Customer Reviews

Sizzle and Burn (Arcane Society, Book 3)

5 star:		(30)
4 star:		(6)
3 star:		(5)
2 star:		(5)
1 star:		(0)

 

 

Jayne Ann Krentz has done again what she does so well, give us a great read. I must admit the Arcane Society has not been one of my favorite settings for her books but this time I really loved it. It reminded me of the great novels she wrote about St. Helens, AMARYLLIS, ORCHID,and ZINNIA. This adventure is set in our world and time but the romance and paranormal powers are pure Jayne Ann Krentz.

Zack Jones is a detective with J&J, the agency is a cover for the Arcane Society to find and help people who are psychic. They also are in a race against the Nightshade Cabel, another group of Psychics who are willing to do anything to gain power in this world.

Raine Tallentyre's father was a member of the Society. He was a scientist who wanted to study and evolve the formula the Society protects, that enhances psychic powers. When his lab was discovered and destroyed Raine and her Aunt went into hiding and now her name has come up in the fight against Nightshade. Raine has been living quietly outside Seattle, she has been helping a detective solve cold cases. But Raine is lonely and knows only too well that men have a hard time accepting her gifts.

Togather Zack and Raine must face the danger, now that Nightshade seems to want something from her. Zack must protect her from the Cabel, as well as convince her that Jones in not another name for the devil. Zack and Raine have to discover that tho they are strong psychics, they are twice as strong togather.

I loved it but I always like Jayne's books. She knows just how to make a romance hot without making it too graphic. I like the way we know the feelings of both parties and the adventure and mystery are great too.

Story brief: The Arcane Society is an organization of humans who have different types of psychic powers and at different strengths. When touching an object, Raine hears voices from the person touching it previously. Zack sees visions when he touches the object. There are some murders taking place related to an evil organization, whose members also have psychic powers. There is also a serial killer who put a victim in the house that Raine just inherited. Zack and Raine together investigate the serial killer and other murders taking place.

CAUTION SPOILER:
I did not like one part. Raine and Zack had a wonderful evening of sex. They were both single and attracted to each other. The next day she said they were not going to have anymore sex because it was "not smart to mix business with pleasure." I did not understand this or agree with her. They did not work for the same company. She was just a concerned citizen trying to solve a mystery with her psychic gifts.

Sexual language: moderate. Number of sex scenes: five. Setting: current day towns in the states of Washington and California. Copyright: 2008. Genre: paranormal romantic suspense.
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To date, I've read the following Krentz, Castle and Quick books (same author).

By Jayne Ann Krentz:
5 stars. Trust Me. Copyrt 1995. Review Date 3/1/08.
5 stars. All Night Long. Copyrt 2005. Review Date 2/9/08.
4.5 stars. Running Hot. Copyrt 2008. My review was posted under 4 stars on 1/06/09.
4 stars. Twist of Fate. Copyrt 1986. Review Date 6/23/08.
4 stars. Deep Waters. Copyrt 1996. Review Date 7/29/08.
4 stars. Sizzle and Burn. Copyrt 2008. Review Date 2/9/08.
3 stars. White Lies. Copyrt 2007. Review Date 2/9/08.
2.5 stars. Eclipse Bay. Copyrt 2000. My review was posted under 2 stars on 7/09/08.
2 stars. A Coral Kiss. Copyrt 1987. Review Date 2/9/08.
1 star. Midnight Jewels. Copyrt 1987. Review Date 2/1/08.

By Jayne Castle:
2 stars. Zinnia. Copyrt 1997. Review Date 7/29/08.
2 stars. Silver Master. Copyrt 2007. Review Date 2/9/08.

By Amanda Quick:
3 stars. Ravished. Copyrt 1992. Review Date 5/7/07.
2 stars. Lie By Moonlight. Copyrt 2005. Review Date 2/9/08.

Raine Tallentyre discreetly uses her psychic abilities to help solve
cold cases. When she initiates a romantic relationship with the
detective she assists, she is cruelly rebuffed. Raine should have
listened to the advice of her recently departed Aunt Vella-never share
the secret of your psychic gifts. With a lonely future in front of
her, Raine journeys to Shelbyville, Washington to settle her aunt's
estate and put Aunt Vella's home on the market. In her aunt's
basement, Raine discovers a barely alive woman trapped in a foot
locker, the interrupted work of a serial killer.

Arriving in Shelbyville on behalf of the Arcane Society, investigator
Zack Jones needs information from Raine Tallentyre. Raine is
immediately attracted to Zack. Zack is far from repelled by her
psychic ability. In fact, he has them too! Raine and Zack immediately
share an intimate connection. With a serial killer targeting Raine
and Nightshade operatives surrounding them, Raine and Zack must turn
to their paranormal gifts and each other in order to survive.

Readers all over the world look to Jayne Ann Krentz for truly
exceptional writing. No matter what genre Ms. Krentz takes her pen
to, the results are the same-reader satisfaction! Sizzle and Burn,
Ms. Krentz's latest addition to the Arcane series, is a wholly
pleasurable read. Sizzle and Burn's succulent romance and imaginative
paranormal twists are a reader's delight! Don't miss this series from
this world renowned author!

Annmarie
Reviewed for Joyfully Reviewed

Jayne Krentz gives her readers another well plotted paranormal love story with her patented understated alpha male and her book smart but relationship challenged woman.

This is another Arcane Society and this time it is the heroine who is reluctant to look to closely at what she can do and the hero who is enmeshed (and much deeper than the heroine could imagine) in the Arcane Society.

