When I was first asked to write this feature on Jayne Ann Krentz, I was
thrilled, I love her books and the many genres that she presents us. Then as I
thought about it I was totally intimidated. What can I say about this author
whose books grace my shelves and have for years? While planning this out I took
the time to study up on Ms. Krentz and of course reread some of her past
offerings and I found myself falling in love with many of her characters all
over again. Now I truly think I know this author better and think I now
understand why I, and so many others, read her books.
There were some things that I didn’t know about JAK, which gave me even more
respect for this woman. She began writing during a stint at Duke University
where she worked in the library system. For six years she received rejection
after rejection and even thought of giving up on writing but by that time it was
a “compulsion” which luckily for us she couldn’t give up. After moving to
Washington for her husband Frank’s aerospace career she continued writing and in
1979 her first book GENTLE PIRATE was published. In those days she published
under her birth name Jayne Castle but when she left that particular publisher
she was unable to use the name for another 10 years.
In the years that followed she wrote under various names: Jayne Taylor, Jayne
Bentley, Stephanie James, Jayne Ann Krentz, Amanda Glass, and Amanda Quick. Most
recently settling on Jayne Ann Krentz for her contemporary, Amanda Quick for her
historical and Jayne Castle for the paranormal, futuristic books. A number of
times all three of her persona have written linked books that had to have been a
lot of work to plan out.
Having owned and read most of everything she has written I cannot imagine what
those publishers were thinking to turn down her books. Perhaps it made her a
much more determined and conceivably better writer. But I do believe that we
readers get to see quite a bit of her personality in each book she writes. If
you look closely at a number of her female characters you will find a good
amount of determination and grit that could only come from one place:
experiences from her own past and an insight into what makes people tick.
The one thing I have always found most intriguing and was reminded of as I was
re-reading her books is that her heroines are not perfect. They have faults, are
a little wacky, damn the consequences when it comes to family and are usually
just what the taciturn heroes need. The men are oftentimes troubled,
overprotective, with strong senses of family, of right and wrong, set in their
ways, have particular expectations and usually not very good at expressing
themselves. In other words they are not perfect either.
You find very much the same formula in SECRET SISTERS, the latest
offering of JAK to be released on Dec. 8, 2015. Here is the exciting blurb from
the back of the book:
Madeline and Daphne were once as close as sisters—until a secret tore them
apart. Now it might take them to their graves.
They knew his name, the man who tried to brutally attack twelve-year-old
Madeline in her grandmother's hotel. They thought they knew his fate. He
wouldn't be bothering them anymore...ever. Still their lives would never be the
same.
Madeline has returned to Washington after her grandmother's mysterious
death. And at the old, abandoned hotel—a place she never wanted to see again—a
dying man’s last words convey a warning: the secrets she and Daphne believed
buried forever have been discovered.
Now, after almost two decades, Madeline and Daphne will be reunited in
friendship and in fear. Unable to trust the local police, Madeline summons Jack
Rayner, the hotel chain’s new security expert. Despite the secrets and mysteries
that surround him, Jack is the only one she trusts...and wants.
Jack is no good at relationships but he does possess a specific skill set
that includes a profoundly intimate understanding of warped and dangerous minds.
With the assistance of Jack's brother, Abe, a high-tech magician, the four of
them will form an uneasy alliance against a killer who will stop at nothing to
hide the truth....
SECRET SISTERS is filled
with mystery, heart stopping and titillating action and a load of very
interesting and even a few questionable characters … some you just know are
behind the troubles and of course you are usually wrong. I have always believed
that the bond of "sisterhood" has little to do with blood, it is clearly of the
heart and Maddy and Daphne, even though they have been apart for a long time,
still feel like they are sisters.
When I pick up a JAK book, I know I have to set aside time to read, simple
because I won’t want to be interrupted until I have hit the last page. I had to
know what was really going on and to watch as Maddy and Jack figured out the
truth … they are perfect for one another.
See what I mean, these two are flawed with mysterious pasts but are ideal for
each other following JAK’s perfectly tuned style. This I think has always been
what I, and undoubtedly many other fans, have loved about the stories we all get
lost in … these people are just like us. We can identify with her characters,
understanding exactly how they feel. They could be any one of us … those of us
who are a little different; those who don’t walk the same path as everyone else;
who feel strongly about our unique right and wrong and those determined to live
life to the fullest even if it’s a little quirky. And there is also the fact
that her male characters are just the type of men who set us to dreaming or if
we have found our soul mates applaud the lucky couple who find theirs at the end
of every book.
I am convinced that Jayne Ann Krentz writes these books that include all types
of people so that we can all feel as if we are a part of her world. It is an
amazingly wonderful world that I look forward to reading and re-reading for many
more years to come. So thank you Ms. Krentz for including me and so many like me
in your books.
Jayne Ann Krentz is the author of fifty New York
Times
bestsellers and has over forty million books in print.
Jayne writes fast-paced suspense with a sexy edge under
three pen names. If you like contemporary settings, try one
of her new releases written under her Krentz name. Readers
looking for a similar thrill in a historical setting go
for the books she writes as Amanda Quick. And those
adventurous types who prefer their suspense with a
futuristic/paranormal twist read the novels she writes as
Jayne Castle.
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