Jayne Castle - Silver Master

Professional matchmaker Celinda Ingram is a psychically gifted woman with a problem. She is in desperate need of a bodyguard who can double as a date for her sister's wedding. Davis Oakes, a member of the mysterious Ghost Hunter's Guild, is a security expert with a most unusual paranormal talent. But Davis doesn't trust matchmakers and Celinda doesn't trust anyone connected to the Guild. Sparks fly immediately. Danger is closing in fast, however, and this pair has no choice but to work together to survive. 

Ghost Hunters Book 4

Sparrowgal's Score - 7/10

Sparrowgal's thoughts - spoiler alert!

This was the first book in the Harmony series which explained the whole Harmony planet and why things are they way they are there.  Probably because I read them out of order... but I think that if you want anyone to just pick up a book, you would probably need to explain it a little bit in each novel, though that may get old for those who faithfully follow the novels. That probably made it score reasonably high in my book.

A typical heroine in this book - Matchmaker Celinda Ingram is hiding in Cadence city, after a tragedy when she was in Frequency City, an unfortunate affair with a powerful Guild member, Landry.  Davis Oakes is a Private Investigator who is working for the Cadence Guild and has come to see Celinda because she has artifact in her possession that was stolen from the Guild master.

The romance in this story was believable and I liked the characters.  Celinda looks at Davis and sees her perfect man, and he of course unbeknownst to her has an instant attraction to her as well.  He hides a secret - he has an ability to turn invisible but can also deactivate "ghosts".  Ghosts are balls of energy that can do a lot of damage when summoned by certain individuals with that particular power - Ghost hunters they are called.  But using his power for extended periods to make himself invisible for longer than 5 minutes puts him into a coma.  Celinda's talent lies in Aura analysis, which is why she is a good matchmaker.  She can see through auras who would be well suited to one another.

Celinda and Davis both have dust bunnies - and Celinda's dust bunny takes a liking to the artifact and takes it and hides it.  However, there is a doctor out there who has another similar artifact and knows how to use it for his evil purposes - mind control.  Celinda finds that the artifact can be used to alter psi waves and has great medical applications, when used in conjunction with the right talent.

She reveals to Davis that Landry, with who she had the so called "affair" with had actually drugged her and she was photographed in compromising positions with him and was blackmailed into silence - her family was threatened.  So she moved cities to get away from it all.

Landry ends up working with the doctor to try to get the artifact but love conquers all, as Celinda shows that she is not without tricks of her own - her talent allows her to dampen or reduce people's auras and thus reducing their powers - or arousal.

Davis and the doctor have a showdown in the tunnels, with Davis emerging the victor, resisting the mind control by focussing on Celinda, and Celinda conquers Landry when he grabs her and she uses her talent to dampen his abilities long enough for Davis to finish him off.

Celinda convinces the head of Cadence guild to donate the items for medical research, and Davis and Celinda live happily ever after - match made in heaven.  There's even a cameo appearance from Lydia and Emmett from After Dark.