Summer in Eclipse Bay, by Jayne Ann Krentz

I reread Summer in Eclipse Bay, by Jayne Anne Krentz earlier this week. This one's last in a trilogy, of which I've read book 1,Eclipse Bay, but not the second book, Dawn in Eclipse Bay. I've just ordered it though ;-)

A special message from Jayne Ann Krentz. Dear Reader: Summer has arrived in Eclipse Bay and things are definitely heating up between the Hartes and the Madisons. It seems that the mysterious new gallery owner, Octavia Brightwell, is thinking about having a scandalous fling with that rogue Nick Harte before she leaves town. As far as Nick is concerned, a short-term affair sounds perfect. But it isn't going to be easy. One big obstacle is Mitchell Madison. For reasons of his own, Mitchell has taken it upon himself to play guardian to Octavia. He's made it clear that if Nick fools around with her, there will be a price to pay.

And then there's Nick's young son, Carson, who has his own agenda where Octavia is concerned. He doesn't want his father messing up his plans. Summer in Eclipse Bay is going to be eventful this year. Some long-buried secrets from the infamous Harte-Madison feud are about to surface. The past and the present are on a collision course. I hope you'll join me to watch the fireworks. Happy reading . . .

I gave it a B when I read it last November, but this time, I'd give it a slightly higher grade, a B+.

One of the things I loved best about this book was what it wasn't: romantic suspense. It had a bit of a mystery, but that was it. No killers, no huge final confrontations. This meant that the romance was given enought space to develop well, much better than in some recent JAKs.

The romance was really nice. Two adults falling in love, and behaving as grown-ups. No childish game-playing and no I hate you - let's have sex. They liked each other, and that is something I always enjoy.

The secondary characters were wonderful, especially Carson, Nick's kid. All that precocious, intense focus on what he wanted was sweet ;-)

I also liked the town of Eclipse Bay. It was a small town, with all its drawbacks, but the difference with the books that irritate me was that JAK doesn't try to sell what for me are drawbacks as wonderful things. Interfering old biddies are a drawback in her world, not sweet, and this makes all the difference!

What I think could have been better than was the stuff about the feud. It wasn't really much of an issue here, since this book basically dealt with the clean-up, but it could have been made clearer what had happened. I didn't really remember the details from book 1, so I must confess I was a little lost at times.