What do you think?
Rate this book
Alien Affairs #2
Close Contact
GEPs just want to have fun. . .
A Genetically Engineered Person and self-proclaimed "party girl," Echo Adams loves her diplomatic job entertaining alien bigwigs for the Galactic Federation. But the Bureau of Alien Affairs has discovered she's much more than she thinks-that a rogue scientist endowed her with skills and psi abilities dwarfing those of common GEPs. And suddenly Echo's luxury life is over, replaced with a far more dangerous one: a special agent expected to not only chase bad guys, but eliminate them.
Echo's hates being stuck on Madrea-a planet of technophobes off limits to Federation visitors-hunting for a stolen quartz crystal with a powerful alien lifeform embedded inside. She despises the Bureau's restrictive rules-especially the one warning her away from the dangerously seductive Commander of the King's Forces. And if she doesn't learn how to use her alleged super-psi powers soon, her partying days-in fact all of her days-will be over for good.
A Genetically Engineered Person and self-proclaimed "party girl," Echo Adams loves her diplomatic job entertaining alien bigwigs for the Galactic Federation. But the Bureau of Alien Affairs has discovered she's much more than she thinks-that a rogue scientist endowed her with skills and psi abilities dwarfing those of common GEPs. And suddenly Echo's luxury life is over, replaced with a far more dangerous one: a special agent expected to not only chase bad guys, but eliminate them.
Echo's hates being stuck on Madrea-a planet of technophobes off limits to Federation visitors-hunting for a stolen quartz crystal with a powerful alien lifeform embedded inside. She despises the Bureau's restrictive rules-especially the one warning her away from the dangerously seductive Commander of the King's Forces. And if she doesn't learn how to use her alleged super-psi powers soon, her partying days-in fact all of her days-will be over for good.
324 pages, Mass Market Paperback
First published May 21, 2010
10 people are currently reading
294 people want to read
About the author
Katherine Allred
10 books1,103 followersKatherine Allred was born in Arkansas and spent her formative years there learning to love books at her grandfather's knee. When she was five, her mother remarried and moved them to Michigan, where they stayed for the next ten years. At age fifteen, the entire family moved back home to Arkansas, and she's been there ever since, except for brief stints in other countries and states while her hubby was in the army.
After receiving a BS in journalism from Arkansas State University, Katherine began her writing in earnest. To date, she's had seven books published, with number eight being released in April, 2009, and number nine just completed.
A member of Romance Writers of America, Katherine has achieved many awards for her novels, including the 2006 EPPIE award, winning the PASIC Book of Your Heart contest in 2002, and having a novel named Best Book of the Year by Romance Reviews Today in 2005. She currently writes for Eos, the science fiction imprint of Harper Collins Publishing.
After receiving a BS in journalism from Arkansas State University, Katherine began her writing in earnest. To date, she's had seven books published, with number eight being released in April, 2009, and number nine just completed.
A member of Romance Writers of America, Katherine has achieved many awards for her novels, including the 2006 EPPIE award, winning the PASIC Book of Your Heart contest in 2002, and having a novel named Best Book of the Year by Romance Reviews Today in 2005. She currently writes for Eos, the science fiction imprint of Harper Collins Publishing.
Ratings & Reviews
Friends & Following
Create a free account to discover what your friends think of this book!
Community Reviews
Displaying 1 - 30 of 32 reviews
July 21, 2017
The second book in the series, Alien Affairs by Katherine Allred. Kiera Smith ruined her life. Before Kiera's book came out, Echo lived a glamorous life working for the Galactic Federation in Protocol. The book revealed that Echo was created by a man that added psi DNA to his creations. But Echo has no psi talents. Now she is forced to work for Alien Affairs and she has her first mission. It leads her to Madrea, a planet that prohibits the Federation. There she encounters Commander Reynard du'Marr of the King's army.
This story is really a stand-alone but there are appearances of characters from the previous book, Close Encounters. Strong characters and a good story made this an excellent read for me.
This story is really a stand-alone but there are appearances of characters from the previous book, Close Encounters. Strong characters and a good story made this an excellent read for me.
