ARC Review: The Other Lady Vanishes by Amanda Quick

Burning Cove #2, I love Amanda Quick (Jayne Ann Krentz) I have been reading her books for years. I love that she went in this direction and moved up her historical timeline to the 1930’s. I love the movies from the 30’s and the actors Cary Grant, Shirley Temple, Kathrine Hepburn, Mae West just to name a few. Just like today celebrities pretty much gave up their freedom once they hit it big but there were places where they could go to get away from it all, where they could still be seen but not harassed Burning Cove is just the place to be. The movies and their stars were a great escapism for people in the depression era everyday people could live vicariously through the movies, but the glitz and glamour can hide such dark secrets.

Adelaide Blake needed a place to disappear, a place where no one knew her and Burning Cove seemed the best place to hide in plain sight, after all who really takes notice of a waitress. Jake Truett is a recently widowed business man who is on vacation to sooth his nerves, or so he wants everyone to think. Madame Zolanda is faking it until she can make it, she became famous for being a psychic to the stars but she become rich from blackmailing them and now in Burning Cove is she going to finally get what she always wanted or what she deserves? Dr. Paxton the creator of the Diet Tonic for the stars and rumored to be having an affair with Hollywood’s Most Beautiful Woman, Vera Westlake, has reason of his own why he’s in Burning Cove as does Vera.

Adelaide spent two months in an insane asylum put there by a husband she doesn’t remember marrying and just barely escaped after witnessing one of her tormentors jump from the window. Months later she’s still nervous that they will find her and take her back but she has friends now she is part of the community and if she goes missing people will look for her. Her tormentors devise a plan but at every turn they are thwarted by Jake Truett. It all starts with Madam Zolanda unknowingly predicting her own demise but how this is all connected to Adelaide and her tormentors is still a mystery one Jake and Adelaide are going to discover no matter how many times they are almost killed. With the help of Raina Keller and Luther Pell, Jake and Adelaide discover how everything fits together.

Overall, I loved this book. The chemistry between Adelaide and Jake is subtle at first Jake is more open about it than Adelaide, but after what happened to her she is right to err on the side of caution. They work together well and Jake respects her opinion and treats her as an equal but is still very protective of her. The overall feel of this book really reminds me of some of Quick’s older books with a much stronger heroine (less damsel in destress and more than ready to take on her enemies head on) and not quite as domineering hero. The mystery keeps you on your toes and even after it’s all over it’s not. I greatly enjoyed this one and I can’t wait for Raina and Luther’s book. This can be read as a standalone so you don’t have to worry about not having read the first book.

**ARC provided by Publisher**

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ARC Review: The Girl Who Knew Too Much by Amanda Quick

Amanda Quick takes a break from Victorian era England to visit the glitz and glamour of the 1930’s era. To me, it’s a fantastic murder mystery in the same vein as Agatha Christie and M.M. Kaye with the wonderful style that is none other than classic Amanda Quick. It’s an entertaining and exciting read and a good change of pace from what we’ve read in the past by AQ. As per her usual style we have a head strong female lead and the man willing to do anything to protect her as she rushes head first into dangerous situations. The two main characters I loved, Irene is a journalist trying to uncover the truth about a friends murder all the while trying to hide her past. Oliver is a retired magician (I really love that) who turned hotel resort owner. Something about Irene makes Oliver want to protect her he wants to find out the truth also but he needs to protect her even more. The side characters are very interesting also and it has me wanting this to turn into a series with them the main focus.

Anna Harris was an orphan who found herself working as a secretary for a woman of wealth, but one night Anna finds her boss dead with a message written in blood, “run”. Anna also finds her boss’ stash of money and a notebook filled with what looked like gibberish in a bag in her room along with a note saying she needs to run and take the notebook and to not trust anyone. Anna runs as far as she can go reinvents herself and takes up a job in a local gossip rag in Hollywood California. Four months later under the new name Irene Glasson, she finds herself once again the victim of circumstance. There is something fishy about up and coming actor Nick Tremayne, one of Irene’s coworkers started to uncover some dirt on him and was later found dead in her bathtub, next a former lover of Nick’s winds up dead in the pool of a celebrity getaway resort. Irene is determined to prove the Nick is behind these deaths as well as another murder up in Oregon.

Oliver just wanted a quiet life after being a world famous magician whose career ended in disaster. But the murder of an actress in his resort’s pool throws a monkey wrench in that plan especially since the journalist who found her body won’t stop sticking her nose into trouble and that her past has come back with a vengeance. Oliver is the only one who can keep her out of trouble and safe, or can he? One murder leads to the movie studio threatening Irene who ends up losing her job and home; there is another murder and several attempts on Irene’s life as she digs in deeper to Nick’s past to uncover the truth. As Irene’s past and present collide she finally has to trust someone with the truth, her growing feelings for Oliver and his devotion to his friends and family prove that he is the right one to confide in. But can he save her from her past as well as her present?

Overall, I really enjoyed this one. It had that 30’s murder mystery feel it without it being too obvious. I really hope Amanda Quick continues with this I would love to see Raina and Luther to get their own story (I’m jumping to conclusion there) and definitely want more.

**ARC provided by Publisher**

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ARC Review: 'Til Death Do Us Part by Amanda Quick

When asked to describe this book the first thing that comes to mind is Sherlock Holmes-esk Victorian Gothic Romance. It may seem a little darker than her past books but it was great read. It was very reminiscent of her older series, Lake/March. Like with the Lake/March series the focus is mainly on the the mystery and there is always a good twist or two. I enjoyed it because it wasn't so cut and dry, it was several mini mysterious complied in to one. As soon as they solved one it had everyone thinking well if they didn't do it it who did? And so the story continues. I have been a fan of Amanda Quick/ Jayne Ann Krantz/ Jayne Castle for going on ten years and as much as I love the Arcane Society I'm glad she had decided to keep it in the Jayne Castle Futuristic setting. ‘Till Death Do Us Part is a fantastic Victorian Mystery and I hope to see more like this in the future.

Calista Langley has a very unusual business, she is in the Introductions business. She brings like minded individuals, people who are lonely and have trust issues afraid of fortune hunters together. She introduces them to people they might never have met otherwise. She is smart about it, her brother looks into everyone; they do a background check basically. She is very select about her clients so when one of her very good clients recommends her brother Calista doesn't think anything about it especially since the brother is none other than the famous mystery writer, Trent Hastings.

Trent Hastings is protective over his siblings, he makes the appointment with Miss Langley to make sure she isn't trying to con his sister. Trent is immediately fascinated by the woman. Even after she kicks him out of her office and after his sister gets on to him about what he just did and even when he is trying to write he is still thinking about Calista. But when Trent goes back to apologize what he finds is a mystery worthy of his main character, Clive Stone.

Calista is at her wits end, someone has been leaving death momentos with her initials. Even worse is that someone managed to sneak into the house and leave one on her pillow. When Calista receives her third, a coffin bell, she is terrified. Trent is quick to take matters into his own hands and with the insistence of Calista together the begin to solve this mystery. Calista and Trent together just makes sense; they are opposites attract in obvious appearance but when you find out more about them they have more in common then they think.

Overall, I loved this book, everything about it I loved. I really hope she writes more like this.

**ARC provided by Publisher**

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