Booklist Reviews
*Starred Review* Winter Meadows has a firm policy about dating clients. Fortunately, Jack Lancaster no longer seems to need her professional services. Winter has done everything she can as a meditation instructor to help Jack gain control of the fire-maze dream that has haunted him for years and to develop the lucid dreaming skills he uses to solve cold cases involving arson. All of which means Winter is now free to go out with Jack, who seems to be more than open to the idea. Just as things are heating up personally between Winter and Jack, however, a cold case with strong personal connections to Jack suddenly becomes deadly hot for the both of them. Krentz (Promise Not to Tell, 2018) expertly infuses the tautly constructed plot of her latest addictively readable novel with just the right ratio of riveting suspense and sleekly sexy romance. Wrap all this up in writing that is spiked with a generous dash of wry humor, and you have another delectable literary concoction from the leading mixologist of romantic suspense. Copyright 2018 Booklist Reviews.
BookPage Reviews
Romance: January 2019
Brace for adventure when reading Amanda Bouchet's Nightchaser, the first in a new sci-fi romance series. Captain Tess Bailey is on the run, having stolen a valuable, dangerous serum from a conformist galactic government that brutally insists on order and restraint. Finding temporary refuge after a particularly close call, the captain meets cocky and charming Shade Ganavan, who says he can provide much-needed repairs to her ship and perhaps some personal diversion, as Tess is weary of always watching over her shoulder. But danger is headed their way—will Shade prove to be ally or foe? This is pure, engrossing entertainment as Bouchet deftly builds a galactic world that desperately needs rebel champions like Tess and her crew. Characters' backgrounds and motivations are slowly revealed throughout what is otherwise a fast-paced, action-packed story. There's mystery, tension and more than enough romance to grab the heart.
Jayne Ann Krentz offers a smooth blend of romance and suspense in Untouchable. Cold case investigator Jack Lancaster is making strides in overcoming his horrifying nightmares with the help of Winter Meadows, a hypnotist and meditation guide. He might not know exactly what lies beneath her positive attitude and bright smile, but he's intrigued enough to take their business relationship in a different direction. But when Winter's life is threatened, Jack becomes worried that someone from his past might have tried to hurt him through her. In order to protect Winter, he must hunt down the man who tried to burn him alive many years ago. Some satisfyingly creepy villains, the atmospheric Pacific Northwest setting and a splash of potent sexual chemistry between the two leads let the reader know they're in the hands of a master storyteller.
First loves find another chance in The Duke I Once Knew by Olivia Drake. The youngest daughter of landed gentry, Abigail Linton devoted her early life to caring for her invalid mother. Now her parents are gone, and at nearly 30, Abby opts to take a governess position on a neighboring estate. Caring for the absent duke's younger sister will give her a new and independent life, so she ignores her worries that she'll encounter the lord of the manor, Maxwell Bryce. Max was Abby's first love, but she hasn't seen him in 15 years. Then, unexpectedly, the duke returns and is astonished when he meets the newest member of his household. Learning to trust one another is the essence of all good romances, and that's what Abby and Max must do, or else lose out on an opportunity for lasting love in this sweet and tender tale.
This article was originally published in the January 2019 issue of BookPage. Download the entire issue for the Kindle or Nook.
Copyright 2019 BookPage Reviews.Kirkus Reviews
When Jack Lancaster's mortal enemy goes after his neighbor Winter Meadows, hoping to frame him for her murder, the cold-case specialist takes the opportunity to follow the scant clues and, with his family's and Winter's help, force a confrontation. Jack Lancaster's mother was killed in the cult fire set by Quinton Zane when Jack was 12, and since then he's become a professor, writer, and consultant on the criminal mind, with an expertise in solving cold cases. When he rents a cottage in Eclipse Bay on the Oregon coast, he meets his neighbor Winter, a hypnotist who's started her own business as a meditation instructor. Jack finds her skills beneficial in helping him control the lucid dreams that he uses in his investigations, dreams that have recently become more unruly, a situation that he thinks may be connected to Quinton Zane. When he saves Winter from an attack by a "former-client-turned-stalker," he is convinced that Zane is somehow behind the event and takes the matter to his family: two other victims of the cult fire and the man who saved and then fostered them. At first skeptical, they begin to believe they might actually bring Zane down if they stay under the radar and let him weave a web meant to catch them. Meanwhile, keeping Winter safe and by his side manifests a relationship Jack had hoped for, but if Zane has his way, no one Jack cares about will survive. Luckily Jack and his brothers are a few steps ahead and ready to bring Zane down for good. Krentz rounds out her Quinton Zane series with a couple to root for, a tiny hint of the supernatural, a page-burning plot, a vanquished villain (of course!), a sexy, heart-warming romance, and a quick series check-in and wrap-up. Krentz never disappoints, and this one hits the sweet spot. Copyright Kirkus 2018 Kirkus/BPI Communications. All rights reserved.
Library Journal Reviews
FBI consultant Jack Lancaster is moving ever closer to the edge despite the best efforts of his meditation therapist. What's worse, Quinton Zane begins a campaign to ditch his father's foster sons, with Jack first in line. Third in the Zane story cycle.
Copyright 2018 Library Journal.Library Journal Reviews
Leaving the academic world to write books on the criminal mind and privately pursue cold cases (especially those dealing with fire), Jack Lancaster quietly excels at his job. Still, when his unusual talent for using lucid dreaming to resolve his investigations begins to threaten his grip on reality, he reluctantly seeks help—and finds it in tiny, out-of-the-way Eclipse Bay in the form of meditation instructor Winter Meadows, who has an unusual hypnotic talent of her own. As Winter helps Jack sort out the fiery mazes of his visions—and nightmares—their relationship turns romantic. Then things turn deadly as Winter is accosted by a client-turned-stalker who ends up dead, and Jack realizes this is connected to his decades-long search for the madman responsible for his mother's death.
Publishers Weekly Reviews
Krentz's formulaic and lackluster third Cutler, Sutter, and Salinas romantic thriller (after