July 11, 2020
Fun little adventure. Mildly sad there isn't more in the series.
Never doubt the power of self denial! 😅
Never doubt the power of self denial! 😅
August 17, 2010
I decided to re-read Close Encounters. I read Close Encounters last year when it released and thoroughly enjoyed it. I’m a futuristic romance fan and I thought the worldbuilding in Close Encounters was superb, as was the development of both the romantic relationship and the heroine (who is really the main focus of the book). I liked it just as well in re-read, and was quite satisfied when I “closed” the book (I read digitally so it’s not quite the same as closing the book). Close Encounters is recommended.
Unfortunately, I didn’t like Close Contact: An Alien Affairs Novel, Book 2 nearly as well, and it’s not a book I’d reread. I didn’t dislike it, but I was actively aware of its flaws as I was reading. I found this heroine (also the focus of the book) less easy to warm up to and not as likeable. In fact, I found her a bit silly. Because of that silliness, there were areas of the book that felt overdramatic to me, and I never bought into the romantic relationship as much as I did in the first book. Overall, if I’d picked up Close Contact first, I probably would not have moved on to another book, because while it was fine, it didn’t ring my bells. However, since I have seen what the author can do in Close Encounters, I’ll be looking forward to a third book in this world (which continues to be very well drawn, despite my reservations about this particular book).
Originally posted here: http://nicemommy-evileditor.com/blog/...
Unfortunately, I didn’t like Close Contact: An Alien Affairs Novel, Book 2 nearly as well, and it’s not a book I’d reread. I didn’t dislike it, but I was actively aware of its flaws as I was reading. I found this heroine (also the focus of the book) less easy to warm up to and not as likeable. In fact, I found her a bit silly. Because of that silliness, there were areas of the book that felt overdramatic to me, and I never bought into the romantic relationship as much as I did in the first book. Overall, if I’d picked up Close Contact first, I probably would not have moved on to another book, because while it was fine, it didn’t ring my bells. However, since I have seen what the author can do in Close Encounters, I’ll be looking forward to a third book in this world (which continues to be very well drawn, despite my reservations about this particular book).
Originally posted here: http://nicemommy-evileditor.com/blog/...
October 8, 2012
*Spoilers**Spoilers**Spoilers**Spoilers**Spoilers**Spoilers**Spoilers**Spoilers*
OK, I hate saying that
*Spoilers**Spoilers**Spoilers**Spoilers**Spoilers**Spoilers**Spoilers**Spoilers*
So far (I'm on page 26) whoever Kiera Smith is I hate her, I assume she's the main character of the first book which I am so NEVER reading. I think she needs to put on some clothes and get assassinated like yesterday. That bird, Periwinkle, Echo should just abandon her now, 'cuz you just know that she's going to end up getting attached to it and be like 'I don't know how I would get by without Peri' guh, stupid. As far as the ship, Lillith, IT should be cubed immediately. As far as I'm concerned the book should have opened on the 'primitive' world after she's been there for at least three months, there should be a ship in a really far orbit monitoring her, not closely, just waiting for occasional reports, and there shouldn't be any of this "psi" garbage. Telepath's suck, right now I really hate this book.
Okay, this is just stupid. Get rid of the crystals nonsense, and the commander should be violently opposed to interaction with other planets, just like everyone else on this world. My Idea: If anyone from this world wants technology they should just go to the one landing site that there should be and get on the one ship that should come once a year and move to a different planet. There is nothing wrong with having an old fashioned planet. In fact, in a future world of this kind there should be more of them.
This book should have been:
-primitive planet with two factions at war, who have no time for outsiders
-a spy is sent to the planet to monitor the situation so that the politicians can decide which side they want to win so that they can secretly send help (which is a bad idea, which is why the main character,the spy, is not happy)
-general for the rulers of one of the factions is interested in the spy, and finds out who she is by almost complete accident and is really angry about it, so she has a lot of work to do to convince him a) not to kill her and b) to stick around.
