Rating: 
Summary: NOT WORTH THE MONEY - EVEN IN PAPERBACK
Review: This book is a far cry from the author's novels written in the 1980's. This reads more like a beginner's endeavour than a seasoned artist. To call the characters two dimensional is giving them too much credit. Shallow characterization and a weak, weak story line. Her last three books have all the same story line and each has been worse than the last. I will not buy another new book. I may not even bother to check it out of the library. A total, total disappointment! Unfortunately, Amazon requires at least one star in the "rate" field or I would have given it ZERO.
Rating: 
Summary: Classic Krentz !
Review: This book is one of Jayne Ann Krentz' best. I loved the idea of a film noir film festival as the backdrop. It provided extra spice for the both the mystery and the romance. A must read !
Rating: 
Summary: Crisp and Fun
Review: This book opens with one of the best opening scenes Jayne's ever given us, and the action never lets up from there. The dialogue in this book just crackles with humor and intelligence. The characters of Jack and Elizabeth are likeable people who never quite fool themselves into believing they aren't crazy about each other, offering and accepting all kinds of lame excuses to keep hanging out together. The mystery that sends them off to share a cozy mountain lodge at a small film noir festival is engaging, but it also gives the the time alone to figure out their relationship (which had exploded back in that first scene). Krentz's skill with dialogue just keeps getting sharper and this book has some of the best zingers I've read--laugh out loud funny at times. I smiled my way through this one and literally never put it down from first page to last.
Rating: 
Summary: Not a keeper
Review: This latest book of Jayne Ann Krentz is a far cry from her usual style of writing. I've read every one of her books and was disappointed by this recent release. Her books have always been enthralling, entertaining and a true joy to read. Soft Focus was very different from her other books. While the use of crude language itself did not bother me, it was out of context with the story. The action between the main characters was disjointed. There was no strong feeling of romance between the characters nor was there much development of the characters love for each other. The story did not flow nor did it make any sense. Being a fan of Krentz, I would still purchase any book she writes, but this one is not one to save to read again. The style is so different from her other work that it is as if someone else wrote it. Wait for it to come to your local library rather than purchasing it.
Rating:
Summary: God(dess) in the machine?
Review: Too formulaic and a great disappointment. The identitiy of femme fatale really comes out of left field and seems very contrived. I hope JAK gets back on track and that this book is not the beginning of a trend.
Rating:
Summary: Soft Focus Will Put You In Dreamland
Review: What happened to JAK? Used to love her books. This is the second one in a row I can't even finish (ok did cheat and read the last chapter).I felt like I'd read this book 100 times before. Same heroine, same prickly hero, with a murder thrown in to throw them together. Also I didn't really warm up to either character, which makes it hard to care what happens to them. Don't waste your time on this snoozer. Check out some of her early titles for a good read.
Rating:
Summary: witty one liners
Review: Writing yet another review may be redundant at this stage but I was so amazed at the number of poor reviews I just could not help myself! I admit, I am a complete JAK fan, to the extent of having read, I believe, everything she has ever written under whatever alias...and I agree some of the later stuff has been a bit less than her best - but this one is vintage, surely?!!! The dialogue is just crackling with spark, wit, zingy repartee - and more delicious one liners than you can shake a stick at. Unlike some reviewers I was not put off by the fact the language was a little gritty in places - I think strong emotion tends to cause a deterioration in one's vocabulary in real life and it is perfectly appropriate to reflect that in a romance. Admittedly I do not like books where the heroes routinely use terms that belittle women - that happens in real life too but hey, as romance readers we can be picky! Anyway that is not the case here. What I really liked was the fact that the hero seemed emotionally committed to the heroine, right from the start - even during the fiery opening scene. Both Jack and Elizabeth were likeable, strong characters with a perfectly reasonable conflict to work through before they could get to the inevitable happy ending. I found the balance between the background mystery and the romance to be just right - I read JAK for the romance and not the mystery storyline after all. Do I want a hero who is not a corporate shark? Mmmm...well yes, I think a non business world novel might be kind of interesting...mind you that is a comment that could apply to many more authors than JAK - in contemporaries there is the businessman/tycoon, the sports star, the bad boy (usually made good), the ex-con, the Navy Seal and/or sundry military types,the rancher/cowboy, the private eye and the spy - off-hand I'd find it hard to think of many exceptions to the above categories - maybe the musician turned stripper in Michelle Jerrot's "Absolute Trouble", or the ex-academic drifter in JAK's "Gift of Gold and "Gift of Fire". Oh yes, there was a vet in Lori Foster's "Jordan". Anyway, corporate setting or no, this particular JAK rates right up there as a keeper in my book - give it a try, you won't be disappointed!
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