Welcome back to Harmony, or rather Illusion Town, as Castle's scifi paranormal future romance series continues -- this time with a lot of crossover for fans of her historical paranormal series the Arcane Society (under pseudo Amanda Quick).

Yeah that was a lot of words I threw at you, but its all sort of necessary to understand how this works.

This being how interconnected all of Castle' (or Jayne Anne Krentz/Amanda Quick)'s series have become despite being across at least three different time periods/romance categories.

The Harmony books are by far my favorite series of hers. They're snappy paranormal scifi romances that trend towards clever, reaourceful and POWERFUL women with a denseness in the romance department that would normally make me groan, but instead makes sense. Meanwhile the men are all rogues with bad senses of humor, hearts of gold and sharp intellect that largely want to support the women without controlling them. The world of Harmony is, honestly, pretty cut and dry. While solutions can be a bit gray-scaled, the people are either good or bad. The good save folk, the bad leave folk to die horrible deaths lost in the underground labyrinth of alien psy-ghosts.

This is no different; though our male lead (Gabriel) is kind of an idiot (which he does realize pretty quickly) in regards to first impressions with our heroine Lucy (who tells him so happily and often).

It may have been a while for me, but this seemed abnormally interested in setting up the mystery to solve than with the romance. The heat is there, the awareness of each other, but they spend more time chasing down antique thieves and dodging assassins then making out.

Still this was a wonderful return to a world I sorely miss and makes me hopeful there will be more in the future (my humor is as bad as a Guild Boss' okay?).

I love this sci fi series. Guild Boss does not disappoint the reader. I highly recommend the addition to the series.

Veena’s review of Guild Boss (Harmony, Book 14) by Jayne Castle
Paranormal Romance published by Berkley 11 Nov 21

I absolutely enjoy this series. I love the tongue -in-cheek twist on all things earth with a play on medieval customs that have long died out in our modern times. It was great to re-visit this world after a long gap, so I’m glad to see the series continue. Illusion Town for the Las Vegas-like setting of the book is just the icing on the cake. Gabriel Jones and Lucy Bell met deep in the catacombs where Lucy had been drugged and dumped, before he came to her rescue. She had managed to keep herself alive, thanks to pizza brought to her by an enterprising dust bunny who adopted her. Lucy thought that she found a kindred spirit in Gabriel, but, clearly, he didn’t feel the same magic when he disappeared, leaving her to face the town’s condemnation on her own.

That so did not bode well for Gabriel when he reappears in Tinsel Town as the guild boss looking to pick up things from where he had left off, despite the time gap. Angry and disillusioned, Lucy is not the same person he had left behind, though she is definitely still in danger and he’s just the man to protect her, once he figures out how to mend his fences with her.

Their chemistry is off the charts and the story is well paced and exciting as Gabriel and Lucy team up to get to the heart of what and why Lucy is being hunted. An absolute winner for the author and probably one of my favorites in this series.

Grade: A

Guild Boss by Jayne Castle is the 14th book in the Ghost Hunters series. Lucy has got some bad luck. Kidnapped from her ex and friend's wedding, drugged, lost and saved like a damsel in distress. Oh and to top it off, nobody believes she was drugged and kidnapped just that she went crazy from the grief. Her rescuer, Gabriel, disappeared and told nobody what he found. Now he is back and he needs her help. While wary to help him, Lucy decided it would be best to work together since he at least believes her sort of.

I love this world. Mostly the dust bunnies stole my heart. So automatically this book is three stars. I am biased and admit it. Overall I enjoyed this book. It was fast paced and fun. The world is creative and put together. The characters while similar to others in the series, work well together and still have their own personalities. I think you should be able to read this as a standalone but I would recommend reading the other books to truly get the amazing world of dust bunnies.

Four Stars. Thank you to NetGalley, Berkley Publishing Group and Jayne Castle for the free copy. This was an honest review.

A fun and familiar return to the Ghost Hunters and Harmony, this book had all the tried and true elements of the series: an adorable dust bunny named Otis, a protective Guild Boss, a heroine in trouble, some light, snarky humor, enjoyable side characters and a mystery to solve.

FINAL DECISION: This book was just fun. An action-adventure paranormal sci-fi futuristic mystery. The conflict here is external concerning the plot so the romance just felt sweet and enjoyable. Loved the strong characters -- and who can resist a pizza-eating dust bunny?

