear the waterfall. They are pushed through the waterfall. Sam manages to keep them from being harmed by the ghosts, but will need at least 2 hours sleep before he can fully function. They find an old structure built by the aliens where Sam can sleep.
Soon Virginia hears two hunters looking for them, but they make the mistake of trying to open one of the rooms.
Both stories good reads by the author.
January 3, 2023
Hmmm…it’s been a while but I hadn’t forgotten the pronoun issues. Not *those* pronouns; we, they, he, she, I…ayayaya…. I get it really - my sentences sometimes start at the verb too. It’s just that all the. MCs seem to talk like that.
Beyond that, it’s interesting to see where this series jumped the shark. I know that as it went on, the MCs seemed to have increasingly strong abilities, kinda like all the historical heroes have to be dukes. And I know that at some point the author got tired apparently of maintaining three distinct worlds so decided to tie them all up in a sack, like 3 cats that really don’t like each other. Since I was never interested in the contemporary, and got bored with the historical…. Yeah. Those later books didn’t interest me as much. But we’re here, in the beginning, where everything is new and self contained.
And our h has issues with ghost hunters, too bad Mr rig-uh-the new client is one, and as per the formula, a v. strong one. And of course, it’s Murder she wrote, with ghost burns, dust bunnies, and sex. It’s like a contemporary only on another planet, with psychic based tech. Somehow it works, unlike another series with a similar basic premise, but that one highlighted the psychic abilities and called them magic so maybe that was why. In any case, this particular H/h couldn’t be resolved with just one book apparently so, onward.
Beyond that, it’s interesting to see where this series jumped the shark. I know that as it went on, the MCs seemed to have increasingly strong abilities, kinda like all the historical heroes have to be dukes. And I know that at some point the author got tired apparently of maintaining three distinct worlds so decided to tie them all up in a sack, like 3 cats that really don’t like each other. Since I was never interested in the contemporary, and got bored with the historical…. Yeah. Those later books didn’t interest me as much. But we’re here, in the beginning, where everything is new and self contained.
And our h has issues with ghost hunters, too bad Mr rig-uh-the new client is one, and as per the formula, a v. strong one. And of course, it’s Murder she wrote, with ghost burns, dust bunnies, and sex. It’s like a contemporary only on another planet, with psychic based tech. Somehow it works, unlike another series with a similar basic premise, but that one highlighted the psychic abilities and called them magic so maybe that was why. In any case, this particular H/h couldn’t be resolved with just one book apparently so, onward.
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April 7, 2014This book was very good. I was very surprised at how exciting and fast paced the plot is. I was surprised because the book started off pretty slow, but towards the end it was very fun and enjoyable to read. For example, when harmony's friend figured out that she has special powers, harmony had to do everything she could so nobody else figured out. I enjoyed this book because of the very strong and different plot. I've never read another book similar to this one. Although I enjoyed this book, I might be a little biased because I have always liked science fiction books. In my opinion the book was good as a whole, and it flowed nicely. I would definitely recommend this book to anyone who likes to read science fiction. Although I like these types of books I think you can still enjoy reading it without enjoying science fiction. This is because the plot is so strong and interesting.
May 14, 2016
WELP, Goodreads deleted the review I did of the first half of this book.
After Dark (abbreviated review): annoying writing style (too many rez-, para-, psi-, etc.) and the romance was wholly unnecessary, but it's a very interesting world. A mystery was a good way to explore the world.
Bridal Jitters: again, the romance and characters made me roll my eyes. They were generic, a little boring, and cliche, and Sam was borderline sexually abusive, but whatever, they fall in love IMMEDIATELY, can't live without each other. Sure. I enjoyed that this novella went into the catacombs but I want to know what else is down there! I hope the others of the series explore and reconstruct the Harmonics' world and society as a plot arc spanning multiple books.
After Dark (abbreviated review): annoying writing style (too many rez-, para-, psi-, etc.) and the romance was wholly unnecessary, but it's a very interesting world. A mystery was a good way to explore the world.
