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.

View all my reviews

Burning Lamp

Burning Lamp by Amanda Quick

My rating: 3 of 5 stars


This latest addition to the fictional world of the Arcane Society is both #8 in the Arcane Society series, as well as #2 in the Dreamlight Trilogy. Nothing groundbreaking here, but it is a solid, entertaining read.

The Winters family has a "curse"--every once in a while, one of the men will inherit a tendency to develop paranormal talent at the age of 36 that goes beyond his original talent. He must locate both a dreamlight reader (a woman) as well as the Burning Lamp his ancestor created, and persuade the woman to use her talent and the lamp to prevent him from going mad. Enter Griffin Winters, late-19th-century London crime lord, and Adelaide Pyne, social reformer.

I had a hard time believing Griffin was really a crime lord--he was too honorable and, well, nice. Not brutal or unscrupulous enough. But otherwise it was a fun read. I enjoyed the appearances of other characters from earlier novels, despite wishing I had the previous books at hand to help jog my memory.

For reader's advisors: story doorway.

View all my reviews >>

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.

View all my reviews >>