Customer Reviews

High Intensity

5 star:		(24)
4 star:		(14)
3 star:		(10)
2 star:		(15)
1 star:		(13)

 

 

This story was no where near as good as the first story High Energy. The story had absolutely no energy and it seemed as though she had to force herslef to make the book. And the romance between Mills and Gregor never really gets a resolution. Hopefuly she'll make a book for them.

High Intensity is Dara Joy's follow up to High Energy. I loved the first book and I love this one too. The book is about the offbeat, comical and extremely HOT relationship between Tyber an genius physisist and Zanita a kooky small town reporter. There is a lot of sex (yes, some of us like that in our romance) mixed in with comedy and action. It reminds me of the movie Bringing up Baby with Katherine Hepburn and Carey Grant but with a contemporary twist. If Dara Joy desides to continue this series, I would buy every one!!!

I have read many of Dara Joy's other books and have enjoyed them. High Energy was good, I especially liked the character of Tyber and his kooky life. The mystery in High Intensity was fun but about halfway through the book I got VERY annoyed with the excessive use of the word "baby" (used by Tyber 'ad-nauseum' when addressing Zanita). It got worse as the book progressed, often once per page and sometimes twice. It definitely became a distraction and took away from the flow.

"High Intensity" is the continuation of the lives first introduced in "High Energy". The simple fact that there is a continuation struck me as odd. I won't give away the ending of HE, but I could have swore their story was finished. As we discover in HI this simply isn't the case. Once again this book is a testimony that sex scenes do not make the romance. Everything about this story was absolutely ridiculous. I won't go into detail about the story because I am sure there are plenty of other reviews doing that. I will say, however, that this booked surpassed kooky and entered into the realm of silly. I got bored real quick with the antics of Zanita and Tyber by the 3rd chapter. The crazy thing is it got worse and I!!!! kept reading. I can only say that I was hoping for something better from one of my favorite authors. Considering this is the fourth sub-par performance from DJ, I am skeptical of buying any of her other books that DO NOT DEAL WITH THE MATRIX OF DESTINY. If I could give this book a 1/2 a star I would. It was that bad! If you are dying to read it for yourself. I would suggest taking a trip to the library and saving yourself a few bucks for something else more worth your time.

Yes, Ms Joy breaks from traditional romance books. And having absolutely loved her Matrix series (5 stars), I give her a E for effort, but that's all.

In this book, which is a sequel to High Energy, the main characters do not meet for the first time. That's because they did that as the main characters in High Energy. The couple's just back for more ... because although they are supposedly "in love" and definitely "in lust" with one another, they still aren't married... or are they? This one has lots of sex between the gorgeous physicist and his lover (who's not sure if she wants marriage because she fears their very sexual relationship might change.) So, they have a "pretend" marriage... where only he knows if it's real or not. HUH? You either said "I do" or you didn't. Anyway, you -the reader- gets the chance to revisit this couple for another 200+ pages while they continue to have a "heated" sex life and try to figure out secrets behind a "haunted house." Other than a really FAT cat, that's about it.

High Energy was a "fairly" good book, though definitely not Ms. Joy's best. And it's sequel, High Intensity ... sorry, these two characters just aren't interesting enough to warrant another entire book about them.

OK I love everything else I have ever read by Dara Joy, so when I picked this one up I thought I would be in for a good read. Now normally I'm the type that starts a book once the kids are in bed and before I know it the sun is coming up and I'm wishing 'why can't anything like that ever happen to me'...well it took three days to force myself through this one and once I was done, instead of wishing I was the herione caught up in some adventure, I was pretty happy just to be me. I could not get close to the characters, or into the story surrounding them. And what kills me is that the story line had sooo much potential...haunted manors, kitchen ghosts...I guess I'm even more disappointed because I really do enjoy Dara's other works. If you are going to check this one out I would suggest buying it used.

My second attempt at a Dara Joy book. The first one, Ritual of Proof, I was unable to even pass the half-way mark. Good thing I got High Intensity from the library, and didn't pay full price for it. Basically, the plot revolves around a 'ghost' haunting an inn at Marthas Vineyard. Tyber and Zanita go to investigate, taking with them, Blooey (Tyber's ...cook??...manservant..??..) and Hambone, the cat. The humour in this, while at first seemed funny, became too forced. In other words, certain puns and jokes were done to death. (and a truly ridiculous scene involving Hambone and the tub - tried to be funny, but sadly was just ludicrous)

While the antics of the 'ghost' are referred to, there are very very few actual happenings while the couple are at the inn. I kept wondering why on earth anyone would think there actually was a ghost here, when we never really see anything happen!!!

The plot really was very weak, with none of the usual clues out there for us, the readers, to realize! The best thing about a mystery is realizing you have picked up on certain clues, and can guess the murderer/suspect/whatever! But when Tyber suddenly solves this and that, as the reader you are left scratching your head saying "Whaaaaaaaaat??? Where'd he get that??" (and if I had to read the word 'pirate' in relation to Tyber one more time, I was going to scream)

I have to admit that I did like the characters. I have not read the first one, so certain references and happenings did confuse me. (Yet I have read many books where I haven't read the preceding ones, and the author puts in enough information for the reader to understand certain references, yet doesn't overload or bore regular readers) Surprisingly, what fascinated me most, and what I enjoyed the most were Mills, Gregor and Cory, secondary characters. (Although could someone explain to me exactly WHY they turned up at the inn???? It felt like such a plot contrivence...)

Another disappointing feature was the sex/love scenes. C'mon, let's be honest. One of the main reasons we read romance stories is for the hot sex/love. And I felt let down by the scenes between Tyber and Zanita. They felt empty and unemotional.

I will keep trying to find a Dara Joy I enjoy. She has been recommended to me many times, and I like a romance that is different, not the standard 'boy meets girl, boy and girl argue over stupid misunderstanding etc'. I prefer paranormal romance, or time travel, or ghosty ones - such as I thought this would be. Overall, quite disappointed in this.

This is the second book in this series. You need to read "High Energy" to find out how these characters meet. This is to story of Zanita, a reporter and her hunk of a physicist Tyber. They are on a ghost hunt. They have a challenge going on between them that leads to some very hot and steamy love scenes. The humor in this book had me laughing so hard I cried. I love secondary characters in this book and am still hoping with fingers crossed that two of them will get their own story. Get these two books and enjoy them.

If you like your romance with a lot of guffaws, then this is the book for you. I could not put this book down and I received many strange looks from those around me as I laughed with every turn of the page. The hero is mar-r-r-r-velous (read the book, you'll get the quote) and heroine is a perfect match for him. Ms. Joy is a wonderful writer who knows how to keep the plot moving and the reader entranced. If you love to laugh, love quirky characters and steamy sex scenes, this is perfect choice for your next read and a definite keeper.

But still a heck of a good read. Am looking forward to more stories set around these characters.