THE STORY: A return to Harmony, a colony of earth now cut off where people have various psychic powers interacting with the alien world. Lucy Bell disappears into the tunnels under the city and is rescued by Gabriel Jones, one of the Guild Hunters. While Lucy insists that she was drugged and kidnapped, people believe that she got drunk after a party and wandered into the tunnels. The incident ruins Lucy's reputation in her profession and months later when Gabriel comes back into her life, she is working as a guide on a studio tour. Now the Guild Boss of Illusion Town, Gabriel reconnects with Lucy as the two discover what happened the night Lucy disappeared.

OPINION: This book was deeply satisfying for me. It was light and fun (although there is a serious storyline -- it's not a comedy). It had a fun action-adventure vibe that I needed right now. I admit to being a huge Arcane fan and love whenever connections to that series come up. In this book Castle leans into the connection which was gratifying.

Nobody writes the "corporate" romance better than Jayne Ann Krentz (aka Jayne Castle) and this book moves the Guild more towards a polished organization. As someone who reads all three of Krentz's different time periods, this book just felt like a great synthesis of all of them. The reveal of the significance of the book's title was fun and just lifted the story with a little comedy.

I loved Gabriel who is put in his place by the strong Lucy. Their relationship has real equality, and there is chemistry and Castle always has great dialogue that builds a great relationship. These two are obviously meant for one another and much of the conflict is external involving the mystery, but it works here.

The only reason that this isn't a perfect 5 star for me is that frankly there are other Castle books from this series that I love better. This one was really good, enjoyable, a rollicking adventure, and hit both the tone that I wanted and also had some great nostalgia.

I'm so glad that Castle is back writing this series and look forward to more.

WORTH MENTIONING: Gabriel is definitely one of those Jones for fans of Jayne Ann Krentz's Arcane series. For fans of that series (who may be disappointed that Krentz abandoned the storyline in her contemporary romantic suspense), some of the past storylines are picked up here.

CONNECTED BOOKS: GUILD BOSS is the fourteenth book in the Harmony/Ghost Hunters series. The book can be read as a standalone although a new reader will need to catch up on some of the worldbuilding rules. This book is also connected with the Arcane series (which spans all three of Castle's noms de plume -- Jayne Ann Krentz, Amanda Quick, and Jayne Castle).

STAR RATING: I give this book 4.5 stars.

NOTE: I received an eARC of this book via Netgalley. I was not required to write a review or to write a positive review. All opinions contained herein are my own.

As Lucy Bell is attending the wedding of a friend, she is kidnapped and drugged. She manages to escape to the underground tunnels of Illusion Town, only to find that her hiding place has become her prison. Some type of psychic energy is keeping Lucy from exiting the room. She drinks water from a small pool, not realizing that it has been drugged, causing Lucy to hallucinate. A friendly dust bunny (think of a gremlin or a Furby) arrives with a pizza in hand to keep Lucy from starving. She dubs him Otis, and he returns regularly to bring her pizza and keep her company. After several days, a hired hunter finds Lucy, and her first reaction is to believe him the Lord of the Underworld.

Gabriel Jones of Guild Security has been assigned to find Lucy, who disappeared from a wedding days ago. He is able to distract the disoriented Lucy sufficiently to get her past the psychic barrier, only to find their return to be a news sensation. Though Gabriel was instantly smitten with Lucy, he has another crucial assignment to fulfill. He believes that Lucy is now safe in the hands of her family and medical personnel, so he leaves, fully intending to renew their acquaintance upon his return. He is so wrong, as Lucy is once again kidnapped, and kept drugged.

Two months later, Gabriel returns to find that Lucy’s life has fallen apart. Her reputation is in tatters, and her career lost. She is now acting as a tour bus driver, struggling to survive on tips. Lucy had managed to escape her captors, only to find that no one believes her story. She is thought to be a heavy drinker and drug user, and not fit to be hired any longer as a weather channeler. Gabriel’s hopes of starting a romance are dashed by Lucy’s wariness of him, but he devises an alternate plan. He’ll hire Lucy, thus helping restore her professional reputation, while giving her a chance to get to know him as they work together. Lucy accepts the job, though Gabriel’s new position as director of the Guild, puts his every move in the public eye.

