Secret Sisters

Secret Sisters by Jayne Ann Krentz
My rating: 4 of 5 stars

Three and a half stars, but I'll round up.

When Madeline was twelve and enjoying a sleepover with her best friend, Daphne, a guest at her grandmother's hotel tried to rape and kill her. Only five people knew what happened to the attacker...or so they thought. Nearly two decades later, Madeline, now the owner of the hotel chain, returns to the island after her grandmother's death only to discover that the truth might not have stayed buried. She enlists the help of her chief of security, Jack, and his brother, Abe, to uncover who is behind the recent spate of violence and stop it from spreading any further. It's not the reunion either would have chosen, but Madeline and Daphne are delighted to be together again and are determined to keep the past from destroying the present. If they succeed, perhaps these sisters-at-heart might one day become sisters-in-law.

Fast-paced, exciting plot. Plenty of villains to go around. Likeable main characters but not much real character development. Very enjoyable read.

For readers' advisors: story doorway is primary. Some swearing that might bother the most sensitive. Violence isn't explicitly described & the sex scene is relatively short and not terribly detailed either.

I read an eGalley ARC courtesy of NetGalley and the publisher in exchange for my honest review.

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Dream Eyes

Dream Eyes by Jayne Ann Krentz
My rating: 3 of 5 stars

Two years ago, Gwen Frazier was nearly the third member of a research study murdered by a serial killer using a paranormal weapon. She defended herself and sent him screaming off a cliff and over the falls to his death, but now it seems someone else has picked up where he left off. She enlists the aid of Judson Coppersmith to help her find who murdered her friend and mentor. Tracking down the culprit uncovers a long history of murder-for-hire, and Gwen is back on the hit list.

Krentz's books are always quick, easy reads. The characters are nearly the same from book to book, and the romance is highly predictable, but it's a decent escapist read. I actually thought the minor character of Gwen's "brother" Nick was the most interesting and unique person in this story.

Thankfully, Krentz has slightly toned down her over-use of her favorite words and their synonyms (hot, heat, para-senses, jacked, etc.) in this volume of the Dark Legacy/Dreamlight/Arcane Society series, although she repeats "wack-job" a time too many.

The book is set in the fictional town of Wilby, Oregon, somewhere along the north coast, so far as I can tell, given the driving time mentioned from Seattle & Portland. I love that it's set in my home state! But setting isn't a big appeal doorway because it's not really very unique to Oregon. It could be set pretty much anywhere with hills, trees, and water.

For readers' advisors: story doorway. There are a couple of formulaic sex scenes that I kind of skimmed because they are pretty much the same as in all the books in this multi-branched series, with the hero & heroine's auras fusing in a blaze of perfectly tuned paranormal heat.

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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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In Too Deep

In Too Deep by Jayne Ann Krentz

My rating: 3 of 5 stars


The tenth installment of the Arcane Society series focuses on Fallon Jones and his new assistant Isabella Valdez. She takes on a seemingly innocent investigation of an old mansion some think is haunted, and it turns in to a discovery of a serial killer and antique paranormal artifacts. Very exciting, fast-paced story to read.

The sex scenes/romance were pretty formulaic if you've ever read any of the rest of Krentz's books, but Fallon and Isabella are a good match. And I appreciated that the Nightshade conspiracy was more tangential for most of the novel. It was nice to learn more about Fallon and Isabella's talents and histories, as well as more about the townsfolk of Scargill Cove.

For readers' advisors: story doorway, primarily, with character secondary



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Fired Up

Fired Up by Jayne Ann Krentz


My rating: 3 of 5 stars

This book is both the start of a new spin-off series (Dreamlight Trilogy) as well as a continuation of the Arcane Society series. The hero & heroine are not Arcane Society members this time, but they are still dealing with the nefarious Nightshade organization, and we get to peek a bit more into Fallon Jones' life, which I found interesting. Otherwise, it's pretty much the same formula as the other books in this series: strong paranormal talents meet and must work together to survive and stop the bad guys...while simultaneously falling in love and having mind-blowing, psi-energy-enhanced sex. Not original, but still fun.

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Running Hot

Running Hot by Jayne Ann Krentz

My review

rating: 3 of 5 stars

Another entertaining volume in the Arcane Society series. This one is set in modern day, so Krentz thankfully avoids the use of the word "psychical," which I greatly appreciate. Our hero & heroine are both off-the-charts in terms of psychic talent, of course, but they always are. The thing I appreciated most was that this book moved the story a little further along in terms of revealing details of the Nightshade Organization. On the other hand, if you hadn't already read the previous four volumes, you might be a bit confused by ongoing plot lines.


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