2007 romance/SF/mystery; fourth of its series but effectively
stand-alone. Celinda Ingram is a matchmaker, now trying to rebuild her
career after a scandal. Davis Oakes is a security consultant with his
own murky past. When they meet in the course of business they fall
instantly in lust with each other thanks to psychic resonance, but
will that be enough?
Yes of course it will, it's a romance. But there are multiple
layers of obstacles, starting with each of them reminding the other of
parts of their lives they'd rather put behind them. But it soon turns
out that the relic Celinda casually purchased at a junk shop is wanted
by more than Davis's employer, which means she needs a bodyguard. For
example, at the family wedding that she's been planning to turn up to,
plus-one-less, in a few days…
For my taste there's rather too much from the viewpoint of the Ungodly
(we really shouldn't be finding out their names before the
protagonists do); this may be a personal quirk of mine, and the scenes
of villainy aren't as exploitative as they could have been, but I
still think it leaves the structure of the mystery seeming more
blatantly a work of artifice.
On the positive side there are tonal shifts from my-pet-got-loose
comedy to desperate struggles for survival, and Krentz makes them
work. I've seen that sort of thing be disorientating and spoil my
enjoyment of a book, and I'm glad Krentz has the skills to carry it
off. In this book our heroes can, at least after they've got to know
each other a bit, have a grown-up conversation rather than flying off
the handle at the first obstruction.
Good solid SF romance, in other words. One could even start the series
here, though the previous protagonist couples show up in passing.