Jayne Ann Krentz has written close to 200 books in over forty years and her work frequently appears on the New York Times best seller list. She published her first romance book in the late 1970s and received the Lifetime Achievement Award from the Romance Writers of America in 1995. Known for her contemporary, historical and futuristic romance fiction, Krentz currently writes paranormal romantic suspense under three pen names.
For readers unfamiliar with this author, Light in Shadow is a good start to her extensive book list. Publisher’s Weekly said if the book “doesn’t send your pulse racing, dial your cardiologist’s number.”
In this story, interior designer Zoe Luce suspects a potential client of murder. She hires Ethan Truax, a private investigator, but she’s reluctant to explain why she believes a crime has occurred. Admitting that she can sense lingering emotions in a room after a traumatic event is what sent her to a psychiatric hospital years ago.
Published in 2003, Light in Shadow is the first book in the Whispering Springs series. While this story has a satisfying conclusion and can be read as a standalone, the couple’s romance continues in Truth or Dare.
Zoe and Ethan both are starting over after their worlds came crashing down. Reinvention is a familiar theme in Krentz’s work. The author herself has gone through several reinventions and pen names in her career.
When she first started writing historical romances as Amanda Quick in 1990, the love stories had mystery subplots and were set in the Regency period. The tales evolved into romantic suspense with a Victorian England backdrop. Now she writes paranormal romantic suspense set in California during the 1930s.
Dip into this mysterious world with The Lady Has a Past, Quick’s 2021 release. Launching a missing person investigation, Lyra Brazier must team up with Simon Cage, whose paranormal abilities help him uncover fraud. It’s antagonism at first sight between Lyra and Simon. The banter doesn’t stop when they pretend to be on a honeymoon at an exclusive resort to continue the search.
The Lady Has a Past is all about secrets and illusions. Almost everyone has had to reinvent themselves because of world events. They all have secrets, but few have the power to protect them. The community is filled with con artists, former spies and blackmailers. There’s bound to be a few mysteries and murders in Burning Cove.
This historical romantic suspense is part of the ongoing Burning Cove series. The plotlines don’t connect and each book focuses on one crime-solving duo. The setting, billed as the glamorous seaside playground for Hollywood stars, is what unites the series.
Krentz has been writing romantic suspense for years. Her first published book in 1979 was romance fiction with a touch of mystery. Unexplained phenomena such as ghosts, prophecies and mutual dreaming have shown up in her work since the mid-1980s. The author continues to employ fan-favorite romance tropes, hooks and archetypes in her stories.
Her heroes and heroines don’t always have a background in investigations, but they’re driven to find answers. As Julie Still points out in her LIBRES article “Reading Between the Lines: Librarians as Authors”, “the importance of information—having it, getting it, evaluating it, managing it, using it, and profiting from it, is a clear and present theme in her works.”
The protagonists in Krentz’s stories are also entrepreneurial and prefer to work independently. Therefore, the couples become reluctant partners thanks to familiar romance tropes. Sometimes they’re entering marriages of convenience, pretending to be married, and accidentally getting married.
That’s what happens in Illusion Town, a futuristic romantic suspense written under the Jayne Castle pen name. Hannah West, who tracks down lost artifacts, wakes up married to Elias Coopersmith, a para-crystal engineer. They have no memory of their date the night before and must retrace their steps. As they’re being pursued by kidnappers, the couple stumbles upon a murder and corporate espionage while chasing a killer through alien ruins and facing a paranormal tsunami.
Illusion Town was written in 2016 and it’s part of the Harmony series. Set centuries from now, people from Earth settled in the new world known as Harmony. When their connection to Earth unexpectedly cuts off, the colonists discover ways to survive the primitive and hostile conditions. They also develop psychic talents.
Since everyone has paranormal abilities in Harmony, there’s no need to hide the talents. But Hannah conceals the extent of her dreamlight powers so she’s not labeled as an unstable freak. Her lucid dreaming can have a negative effect on anyone sleeping near her. This has caused some intimacy issues in romantic relationships, but Elias’s strength and control is on full display when their auras clash.
Fans of Krentz’s work enjoy the different landscapes the author creates, but the characters are the main attraction. The heroines will protect their loved ones at all costs. The heroes are just as dangerous as the villains but have different value systems. And when the two join forces and commit to each other, they are unbeatable.
For more information about Jayne Ann Krentz, visit her website.
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