The Perfect Poison by Amanda Quick

Posted by Nicchic, 2 years ago

Am I going to give up on Jayne Ann Krentz? Probably not, but I'm just not as satisfied with her writing as I used to be, although admittedly having collected over 130 books by Krentz I guess my expectations are biased. Maybe my preferences have evolved or maybe I've just been exposed to too much great fiction and have higher standards now. The Perfect Poison's book jacket looks pretty and promising with purple flowers and ferns and a hot pink spine. The books feel nice and weighty, so I was excited to start reading, hoping The Perfect Poison would be the story that makes me fall in love all over again with Krentz. Well this novel will not be the one to make me do that...but neither will it make me give up her novels for good. The 437 pages I thought an ideal size of read, but realized soon enough that the page count is deceptive and the read is much shorter and quicker than I was expecting. The type is a bit larger and the lines are quite spaced out and thicker paper is used, albeit the book is still priced at CAD$9.99.

Maybe its just the whole Arcane Society Series books that cross the paranormal (Castle), historical romance (Quick) and contemporary (Krentz) romance genres, which include the common storyline of the "Arcane Society" that is causing the problem for me...a lot of the language sounds repetitive, so the stories are not as fresh as they could be. If The Perfect Poison is the first book you pick up by the author I think it would be a fun read, with a unique premise that the independent, strong-minded heroine Lucinda Bromley can detect plant energy, including poisons. But the overly indulgent, flowery and flamboyant language made me cringe instead of chuckle this time. The hero Caleb Jones was not as much alpha as caveman really and his characterization could have done with more depth and polish. Overall: Average.

Recent January 2010 release in hardcover is Fired Up (Krentz); Next up is Burning Lamp (Quick) released in hardcover April 20, 2010; Midnight Crystal (Castle) released in paperback August 31, 2010.

myobsessionwithbooks.blogspot.com

• report this
• Was this helpful? yes no yes no
• add a comment

• 7 comments

Upcoming JAK - AQ - JC Releases

Posted by Nicchic, 3 years ago

First of all I can't believe how long it has been since I posted the to group (sorry for being a terrible administrator!)...I was disappointed in Sizzle & Burn so maybe that influenced my usual JAK enthusiasm...but I did enjoy The Third Circle. I have always loved her historicals though, and am looking forward to The Perfect Poison in paperback (March 30, 2010), since I only collect the paperback versions. Has anyone read The Perfect Poison yet? Is it good? Anyone agree with me that the historical Arcane Society novels are much better than the contemporary ones?

I noticed that there will be reissues of Deception & Scandal (November 24, 2009). If you are a fan of historical romance I highly recommend the early Amanda Quick books... especially Seduction, Scandal and Surrender. Heck all the books that start with Ds, Ss,and Ms are great!

I've yet to pick up Obsidian Prey which was just released August 25 but will be doing so asap. I hope Lyra gives Cruz a hard time and makes his life miserable before she helps him...I think the temple ruin graphic on her website is cool. See here: www.krentz-quick.com/harmony/obsidianprey.html

So how about this, JAK's upcoming hardcover contemporary Fired Up released December 29, 2009, is Book 7 of the Arcane Society series and Book 1 of the Dreamlight Trilogy...how much more confusing is that! I liked her battle-of-the-sexes contemps more than the new paranormal twist ones so we'll see how successful Fired Up is. Hoping to be pleasantly surprised but not counting on it!

Coincidentally the paperback version of Running Hot (Arcane Society Book 5 Contemp) is being released on December 29, 2009 as well. I am looking forward to reading this one though...sounds a bit more interesting than Fired Up! Oh yeah, and the heroine Grace is from Eclipse Bay... a familiar location to you JAK fans.

• report this
• Was this helpful? yes no yes no
• add a comment

• 1 comment
• 1 person found this helpful

Obsidian Prey book trailer

Posted by Fiction Editor, 3 years ago

The latest Harmony book is due out next week (Aug. 25), and if you haven't already seen it, the book trailer is pretty fun if you're a dust bunny fan... (In fact, I'm almost starting to enjoy the trailers more than the books.)

