Anne McCaffrey - Crystal Line

The third book in the Crystal Singer series, published September 29, 1992.
Genre: science fiction romance
Cover: I don't think she wore pink while working in the ranges…
Re-read for the fifth time.



When Killashandra Ree joined the mysterious Heptite Guild, she knew that she would be forever changed.
Crystal singing brought ecstasy and pain, near-eternal life...and gradual loss of memory. What she hadn't counted on was the loneliness she felt when her heart still remembered what her mind had forgotten.
Fortunately, someone still cared enough to try to salvage what was left of Killashandra's mind. But she would have to learn to open herself--to another person, and to all her unpleasant memories.


A great ending to this trilogy. Killashandra and Lars are still happy together, working their claims, an going off planet as often as possible. But Lars is slated to be the new Guild Master, and Killashandra doesn't want to deal with that. So she ignores his wishes, and goes into the Ranges alone, singing and cutting crystal. And she soon forgets about him …
But the Guild needs to be re-organized if it is going to survive. There are less and less new singers, and more old singers who need costly medical help.
Somehow, Lars has to convince Killashandra of his ideas, and when he has her behind him, the rest of the singers will follow…

I loved this series, and I will certainly read it again in a few years. Anne McCaffrey was an amazing author, who wrote lifelike characters you can love and root for. She tugs on your emotions. Her books may be old, but they are not dated. So, give some of her work a try if you like a little sci fi in your romance. To explore strange, new, worlds, to seek out new life, and new civilizations …

10 stars.

© 2016 Reviews by Aurian

J.D. Robb - Midnight in Death

A novella in the In Death series, published September 27, 2005.
Genre: futuristic suspense
Cover: fits the series
Re-read for the third time.



The number-one New York Times bestselling In Death series explodes with intrigue, passion, and suspense. Now, Nora Roberts writing as J.D. Robb propels you into the darkest night of Lieutenant Eve Dallas's life-when a killer comes to call.
Eve's name has a made a Christmas list, but it's not for being naughty or nice. It's for putting a serial killer behind bars. Now the escaped madman has her in his sights. With her husband Roarke at her side, Eve must stop the man from exacting his bloody vengeance-or die trying.


A great little novella. A serial killer has escaped his off planet prison, and now he wants revenge on all the people who put him there: the judge, the prosecutor, his attorney, the psychiatrist and of course the police officer who caught him.
For Dallas it is a race against the clock, especially when he gets to her good friend Dr. Mira. She has to find where he is hiding, and that involves a lot of tedious policework, door to door, manufacturer to manufacturer. It takes the whole team and of course her husband Roarke to find him, but it is Eve who is his real target…

9 stars.

© 2016 Reviews by Aurian

Anne McCaffrey - Killashandra

The second book in the Crystal Singer series, published October 12, 1985.
Genre: science fiction romance
Cover: nice
Re-read for the fifth time.



The wheel of fortune.
Killashandra Ree's life was one of catastrophic changes. She had joined the Heptite Guild to become a Crystal Singer, get rich, and forget her past.
And at first everything when just as she had hoped. In one season on the deadly beautiful world of Ballybran, she had sung Black Crystal, grown wealthy, and met a man who made her sorrows seem unworthy of notice.
But then, a year later, a devastating storm turned her claim to useless rock. In short order she was broke, she had crystal sickness so bad she thought she'd die, and the only way she could be true to the man she loved, was to leave him…


Desperate to get off planet, Killashandra accepts an assignment to go to Optheria, to repair their important Optical Organ for the Summer Festival. It is a strange planet, as apparently its population is so content, that they never want to leave the planet, not even for a holiday.
But as soon as she arrives, Killashandra notices that not everyone is happy, and someone even tries to kill her! Luckily, she heals fast, and is able to attend the banquet in her honor.
But the food and the company is most certainly not to her liking, and so she makes up a story about Crystal Singers needing a certain amount of alcohol, and certain food stuffs daily…

When Killanshandra starts work on the repair of the organ, she has an encounter with a stubborn guard, and storms out of the building. While sightseeing, she gets abducted and left on a deserted island. Resilient as she is, she manages to escape after a few weeks, and reach civilization. The Islanders though are completely different from the mainlanders, and she decides to stay incognito. Especially when she recognizes her abductor, and he likes this new different look of her.