-so the spy helps with the war effort and becomes a spy for this side of the war, thereby cutting ties with her more advanced people and trashing any technology she had with her. Then she discovers that because she went rogue the politicians back home have thrown in with the other side of the war in an attempt to assassinate her specifically, along with their larger goals, which are nothing good (think real history China)
-so the spy has to get back to the commander and fast to tell him the truth, all the while being chased by those sent to kill her, the commander and spy team up to kill them and then she explains what they found and it's one step closer to winning the war.
-the book ends with the commander and the spy in a 'happy' relationship with the war still going on (as it will for at leas three more years whether or not there is a second book) and the politicians thwarted in their attempts to bring the planet into the 'present' which is really the future, and one that shouldn't exist anyway I say.
THAT is how this book should have been written. The way it is is just unpleasant.
Well, I have a lot more I want to say, but I have probably said enough, so I'm just going with this; I've finished reading the book, and I really don't like it, however, there are so many books that are being written these days that I dislike that this is nowhere near the worst I've read, I wish I could put this in my ten most disliked books but it's more like at the bottom of the sixty or seventy books I hate the most.
OK, I hate saying that
*Spoilers**Spoilers**Spoilers**Spoilers**Spoilers**Spoilers**Spoilers**Spoilers*
So far (I'm on page 26) whoever Kiera Smith is I hate her, I assume she's the main character of the first book which I am so NEVER reading. I think she needs to put on some clothes and get assassinated like yesterday. That bird, Periwinkle, Echo should just abandon her now, 'cuz you just know that she's going to end up getting attached to it and be like 'I don't know how I would get by without Peri' guh, stupid. As far as the ship, Lillith, IT should be cubed immediately. As far as I'm concerned the book should have opened on the 'primitive' world after she's been there for at least three months, there should be a ship in a really far orbit monitoring her, not closely, just waiting for occasional reports, and there shouldn't be any of this "psi" garbage. Telepath's suck, right now I really hate this book.
Okay, this is just stupid. Get rid of the crystals nonsense, and the commander should be violently opposed to interaction with other planets, just like everyone else on this world. My Idea: If anyone from this world wants technology they should just go to the one landing site that there should be and get on the one ship that should come once a year and move to a different planet. There is nothing wrong with having an old fashioned planet. In fact, in a future world of this kind there should be more of them.
This book should have been:
-primitive planet with two factions at war, who have no time for outsiders
-a spy is sent to the planet to monitor the situation so that the politicians can decide which side they want to win so that they can secretly send help (which is a bad idea, which is why the main character,the spy, is not happy)
-general for the rulers of one of the factions is interested in the spy, and finds out who she is by almost complete accident and is really angry about it, so she has a lot of work to do to convince him a) not to kill her and b) to stick around.
-so the spy helps with the war effort and becomes a spy for this side of the war, thereby cutting ties with her more advanced people and trashing any technology she had with her. Then she discovers that because she went rogue the politicians back home have thrown in with the other side of the war in an attempt to assassinate her specifically, along with their larger goals, which are nothing good (think real history China)
-so the spy has to get back to the commander and fast to tell him the truth, all the while being chased by those sent to kill her, the commander and spy team up to kill them and then she explains what they found and it's one step closer to winning the war.
-the book ends with the commander and the spy in a 'happy' relationship with the war still going on (as it will for at leas three more years whether or not there is a second book) and the politicians thwarted in their attempts to bring the planet into the 'present' which is really the future, and one that shouldn't exist anyway I say.
THAT is how this book should have been written. The way it is is just unpleasant.
Well, I have a lot more I want to say, but I have probably said enough, so I'm just going with this; I've finished reading the book, and I really don't like it, however, there are so many books that are being written these days that I dislike that this is nowhere near the worst I've read, I wish I could put this in my ten most disliked books but it's more like at the bottom of the sixty or seventy books I hate the most.
