More Books than Time

Book Reviews - Romance, Fantasy, Science Fiction - By an Adult for Adults

Copper Beach, Paranormal Romance by Jayne Krentz

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Jayne Krentz sets Copper Beach on one of the San Juan islands off the coast from Seattle, not on the alien planet Harmony; otherwise this novel follows the same path as her Harmony series written under the Jayne Castle name. Abby Radwell works as an online bookseller specializing in paranormal volumes. Per Abby this is a fairly decent size market with multiple dealers and buyers who range from evil nuts to nuts to paranoid to weird. Abby caters to the merely paranoid and weird.

Sam Coppersmith runs an R&D lab that works on crystals with paranormal properties. His dad, along with 2 partners, mined for minerals in Nevada and found some very unusual geodes with crystals full of psi energy. One of the partners kept a lab notebook which disappeared in an explosion 40 years ago but now is rumored to have surfaced. The lab notebook is psi coded, meaning only certain sensitives can read it. Abby is one of these sensitives.

The story proceeds with a few side twists that add energy and interest as Sam and Abby try to identify who is trying to blackmail her into finding the notebook and to secure the book in Coppersmith’s vault.

As with all Jayne Krentz books, the love story rides along with the action-filled plot, with several bedroom detours. Even though we know everything will end up just fine, the story moves and we go with it. The sex scenes are explicit but short. There is very little vulgarity or blasphemy.

Krentz’ biggest gift is her ability to create vivid characters and plots to match. The suspense and romance feel real and we urge the characters along as they fall in love, as they fight bad guys in parking garages, as they confront killers.

I enjoyed the story although the ending seems a bit too pat, too neatly wrapped up and tied with a bow. I’m not aware of a sequel although this set of characters seems natural for ongoing adventures.

4 Stars

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After Glow – Paranormal Romance from Jayne Castle aka Jayne Krentz

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Jayne Castle wrote After Glow as an immediate sequel to After Dark, both taking place on the planet Harmony in the alien cities that overflow with psi and para energy. After Dark can stand alone although it’s best to read After Glow second to understand the back story and setting.

Once again Lydia Smith finds a dead body, this time Professor Maltby a washed up para archaeologist turned drug addict. Professor Maltby told Lydia he had information about her lost weekend, but the only clue Lydia and her lover Emmett London could find is an old article about a student who also got lost in the catacombs.

There are several sex scenes, about 2-3 pages long, no blasphemy and virtually no vulgarity. Overall I recommend this if you enjoy romance/suspense set in unique worlds.

There are two main plots, Lydia digging into whatever Maltby wanted her to know, and Lydia intervening to keep Emmett from being challenged to a ghost hunter duel. Just as I found with After Dark, the plots and characters in After Glow and the other Harmony novels tend to blur together. The books are entertaining because Castle did a wonderful job building her world of Harmony.

4 Stars

After Dark – Paranormal Suspense by Jayne Castle aka Jayne Krentz

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Jayne Krentz creates an entire world, Harmony, in the novels she writes as Jayne Castle. Harmony is a different planet, one that has been cut off from Earth for 200 years, and one that is full of psi-drenched alien artifacts.

Lydia Smith is a para-archaeologist who was forced from her university position after having spent a weekend lost underground in the disorienting and terrifying alien catacombs. She isn’t crazy or unstable although most people who get lost in the catacombs that never recover. Lydia now works as the curator at a 3rd rate museum, Shrimpton’s House of Ancient Horrors. After Dark begins when Lydia finds a semi-friendly rival Chester Brady dead in an alien sarcophagus while meeting her new client, Emmett London.

The novel has many twists and turns with an intricate plot and subplots, and engaging characters. I find I can’t recall the plot after a few weeks and the characters tend to merge into Krentz/Castle’s generic para-powerful romance leads. The real winner is Harmony; we can almost see and feel the green glowing dead cities above and below ground.

Lydia and Emmett both distrust the other. Lydia distrusts Guild ghost hunters and Emmett thinks Lydia may be involved in his nephew’s disappearance. They must work together to stay alive, to find his nephew and to find who killed Chester and why. After Dark explores how each responds to the other, first with almost overwhelming sexual attraction, then with respect and liking and trust.