Jayne Castle, who also writes as Jayne Ann Krentz and Amanda Quick, has set her books in the dark and dangerous world of Harmony, which was colonized by people from earth, who were unable to return. Harmony had been the home of an ancient people, as the remnants of their existence are everywhere. Mysterious psychic energy abounds in the structures, as well as in the former earthlings who are now its citizens. Everyone has different abilities – Lucy can affect and control weather, while Gabriel is a rare multi-talent. Gabriel’s attraction to Lucy is not one sided. As they work together, their liking, their mutual respect, and that spark, leads them into a most satisfying physical relationship.

GUILD BOSS is entertaining and amusing, while not putting the romance in second place. Though Gabriel is career driven, he also wants to help Lucy to succeed, as well as furthering their love affair. They are both intelligent and capable people, though Lucy was the victim of circumstances and rumors. The story just speeds along, capturing my attention as we come to see that human nature doesn’t change, even while being in another world. There will always be good people along with the criminals and users. There are charming and light hearted moments with Otis, the dust bunny, who has developed a bond with Lucy, has a passion for pizza, and loves to be in the limelight. I am delighted every time he chortles. GUILD BOSS is fun to read as well as satisfying my need for a romance with happy ever after.

So I love Jayne Castle and her world of Harmony and this was no exception. It was such a fun story with Gabriel Jones saving Lucy Bell in the underground tunnels at the beginning and not believing her when she said she was kidnapped and not just got drunk and lost in the caverns. A couple of months go by and Gabriel comes back to Illusion town to be the new guild boss and Lucy’s life has gone down the tubes with her career ending with all the media coverage of Gabriel saving her and it looking like she did it to herself. Of course, they need to actually figure out who kidnapped her and though they catch who it was, it leaves an enemy they still don’t know that will probably continue in another book. I really enjoyed reading this and can’t wait to see what happens in the next book.

Thanks to Berkley and Netgalley for the complimentary copy of this book in e-book form. All opinions in this review are my own.

The world of Harmony is so like Earth in so many ways. The dust bunnies are my favorite, but I have to admit, I love a Guild Boss!

It’s been a while since I have read a book by Jayne Castle, but it was just like coming back to an old friend. These books are really interesting and unique. Lucy Bell is going through some stuff. First up, she is kidnapped, drugged and left in the underground tunnels. Ghost Hunter Gabriel Jones is hired to rescue her and he instantly drawn to her. Then she is restrained at a hospital and drugged, again. She escapes, but her reputation is in ruins. She takes a job as a tour guide. One day, months later, Gabriel shows up to offer her a job and things just get weirder. This is a fast paced, action packed story that has a great romance as well. I love the dust bunny pet, Otis. Definitely was not disappointed.

After Lucy is drugged, kidnapped and left for dead having escaped to the creepy underground alien tunnels, Gabriel Jones finds her against all odds and their adventures begin. Totally formulaic, yet like eating your favorite candy- a treat. Oh and did I mention the dust bunny, Otis? Dust bunnies keep me reading this series ❤️
Thanks Netgalley for the ARC- it was a nice distraction after a long day .

Two words. Dust bunnies. I love the dust bunnies in this series!! They are cute and fluffy (unless they are in protect/attack mode) and oh so entertaining. Seriously, I’d read a book just about the dust bunnies. Add in a macho hero (Gabriel), a badass heroine (Lucy), some slow burn chemistry, a planet where paranormal energy has given some humans different kinds of talents, and a mystery to be solved, and I am all in! This is the 14th book set in Jayne Castle’s Harmony/Ghost Hunters World and the first since 2016.

Castle also writes as Amanda Quick (historical) and Jayne Ann Krentz (contemporary). I have been reading and loving her books as they are published for decades (literally). I love how there are connections and common elements across the series. All have quirky characters, many have some paranormal element, the dialogue is wonderful, and the romance is typically alpha male with hidden talents/secrets, and strong female- also with hidden talents/secrets. I love them all, but especially love the creativity of the Harmony books.

While this one did have some HEA closure, it also set up the storyline for the next book which will hopefully not take five years . There are some mysterious characters that I am sure we will see again.

Thanks to NetGalley and the publisher for an advance copy in exchange for an honest review.

Lucy finds herself drugged, kidnapped, left in the underground hallucinating with no apparent way out, until Ghost Hunter Gabriel Jones, with the help of a dust bunny named Otis, shows up to rescue her. There’s an instant attraction, but Gabriel must ship off for the next assignment immediately, not realizing that the danger and drama has just begun for Lucy.