Slowly Killashandra learns the secrets of this planet, and decides to help the population as much as she can, but she needs more allies on planet first …


A great second book in the series, and a very sweet love story to boot. But Killashandra cannot stay on Optheria, Ballybran is in her blood (literally) and she has to leave before it is too late. And Lars doesn't want to leave his beloved planet and especially its oceans…

9 stars.

© 2016 Reviews by Aurian

Anne McCaffrey - Crystal Singer

The first book in the Crystal Singer series, published August 12, 1982.
Genre: science fiction romance
Cover: fitting
Re-read for the fifth time



The lure of crystal…
Her name was Killashandra Ree, and after ten gruelling years of musical training she was young, beautiful - and still without prospects.
Then she heard of the mysterious Heptite Guild on the planet Ballybran, where the fabled Black Crystal was found. For those qualified, the Guild was said to provide careers, security and the chance for wealth beyond imagining. The problem was, few people who landed on Ballybran ever left.
To Killashandra, the risks were acceptable...


As you might know, I am a big fan of Anne McCaffrey. And this series is old, but still good. Yes, it is science fiction, but it is not filled with scary aliens or high technology. It does have romance as well.
Killashandra Ree has her heart set on becoming a famous solo singer, but after 10 years of hard work, she finds out that she is not fit for that position after all. She lacks something, and her voice is only suited for choirwork, and especially leading a choir. But that is not what she wants, and she leaves the university to drown her sorrows alone.
And then she meets Carrik, a Crystal Singer from Ballybran, who shows her how to have a good time on her own planet, after they save the shuttleport from getting obliterated. Killashandra gets curious about Carrik and his work, and when he finds out that she also has perfect pitch, and she can sing, he knows she is suited for being a crystal singer. But he doesn't want her to, as there are some very serious drawbacks involved, which he can't tell her.
But of course, the more he warns her off, the more Killashandra wants it. And so, when Carrik gets ill, and has to be escorted back to Ballybran, Killashandra goes with him. She is very pleased with the deference shown to him, and to her as well and wants this for her self.

And so, Killashandra becomes a Crystal Singer. Living on Ballybran is not easy, it is tormented by lots of storms, and when storms are approaching, Singers has to come back to basis or they will go mad from the singing crystal. The alien spore in their bodies makes them strong, and heal them, so they have a very long life span, but they also need to leave the planet occasionally, although they never can stay away for too long… But to be able to leave, you have to sing enough valuable crystal that you can buy a ticket off planet …

Killashandra is stubborn, and prideful, but I still liked her a lot. She takes her future into her own hands, and goes for what she wants. She accepts the risks, and she is a good Crystal Singer. She even gets assignments off planet to install the crystal she has mined herself, and that brings her new adventures.

9 stars.

© 2016 Reviews by Aurian

Jennifer Estep - Kiss of Frost

The second book in the Mythos Academy series, published November 29, 2011
Genre: Young Adult Urban Fantasy
Cover: nice
Re-read for the second time.



Logan Quinn was trying to kill me. My Spartan classmate relentlessly pursued me, swinging his sword at me over and over again, the shining silver blade inching closer to my throat every time. A smile tugged up his lips, and his ice-blue eyes practically glowed with the thrill of battle. . .
I'm Gwen Frost, a second-year warrior-in-training at Mythos Academy, and I have no idea how I'm going to survive the rest of the semester. One day, I'm getting schooled in swordplay by the guy who broke my heart--the drop-dead gorgeous Logan who slays me every time. Then, an invisible archer in the Library of Antiquities decides to use me for target practice. And now, I find out that someone at the academy is really a Reaper bad guy who wants me dead. I'm afraid if I don't learn how to live by the sword--with Logan's help--I just might die by the sword. . .


