Sunday, January 18, 2009

Krentz and Garwood

I'm lumping these two together because they're in the same genre and have similar writing styles. In fact, if Krentz didn't add the paranormal to her books, they would be hard to tell apart. IMHO, Krentz writes more interesting books. With the exception of her Jayne Castle books; the futuristic stuff wasn't too hot. 

Speaking of hot, Running Hot was one of her better ones. The newest one in her Arcane Society series, she revisits Luther, the bodyguard who uses a cane and doesn't carry a gun. He appears in Sizzle and Burn. Mostly, I just remember that he liked to eat. I think. Anyhoo, Luther ends up working with Grace Renquist in Hawaii. Predictably, they end up together and fight the evil organization, Nightshade. I have a feeling the next book set in this century in this series will focus on Fallon Jones, head of J&J. There was a lot of personal conversations with him. His character is usually as tight as a clam. I enjoyed this book, no matter how this post sounds. The next one in the series will probably be an Amanda Quick story.

Garwood's Fire and Ice was also one of her better ones but it wasn't as good as Running Hot. Her last one was a historical romance, set in Britain. This one is a contemporary romance, set in Chicago and Alaska. A character from The Murder List (I'm pretty sure I haven't read this one but it feels very familiar) named Sophie Rose is a journalist with a famous father. A famous, criminal kind of father. He's a Robin Hood of sorts, in that he steals from morally and/or socially irresponsible people who have gained their fortunes by walking all over other to get it. He's periodically wanted by the FBI and Sophie loves him. She also has made herself financially independent of him and is trying to live a normal life. Her best friend, Regan, who is the female protagonist in List introduces her to Jack MacAlister, her husband's FBI agent partner. Makes for an interesting future relationship, no? There is also a mystery involved and that is where Alaska comes into the picture. Sounds very unpleasant there. I like winter but I also like not losing my toes to frostbite. This book was ok, not great, but enjoyable. The next one will most likely pair up the third friend, Cordie, with Regan's brother Aiden. I have no idea when either one of these author's next books will be out. End of the year, most likely.

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