JAYNE ANN KRENTZ

|| Trust Me || Absolutely Positively || Family Man ||

Last review(s) added 11/24/97

Rated 4.0
Copyright 1995
Reviewed 11/16/97 by Isolde Wehr

Contemporary

This was a JAK-Story like I love it!

Desdemona Wainright is surprised how calm Sam Stark is after his bride left him standing alone in front of the altar. There was no wedding but she wants the money for her catering order.

Stark is a famous computer specialist with his own company. People around him think he is also a computer, not a human - always calm on the outside and with an extraordinary intelligence.

Desdemona comes from a family who works on the theater for years. She is the only family member with a regular income because she has a catering service. If one of her relations has no job she employs him in her company.

Two characters which can't be more different.

Sam decided to start an affair with Desdemona. This time he does not want to control all. He wants to be unpredictable. Desdemona falls in love with Sam also her family tells her he is not the right one.

When Desdemona is exhausted by a stranger and he locks up her in the cold-storage chamber together with a corpse the situation becomes dangerous. Who wants to steal Sams new computer programm? The suspicion falls on Desdemonas step-brother Tony but can this be true? It is Sam's job to find the real culprit.

An enjoyable read for all fans of computer crime.

Rated 4.0
Copyright 1996
Reviewed 6/22/97 by Isolde W.

Molly Abberwick is the sole trustee of her Abberwick Foundation for young inventors. Her adviser is Dr. Harry Stratton Trevelyan (at the beginning of the book she call him T-Rex --> I liked that). Harry's job is to sort through grant proposals and decide which ones deserve consideration.

Harry is a 36 years old, sensible and intelligent man who always gets what he wants. At that moment, he wants an affair with Molly. The conversation introducing the two characters doesn't really start like we want to have it. Molly argues with him asking him why he does not except one of the proposal for getting money from her foundation. He wants to talk with her about an affair.

Molly is 29 years old and has raised her younger sister Kelsey. For years she has had no time for herself. Now, after one of her fathers inventions becomes famous, she has enough money for a carefree life. She lives in a house full of curious inventions from her father.

Harry, who's parents were murdered years ago, has to live between two families. The Strattons are the family from his mother's side rich, and spoiled. The Trevelyans are the family from his father's side. They are careless and for years have been working in their own carnival. Harry has to solve all the problems from the family members in both families.

The sparks fly between Molly and Harry and they begin to date. One day Molly is startled by an uncanny invention. Harry takes her to his flat till the mystery is solved. Then they start to have an affair. Harry is a psychic but doesn't want to believe it. Molly finds this out and helps him to accept that it is true.

The rest of the story is clear for all JAK Fans. The mystery why someone is trying to kill Molly will be solved and the two families will become one. The beginning of the book was funny and interesting to read but after the middle the suspense isn't so high anymore. A good book for a rainy afternoon.

I like Jayne Ann Krentz's books very much. I started this book with the feeling: "If it is a JAK's, it must be good." But after the first ten pages I was already disappointed.

Katy Wade is the personal assistant of Justine Gilchrist, the owner of the famous Gilchrist restaurants. Katy doesn't really like the Gilchrist's. She thinks they are all witchmasters. They are always melancholy and hot-tempered. Everyone in the family has green eyes, black hair, and wears only black clothes (very strange in my eyes). When Katy has enough money she will open her own special fast food restaurant. Her "last" mission is to bring Luke Gilchrist, the "bastard?" back to the family to rescue the Gilchrist company.

Luke lost his parents and his wife three years ago from an airplane crash. And Katy has raised her younger brother, because their parents have also died. When Luke meets Katy he find out that she is the guardian angel of the family. She fights for his grandmother, Justine, and for the company. She persuades Luke to come and rescue the Gilchrist company.

The story which follows is easy enough to understand. Luke finds out what the problem is and Katy manages to help the family come together. It is like in every JAK-book. They fall in love and the marriage is on the last ten pages.

Because this story was so "easy" I was disappointed. Jayne Ann Krentz can do that better. That's why I only gave it a 3.0.