Brief Thoughts: Sizzle and Burn

Sizzle and Burn

by Jayne Ann Krentz
Book 3 of Arcane Society

~ Goodreads ~

Rating:  3.5 Stars

When Raine Tallentyre made the mistake of revealing her paranormal abilities, her most recent romantic relationship came to a hasty end.  Her Aunt Vella, a gifted but troubled soul, had told her years ago to keep her talents a secret.  And now that poor Aunt Vella—her last blood relative—has died, Raine has resigned herself to a lonely life.

But when she journeys to Shelbyville, Washington, to clear out Aunt Vella’s house, Raine’s highly developed sensitivity leads her to a horrifying discovery: a young woman bound and terrified in a basement storage locker.  The victim has survived, but the culprit is still on the loose.  Without warning, a new man enters Raine’s life—investigator Zack Jones. Surprisingly, Zack isn’t repelled by her powers: in fact, he has them himself.  While Raine hears voices, Zack sees visions and within hours of their meeting, Raine experiences an intense, thrilling intimacy—mental, emotional, and physical—she never dared to expect.

There’s one complication, however: Zack Jones is working for the Arcane Society.  This secret organization, dedicated to the study of paranormal phenomena, shattered Raine’s family with an act of betrayal long ago, and she’s not about to trust them now.  But as a killer makes her his target, and a cabal of psychic criminals known as Nightshade operates in the shadows surrounding them, Raine and Zack must rely not only on their powerful abilities but on each other...

Sizzle and Burn is another highly enjoyable, readily intriguing romantic suspense by Jayne Ann Krentz.  And I say this every time I read one of her books, but they are indeed extremely addictive and easy to read.

I found myself liking a lot of things about this book.  Raine and Zack were great characters, both with their own unique traits, and a wonderfully compatible relationship.  I winced a little bit at the "meant to be" vibes, but I set those aside after the two of them started working together and proving that they would have been compatible with each other, paranormal senses or not.  I love that Raine has a signature "screw you" smile--it makes for a great strong heroine in a sea of testosterone in this book.  Zack is the typical alpha male, but I'm not going to hold that against him since he was a great guy.

The mystery was actually pretty enjoyable... until I realized how many tangents were surfacing towards the end to lend a resolution to the initial murder that jump starts this entire book's main conflict.  There turned out to be entirely too many things going on towards the end that just seemed like a jumbled mess.  At some point I found myself wondering whether or not our mysteries even got solved and I have a nagging feeling there were loose ends somewhere.

Nonetheless, Sizzle and Burn is still an incredibly fun and enjoyable read, so I'm willing to just go with it and move on.  I was entertained.  I was hooked.  I am going to continue reading books in this series and books by this author.

And that is all that matters.


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2016 Reading Challenges:
• Goodreads Reading Challenge
• BookLikes Reading Challenge
• COYER Summer Vacation 2016 -- Bingo Board Two | Square C16 -- PNR