November 29, 2011
Echo is a genetically engineered person (GEP) who works for the diplomatic corps. When it is discovered that some GEP’s have psychic abilities (see Book 1 Close Encounters), she is reassigned to the Bureau of Alien Affairs and sent to a planet that is off limits to the Federation. Not only does she not know what her supposed psychic abilities are, but she has to figure out how to use them so that she can recover a psychic crystalline life form. Things get complicated when the attractive commander of the king’s army catches her. Now she still has to save the world, but she should try to avoid falling in love too. [return][return]I should start off by letting you know I like my stories with more focus on the Sci-fi than romance. I don’t like it when the story is really just a romance wrapped up in a Sci-fi setting. I felt like the first book in this series managed to do that. This one didn’t manage at all. There was a lot more focus on the romance. The plot never really felt urgent or dangerous and it all wraps up so neat and tidy. Echo was a little too shallow and whiny to be an enjoyable character. Some of her commentary is amusing, but it's not enough to save this story.
March 8, 2011
Book #2 was as good as Close Encounters. At first I thought the heroine Echo would be too prissy to like but she ended up being a great character. And I just loved her relationship with Reynaud was a great character. Living on a slightly morally repressive world where being caught alone with a woman is considered an engagement announcement, the way he handled Echo was great. I'm hoping there are more books in the series or the author has written other books. I would recommend it.
September 29, 2013
The pink I-do-not-wannabe-an-agent GEP Echo Adams was the leading character in this alien adventure, which wasn't so much alien by the way if you don't count the mess history of the alien intelligence crystals. Planet Madrea was inhabited by immigrants of Old Earth many "cycles" ago, insisting to avoid technology. Echo was after the stolen Daughter crystal and the story goes around this wrap trying to be funny but not managing well.
March 4, 2019
Boring....
January 25, 2014
Rasanter als Teil 1, aber insgesamt genauso schön - wenn auch das Ende wieder etwas schnell und zu einfach war ;)
February 19, 2018
The downside to the Alien ffairs series is there are only two titles. This one was published in 2010 and there hasn't been another since and to me, that is a tragedy as I enjoyed these immensely and want to read more.
March 4, 2018
Much more humor in this one than first. Loved it!!!!
June 26, 2018
Love this futuristic book! Love the heroine and the aliens. This book rocks! Sure wish there were more in this series.
December 30, 2020
Predictable, though better than the first book. Again though, how does anyone publish a book and not proofread it first?
The story itself built well but then concluded far to quickly and with very little done well.
The story itself built well but then concluded far to quickly and with very little done well.
August 16, 2010
This is the second installment in Katherine Allred's Alien Affairs series. I haven't read the first book however Close Contact reads perfectly as a stand-alone. This is the story of Echo, a genetically modified person who has been fired from her job as party planner for the Department of Protocol and forced to work for the Bureau of Alien Affairs as a secret agent. This change in her circumstances is directly related to events caused by the heroine of the previous novel. Echo is a hilarious character. She is vain, shallow and hates Kiera Smith (the previous heroine) with a passion. Her conversation is witty and caustic. She reminds me a lot of Betsy from MaryJanice Davidson's Undead series. I especially loved her clothes obsession!
Echo is sent to recover a powerful sentient artifact from a planet where technology has been outlawed. There she meets and falls for the commander of the army, Reynard. Reynard is a classic hero and a complementary if slightly bland foil to Echo's high-spiritedness.
There is a veritable feast of secondary characters in this story (most of them interesting) but I never lost track of who was who. The plot moved along at a brisk pace and held my interest throughout. I felt Echo's personality paled a little toward the end. I preferred her at her snarky best.
The romance was ok but I like a bit more angst and passion. This couple accepted each other from the outset. I also prefer more technology with my SFR and the setting of a medieval type city didn't appeal to me as much. Otherwise this was a great story and I would recommend it to other fans of Scifi or fantasy romance.
Echo is sent to recover a powerful sentient artifact from a planet where technology has been outlawed. There she meets and falls for the commander of the army, Reynard. Reynard is a classic hero and a complementary if slightly bland foil to Echo's high-spiritedness.
