I always enjoy Jayne Krentz, no matter which name she uses. This was a modern romance/mystery that was very good. The plot was excellent and the characters were great.

I always enjoy Jayne Krentz, no matter which name she uses. This was a modern romance/mystery that was very good. The plot was excellent and the characters were great.

I rarely buy hardbacks for several reasons. Too expensive, too hard to read while lying in bed, don't fit in my purse to take with me in the car, etc. However, there are 2 or 3, maybe 4, authors whose books I will buy in HB for the simple reason that I enjoy their work and don't want to wait for the paperback version. Krentz is one of those. Along with Nora Roberts, Mary Balogh and, sometimes, Teresa Medeiros.

A big plus for me is I got this one with a Christmas gift certificate and it cam...

I rarely buy hardbacks for several reasons. Too expensive, too hard to read while lying in bed, don't fit in my purse to take with me in the car, etc. However, there are 2 or 3, maybe 4, authors whose books I will buy in HB for the simple reason that I enjoy their work and don't want to wait for the paperback version. Krentz is one of those. Along with Nora Roberts, Mary Balogh and, sometimes, Teresa Medeiros.

A big plus for me is I got this one with a Christmas gift certificate and it came right away. Love Amazon.com!

Parts of the story reminded me of the older Seattle books that I love so much. Us against the family sort of thing. But the dialogue sparkles. The plot is good even tho the villain is pretty much identified ahead of time. No problem. The other villain is an ick and deserves whatever happens to him. The subject of his "little problem" was handled very tastefully. It could have been really gross and a turn off.

Irene and Luke are a perfect pair. Luke's approach to being an inn keeper is cute (ncluding requiring guests to furnish their own toilet paper!) I like that he and Irene just accept each other without all the angst that I sometimes find annoying romance novels. They understand each other. The ED thing his family thinks is one of his problems is sort of funny but not belabored. One thing Krentz never does is write down to her readers. She just assumes we get it. Bless her heart. I hate having the h/h's reasons for whatever they are doing/feeling pointed out to me on every other page.

BTW, In the review from Publisher's Weekly by an anonymous reviewer, he/she got the name of the town wrong and wondered if it was a nod to an Amanda Quick character. Uh. No. The town is named Dunsley. Not Dunster as the reviewer thought. I'm not even sure the town is in Napa Vallley. Luke's family's vineyard is, but... Makes me wonder if that person actually read the book. Oh well.

I also bless JAK that she doesn't write a sex manual for us just to fill in a few pages. I think we all know what part goes where and how. We don't need whole chapters describing every loving/lusting detail. I like to use my imagination, frankly. I do have one.

So, hooray for JAK. She's come through again for us, her devoted readers.