Gambler's Woman

Gambler's Woman Jayne Ann Krentz writing as Stephanie James Grade: F Sensuality: Warm Jayne Ann Krentz aka Amanda Quick has long been one of my go-to comfort read authors.

When I last blogged about her nearly five years ago, I wrote: "She's an excellent story-teller with a wonderfully humorous voice who manages to take me away to a different time and/or place easily." I also wrote that when my daughter had a life-threatening illness, the books I grabbed to take to the hospital were hers. That wonderfully humorous voice was woefully missing from Gambler's Woman. It was first published relatively early in her career - 1983 - and though some of my lowest grades for the author come from her early books, Whirlwind Courtship, which I liked, was published even earlier.

Never in my life did I expect that JAK could write an "F" book. It's true she'd earned some D+'s from me, but then again, I never expected to read a JAK book lacking totally in humor, and featuring a hero with such stalker-esque behavior - who spoke such ridiculously purple prose. When I sat down to write this review, my original grade was a D. Then I realized that had anyone but Krentz had written this book, it would have earned an F - no questions asked.

Let's start with the back cover blurb, and work from there:

Dark, dangerous Jordan Kyle lived life on his own terms, setting his own rules and playing for high stakes. He'd moved through this world alone, and was satisfied to have it that way--until he encountered Alyssa Chandler.

By day Alyssa was a cool, controlled mathematical whiz, sorting through facts and figures. By night it was a different story. At night she became a creature of beauty and passion who was more than a match for Jordan. But were Jordan's seductive caresses enough for Alyssa to take a chance on a future together? Only time would tell…

When Jordan accosts Alyssa at a casino, at first she thinks he works for the house and that she's been "caught" at using her math skills to beat the house. That's not the case; Jordan is a professional gambler who has been watching Alyssa and wants to spend the evening with her. He gives her little choice but to accept, and after wining and dining, the two make passionate love during the night.

Alyssa wakes to discover Jordan going through her wallet. His excuse? He wanted to learn more about her. For some reason, Alyssa accepts his bizarre behavior and the two share an idyllic weekend together, with plans to meet the next weekend.

While Alysssa looks forward to their next tryst, she badly wants to keep her secret gambling weekends out of her work-day life in order to prevent scandal. When she remembers she's hosting a party at her home that her boss and several co-workers will attend, she tries to contact Jordan to cancel. She cannot reach him for days, and eventually leaves him a message, all the time thinking that he's moved on to another woman. Imagine her surprise when he shows up at her party. His behavior toward her is menacing and threatening. He accuses her of sleeping with one of her co-workers, and, after the party ends, he informs her that he will not be kept out of her "real" life, regardless of what she wants. And then they make love, before arguing again the next day, about the same thing. Apparently, by the time they'd spent that first weekend together, Alyssa was "his", and that's that...regardless of her very real concern about her career.

The two argue throughout most of the book about the same thing, and Jordan's over-bearing behavior is so unlike JAK's other heroes that it's hard to believe she wrote this book. And who is this heroine who blithely accepts his macho bullshit? Not a Krentz heroine I can ever recall reading before.

If Linda Howard feels All That Glitters and Independent Woman are dated and wasn't thrilled that they were reissued, surely Krentz must cringe about this book's multiple reissues.

TTFN, Laurie Likes Books

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