Customer Reviews

Nightwalker (Silhouette Promo)

5 star:		(1)
4 star:		(2)
3 star:		(3)
2 star:		(1)
1 star:		(0)

 

 

Heiress Cassie Bond is determined to get Justin Drake away from her sister. Cassie's ex-husband married her for her fortune and she won't let the same fate befall her sister. Cassie is delighted when her blackmail scheme works out and Justin removes himself from Alison's life without a fight. But now Cassie has a new problem, namely that Justin has reset his sights on her...

Overall, I enjoyed this book. It's more typical of JAK than most of her early books under the James pen name in that it has her trademark themes...dangerous man, adventurous woman, witty dialogue and narrative.

The only aspect of it that might make some readers weary (it did me in parts) is that this book was originally published in 1984, therefore the sex scenes are very reminiscent of the "forced seductions" common to 80's romances. Otherwise, "Nightwalker" is pretty much typical JAK.

(PG-13 = description of sex scenes, but nothing wildly graphic)

Cassie Bond could not help but compare Justin Drake to Count Dracula. He had the same dark clothing, dark looks, and dark eyes that hypnotized ... and his sights were set on marrying her little sister, Alison! Knowing he was only after Alison's money, Cassie blackmailed him to leave Alison alone. She won.

Justin Drake decided to teach Cassie a lesson about coming between him and what he wanted. When she rented a broken down gothic style house by the beach (for atmosphere) as a month vacation, he followed her. As revenge, he would slowly seduce her into loving him. That would take time since she loathed him, but he had plenty of time. The plan backfires when he began to fall in love with Cassie. Luring her into his bed would be even harder because she was convinced HE was the person causing her "accidents" and using scare tactics, such as Dracula peering into her bedroom window.

Modern Contemporary and Gothic Romance mix to create this tale of suspense! I read this book cover-to-cover without putting it down. It is awesome! Recommended.

Again one of JAK's efforts suffers from the mini-book size. This is super premise. Justin Drake has targeted Cassie Bond's little sister to be his wife. But Cassie draws the line in the sand. He is too old and a former casino owners with a questionable past. NOT what her perfect princess of a sister needs as a husband. So she corners him and blackmails him into leaving her sister alone.

But one does not snatch the prey away from a preditor without a few scratches, and drawing the interest of the preditor to you. Which is the situation Cassie suddenly finds herself in. Great premise, as Justin suddenly turns his attention to her, but it is rush rush rush from there. Justin's macho tendencies play a little heavy, somewhat dating the book. The mystery tossed in about the house she rents really seems more a divice than a true part of the story.

But even a poor JAK is a good read, and at this promo price is it a good way to spend an evening.

Nightwalker's main characters, Cassie and Justin, are initially in conflict over Justin's interest in Cassie's wealthy, younger sister. Of course soon Justin shifts his attention to Cassie.

Justin is darker than most of Ms. Krentz's heroes. In fact, some readers may find Justin's behavior a little too close to stalking and one scene verges on attempted rape. Cassie is a quirky heroine, but she is strong enough to deal with most of Justin's outrageous actions.

Overall the storyline is interesting but if you enjoy Ms Krentz's lighter fare you may find some elements of this story troubling.

For any Jayne Ann Krentz fan, her books are a must, even when written under the "Stephanie James" pseudonym. However, these are her earlier books and it shows. The sensuality that Jayne has developed to perfection is not yet in evidence - although I'm sure that Cassie and Justin's romance may have raised a few eyebrows back in the '80s. However, Jayne always delivers a well-paced and carefully crafted book, predictable much of the time, but do we really buy romances for the plot? No, we read them for that magic moment when the heroine allows the hero to sweep her to the giddy heights of burning passion, and Jayne Ann Krentz provides these moments better than anyone else! I say go for it!!

Cassie Bond wants Justin Drake out of her sister's life. After all he is a fortune hunter. When she blackmails him he is after revenge. he follows her to her vacation retreat and stays at her home. he vows he will seduce her. Well.....that was the best part of the book. After it becomes a big yawn. Too predictable. The characters are too weak and immediately takes away the premise of a creature of the night. Which I in turn would have liked him to be a real vampire. Oh well...

I didn't feel this book held up to the test of time. I have a feeling that if I had read it back when it was originally published I would have loved it. However the man's point of view in this story was a bit over the top for this day and age. Although I feel the theme of romance is time-less, the dialogue in the book is not. Read with that in mind, there is still enough about the book to enjoy.