Customer Reviews

Dawn in Eclipse Bay

5 star:		(7)
4 star:		(7)
3 star:		(14)
2 star:		(4)
1 star:		(4)

 

 

In this sequel to the delightful "Eclipse Bay" we meet the feudin' Hartes and Madisons once again. This time, Lillian Harte falls victim to the charms of Gabe Madison and love and mayhem ensue. Unfortunately, this book doesn't hold up as well against the original, in my opinion. The sparkle and wit that permeated the first book is not as prevalent (maybe I just missed Winston the dog) and because much of the Harte/Madison conflict had been resolved by Rafe and Hannah in "Eclipse Bay", the feud as a plot device was lacking! However, these comments are not meant to dissuade any potential readers - Jayne Ann Krentz is truly a master of her genre and you won't find a better lighthearted romance around than one with her name on it!! I would urge, however, that you start with "Eclipse Bay" just to keep the characters in chronological order and then, after reading "Dawn", wait, as I am, for the next book about Nick and Octavia Brightwell!

Overall this is a pretty good story. The romance between Gabe and Lillian was neat, although very predictable. Bringing in the Hartes and Madisons together again was a neat plot; however, the continous repetition about Hartes' being what they are and "What did you expect, he's a Madison", got really, really tiresome. A few times fine but constant repetition was annoying. Jayne Ann Krentz has done so much better in the past.

I've been a fan since Ms. Krentz' Candelight Ecsatsy Romance days, and she is one of the rare authors I followed to hardback. Nevertheless, I had just about given up on her after the last several Krentz/Quick stilted and formulaic offerings. The Eclipse Bay books, in paperback no less!, are a return to the much more lively and entertaining books I expect from this author.

The storyline of Lillian Harte, the flaky one in the Harte family, and Gabe Madison, a successful one among the Madison losers falling for each other has a lot of appeal and makes for a fun read. It comes complete with a scary stalker, breakins, people ending up in hospital as the answers to a new mystery unfold.

Unfortunately Krentz, over and over again tries to capitalize on the old Harte-Madison feud which was all patched up in the first story of Hannah and Rafe as well as the "successful" Harte vs the "screw-up" Madison, becomes tiresome. The scenes of a "coverup at the Institute" aren't much different from what we read in the first book. I think they were just rewritten with the new characters. A few mentions of Rafe and Hannah completing their Inn is suppose to make you think the story continues, but they really only appear in one scene when Gabe and Lillian first arrive in Eclipse Bay. The story ends with the two grandfathers patched up once again even though they were never split after the first book, and an introduction of the brother Nick Harte and Octavia Brightwell appearing to send out "body language" signals to the rest of the gathering of a romance to be "coming soon".

I liked Lillian and Gabe well enough, but their romance seemed to lack the edge and fire that Hannah's and Rafe's had. I also wish JAK would stop with the "Madison are this...Hartes are that..." It really got on my nerves. We know that these two families have their trademark personalities, but I felt that the author was trying to beat it into our heads (there was enough of that in Eclipse Bay)! I used to read a lot of JAK, but the last several books have not been as entertaining. I hope the final book in this trilogy has more spunk and LESS FAMILY COMPARISONS.

I love all JAK's books, but I read this one immediately after reading Eclipse Bay and I think that was a mistake. The first book was really very good, the characters were fresh and sassy and sometimes moving and down right hysterical. Dawn at Eclipse Bay did not have the plot developement that the first book had. It took me at least half the book to determine weather or not the whole book was a chronical of lust between Gabe & Lil. But in the end the Grandfathers saved the book (much like they saved the day in the story). All in all not a bad read but definately not JAK's best.

I enjoyed this book quite a bit. Throughout her career, Jayne has had a wonderful interplay between her two main players that makes you just love them both. Lately, though, her characters have been a bit ... weary, not thrilled to be meeting the love of their life. In this book, in my opinion, it's back to her great style, and I really enjoyed it.

The review said, "JAK is Back!" I was really happy to hear that Jayne Ann Krentz had gotten through her dry spell and was back on track with her own style of zany, energetic, and humorous heroines and her strong, dark, complicated heroes. Formulaic? Certainly. Predictable? Perhaps. But that doesn't mean that I don't enjoy the twists and turns of the early JAK novels. I have several on my keeper shelves that I read when I need relaxation and a laugh. It's the written equivalent of a good cup of tea and butter cookies on a rainy day.

I longed for a fresh addition to the stack. So I started "Dawn...." with great hopes. They were not fulfilled. This is not even warmed over JAK but more like a good bread dough without the yeast. It just couldn't rise!

The formula was there but the energy and pace were not. About a third of the way through, I realized I really didn't care too much about the characters and whether they resolved their problems or not. I read it all the way through waiting for the a glimmer of spice and vitality but alas there was none.

One or two clever twists here and there and a cute aside about frozen aliens lightened the story but could not save it.

There is to be a third book set in Eclipse Bay; we can but hope.

After reading Wicked Widow by Amanda Quick,I was eager to read more from this entertaining author. Boy was I disappointed by Jayne Ann Krentz. The story is predictable and boring, and there's hardly any romance going on. Jayne Ann should make up her mind - either you write a good mystery, or a good romance, don't write a mediocre combination of the two.

I have never laughed so hard in my life. At one point I actually had tears rolling... some of the stuff with AZ killed me but the wholehearted tears came from the camera shot... I will not ruin it for those who have not read but the whole red undies thing was hysterical. The sex was a bit weak... a lot of assumptions, which is fine but I think more then one sceen would have made the "clicking" of the characters a bit stronger. All in all though a good book I throughly enjoyed it and am looking forward to reading Summer at Eclipse Bay next! I would recommend this book agian