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Daffodil

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Crystal Gardens  - Amanda Quick 3.5 stars

Amanda Quick (aka Jayne Ann Krentz, aka Jayne Castle) has been a comfort read author of mine for years. I know exactly what to expect when I pick up a book and she usually delivers a good solid story.

Crystal Gardens has all of the standard JAK/AQ elements:
1. The hero, Lucas Sebastian, is seen as a monster by almost everyone. However, the heroine, Evangeline Ames, sees him as a protector who takes care of those he considers his responsibility.
2. Lucas' step-mother is afraid of this influence over her teen to young-adult children and just knows he is planning to see them penniless and homeless. It take's Evangeline's interference for the step-mother to see how much Lucas loves his sister & brother and realize he will always take care of them.
3. There's a secret Roman treasure hidden somewhere on Lucas' estate that others are hunting for and needs to be found.
4. Both of the protagonists have psychic powers. Evangeline Ames can "find" things. Lucas can read crime scenes and hunts killers.

One thing I found really annoying was the use of the word "psychical". I realize this is a historical and people probably wouldn't use the term "psychic powers", but practically every time the word was used I misread it as physical and had to go back and reread that section of text. It's a minor complaint, but I wish the word had been used less often.

Overall, there was nothing fantastic or unexpected to push it to that next level, just a nice enjoyable read.