Copper Beach

Copper Beach by Jayne Ann Krentz

My rating: 1 of 5 stars


I usually like Jayne Ann Krentz/Amanda Quick's paranormal romance novels. They're enjoyable formulaic escapism. So maybe it was listening to this one on CD that made the difference, made me realize just how repetitive and ridiculous the language, characters, and story were. At first I was excited that finally one of these novels didn't have the instantaneous, sizzling mutual attraction between the two main characters, but no, that did not last or make the hero or heroine at all three-dimensional. This romance sped straight through the usual absurd pattern of lust masquerading as love. I think I got eye strain from rolling my eyes so much and gagging during every single romance-focused sentence.

And for pete's sake, use a thesaurus! Employ some plain old imagination. STOP saying idiotic things like "his eyes heated," "her eyes were hot," "he jacked his senses," "resonating frequencies of their auras," etc. Find a new way to show or explain what is going on. Stop relying on the same tired expressions you've used thousands of times in dozens of other books. In fact, next time, please try eliminating all forms of the words "hot" and "jacked." (There are about a dozen other words I'd like to see vanish from the book, but mercifully I cannot recall them at this moment.)

What's the book about? Oh right--the story. A paranormal books dealer is being blackmailed and pursued for her ability to "unlock the psi-code" of a forty-year-old lab notebook, so she hires someone to find the blackmailer, and he hires her to find the book. A couple of crazy people try to kidnap and kill her, yadda yadda. Some supposedly-hot sex happens (see above comment about eye rolling). If you've read one, you've read 'em all.

For readers' advisors: story doorway, if I have to pick something. Some sex scenes and swearing.


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