Mythos Academy students are excited, because it is time for the Winter Carnival. Which means the whole school will go to a posh skiing resort, where they will do all kinds of winter sports, but especially: party! Get drunk and hang out. The other branches of the Mythos Academy will be there as well, so there will be new friends to make and make out with…
Gwen Frost is still having a crush on Logan Quinn, but he has only eyes for his new girlfriend Savannah, one of the Valkyries. She doesn't really want to go to the Winter Carnival, but when someone is seriously trying to kill her, she doesn't have much of a choice, especially as her grandmother urges her to go as well.

The murder attempts don't stop though, but Gwen does come a bit closer to Logan and his friends… and she learns how to handle her intelligent sword Vic, just in time…

7 stars.

© 2016 Reviews by Aurian

Nancy Warren - Best Man … with Benefits

A book in the Wrong Bed series, published June 16, 2015.
Genre: contemporary romance / category romance
Cover: fun



May the best man sin...
Lauren Sanger is practically the perfect maid of honor, except for one tiny flaw. She hates the best man. Jackson Monaghan is beyond hot - his body is the stuff of sexy lady dreams - but he's just such a jerk. So when a prank lands them in the same bed, Lauren should have flipped out... instead of having the best sex of her life with the best man!
Jackson can't figure out how two people with anti-chemistry during the day can have such a wickedly hot sexual chemistry at night. Worse still, he wants more. Enough to dare Lauren into doing the last thing she should be doing - him. But friends with benefits is one thing... enemies with benefits is quite another.


Lauren's best friend is getting married, and she is the maid of honor. She doesn't really like the groom though, he doesn't fit the pedestal that Amy has put him on, and she can't stand his best friend.
Jackson's best friend is getting married, and he is the best man. He doesn't think the bride is as perfect as his friend thinks though, and her best friend is impossible.
But for their friend's sake, they will be civil to each other.

Both Lauren and Jackson think things about the other, have assumed things based on their friends, that are completely wrong. Both Amy and Seth have been born with a silver spoon, are rich and beautiful and popular, and everything has come so easy for them. But neither Lauren and Jackson have that background. They both work hard for their money, they don't have a trustfund or a rich family to fall back on.
Lauren works part time at a vineyard, and spends the rest of her time on her stained glass art. And she is an amazing artist, who is about the get a big breakthrough. Jackson is also a hard working man, who lost his family at a young age and was shipped of to boarding school by his grandparents, and that is where he met Seth.

After this one night of passion, they don't know what to do. They still don't like each other, but the passion between them is unforgettable. And so Jackson dares Lauren to another night, to see it as a booty call, and nothing more. Sex without strings, right?
But slowly they get to know each other, especially when Jackson gets worried when Lauren doesn't answer her phone for days, and checks up on her.


I really enjoyed this Harlequin Blaze romance by Nancy Warren. I loved both the characters, and how they slowly fell for each other. Lauren's work sounds incredible, and I would not mind seeing something as Nancy has described it so beautifully. I admire artists like that. It is hard work, but real beauty is created.

Then there is the secondary story line about Amy and Seth, and how getting married does not guarantee a Happy Ever After. You have to work for it, and that is something totally new to both of them. I don't know if their marriage will survive, but they both grow up in this book.

9 stars.

© 2016 Reviews by Aurian

Hamilton Crane - Miss Seeton by Moonlight

A book in the Miss Seeton series, published May 1, 1992.
Genre: cozy mystery
Cover: fun



Loveable and unlikely master of detection and retired art teacher, Miss Seeton goes undercover to catch a cold-hearted burglar when a rash of wintery pilferings stumps Scotland Yard.


Nope, I am still not tired of re-reading this series, and this one was much fun. Two sets of villains, one who steals "art" that has to do with Winter, and another one who steals valuable things only to ransom them back to their owners. And of course Miss Seeton trips them all up in her unique innocent manner.

8 stars.

© 2016 Reviews by Aurian