Family Man by Jayne A. Krentz

Krentz is a hit or miss with me. She publishes under several alias most notably Amanda Quick. This title in particular has been recommended to me in so many instances I needed to just break down and read it. It helped that I put it among the lists of many of the Reading Challenges I am doing this year. This year would not pass without me reading the darn book!

Katy Wade is the personal assistant to the matriarch of the Gilchrist empire. The Gilchrist restaurant business is floundering and the grandmother asks Katy to bring back to the family fold Luke Gilchrist. He is the son of the black sheep of the family. Luke's father ran off with a nobody and lived happily ever after before dying in a car accident that claimed his life, his wife's and Luke's wife and daughter. The accident left Luke alone in life and he has lounged in the solitary life style for Four years. He hates his grandmother for causing pain to his family by her dismissal. He has no intentions of helping the family save their business. Until Katy shows up at his door and he cannot refuse her allure and the challenge she presents.

Katy is the daughter of the woman Luke's father left at the altar. Her parents died when she was a teenager and she had to take on the responsibility of raising her brother. Matt is about to graduate high school and go off to college some place, giving Katy a chance to start living her own life. She is determined to have Luke step into his role as savior to the Gilchrist fortune so that she can step down from keeping everything in order and she can open up her own business.

When Luke shows up the whole family expresses their misgivings and question his motivations. He sees this all as a business arrangement that will gain him possession of the one restaurant he really cares for, the key stone to the Gilchrist empire and the restaurant his father most missed. He does not hide why he is stepping up to the plate but everyone thinks he is out for revenge (which he would have been entitled to). Between Luke and Katy, they must find why the businesses are failing after so many years of prosperity and take action to stop those that are really seeking revenge.

Katy Wade drove me mad with Gilchrist this and Gilchrist that. Everyone referred to those in the family as Gilchrist this and that. Everyone except Luke and it was refreshing. I liked that he was fed up with it too. I understand that Krentz wanted to make the family sound elitest but I feel she overplayed that hand.
I kept waiting for the big misunderstanding and it never arrived. Yeah Krentz! Luke and Katy had complete faith in each other and that was such a relief. When Luke, at one point, shows a bit of doubt, he smacks himself over the head and recommits himself to Katy almost immediately. Katy never doubts Luke and doesn't hide things from him which is a step off the beaten path in the romance genre, especially back when this one was published (1992). It was re-issued in 1997 and is available in Audiobook (cassette) format but it's HTF (Hard to Find)

Although I don't regret reading the book since it was very entertaining and is among Krentz best, I could not give it an A because Katy's third person reference and generalization of the Gilchrist family drove me to really despise her at one point. It was such a strong flaw that I had to kick the book down a bit. I would highly recommend this one, even with the annoying heroine.

Grade: B+

All Night Long by Jayne Ann Krentz

Ever have a story where you are not really sure how to grade it? I was really torn with this one.

Irene Stenson suffered a tragedy in her life when at the age of 15 she finds her parents dead in her house. She had been out with her new best friend, Pamela Web, when she returned to find the grizzly scene. 17 years later she receives an e-mail from Pamela, who is the daughter of a presidential hopeful, telling her that she has information about the night her parents were killed. The incident was ruled a murder-suicide but Irene never believed that. Now Irene is a journalist and ready to confront her past.

When she gets into the small town of Dunsley, she checks into the local lodge that is run by one of the most curious characters she has ever met, Luke Danner.

Luke bought the lodge six months ago and is not really into the lodging business but it gives him the refuge he seeks to write a book away from his wealthy family, who believe that Luke is suffering from Post Traumatic Stress Disorder (PTSD) after returning from the Marines.

When Irene goes to meet with Pamela, she discovers her dead, supposedly a suicide. Now her reporter instinct kick into high gear, because Irene knows that Pamela did not kill herself and whoever killed her parents, silenced Pamela before she could talk to Irene.

If I look at this story in small chunks I would have to say it was good, but in whole, it didn't do much for me, Irene suffers PTSD and has an issue with the dark but that is never resolved and yet it was discussed thoroughly in the book. Something happened to Luke 6 months prior that has his family all concerned over his mental health, but in truth, when we find out what it is, the incident is really not a big deal. So we are lead to believe that some personal tragedy has befallen him but no such thing. The actual mystery was very good though. The way we don't really know who done it until the very end was great. A well weaved mystery. The romance on the other side left the reader wanting. Each character on it's own was fine, even together, they were fine, but their backgrounds were just not right. It felt like something was missing.

Grade: C+
Format: Audiobook

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