Eclipse Bay
4 Stars

Synopsis
In the small town of Eclipse Bay nothing is more certain than the Harte/Madison feud. Hannah Harte and Rafe Madison are expected to continue the tradition but when they are thrust together by an unexpected inheritance, they soon discover that what they feel for each other is far from hatred. Unfortunately, their return to Eclipse Bay has also awakened a dormant threat that may jeopardize everything they are working toward.

Review
A sweet romance and a solid mystery.

The suspense plot builds slowly but surely toward a conclusion and while this aspect of the story is enjoyable, it fizzles at the end. There are a number of obvious red herrings that obscure the identity of the eventual culprit almost too well.

Dialogue and character development are two of Krentz's trademark skills and Eclipse Bay is no exception. Rafe's grandfather and the town eccentric, Arizona Snow, are particularly noteworthy in these areas, and Hannah's pet Schnauzer, Winston, has definite character all of his own.

Rafe and Hannah have good chemistry and their romance is believable because they compliment one another. Rafe is almost too perfect (he's gorgeous, intelligent and can cook), and Hannah is so intent on looking for perfection, she nearly misses it standing in front of her. While she is a likeable character, she can also be overbearingly bossy and aggravating at times.

The family feud theme is the weakest point in the book as it is not sufficiently developed, and fails to resonate with the reader because the core feelings of animosity between the two families is sorely lacking.

In sum, an easy, cute and entertaining read. The next installment with Gabe and Lillian is set up nicely and I look forward to reading it.

( )

I just don't see what Rafe saw in Hannah. She was a uppity, judgemental, annoying elitist who looked down her nose at everybody. She never changed. I didn't enjoy her at all. Rafe deserved better. Weird because I remember really liking this series when I read it a few years back. But the audio book wasn't very appealing. ( )

A combination romance/mystery. An easy read. Enjoyable. Sequels are obvious based on ending. ( )

Eclipse Bay
4 Stars

Synopsis
In the small town of Eclipse Bay nothing is more certain than the Harte/Madison feud. Hannah Harte and Rafe Madison are expected to continue the tradition but when they are thrust together by an unexpected inheritance, they soon discover that what they feel for each other is far from hatred. Unfortunately, their return to Eclipse Bay has also awakened a dormant threat that may jeopardize everything they are working toward.

Review
A sweet romance and a solid mystery.

The suspense plot builds slowly but surely toward a conclusion and while this aspect of the story is enjoyable, it fizzles at the end. There are a number of obvious red herrings that obscure the identity of the eventual culprit almost too well.

Dialogue and character development are two of Krentz's trademark skills and Eclipse Bay is no exception. Rafe's grandfather and the town eccentric, Arizona Snow, are particularly noteworthy in these areas, and Hannah's pet Schnauzer, Winston, has definite character all of his own.

Rafe and Hannah have good chemistry and their romance is believable because they compliment one another. Rafe is almost too perfect (he's gorgeous, intelligent and can cook), and Hannah is so intent on looking for perfection, she nearly misses it standing in front of her. While she is a likeable character, she can also be overbearingly bossy and aggravating at times.

The family feud theme is the weakest point in the book as it is not sufficiently developed, and fails to resonate with the reader because the core feelings of animosity between the two families is sorely lacking.

In sum, an easy, cute and entertaining read. The next installment with Gabe and Lillian is set up nicely and I look forward to reading it.

( )

A modern day romance with a touch of Romeo and Juliet, a hunky leading man, a murder mystery, and a beautiful beach setting.

I wanted to love this book, I really did, but it fell flat in a few areas.

Rafe is the small town bad-boy from the Madison family. With a history of failed marriages, his goal in life is to stay out of jail. Rafe cooks like a God, looks like a God, and apparently has the patience of a God to put up with Hannah.

Hannah, daughter of the feuding family, the Harts, is a prissy, high strung, wedding planner with a list of her "Mr. Right" qualifications and a tendency to have a melt down whenever things don't go according to plan. Her dog is adorable, but Hannah leaves much to be desired.

When her Aunt dies, she leaves her mansion, Dreamscape, equally to Hannah and Rafe in an awkward attempt to play matchmaking to Hannah and Rafe who both have ideas of opening an Inn/Inn-Restaurant on the property.

The romance is shaky at best as Hannah is not a very likable character, although Rafe is. All through the novel I was hoping to get a glimpse of whatever magical quality Hannah possessed that made Rafe so interested in her, but I honestly, have no idea. The romance scenes were steamy, but the romance itself was week. And the "Hart" vs. "Madison" reminder was repeated so many times it got annoying. The characters couldn't do much of anything without identifying if it was a "Hart" or a "Madison" trait.

Through in an odd murder investigation, a quirky old grandfather, and a weird lady with a conspiracy theory and you have an interesting read, but not a can't-put-it-down novel.

I'm a huge fan of Jayne Anne Krentz and find her extremely talented, but this book fell a little short.

It's a good easy read or beach book, but not a favorite. ( )