Paranormal Historical Romance
I always look forward to any paranormal romance from Jayne
Ann Krentz. Most people know she
writes under several names and when it is a historical paranormal it is
published under the name of Amanda Quick.
Crystal Gardens is the first book in the Ladies of Lantern
Street trilogy. Each of the three ladies
featured in the trilogy have paranormal abilities. They all three work for the Flint & Marsh Agency in
London, a very exclusive agency that provides people who have problems with a
companion who can help solve that problem.
Here is how Goodreads describes the book:
Welcome to the sensational
new series by Amanda Quick, where the lives of the Victorian gentry are filled
with secrets – and secret powers...
Evangeline Ames has rented a
country cottage far from the London streets where she was recently attacked.
Fascinated by the paranormal energy of nearby Crystal Gardens, she finds
pleasure in sneaking past the wall to explore the grounds. And when her life is
threatened again, she instinctively goes to the gardens for safety.
Lucas Sebastian has never
been one to ignore a lady in danger, even if she is trespassing on his
property. Quickly disposing of her would-be assassin, he insists they keep the
matter private. There are rumours enough already, about treasure buried under
his garden, and occult botanical experiments performed by his uncle – who died
of mysterious causes.
With Evangeline's skill for detection, and Lucas's sense
of the criminal mind, they soon discover that they have a common enemy. And as
the energy emanating from Crystal Gardens intensifies, they realize that to
survive they must unearth what has been buried for too long.
Plot: There
were three different sources of danger in the book. There was the person after Evangeline, the murder of Lucas’s
uncle, and the increase in paranormal activity in the Crystal Garden. There was also the budding romance
between Evangeline and Lucas.
Sometimes the different problems seemed to muddy the flow of the book
and slow down the action.
World Building:
This was another thing that seemed to slow down the action. While some of the world of Crystal
Gardens is based on pervious books there was quite a bit of world building
required. Most of it was in the
first of the book before most of the real action started.
Characters:
Evangeline and Lucas are well developed and there are hints about the background
of the other two ladies of Lantern Street. There are also some important side
characters that add to the action in the book. I like the fact that all of the women
are strong and independent. Of
course Lucas is an alpha male who can appreciate a strong woman.
Writing: As
always the writing is very good.
Even when I found the going a little slow action wise I still wanted to
keep reading.
Tension:
There was plenty of that; a lot between Evangeline and Lucas, between
Lucas and his family, the danger to Evangeline, trying to find the person who
killed Lucas’s uncle, the problems in the garden and the treasure. It was hard to keep up with all the
problems.
I found Crystal
Gardens to be an easy enjoyable read.
It is not my favorite Amanda Quick novel. For all the reasons stated above it was not as fast moving as some of her other books but it did prime me for the
next two books in the trilogy.
The Vanishing by Jayne Ann Krentz
is the next chapter in the Arcane Society series, the first book in the Looking Glass Trilogy, and is Fallon Jones ‘story. Fallon has moved his headquarters to the small Northern California town of Scargill Cove. After arriving in Scargill Cove Isabella Valdez has become Fallon’s assistant. She is on the run from people who want to kill her. Fallon is under attack by elements of the Arcane Society that want to remove the Jones from positions of power in the Society. When the two discover a unique antique clock infused with dark energy they must pool their unique talents in order to survive.
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