No one believes Lucy’s story, thinking she got drunk, got lost and then had a mental breakdown, her work reputation goes down the toilet. Gabriel disappears and she has no one to back up her story. Now that Gabriel’s back in town as the new Guild Boss for Illusion Town, Lucy is less than pleased to see him. However, he plans on getting to the bottom of Lucy’s ordeal, while helping salvage her career.

Guild Boss is set in a futuristic world reminiscent of Las Vegas with its glitzy lights and atmosphere with a darker underbelly and some paranormal oddities. Lucy and Gabriel are powerful talents in their field, and that makes Lucy a target for a larger conspiracy. They work together while Lucy works through her hard feelings toward Gabriel, and he tries to figure out whether Lucy’s recollection of the past wasn’t the product of her hallucinations. All the while battling constant dangers and the attraction brewing between them.

Guild Boss was a fun, action-packed futuristic mystery with a steamy romance at the core. I haven’t read the previous books, it’s part of a larger series, but it works well as a standalone.

GUILD BOSS take us back into the fun, mysterious, intriguing world where "talents" are normal, rules are strict and love can be magical. And as a fan of all her series and pseudonyms, I want more of her worlds and the pleasure they bring.

Reviewed by Annetta Sweetko for Fresh Fiction

Complete review: https://freshfiction.com/review.php?id=75780

Another interesting entry in the Ghost Hunters series! This is one of my all-time favorite series and I've been a little disappointed that a new entry hasn't come out in a while (five years) so I was thrilled to see that this was being published. As to the book itself, Overall I enjoyed this, but I have to say that it felt like a novella that was padded out to be a full book. Still, I really can't get enough of dust bunnies and green tunnels, so I hope Castle/Krentz will write more in this fascinating world soon!

love the Ghost Hunter (Harmony) series with its off planet suspense, paranormal woo-woo, romance and dust bunnies! Guild Boss takes readers to Illusion Town on the colony world of Harmony. It’s Las Vegas type atmosphere delivered from the mystery to the romance.

It was wonderful to go off-planet again to Harmony with its alien ruins, tuned amber, and dust bunnies. Castle brings us a kidnapping, suspense, danger and sizzling chemistry.

Lucy Bell was attending a wedding where she was drugged and kidnapped before ending up in the alien underground where she survived until Guild Hunter, Gabriel Jones, saved her. While he heads off for another case, Lucy is left with her career in ruins when no one believes her story of a kidnapping.

There was instant chemistry when the two first met, so when Gabriel returns and needs her special skills, he was shocked at the changes to her life and that she was still being pursued. Lucy is hesitant to work with him, but he not only believes her, but could restore her reputation. As the two work together, the chemistry continues to sizzle, and I was waiting for them to combust.

A cute dust bunny who loves wedding cake, a plot to rule, and a new Guild Boss made for an exciting story. I easily slipped back into this world with the underground tunnels and alien technology. A rare artifact and its abilities proved deadly as factions seek to gain control of Ilusion Town.

Both Lucy and Gabriel are confident characters, and they worked well together on and off the case. Castle gives readers a swoon-worthy romance served as a side to the suspenseful action.

As the fourteenth book in this paranormal world, there is a familiarity to it that makes it feel like coming home. While the characters change, the history and links to the Arcane Society world do not.

Despite being so deep into a series, the books work on their own, but be warned you’ll want to read them all. Fans of paranormal romantic suspense will enjoy traveling to the colonized world of Harmony.

I received a copy of this book for review from NetGalley. I have been looking forward to this book for so long! I have a deep and abiding love of dust bunnies, and Guild Boss does not disappoint. This has such a great opening, and the book doesn't really go downhill after that. Gabriel and Lucy were a fun couple, and Ollie and his stuffed dust bunny made me so happy. (Also, I would love a sparkly stuffed dust bunny.) The story was engaging, and it delivers everything that you would want from a Jayne Castle book. I would have loved just a little more from Gabriel's perspective, but it was otherwise a fun and action-filled romp.

