Fired Up: Book One of the Dreamlight Trilogy

More than three centuries ago, Nicholas Willows irrevocably altered his genetic makeup in an obsession-fueled competition with alchemist and Arcane Society founder, Sylvester Jones. Driven to control their psychic abilities, each man's decision has reverberated throughout the family line, rewarding some with powers beyond their wildest dreams, and cursing others to a life filled with madness and hallucinations.

Jack Willows, descendant of Nicholas, has been experiencing nightmares and blackouts - just the beginning, he believes - the manifestation of the Willow family curse. The legend says that he must find the Burning Lamp or risk turning into a monster. But he can't do it alone; he needs the help of a woman with the talent to read the lamp's dreamlight.

Jack is convinced that private investigator Chloe Harper is that woman. Her talents for finding objects and accessing dream energy are what will save him, but their sudden and powerful sexual pull threatens to overwhelm them both. Danger surrounds them, and it doesn't take long for Chloe to pick up the trail of the missing lamp. And as they draw closer to the lamp, the raw power that dwells within it threatens to sweep them into a hurricane of psychic power.

Narrator Joyce Bean has one of those voices that wraps you up and takes you places. Gifted with a naturally smoky tone and a very satisfying ability to bring characters alive, it’s no wonder she’s one of the most popular narrators of romance fiction today.

Fired Up is the first book in best-selling author Jayne Ann Krentz’s new Dreamlight Trilogy. The hero, Jack Winters, needs private investigator Chloe Harper to save his life. With an uncontrollable new psychic talent, a legacy from an obsessed ancestor, threatening his sanity, Jack asks Chloe to find an ancient talisman that he hopes has the power to balance his mind.

it’s a pleasure to listen as Bean slips between the hero and heroine’s voices, never pushing to differentiate gender, but always putting what’s unique about these two characters first. She draws us into Chloe and Jack’s world, layering their paranormal perceptions and talents so naturally that we accept their experience without question. The ways in which the plot is driven by the paranormal always feel completely grounded.

By now the backstory to this latest book in Krentz’s long-running Arcane series has become fairly complex. Bean works hard to keep the pace immediate and compelling, but if you’re not familiar with the Arcane stories, you’d be well advised to go back and listen to some of the earlier books to sort out who’s who here.

The overarching mystery that drives this series will continue to unfold through the coming books. But the romance is rock solid, as only Krentz can write it, and Bean’s delicious narration lifts and carries this story effortlessly.—Nancy Carter

©2009 Jayne Ann Krentz; (P)2009 Brilliance Audio, Inc.