Ami's Hoard

Despite hundreds of titles that have been released, this is my first Krentz book. I have never read any of them, even under her other pen names. So I will not be able to compare whether this is her good one or her mediocre one. I can only form an opinion based on my reading experience of this one.

Secret Sisters is categorized as romantic suspense. I will try to give opinion on both elements ... romance and suspense (or mystery). In terms of the mystery, it is pretty intriguing. The first chapter is very intense and a very effective hook, in my opinion. Ms. Krentz offers some twists in order to get to the whodunit revelation, but I admit that they were getting both predictable and blatant. The revelation became a little implausible in my eyes. That everyone who are suspects end up, well, having faults of their own.

I also thought that the main characters, especially Madeline and Jack, were a little flat. I missed being ‘introduced,’ especially in regards to their first meeting, in order for me to feel the relationship build-up. There was none of that here. As a result, their romance feels bland. I was more convinced with the secondary romance between Daphne and Jack’s brother, Abe, because I was there when they first met and later on when they worked together helping Jack and Madeline solve the case.

There was no strong character build, in my humble opinion. Each of the characters are said to be having some sort of baggage, but I couldn’t feel it emotionally because they are not deeply explored. The one with Jack’s past, for example. Somehow around half-way through the book, he gets a nightmare, but then it is seemed to be forgotten until the very end. Only Abe seemed to be a bright enough character to cheer me up during the whole course of the story.

It’s not a bad book … Ms. Krentz writes quite well and like I said, the mystery is pretty intriguing. I find the pacing to be quite fast too. Meaning that I continued reading from beginning to end without having any major obstacles. However, it will not be a memorable book because nothing really stands out for me; neither the mystery nor the romance.