• report this
• Was this helpful? yes no yes no
• add a comment

• 1 person found this helpful

Dark Light Contd

Posted by Nicchic, 4 years ago

If you like the Jayne Castle paranormals/futuristics you may want to try to find Sweet Starfire, Crystal Flame and Shield's Lady (originally published under Amanda Glass - its current edition is under Jayne Ann Krentz), her Lost Colony series. I would consider these the first of her paranormals and they are really great reads. If you can't find them in bookstores try ebay.

www.fantasticfiction.co.uk/k/jayne-ann-krentz/

• report this
• Was this helpful? yes no yes no
• add a comment

• 3 comments
• 1 person found this helpful

Dark Light

Posted by Nicchic, 4 years ago

I enjoyed Dark Light by JC but not as much as her previous paranormal novels (Amaryllis, Zinnia, Orchid - St Helen's; Bridal Jitters, After Dark, After Glow, Ghost Hunter, Silver Master - Ghost Hunters). Thought this latest book was light on content. Some of the story was from Elvis' point of view, which was too cute. I would recommend this if you are a JAK-JC-AQ fan. Nice, fluffy read.

• report this
• Was this helpful? yes no yes no
• add a comment

• 1 person found this helpful

Dark Light - sneak peek #2

Posted by Anne Lee, 4 years ago

• buy now
• add to wishlist

And this little excerpt is from the JAK mailing:

Greetings, friends, the next Jayne Castle novel in my Ghost Hunters series, DARK LIGHT, arrives in stores today. For those who enjoy the books, I’ve got a little taste of the story for you. It involves the traditional Ghost Hunter wedding night ritual….

A fifth ball of energy flared in front of Sierra. Involuntarily, she took another quick step back. She was no expert but it was obvious that the new ghost was hotter and more tightly wound than the others.

"Oh, damn," she said.

Fontana leaned one shoulder against the wall, folded his arms and contemplated the ghosts as though they were novel inventions he’d never seen before in his life.

"This is for you, Sierra," Jeff explained earnestly. "The boss is going to show that he’s worthy of you."

"The only way he gets you is if he gets through our ghosts first," Simon said.

Kay giggled. There was a lot more muffled laughter in the room, mostly from the women.

This was not about proving anything to the bride, Sierra thought. It was about generating a lot of ghost heat. It was common knowledge in certain quarters – hair salons and ladies’ restrooms, for instance – that hunters got sexually aroused after working ghost light. It had something to do with the testosterone-heavy, bio-psi hormones that flooded their systems when they used their talents.

The rumors about their sexual prowess when they were in the midst of a post-ghost burn were not unfounded, according to women who had dated guild men. There was a reason why the taverns and bars that catered to hunters in the Quarter were also popular with college women on spring break and bachelorette parties.

"No offense," Sierra said, striving to project firm authority, "But you’ve all had a little too much to drink tonight. I really don’t think any of you should be working ghost light in a confined space."

They ignored her, watching Fontana for his reaction.

"What do you say, boss?" Andy asked. "Is Sierra worth working your way through five ghosts?"

Fontana looked at her over the tops of the ghosts that bobbed between them.

"Oh, yes," he said, nerve-shatteringly serious. "She’s worth it."

• report this
• Was this helpful? yes no yes no
• add a comment

• 1 person found this helpful

Dark Light - sneak peek #1

Posted by Anne Lee, 4 years ago

• buy now
• add to wishlist

Dark Light, the latest Harmony tale, went on-sale yesterday, and to celebrate, JAK has been sending out teaser bits. I figured I'd share with you folks in case you didn't get the emails...

from Writerspace:
Jayne, here, with a quick note to let you know that the next book in my Jayne Castle Ghost Hunter series, DARK LIGHT, is arriving in stores as we speak. Here's a little taste of the story in which reporter Sierra McIntyre discovers that her interview with the mysterious and very dangerous John Fontana is about to take an unexpected twist....

"I did not come here to talk about myself," Sierra said. "This was supposed to be an interview with you." She closed her notebook and slipped it into her purse. "But it appears that isn’t going to happen so I might as well be on my way."

"You surprise me," Fontana said. "I didn’t think you’d give up so easily."

She got to her feet. "I don’t mind wasting your time but I’m not real keen on wasting my own."

"Sit down, Miss McIntyre."

"Why?"

"Because I am, as the old saying goes, about to make you an offer you can’t refuse."

"Are you threatening me?" she asked .

"I hope you won’t take it that way."

"And if I refuse?"

He smiled. "You won’t."

"Why won’t I?"

"Because I’m going to give you a shot at a real exclusive, the biggest story of your career."

"Sure."

"You don’t trust me, do you?" he said.

"No farther than I could throw you."

He watched her with a steady, unwavering look. "I’m dead serious."

It was the word dead that aroused all her journalistic instincts. Okay, maybe he was serious.

"This would be a guild story?" she asked warily.

"Yes."

"What, exactly, do I have to do to get this hot exclusive?"

"Marry me."

• report this
• Was this helpful? yes no yes no
• add a comment