There is a veritable feast of secondary characters in this story (most of them interesting) but I never lost track of who was who. The plot moved along at a brisk pace and held my interest throughout. I felt Echo's personality paled a little toward the end. I preferred her at her snarky best.
The romance was ok but I like a bit more angst and passion. This couple accepted each other from the outset. I also prefer more technology with my SFR and the setting of a medieval type city didn't appeal to me as much. Otherwise this was a great story and I would recommend it to other fans of Scifi or fantasy romance.
September 28, 2010
I really liked this one. There wasn't so much female shamanish stuff as in the last one which spoiled that one a bit for me. This one was entertaining. I enjoyed it greatly as I went along. There wasn't quite as much romance perhaps as the last one. The H and h were not actually together for a large part of the book. They would each do their thing and then meet up every night or so. I nearly always enjoy books better if the H/h are together struggling against an outside force either literally or figuratively. Here they were sort of working separately. This was told in 1st person in a sort of snarky voice from the heroine. The sci fi was fairly solid and the plot was well rounded and made sense.
September 27, 2013
I seem to be in the minority but I actually enjoyed this even more than the first one. I like Echo and her snarky personality. I like that she had a reason beyond not wanting her entire life ( which she enjoyed) to change to explain her resistance wanting psi powers. I liked the relationship between Echo & Reynard in that they spoke to each other & interacted with one another on top of the intense attraction. Yes they were in love incredibly quickly but that seems par for the course in most romance novels these days so I was happy to go with it.
November 20, 2015
Prob. more of a 3.5 stars o this one. I laughed so many times in the beginning of the book and then the laughs were over:( I think hey should have ended with one to remind us and bring back what I (we?) loved about her. I like how the romance builds in these and even though it is kinda love at first sight, they don't act on it and make it all about the sex. Though they do get to that. I like these and will look out for the next one.
January 20, 2011
What a fun read! I enjoyed the interesting science fiction background, with it's touch of fantasy, and of course the romance, though to be honest I was drawn more to the man on the cover than the actual character of Reynard. (The cover looks like a long haired muscle-bound version of Brian from Queer as Folk. Yes please.)
All in all, I had a great time reading it.
All in all, I had a great time reading it.
June 11, 2011
This book was really good. It probably doesn't deserve 5 stars. But that's what I am giving it because I loved it. Great scifi featuring a strong, interesting, and sometimes funny female. I liked her man, too! Can be read as a stand alone.
January 13, 2011
At first, the main character was incredibly annoying. However, she changed a lot and became much more likable. The plot was interesting; and the romance, appealing. Definitely and enjoyable read. Didn't feel forced or formulaic.
September 21, 2010
Not as good as Close Encounters, but not nearly as bad as I was led to believe by the reviews on amazon.com, either! I enjoyed this one for the mindless brain vacation it is, and will happily read the next one.
January 4, 2011
Not as good as the 1st one; maybe a 7/10. Her writing is not as good as Linnea Sinclair.
Somewhat forced (?) wrt to the heroine being "too smart ass". Bit like she's trying too hard.
Still quite a good read & I'd look for more of her bks.
Somewhat forced (?) wrt to the heroine being "too smart ass". Bit like she's trying too hard.
Still quite a good read & I'd look for more of her bks.
March 18, 2011
This is the 2nd in Allred's series. I loved it just as much as the first and have been haunting her website hoping for a glimpse of any other books she might be writing with no luck! If you like sci-fi romance you'll love this series.
June 4, 2014
Interesting sequel but even if I liked Echo and her straightforwardness, the fact that she couldn't stop complaining about her situation really got onto my nerves. Also the fact that she is somehow a stronger character than Reynard is a bit weird. He hasn't a strong enough role in my opinion.
July 20, 2010
Read from 6/30 - 7/3.
January 3, 2013
Dumb covers. But great read. Love that book two is not exactly a sequel. Much better to be introduced to new characters.
August 29, 2013
Easy read Sci Fi.
Read
December 3, 2014aucun intérêt en ce qui me concerne
May 23, 2012
liked it but it got a little silly for me
Displaying 1 - 30 of 32 reviews