Bridal Jitters: again, the romance and characters made me roll my eyes. They were generic, a little boring, and cliche, and Sam was borderline sexually abusive, but whatever, they fall in love IMMEDIATELY, can't live without each other. Sure. I enjoyed that this novella went into the catacombs but I want to know what else is down there! I hope the others of the series explore and reconstruct the Harmonics' world and society as a plot arc spanning multiple books.
Read
May 14, 2017Contains “After Dark” and “Bridal Jitters.”Jayne Castle specializes in novels about strong-willed females and the men who love them and this is an excellent example. Lydia is struggling to build a consulting business on the ruins of her former career and she isn’t about to give up her first client, even if he is an alpha male who isn’t telling the whole truth, including what he really hired her to do. Add in a murder or two and a pet dust bunny and you have a magnificent romp! Add in “Bridal Jitters,” about a man and woman who won’t let love get in the way of their business relationship/marriage, and you have a wonderful book to wallow in.
- Lynn H. -
- Lynn H. -
March 22, 2020
Actually a 2-in-1 book (After Dark and the "Bridal Jitters" novella), I found both stories entertaining, though I prefer Bridal Jitters. The heroine of After Dark is a bit abrasive to me, though spirited is also a good word to describe her. I believe After Dark was the first Harmony novel, and there are a few minor inconsistencies with some of the others. Overall, the story is interesting and has the typical twists, powerful hero, & spunky heroine that a person expects from Jayne Castle. Bridal Jitters is a fun little piece that has the unusual twist of starting with the hero & heroine's engagement party. Ms. Castle's sense of humor comes through as well.
November 29, 2011
First, Lydia and Emmett solve a mystery and get together, and second, Sam and Virginia also solve a mystery and get together, but while already engaged. Totally fine books. The Harmony books all kind of annoy me, but that's because I completely love the three St. Helen's books, which are basically set in the exact same world, but better developed and more (haha) harmoniously plotted. All the UDEM and ephemeral-energy vs. dissonance-energy vs. psi-energy makes no sense to me, and I don't really care about getting it.
April 28, 2013
This was a reread for me as I came across a Harmony book in the Arcane Society books and it dawned on me that here was yet another series that I started but didn't complete.. Anyway Bridal Jitters was great (as I read that one first) Nice preview of the type of writing that is distinctive to Jayne Castle (AKA Jayne Ann Krentz AKA Amanda Quick). After Dark was more of the same, with just deeper depth. I plowed through this book as I love the writing style and just the whole futuristic aspect of the series.. Good Book if you like a little Sci Fi with your Romance...
February 4, 2017
Loved this book! I want more of both couples...I love stories where the men and women have to work together to overcome the bad guys. If your life is boring and you want to escape, then you should take a trip to Harmony.
March 29, 2009
What's not to like? Alternate Earth (though she calls it Harmony), psychic abilities, cute little (predator) dust bunnies (I think she channels Month Python at times) Studly alphas, kick-ass heroines, steamy romance, all woven around an adventure. Jayne Castle (Jayne Ann Krentz) knows what she's doing and she does it very, very well.
November 17, 2024
Didn't like Lydia's story. Just didn't click for me. Found it slow and boring. And unfortunately they had a continuation of their story in the next book too. This one felt a little unfinished but I didn't realize they had a second book. Uses the word rez way too much in the first few books. Really annoying.
February 10, 2011
I love this alternate world Ms. Castle created. It's dangerous and so beautiful. This is the first in this series and am totally hooked. "Dust bunny"? Really? Ms. Castle possesses a wonderful sense of humour and creates fantasy worlds I enjoy.
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October 6, 2011For another series that mixes futuristic details with some mystery and romance, try Jayne Castle's Ghost Hunters series. It is set on an alien world where human civilization has had to recreate itself when contact with Earth was cut off. Harmony contains the first two stories in the series.
July 27, 2013
After Dark bk 1 in Harmony series. Ghosts, dust bunnies, mob style characters, strong female working to regain her career and reputation, and strong male searching for a family member and heirloom. Danger surrounds Lydia and Emmett. Harmony #0 is also in this book, Bridal Jitters.
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December 17, 2008This includes "After Dark" and "Bridal Jitters". I already have After Dark, may sell it.
Displaying 1 - 30 of 43 reviews