After Dark has some semi-explicit sex scenes, almost no vulgarity and no blasphemy. Each sex scene lasts about 3 pages so readers can skip through if they so choose.

I read After Dark about every 3 years or so. The plot tends to slip out of my mind rather quickly as do the individual characters. But I always remember the alien city. Harmony is fascinating.

4 Stars

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Silver in the Blood by Jessica Day George: New York Society Meets Romanian Politics, Werewolves and More

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Jessica Day George’s short story A Knight of the Enchanted Forest, published in the Monster Hunter Files (see review here) was excellent, funny with a streak of serious, and I checked out her other novels.  While George writes mostly teen fantasy, Silver in the Blood is suitable for older teens and adults looking for a quick, enjoyable read with historical interest.

We meet devoted cousins, Dacia and Lou, both children of New York high society with mothers from a aristocratic Romanian family.  The novel is set in 1897, when Romania is independent, beginning to step onto the larger European stage, with culture from both Paris and the Near East.  Both girls are intelligent and rich; Lou is more timid while Dacia is braver and occasionally flouts social conventions.

Plot and Conflicts

The novel opens with Dacia, stuck in her family’s townhouse in Bucharest, waiting for Lou to arrive, bored, looking for friends and a little entertainment.  Lou and Dacia meet some of their mothers’ family and realizes that not everything matches what they have been told.  Grandmother is nasty and drops mysterious comments, Aunt Kate worries about something, Lou’s father is dismissed to leave Bucharest – with Lou’s twin brothers but without Lou and Dacia – and a somewhat mysterious man drops cryptic comments and questions when he meets Lou.

What makes Silver in the Blood work is the political tension that underlies the main conflict.  Prince Mihai, descendant of Vlad the Impaler from centuries ago, intends to usurp the throne and he needs Dacia and Lou and their family to do so.  Lou and Dacia know nothing about any of this and must discover what they truly are (not 100% normal human) and decide themselves whom and what they will support.  The political angle makes the conflicts more believable.

The other conflict is between Lou and Dacia against their family elders.  Lou and Dacia are Americans, not terribly impressed by centuries-old ties of loyalty and even less impressed by old prophecies.  This conflict starts small and grows along with the political tension, then finally both resolve together.

Characters

Characterization is a little light.  Lou and Dacia are more than debutantes or silly girls, as George uses diaries and letters along with the novel’s events to show us what they think and feel.  Both are 19 or 20, old enough to marry, rich and attractive with many suitors in New York, then in Europe.  Both girls are believable characters, but realize this is not a character-driven novel.  It’s a fantasy with believable emotions.

Prince Mihai is a villain with virtually no redeeming qualities, drawn broadly, who displays his villainy through his actions.  Lou and Dacia’s Romanian family also show their allegiances and character by the choices they make.

Overall

Silver in the Blood is interesting, especially if you enjoy fantasy with a slight historical twist.  It reminded me a little Patricia Wrede’s Sorcery and Cecilia novels, mixing fantasy with high society in a late 1890s milieu.   It is a light, easy read, and I enjoyed it on a cold winter afternoon in front of the fire.

3 Stars

 

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The Butterfly Crest – Modern Fantasy – Japan, Myths and Travelogue

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I wanted to like The Butterfly Crest by Eva Vanrell.  The publisher describes a modern woman, Elena, who is caught in the endless war between pantheons.  It sounded so good and indeed the beginning was good, an auspicious sign.

Elena learns of an inheritance from her mother, who died 19 years ago, that awaits her in Japan, and travels there to retrieve whatever it may be.  She and her former guardian stay in an authentic Old Japan inn in Kyoto where they enjoy several days sightseeing with a fellow guest.  She retrieves her inheritance, a striking necklace but decides to leave it with the strange bank that her mother used.

Suddenly everything changes.  The fellow guest in one breath turns from kind friend to killer, attacking and trying to rape Elena.  She is saved by mystery man Eiry, learns she is somehow instrumental in a millennia-long civil war among pantheons and must leave everything she knows.

