
Sizzle and Burn by Jayne Ann KrentzPublisher: Penguin
Genre: Contemporary, Paranormal, Suspense/Mystery
Length: full
Heat: Spicy
Rating: 5 books
Reviewed by Xeranthemum
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 by Jayne Ann Krentz is another winner filled with well honed suspense, fleshed out characters, and an ending with a truly multi-leveled and encompassing HEA.
Raine is a woman who is determined to live life as normal as possible. She refuses to deny her abilities but neither does she want to cash in on them. Her privacy is very important to her yet she doesn’t let it stop her from helping out the local police. Unfortunately, local police means one officer in question, Bradley Mitchell.
Bradley ends up being a secondary character because he can’t reconcile Raine’s talents with his reality, his belief in how the world should be. Doesn’t stop him from trusting her or consulting her, but as far as man/woman stuff? If she was a vampire, he’d be wearing garlic while denying she existed. Bradley does play an important role and his personal growth was a clever addition to an already meaty story.
Zack is another Jones man from the Arcane Society that was fun to get to know. He has what all the Jones men have: attitude, confidence, alpha presence and a paranormal talent that is off the charts. Oh, did I forget to say very sexy? Just so you don’t think he’s too perfect to be true, Zack has an incident in his past which has shattered his confidence in himself and he’s still trying to come to terms with it. When you find out what it is, I wonder if you’ll be amazed as I was. Not the fact of who the villain ended up being but that the villain was able to do what was thought impossible to do. Poor Zack. Good thing he’s got the hots for Raine.
Zack has one villainous entity to worry about and Ms. Krentz cleverly interwove his problems with Raine’s for a whole host of diabolical twists and turns. At one point someone gets fingered and sure, I knew it was a possibility that it was too convenient. It’s a classic ploy. What I didn’t expect was the truth. That was freaky. I don’t want to go into the secondary characters too much except to say that they are catalysts to some very surprising and shocking revelations. Good thing Zack and Raine team up because the scene with Zack and his quick reflexes was very exciting.
Sizzle and Burn is fine as a stand-alone; I don’t believe you need to read the previous books of the Arcane Society to enjoy this book. However, Fallon Jones, the guru of connecting the dots of obscure information still remains an enigma. How I would love to see a story with Fallon as the hero. I mean, he IS a Jones. LoL.
The conflicts, the resolution and the HEA are all satisfactorily told. The growth of the romance between Zack and Raine explodes and then simmers to the perfect point – love al dente. In fact, the ending is extra special and is quite a treat. Ms. Krentz’s mind is a wonder because not only did one story get wrapped up and tied with a solid happy bow, but she left a carrot dangling for the next book. It sort of left me with that “Oooh!” feeling.
Sizzle and Burn is a great addition to the Arcane Society series and one that would be a shame to miss.
