Although the stakes are far-fetched and fanciful, the suspense never flags, and such ado over print material carries its own...
In this launch of Krentz’s Dark Legacy series, a psychic rare-book expert must wrest a valuable text from evildoers while resisting (or not) the uncanny charms of her client.
Abby Radwell specializes in unlocking the secrets of a certain species of rare book, the kind that is encrypted with a psychic lock that can only be decoded by someone with special clairvoyance. Collectors of such codices are not your typical bookish antiquarians—since these tomes can wield dark powers, their aficionados usually have mixed motives for acquiring them. Referred by her mentor, Thaddeus Webber, Abby accepts an assignment from Sam Coppersmith, scion of a wealthy mining family, who occupies Copper Beach, his ancestral mansion on a remote island near Seattle. Abby’s mission: Find a coded lab notebook that holds the key to unleashing the potentially deadly energy of crystals rescued decades ago from a destroyed Coppersmith mine. In the wrong hands, the book's secrets could trigger crystal Armageddon. The competition for the book has already impacted innocent victims: An elderly archivist is accosted in her home, and Thaddeus and a fellow book dealer die of suspicious heart attacks. Already on the run from a blackmailer and would-be kidnappers, Abby ignores her best friends’ warnings to stay far, far away from Sam and the whole project. This is paranormal romance after all, and Sam and she have an instant, psychically augmented, unequivocally erotic connection. Besides, she needs a bodyguard and someone to interrupt her sleepwalking episodes, during which she tends to set things on fire. Appropriately enough, legacies figure heavily in the plot. Among the suspects trawling for the book are Lander, who believes the Coppersmiths stole his inheritance, and Abby’s snooty step-relatives the Stricklands, who have every intention of cutting Abby out of the will until somebody unwittingly bets their fortune on the lab-book quest.
Although the stakes are far-fetched and fanciful, the suspense never flags, and such ado over print material carries its own nostalgic allure.Pub Date: Jan. 10, 2012
ISBN: 978-0-399-15787-5
Page Count: 352
Publisher: Putnam
Review Posted Online: Nov. 20, 2011
Kirkus Reviews Issue: Dec. 1, 2011
Entertaining and thoroughly engrossing.
Another reboot of Jane Austen?!? Hadlow pulls it off in a smart, heartfelt novel devoted to bookish Mary, middle of the five sisters in Pride and Prejudice.
Part 1 recaps Pride and Prejudice through Mary’s eyes, climaxing with the humiliating moment when she sings poorly at a party and older sister Elizabeth goads their father to cut her off in front of everyone. The sisters’ friend Charlotte, who marries the unctuous Mr. Collins after Elizabeth rejects him, emerges as a pivotal character; her conversations with Mary are even tougher-minded here than those with Elizabeth depicted by Austen. In Part 2, two years later, Mary observes on a visit that Charlotte is deferential but remote with her husband; she forms an intellectual friendship with the neglected and surprisingly nice Mr. Collins that leads to Charlotte’s asking Mary to leave. In Part 3, Mary finds refuge in London with her kindly aunt and uncle, Mr. and Mrs. Gardiner. Mrs. Gardiner is the second motherly woman, after Longbourn housekeeper Mrs. Hill, to try to undo the psychic damage wrought by Mary’s actual mother, shallow, status-obsessed Mrs. Bennet, by building up her confidence and buying her some nice clothes (funded by guilt-ridden Lizzy). Sure enough, two suitors appear: Tom Hayward, a poetry-loving lawyer who relishes Mary’s intellect but urges her to also express her feelings; and William Ryder, charming but feckless inheritor of a large fortune, whom naturally Mrs. Bennet loudly favors. It takes some maneuvering to orchestrate the estrangement of Mary and Tom, so clearly right for each other, but debut novelist Hadlow manages it with aplomb in a bravura passage describing a walking tour of the Lake District rife with seething complications furthered by odious Caroline Bingley. Her comeuppance at Mary’s hands marks the welcome final step in our heroine’s transformation from a self-doubting wallflower to a vibrant, self-assured woman who deserves her happy ending. Hadlow traces that progression with sensitivity, emotional clarity, and a quiet edge of social criticism Austen would have relished.
Entertaining and thoroughly engrossing.Pub Date: March 31, 2020
ISBN: 978-1-250-12941-3
Page Count: 448
Publisher: Henry Holt
Review Posted Online: Dec. 22, 2019
Kirkus Reviews Issue: Jan. 15, 2020
BOOK REVIEW
BOOK REVIEW
Anyone who believes in true love or is simply willing to accept it as the premise of a winding tale will find this debut an...
True love flares between two people, but they find that circumstances always impede it.
On a winter day in London, Laurie spots Jack from her bus home and he sparks a feeling in her so deep that she spends the next year searching for him. Her roommate and best friend, Sarah, is the perfect wing-woman but ultimately—and unknowingly—ends the search by finding Jack and falling for him herself. Laurie’s hasty decision not to tell Sarah is the second painful missed opportunity (after not getting off the bus), but Sarah’s happiness is so important to Laurie that she dedicates ample energy into retraining her heart not to love Jack. Laurie is misguided, but her effort and loyalty spring from a true heart, and she considers her project mostly successful. Perhaps she would have total success, but the fact of the matter is that Jack feels the same deep connection to Laurie. His reasons for not acting on them are less admirable: He likes Sarah and she’s the total package; why would he give that up just because every time he and Laurie have enough time together (and just enough alcohol) they nearly fall into each other’s arms? Laurie finally begins to move on, creating a mostly satisfying life for herself, whereas Jack’s inability to be genuine tortures him and turns him into an ever bigger jerk. Patriarchy—it hurts men, too! There’s no question where the book is going, but the pacing is just right, the tone warm, and the characters sympathetic, even when making dumb decisions.
Anyone who believes in true love or is simply willing to accept it as the premise of a winding tale will find this debut an emotional, satisfying read.Pub Date: Oct. 16, 2018
ISBN: 978-0-525-57468-2
Page Count: 400
Publisher: Crown
Review Posted Online: July 30, 2018
Kirkus Reviews Issue: Aug. 15, 2018
BOOK REVIEW
BOOK REVIEW
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