Reviewed by Donna
TITLE: Purple Haze
SERIES: Aliens in New York #2
AUTHOR: Kelly Jensen
PUBLISHER: Self Published
LENGTH: 189 Pages
RELEASE DATE: May 10, 2019
BLURB:
Six months have passed since Dillon and Lang crashed into each other on a crowded street in New York City, changing the course of their lives. Now they’re living together as a couple, happy, in love, but not quite ready to say the words out loud.
Dillon is about to embark on a new adventure—opening a private art school housed in the brownstone left to him by his father. Lang… Lang is becoming ever more aware of the futility of his mission: being caretaker to his clan’s future when his clan might not survive the war with an opposing faction.
When a flashbulb outside a nightclub on New Year’s Eve temporarily blinds Dillon, the course of their lives is set to change again. Dillon’s perception of how the world works is going to be forever altered, and Lang will have to decide between his mission and the man who has come to mean more to him than he ever thought possible.
It will be up to both of them to chart a new direction, one that holds the balance between being human and alien. A course that might require sacrifices neither of them is willing to make.
REVIEW:
This is the sequel to Uncommon Grounds, a book that was originally written as part of the Amazon Kindle Worlds belonging to Felice Stevens. From my understanding, the Kindle Worlds series have since stopped being produced, but Ms. Stevens has kindly allowed Kelly Jensen to continue using her characters, Micah and Josh. In fact, they play a much larger role here than in the original Aliens in New York book. While you don’t need to have read Felice Steven’s story before reading Purple Haze, I would definitely recommend only reading this as a sequel to Uncommon Grounds. Both books are based around the same two characters, so you really need that first story to understand the background.
The first chapter sets the tone for the couple’s relationship, letting us know what the guys have been up to since we last saw them. While there is yet to be any declarations of love, both men are determined to make the relationship work and are at the stage where they are living to make the other happy. Lang still blame’s himself for messing up Dillon’s life, and Dillon’s still suffering some effects of having been injected with alien DNA in the first book.
This story felt different to the last one, deeper I guess, which is what you really want in a sequel. The world is already set up, so more page time can go into giving the characters some extra depth. I loved these two together from the start, so I was glad that the author didn’t choose to mess with their relationship. Well, she did, but it was outside forces that were pulling them apart, rather than some ridiculous misunderstanding. There was much more exploration of the alien culture here. Like the fact that Lang’s people don’t pair up for love, they see that as a waste of time and energy. Their lives are dedicated to the betterment of the species and the idea of emotion over duty is something grapples with, and something his fellow aliens don’t comprehend. And there is quite a few more aliens in this book than the last. I enjoyed the direction the author took the story in, and I hope it allows for more books in the series, even if that means new main characters. The ending of this book was great, mainly because it doesn’t end with everything being perfect. Don’t worry, there is a happy ending, but I totally wasn’t expecting Dillon’s solution to their problem. I actually really appreciated that there wasn’t some fairytale solution. Sorry, trying to give praise while keeping it vague is hard!
As with the last book, the sex scenes between Dillon and Lang are startlingly hot. I love the switch in personality that seems to come over Lang once the clothes come off. He goes from a rather mild mannered, polite billionaire to a sex fiend. And in this story there is an added element of emotion to the sex scenes. While they’re still scorching, the affection between the two men is only made more evident during these scenes.
I definitely need to give an honourable mention to Upero, the AI from Lang’s space ship who also seems to act as his BFF. I do love a spaceship who acts like a person, and Upero is one of my favourites.
RATING: 
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