I enjoy reading Krentz's novels not just because of her intertwined storylines but because of the reaccuring themes that run throughout her books -- spanning back to her earliest novels that she wrote over 20 years ago. It's been interesting and enjoyable watching her create a fictional world view.

Reading this one might think that her books would get boring after a while, but her tight plotting keeps each story fresh.

Krentz has another hit in her Arcane Society series. Raine Tallentyre is finalizing her aunt Vella's estate, when she stumbles across a serial murderer and much more. To her assistance comes, Zack Jones, investigator for Jones & Jones, psychic investigators. The two join forces to stop a nefarious organization from taking over the Arcane Society and along the way they find love. The plot is a maze that the reader must travel through to a very satisfactory conclusion. Never fear, a sequel has to be on the way. The Arcane Society novels deftly ties Amanda Quick's recent historical novels and Krentz's present day stories. This was just the book for a cold, snowy midwestern day.

Well, I generally like books by Jane Ann Krentz(Amanda Quick), but I have to agree with the Publisher's Weekly review that this fell flat. It's the same old tried and tired romantic formula. The romance itself seemed to be more about lust than actual love. Which is fine, if you're looking for some soft porn.

Also, I listened to this story, on audio CD, at work and was very disappointed by the Narrator. Her voice and inflections were weak and annoying; like nails on a chalkboard. I hope they pick a better narrator next time.

The story itself had some surprising elements, but overall was predictable. I think the author was going for something fast-paced and in the process left out alot of the detail and emotion that helps the reader connect to the characters and the story itself. Finally, even though the characters had paranormal abilities, I did not find them exciting, unique, funny or even interesting. But, maybe alot of that had to do with the audiobook narrator..?

But, like I said, there are a few of her books that I've enjoyed before, so I give this 2 stars.

Jayne Ann Krentz is an author I go to when I can't find anything else to read. I generally prefer her historical-romance writing under Amanda Quick over her contemporary stories. Even though I didn't enjoy the first Arcane Society novel, White Lies, I decided to give it another try.

The Arcane Society in itself is an interesting an idea. It's a secret society of individuals who have varying psychic abilities, including extreme intuition, heightened "hunting" instincts, reading auras and hearing or experiencing traces of emotions left behind on objects. As you can imagine, anyone with these types of abilities could be involved in a complicated, out of the ordinary story.

In Sizzle and Burn, the main character, Raine, has been using her psychic abilities to solve cold-cases. Due to circumstances in her childhood, she was raised outside of the Arcane Society, and has little knowledge of others with her psychic abilities. When Raine becomes involved in an open investigation, she, along with private investigator Zack Jones, is drawn into the centre of an ongoing feud between the Arcane Society and their shady (conveniently named) rivals, Nightshade.

According to the review on the cover--this book has so called, "snappy" dialogue between characters. Apparently to the reviewer, "snappy" is synonymous with "ridiculous". I found myself rolling my eyes at some of the text.

For example:
"...Help me with the b*tch."
"I guess that would be me," Raine said. She gave a really super version of her special, patented, screw you smile.

Don't lie! You just rolled your eyes, didn't you?

Anyway, this book was a solid three-stars. Even though the dialogue was somewhat cringe-worthy, the plot was okay and the characters were okay. It was a decidedly average read.

I have been a fan of Amanda Quick, and I just now realized that she has continued her Arcane Series under her other name, Jane Ann Krentz. I have only recently become a fan of modern day romance/mysteries and this book made a fun leap from Victorian England to modern day USA. I always wondered what would happen to some of my favorite characters familys and socities and Sizzle and Burn answered that question. Being a Mom of an acitve 18 month old baby, you don't have a lot of time to devote to reading, but what is great about this book is that it was easy to pick up where I left off and not have to reread to remember the thread of the story. If you are going on vacation or just need a book that can be read in small doses, this is a great one. Mystery and romance are combined to solve a serial killer murder and the end has a great twist that even I didn't see coming!

Maybe you could spend your time better by reading Ms. Krentz's older offerings, i.e, Trust Me, Mischief, etc. After you read these two you will have a very good idea of how the plot will play out in any future novels. It is always the same. Don't get me wrong, I have loved Ms. Krentz's writings in the past, am hopeful, and always read what her newest is. With hope. But I think I am suffering from been there, did that. Maybe some surprises are needed for future novels. But if you want to pass the time reading for an evening and are game, you could do worse. Or - I am thinking - you could do better.

But hope springs eternal, and I am going to just keep on reading Jayne Ann Krentz novels. What I hope is that something in her writing will surprise her readers soon.

I am a big fan of Jayne Ann Krentz (in all her writing names) but this book was not my favorite. I was disappointed. A weak mystery would have been OK if the romance was great and vice versa, but neither the mystery nor the romance was strong enough to carry the book.

The romance didn't give me the feeling of Raine and Zack falling in love. Mostly they just fell into bed and had better sex than they'd ever had before. Even if one buys the idea that the characters' psychic connection allowed them to recognize their true love, it doesn't excuse short-cutting the romance. Romance is not the same as hot sex scenes. I want to feel the emotional connection of the characters.

The mystery ending had some holes that didn't make sense. Raine (and probably Zack as well) almost certainly would have touched the people involved as suspects or killers (or things they had touched) and, therefore would have known much earlier who was and wasn't involved. Because of that, the mystery fell flat for me.

I much prefer the earlier futuristic romances she wrote as Jayne Castle. If you enjoy the combination of paranormal senses, romance and mystery, you should read those books -- especially the ones with flower name titles.