Summer in Eclipse Bay by Jayne Anne Krentz

It seems that I'm a down roll... The last two books have been such a disappointment. This is the third book int he Eclipse series but Krentz did a good job making it readable without having read the first two.

Nick Harte is a widow who has avoided commitment until Ocatvia Brightwell. The Art Shop owner is the great niece of Claudia, the woman who caused a huge rift between the two most powerful families in Eclipse Bay. Trying to make amends for the sins of her aunt, Octavia comes to town to try to help mend the feud between the Harte's and the Madison's but they are well on their way to harmony with the marriages between Nick's sisters and two of the Madison clan (seen in the first two books of this trilogy). Octavia is ready to pull out but gives into her attraction to Nick as a way to "live a little". She doesn't like it when after a tumble in the hay (so to speak) he picks up his cloths and leaves. He tells her that she gave him 'the talk' declaring that she was not into a long term affair so there is no reason to recriminate him. The talk is what Nick usually gave his women before taking them to bed, where he told them that there was no hope for a long term affair. When a painting goes missing from Octavia's shop, Nick's protective instincts go into high gear.

I'm not too sure if it was that I had not read the first two books (although I doubt it since this one did well as a stand alone) but the characters and Eclipse Bay never really found a spot in me. I just could care less what was happening to them and I didn't care who took the painting or why. When we finally find out who took the darn thing it was anti-climatic. It could have been the narrator of this Audiobook that made the book flat but I am not sure of it was that either. When a book doesn't resonate with me in its audio form I try to imagine the story being read. I think of myself sitting with the book and reading it. I must admit that if I was reading this book I would have stopped reading half way into it. The book just did not do it for me.

Grade: C-
Format: Audiobook