Customer Reviews

Soft Focus

5 star:		(12)
4 star:		(8)
3 star:		(8)
2 star:		(13)
1 star:		(10)

 

 

I've loved JAK's books for years for their vibrancy and sparkle. I'd hoped she'd break the trend of smooth reworking of familiar forumulas and return to her former emotional intensity. But, sad to say, this doesn't do it.

Oh, it isn't *bad*, it's just blah. She skips the New Age element this time, but everything else is the same. I don't mind authors having distinctive styles and outlooks, but JAK's recent books read like manufactured units dropping off the assembly line. I don't think it's a case of JAK going more mainstream like Iris Johansen or even Linda Howard. This is obviously targeted as a romance, but while the plot premise is clever enough, the characters never come to life at all. The plot can't carry the book over the too-familiar terrain when the love and romance stays so flat and uninvolving.

If you're a die-hard JAK fan, this will stave off the worst of your cravings, but it won't feed your hunger the way even rereading some of her older books would. It's okay--but only okay. It certainly is not a keeper, and not a likely hardback investment. I'm about given up hope that JAK will be one of those authors whose books I eagerly await. And that's a pity.

This latest book of Jayne Ann Krentz is a far cry from her usual style of writing. I've read every one of her books and was disappointed by this recent release. Her books have always been enthralling, entertaining and a true joy to read. Soft Focus was very different from her other books. While the use of crude language itself did not bother me, it was out of context with the story. The action between the main characters was disjointed. There was no strong feeling of romance between the characters nor was there much development of the characters love for each other. The story did not flow nor did it make any sense. Being a fan of Krentz, I would still purchase any book she writes, but this one is not one to save to read again. The style is so different from her other work that it is as if someone else wrote it. Wait for it to come to your local library rather than purchasing it.

I've been reading JAK since I first found her as Jayne Castle and have spent many enjoyable hours hunting down her work under all her pen names. She has been one of a very select number of authors I buy in hardback, but no longer.

I agree with a previous reviewer, you always know the issues and basic characters in a JAK book, but they used to have more life and spontaneity. For me, her last 3, 4 or even 5 novels have been stilted, blurred copies of her earlier body of work.

Although I will continue to buy her books, hoping for her old style, I won't buy them in hardback. I recommend first time readers try some of her earlier books, in paperback.

Don't get me wrong, I love Jayne Ann Krentz's books and probably have everyone she has ever written. In fact I had this book on order months before it was released. Every review I read on it talked about its sparkling style and wit, superb dialogue, intricate suspense, steamy passion. So why do I feel let down over this book? This is a comfortable book by Ms. Krentz -a good read, but not one I'll have the desire to read over and over. While reading this book, I wanted to be swept off my feet into another world, to lose myself in the story. That didn't happen. Will I buy another book by Ms. Krentz - yes, she is one of those authors that has never written a bad book. However, unless you are desperate for something to read, wait until this one comes out in paperback.

JAK is an intelligent writer and capable of writing intelligent prose, evocative romance and page-turner plots (eg. Family Man, Gift of Gold/Fire, Grand Passion, Trust Me, Perfect Partners, etc.). I've read 39 JAK books and really enjoyed most of them. And, I re-read my favorites with regularity. However, her last four books (Sharp Edges, Flash, Eye of the Beholder and Soft Focus) are so formulaic that they are almost boring in their precidictability.

It's irksome to shell out the money for an anxiously awaited hardback only to find that the characters are prosaic, the romance is tepid and the plot is so fomulaic that the characters' first sexual encounter occurs on the same page as each of the previous books (page 158, check it out)! Such is the case with Soft Focus. It is an OK read, but has characters and a storyline that are completely forgetable. I love JAK's early work so much that I will probably continue to buy and read her new publications as soon as they reach the bookstore, but I'm disappointed that her previously creative mind is cranking out such pedestrian work! For the price of a hardcover, I expect better from JAK!