I really really enjoy this series. I love the tongue in cheek twist on all things earth with a play on medieval customs that have long died out in our modern times. It was great to re-visit this world after a long gap and the fact that it's Illusion Town so appropriate for the Las Vegas like setting in the book is the icing on the cake.
Gabriel Jones and Lucy Bell met deep in the catacombs where Lucy had been drugged and dumped before he came to her rescue. She had managed to keep herself alive thanks to pizza brought to her by an enterprising dust bunny who adopted her. Lucy thought that she found a kindred spirit in Gabriel but clearly he didn't feel the same magic when he disappeared.
When he reappeared as the guild boss, things had changed. Lucy as angry and disillusioned and shunned by the town. He clearly had a lot of fences to mend if he wanted a relationship with her. Their chemistry is off the charts and the story is exciting and well paced.
An absolute winner for the author and probably one of my favorites in this series.

GUILD BOSS (A Harmony Novel Book #15) by Jayne Castle is another action-packed adventure on the colony world of Harmony which is a mash-up of paranormal/urban fantasy/romantic suspense genres. I have been reading this series from book #1 and have never been disappointed! This book can easily be read as a standalone, but I can guarantee once you finish, you are going to want to go back and read all the rest in the series.

Lucy Bell is an exceptionally talented independent weather channeler in Illusion Town. Lucy disappears after a friend’s wedding reception and is found by a dust bunny and rescued from the underground by the dust bunny and a hunky Guild Hunter. Everyone believes she has had a psychic break rather than believing her story of being kidnapped.

Two months later and Gabriel Jones is back in Illusion Town as the new Guild Boss and looking for Lucy once again, but for an entirely different reason. There is something about this weather channeler that he has been unable to forget, but their reunion does not go as Gabriel planned. He offers Lucy a contract to get back into her good graces and as they work together Gabriel learns there is more going on in town than simply recovering a stolen Arcane item.

Lucy and Gabriel discover a conspiracy that threatens the power source of all Harmony besides the truth behind Lucy’s kidnapping. Will they be able to discover all the players and stop the conspiracy?

I always love my return trips to Harmony and the dust bunnies. Lucy and Gabriel are both wonderful characters with very different backgrounds, but perfect for each other. Lucy is resilient and strong, and Gabriel is driven not only in his pursuit to rebrand the Guild’s image, but to get the woman he wants even as he is not always able to communicate his true feelings. Otis, the latest dust bunny to befriend his humans is a fun addition to this story as well as an integral player. The suspense/mystery plot in this story has many threads and kept me turning the pages. There is an overall conspiracy thread that leaves an opening for future stories but does not leave you feeling cheated in this book.

I highly recommend this latest Harmony book and the entire series!

I don't read a lot of paranormal romances, especially those set in the future, but I always make time for books set in the Harmony universe. I discovered this series about 20 years ago and was immediately captivated by this place in a faraway galaxy that was settled by explorers from Earth 200 years ago; explorers who were left stranded when the curtain between their worlds closed. Castle brings it all to life so vividly, so realistically, that it's easy to believe that Harmony, with all its psychic and paranormal activity, actually exists.

Guild Boss is the newest installment in this long-running series and while it's the 14th Harmony book it is also a great place to jump in if you're new to the series. The story is intriguing, capturing my attention immediately and keeping me engaged until the end. Castle (who also writes as Jayne Ann Krentz and Amanda Quick) is no stranger to complex, well-developed characters or tightly-woven mysteries. Both are on display here.

Lucy and Gabriel had no trouble at all engaging my interest and my affection. I loved the chemistry, the banter, the friction, and the respect that develops as they work together in an attempt to discover what really happened to Lucy and how it ties in with other mysterious events. There's also a sweetness between them that had me firmly in their corner, cheering them on. I appreciated the fact that Castle made Gabriel work hard to earn her trust first though. Let's just say that their initial encounter left Lucy reluctant to give him another chance. With good reason.

Castle's ability to create an interesting cast of secondary characters who enrich the story without detracting from the main couple is another skill that ramps up my enjoyment of her books. Of course, the star of the show is Otis, Lucy's dust bunny pal. The romance between Gabriel and Lucy tugged at my heart, the twists and turns of the mystery kept me guessing until the reveal, the action kept me riveted to the pages, and the well-placed wit and humor elicited more than a few chuckles, but let's be honest...it's the dust bunnies who keep me coming back. I adore them!

Whether you're a long-time fan or new to the series, Guild Boss is a great place to dip your toes into Castle's psychically-charged world of ghost hunters, dust bunnies, weather channelers, and did I mention dust bunnies? I highly recommend a visit to Harmony for your fall reading schedule.

*ARC received for fair and unbiased review