The Good Parts

Author Vanrell obviously knows and loves ancient Kyoto and shares her love of Japanese culture and ritual with us readers.  This got a little tedious after a while – we are reading a novel, not a travelogue – but she loves it so much that we have to share.  She did her homework on the various pantheons too, introducing all sorts of minor gods and goddesses.

The writing quality is good, albeit too much of it.  The author would have a better and more readable story with good editing and removed about 40% of the words.

The cover is beautiful, like a classic Japan scroll.

The Bad Parts

Elena didn’t seem real to me.  She is meant to be a strong female lead but she just seemed like a character, not a real person.  I didn’t like her.

The plot was contrived.  I couldn’t care less about the pantheons’ war nor about Elena’s place in the war, nor about the obvious romance.

Summary

I just didn’t like the book, couldn’t care about any of the people or their conflicts, didn’t care about the pantheons or Elena.  When the best part of a fantasy novel is the travelogue description you know it is not a book for you.

The publisher furnished a free copy via NetGalley in exchange for a review.   I always try to finish every NetGalley book, since it is a trust, but this one was a real challenge and a chore.  I skimmed the last half.  I noticed most reviewers on Amazon raved about the story and the characters (and agreed about editing the endless travelogue) so maybe it was just me.

2 Stars  (The writing quality and descriptions were too good to give it any less.)

Ascension The Demon Hunters – Just What Era Are We In By the Way?

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I try not to be too picky with things like historical accuracy or logic of magical systems, but sometimes novels simply are not good enough to make me overlook anachronisms or flimsy “powers”.  This book, Ascension (Demon Hunters), by A.S. Fenichel, never put the heroine in a plausible setting or explained the narrative in a way that made sense.

Ascension has a lovely cover picturing a young lady wearing a dress from the early-mid 1800s and carrying a sword.  The guy behind her (whom we can expect to be a hunk since he shows a few inches of chest) is mostly hidden.   The lady is Lady Belinda Clayton, the daughter of an earl, engaged to Lord Gabriel Thurston, the Earl of Tullering who goes to ton parties that include the promenade.  Gabriel recently returned from four years of service in the war and wears his hear in a queue.

Those few pieces of background say we are in the early 1800s, possibly even the latter part of the Napoleonic wars, except the dress doesn’t match.  And men didn’t wear long hair much after the early 1800s.  And Belinda’s faithful maid, Claire, runs a hot bath for her after a long night of demon hunting, yet hot baths during the middle of the night required heating jugs of hot water, lugging jugs and the tin bath up the stairs to the bedroom, pouring the water in, then pouring it out, jug by jug, once the bath was over.

We have anachronisms upon anachronisms.  Sadly the book didn’t appeal to me enough that I could overlook these, nor the ridiculous plot.  Lady Belinda was kidnapped by demons to be a water sacrifice, tortured and then rescued just in the nick of time by her now-friends and associates in the demon killing gang.  In the four years Gabriel was away, Lady Belinda developed muscles, dirty fighting tricks and learned to use a sword to kill demons.  I guess that’s almost plausible, except why would even stupid demons kidnap a rich, titled lady when London was full of homeless, nearly nameless people of any age or gender.

The premise of the book sounded so good:  “A lady by day, and a demon hunter by night”. “Gabriel … determined to show her that their love can endure, stronger than ever.” Doesn’t that sound enticing?  Plus a strong heroine and a big dollop of romance where the guy is in love?

Unfortunately I just could not finish this.   I got to page 60 or so, jumped to the end to see whether it actually ended or was set up for a sequel (there will be a sequel) and gave up.

There are some good points.  The book is well edited with no obvious spelling, grammar or basic writing errors. A.S. Fenichel’s writing style is pretty good.  The bad points are the flat characters and unrealistic (even for fantasy) plot.  Plus, be aware there are sex scenes every few pages.

This book was given to me with the hope I’d write a review, but unfortunately I didn’t like and can’t recommend Ascension (Demon Hunters).

Quicksilver by Amanda Quick Paranormal Romance Victorian England Jayne Krentz

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As the title says, Quicksilver: Book Two of the Looking Glass Trilogy (An Arcane Society Novel), is the sequel to the excellent contemporary romance In Too Deep. A few points make this a most unusual sequel.