Writing yet another review may be redundant at this stage but I was so amazed at the number of poor reviews I just could not help myself!

I admit, I am a complete JAK fan, to the extent of having read, I believe, everything she has ever written under whatever alias...and I agree some of the later stuff has been a bit less than her best - but this one is vintage, surely?!!!

The dialogue is just crackling with spark, wit, zingy repartee - and more delicious one liners than you can shake a stick at.

Unlike some reviewers I was not put off by the fact the language was a little gritty in places - I think strong emotion tends to cause a deterioration in one's vocabulary in real life and it is perfectly appropriate to reflect that in a romance. Admittedly I do not like books where the heroes routinely use terms that belittle women - that happens in real life too but hey, as romance readers we can be picky! Anyway that is not the case here.

What I really liked was the fact that the hero seemed emotionally committed to the heroine, right from the start - even during the fiery opening scene. Both Jack and Elizabeth were likeable, strong characters with a perfectly reasonable conflict to work through before they could get to the inevitable happy ending.

I found the balance between the background mystery and the romance to be just right - I read JAK for the romance and not the mystery storyline after all.

Do I want a hero who is not a corporate shark? Mmmm...well yes, I think a non business world novel might be kind of interesting...mind you that is a comment that could apply to many more authors than JAK - in contemporaries there is the businessman/tycoon, the sports star, the bad boy (usually made good), the ex-con, the Navy Seal and/or sundry military types,the rancher/cowboy, the private eye and the spy - off-hand I'd find it hard to think of many exceptions to the above categories - maybe the musician turned stripper in Michelle Jerrot's "Absolute Trouble", or the ex-academic drifter in JAK's "Gift of Gold and "Gift of Fire". Oh yes, there was a vet in Lori Foster's "Jordan".

Anyway, corporate setting or no, this particular JAK rates right up there as a keeper in my book - give it a try, you won't be disappointed!

What happened to JAK? Used to love her books. This is the second one in a row I can't even finish (ok did cheat and read the last chapter).

I felt like I'd read this book 100 times before. Same heroine, same prickly hero, with a murder thrown in to throw them together. Also I didn't really warm up to either character, which makes it hard to care what happens to them.

Don't waste your time on this snoozer. Check out some of her early titles for a good read.

I, too, have read most of JAK's books and especially appreciate her Amanda Quick historical genre. But, Soft Focus was a disappointment partly because I paid full hardback price for a "too pat" story that would be acceptable only if I had found it in the used paperback or reduced price tables. I am tired of the lack of commitment before sex---stupid, dangerous examples for us validate by buying Krentz novels. Also, the dialogue was "not fun" or witty. I kept falling asleep but usually I read romances all through the day and night. My advice is to wait for a paperback, as I will on the next Krentz. Where oh where has one of my favorite writers gone? ( Guess I'll revert back to Garwood, Devereaux, and McNaught for the new hardbacks! )

As a long time fan of Krentz, I was extremely disappointed in Soft Focus. I usually cannot put her books down once I begin to read. This, unfortunately, was not the case with this book. It has no continuity. The writing is very choppy. And sex,(real and imagined) seems to be put in places just to fill up space. Jayne, if you read this, please get back on track. I love the Quick books, as well as the flower series (Amaryllis et al).

OK, what can I say? The prologue introduced a firey scene that I hoped would carry through to the main book but I was wrong. I have read this in any number of JAK's other books. Same kind of heroine and hero. Different setting. I thought the character of Victoria Bellamy was of much more depth and complexity that the main characters. I think JAK would have better served her reading fans by making her the storyline and putting Jack and Elizabeth in the back ground. I'm not sure what seems to be the problem with JAK's latest book(s) but something is surely missing. Its like the aim is good but it veers off during the journey. I would hate to see JAK's talent rest on its laurels. Be daring, be bold and surprise the heck out of us, Jayne.