Publisher: Berkley
Publication: December 2015
ISBN: 9780399174483
No one does romantic suspense better than Jayne Ann Krentz. Now, the New York Times bestselling author of Trust No One and River Road delivers a novel that twists and turns into a read that will leave you breathless.
Madeline and Daphne were once as close as sisters—until a secret tore them apart. Now it might take them to their graves.
They knew his name, the man who tried to brutally attack twelve-year-old Madeline in her grandmother's hotel. They thought they knew his fate. He wouldn't be bothering them anymore...ever. Still their lives would never be the same.
Madeline has returned to Washington after her grandmother's mysterious death. And at the old, abandoned hotel—a place she never wanted to see again—a dying man’s last words convey a warning: the secrets she and Daphne believed buried forever have been discovered.
Now, after almost two decades, Madeline and Daphne will be reunited in friendship and in fear. Unable to trust the local police, Madeline summons Jack Rayner, the hotel chain’s new security expert. Despite the secrets and mysteries that surround him, Jack is the only one she trusts...and wants.
Jack is no good at relationships but he does possess a specific skill set that includes a profoundly intimate understanding of warped and dangerous minds. With the assistance of Jack's brother, Abe, a high-tech magician, the four of them will form an uneasy alliance against a killer who will stop at nothing to hide the truth....
My review
Since I didn't know what to expect from a romantic suspense, I asked for a ARC of the book Secret Sisters of Jayne Ann Krentz. I started the first page and I was immediately drawn into the story. From the first page the suspense is on a high level and throughout the book there are several twists and turns which you don't suspect and they keep you wondering. Fortunately I started the book early in the evening, so I could finish it the same day. Otherwise it would have kept me up all night! From the brutal attack on the girls Madeline and Daphne up until the latest murder attempt there are secrets lurking in the dark and people trying to cover up twenty years of mystery. So the suspense part was really brilliantly written and I felt the anguish and the shocks after every occurence (I don't want to spoil the entire story). The romantic part? Well, not overly romantic to be honest. Yes, there are some sparks between Jack and Madeline, but it's not an totally-of-the-charts romance (which I can fully appreciate, so therefore this romance was a bit tame). So, no badass romance, a little romantic scenery yes. And the second romance, between Abe and Daphne was even less exciting. So yeah, it had a high feel good factor (which you really need to compensate for all the shocks of the suspense-part), but further not very interesting. However, because the story was well written, the suspense had an awfully good build up and because the feel-good factor was just enough to leave a happy memory: 4,5 out of 5 stars for Secret Sisters!
Publisher: NAL/Penguin
Publication: September 2015
ISBN: 9780451476012
In her thrilling new series, the New York Times bestselling author of the Lady Julia Grey mysteries, returns once more to Victorian England…and introduces intrepid adventuress Veronica Speedwell.
London, 1887. As the city prepares to celebrate Queen Victoria’s golden jubilee, Veronica Speedwell is marking a milestone of her own. After burying her spinster aunt, the orphaned Veronica is free to resume her world travels in pursuit of scientific inquiry—and the occasional romantic dalliance. As familiar with hunting butterflies as she is fending off admirers, Veronica wields her butterfly net and a sharpened hatpin with equal aplomb, and with her last connection to England now gone, she intends to embark upon the journey of a lifetime.
But fate has other plans, as Veronica discovers when she thwarts her own abduction with the help of an enigmatic German baron with ties to her mysterious past. Promising to reveal in time what he knows of the plot against her, the baron offers her temporary sanctuary in the care of his friend Stoker—a reclusive natural historian as intriguing as he is bad-tempered. But before the baron can deliver on his tantalizing vow to reveal the secrets he has concealed for decades, he is found murdered. Suddenly Veronica and Stoker are forced to go on the run from an elusive assailant, wary partners in search of the villainous truth.
My review
Although I'm not the biggest fan of mysteries, this story of miss Veronica Speedwell was definitely worth the time. From the first chapter, where Veronica shows her quick wit and brushes of the meddling of the vicar and his wife: “Mrs. Clutterthorpe, I can hardly think of any fate worse than becoming the mother of six. Unless perhaps it were plague, and even then I am persuaded a few disfiguring buboes and possible death would be preferable to motherhood” I came to appreciate the young and independent woman. Certainly after her last remark to the vicar: “Oh, and you might tell your sources— it wasn’t an American in Sicily. It was a Swede. The American was in Costa Rica.” Quite hilarious, but I doubt that this would be actual conversation in that era. The story unfolds very rapidly, there is not a dull moment in the book. And there are some subtle hints that make your mind wander to where the story might unfold to. But then the story takes another turn, and you are again asking yourself what will be next. The first meeting of Veronica with Mr Stoker was also very intriguing. Veronica shows some skills close to the skills of Sherlock Holmes. My first association with his name was more of a what's-a-vampire-doing-in-this-story feeling, but it proved me wrong. Another mislead from Deanna, because in the previous chapter there was some mention of pale skins and shadowed eyes. So, no vampires in this story. Nonetheless, Mr. Stoker was a grumpy and strange kind of guy, which you learn to appreciate in the unfolding of the story. Without wanting to reveal the ending of the story, Deanna has made sure that you want to keep on reading, to find out why Veronica keeps running into trouble. So in all, a very entertaining book, with lovely characters and a very surprising ending. Four out of five stars from me!
