Blurb: Olivia LeClair's experiment with speed dating is not going well. First there was the nasty encounter with the date from hell who tried to murder her and now the mysterious Harlan Rancourt—long believed dead—sits down at her table and tells her she's the only one who can help him locate the legendary Vortex lab.
This is not what Olivia had in mind when she signed up for the Four Event Success Guaranteed package offered by the dating agency. She doesn't have much choice, though, because her psychic investigation firm works for the mysterious Foundation and Victor Arganbright, the director, is adamant that she assist Harlan. There's just one problem—no one knows Harlan's real agenda. His father once ran the Foundation like a mob organization, and Harlan was destined to be his heir. There's a real possibility Harlan has returned to claim his inheritance.
For now, however, it's a case of the enemy of my enemy is my friend because others are after the secrets of the long-lost lab. Unfortunately for Olivia, the one thing friend and foe have in common is that everyone is convinced she is the key. Her unique psychic talent is required to defuse the ticking time bomb that is Vortex.
Neither trusts the other but Olivia and Harlan soon realize they must work together to survive and unlock the Bluestone Project's most dangerous secrets before more innocent people die.
Review: Like with all Jayne Ann Krentz novels you know when you pick up a new release you're going to get a whirlwind of a romantic suspense. How she comes up with her complex, interwoven plots I'll never know but I'm always impressed...no matter how many times I read her books. At this point she's created her own freakin' interwoven universe between all her pennames and I am here for it.
Lightning in a Mirror is the final installment in Krentz's Fogg Lake series. It's an intense journey of psychic discovery, romance, and danger. One of my favorite things about Krentz heroes and heroines is that the heroines are powerful, successful, and independent and the heroes don't try to stifle that in any way. They're protective, sure, but they're not going to tell the heroine to stay home while they go off and solve the crime. They're going to utilize her powers and her talents and her skills without shame.
Harlan is a unique hero. I'd probably peg him somewhere on the autistic spectrum though it isn't specifically mentioned anywhere. He struggles with social cues and skills, attacks problems with a single-minded focus, and needs his conversations to be direct. His dual psychic talents make him amazing at his job...and at blending into the background. And once he sees Olivia he knows that she's the woman for him.
Olivia knows two things. One, she wants to adopt that junkyard cat and two, if Harlan calls her an oracle one more time she's going to slug him. As a cat-lover myself there's nothing I love more than a heroine who can appreciate a rough and tumble, unadoptable cat, so she won me over right away. As always, Krentz heroines are the best. They're smart and capable and don't take shit from anyone. They never sit back and wait to be rescued by a big, strong man. They're always aiding in their own defense.
Lightning in a Mirror reads a little quicker than some of the other books in this series (it felt shorter, but I'm not sure if it actually was) and the romance is a little lighter. The chemistry is there, of course, but the romantic scenes are fewer and farther between than I'm used to from Krentz. I still loved the connection the characters shared and I'm always impressed that these books are essentially insta-love romances, yet they never feel rushed somehow.
I'm really excited that this book wrapped up the Fogg Lake series, but still left it open in a way that tells me there's going to be many more books in the future. Nothing like the security that your favorite author isn't even close to done.
My other reviews for the Fogg Lake series: The Vanishing and All the Colors of the Night. Lightning in a Mirror comes out January 18, 2022.
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