    1. There is no continuity in the characters.  The two leads Virginia and Owen have a tenuous connection to Jones and Jones and the Arcane Society.  Virginia mistrusts Arcane as she feels they view people like her who make their living via their paranormal skills as frauds.  Jones and Jones contracted Owen to solve the murders of two glass readers.
    2. The author writes under different names, Jayne Ann Krentz for In Too Deep and Amanda Quick for Quicksilver
    3. Quicksilver is set in Victorian England, some 130 years before In Too Deep.  Quicksilver included a short teaser for the third book, Canyons of Night which is by Jayne Castle and set several hundred years in the future and on a different planet.  (I have read several of Jayne Castle’s science fiction/paranormal romances and enjoyed every one).

Certainly an unusual combination for a sequel!  It’s actually the second book that includes paranormal weapons made by Millicent Brightwater.  The “quicksilver” is a mirror that makes a cameo appearance at the very end of In Too Deep and then used for attempted murder in Quicksilver.

Overall

I liked Quicksilver and will continue to read books by Jayne Ann Krentz (and her other two names Amanda Quick and Jayne Castle), but I think she is an author best read in small doses, say a couple books now and then a couple more in a month or two.  I find this is true for most authors in fact.

The dialogue felt real, you could feel the gloom in the setting, and the characters’ motivations and feelings were plausible.  I didn’t care for these characters or the Victorian setting nearly as much as the contemporary In Too Deep.  The limitations that Victorian women worked under (and through) were real, but tiresome to read about.  It would have been interesting to read more about the credulous clients and those who found the paranormal – whether real or fraudulent – so popular.

The plot had a few eye-rolling moments, especially the set up at the end with the two villains.

Overall 4 Stars.

Here is my review of the earlier In Too Deep:

In Too Deep: Looking Glass Trilogy, Arcane Society, Jayne Ann Krentz

In Too Deep: Looking Glass Trilogy, Arcane Society, Jayne Ann Krentz

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In Too Deep: Book One of the Looking Glass Trilogy (An Arcane Society Novel) is as the title says, part of a trilogy by Jayne Ann Krentz.  It is excellent, one of the best fantasy / mystery / suspense / romance /mysteries I’ve read.  Krentz writes under the names  Amanda Quick and Jayne Castle, specializes in books that combine paranormal romance with suspense and does it masterfully.

I finished this in a couple evenings as it is a fast read, albeit one you need to pay attention to.  There are abundant characters, including some who appear minor but end up being central to the story, plus our two primary characters Fallon Jones and Isabella Valdez.

Jones owns the paranormal investigative agency Jones and Jones and does extensive work for the Arcane Society.  Part of their charter is to deal with criminals who use paranormal methods or weapons for murder.  Isabella’s parents and grandmother were conspiracy theorists who could construct a plausible but dopey theory out of thin air to account for anything.  She was raised completely off the records, no birth certificate, no school record.  Jones is a by-the-books (using his book) guy who is also a strong paranormal talent.

Together Jones and Isabella must confront paranormal weapons from Victorian England, defeat a serial murderer, solve the mystery of who is behind the illicit paranormal weapons sales and yes, clear Fallon’s name and reinstate Jones and Jones as credible assets for the Arcane Society.

This is a tall order and in their spare time Isabella and Fallon fall in love.  The love story is well done, fits seamlessly into the story.  It isn’t one of those books where the author says “Hmmm.  Need a dose of romance here.  Where’s my love interest?”

Well Written

All the sub plots, plots, characters, settings work together.  You don’t see loose ends or silly byways.  The dialogue is well done, with people speaking like real people do in every day conversation.  The character Walter doesn’t speak much other than inside his own head, but even that makes sense.

Part of a Series

I read the second book in the series, Quicksilver: Book Two of the Looking Glass Trilogy  already.  It was set about 100 years earlier than this one and was also good but not as believable or as interesting as In Too Deep.

From the reviews on Amazon, most people liked this with a few complaining about slow action or lack of believable emotions. I didn’t see that; the book read and felt to me like the people genuinely cared for each other. The villains were villainous and the revenge seekers were torn between what they knew they should do and what they wanted to do.

Apparently Jayne Krentz wrote several novels featuring Fallon Jones and the Arcane Society. I will see them out.

Five stars.