Romance

In book two of the Looking Glass Trilogy (an Arcane Society spin-off), Virginia Dean is a rare, powerful glasslight talent in Victorian London. When death occurs in front of a mirror, the dying person’s energy is trapped inside the mirror. Virginia can see afterimages of the dead person, especially if it’s a violent death, and know how they died.
Owen Sweetwater is on the hunt for a man who’s been killing women with glasslight talent. When he finds Virginia in a compromising position, he knows she’s innocent of the murder and employs her on the hunt. Owen comes from a long line of psychic hunters—men with an extraordinary sense of finding and killing human monsters—but he needs to find the one woman who can off-set the darkness inside him and save his sanity. As Owen and Virginia untangle a nasty web full of deceit, murder, and alchemic weapons, they find a passion stronger than either ever imagined.
Virginia is strong-willed, smart, and business-minded. She also holds a strong dislike for the Arcane Society. Owen, likewise, doesn’t belong to Arcane, but the secretive Sweetwater family has started up a working relationship with Arcane’s new paranormal detective agency, Jones and Jones. As an assassin for hire, Owen is patient, intelligent, and devoted to destroying evil. And like the other Sweetwaters, he believes he should be paid for his services on occasion.
Gabriel and Caleb Jones play bit roles in the story, and I would’ve liked more page-time with them.
Though I really liked the story, I couldn’t help but wonder why the Quicksilver Mirror even exists in this trilogy. As with the first book, the mirror played second string to the Bridewell Curiosities. Those mechanical clockwork weapons seem far more important than an alchemical mirror that shows up just once in the course of this story. Also, what happened to the curiosities, the inventor, and the mirror at the end? It’s never said, but I do know from reading the first book that some of the curiosities ended up in a bomb shelter and the mirror ended up in the Arcane Museum. The fate of those items and the inventor, Millicent Bridewell, really should’ve been explained here to tie up loose ends.
As with the last contemporary book (In Too Deep) in the Arcane series, this is the last historical Arcane book that I’ve been able to find. I really hope Ms. Quick writes more.
4 Stars

Disclaimer – I bought this book for my own enjoyment. I am not paid or compensated in any way, shape, or form for this honest review. I will not change or alter this review for any reason unless at my discretion. ( )

Quicksilver
4 Stars

Waking up in a mirrored room next to a dead man, Virgina Dean is rescued by the enigmatic and dangerous, Owen Sweetwater. It soon becomes clear that Virginia is the target of a serial killer murdering glasslight readers, and she and Owen will have to pool their resources to find the villain before it is too late.

Quicksilver follows a similar formula to the previous Arcane books but it has its moments nonetheless.

As per Quick/Krentz's other couples, Virginia is a vivacious and determined heroine with an interesting backstory and Owen is intense and sexy although the nature of the Sweetwater family business and the nightwalker affliction could have been better developed. The attraction between Virginia and Owen is captivating and their chemistry sizzles.

The investigation into the glasslight reader murders is interesting and the climax is one of the more gripping in the series although the culprit is not all that surprising.

Unlike the overly detailed descriptions of dreamlight in the previous trilogy, Virginia's glasslight ability and the idea of perceiving the afterimages of violence in mirrors is well-written and compelling. One shortcoming, however, is that the plot thread concerning Mrs. Bridewell's automatons lacks explanation and remains unresolved. Perhaps information on this will be forthcoming in the final installment.

Despite their formulaic nature, Quick/Krentz's books always manage to leave me smiling and satisfied, and Quicksilver is no exception. ( )

urban-fantasy, psychics, assassins, murder, romance, 19th-century, reread

The psychic meets the supernatural assassin hired by the Jones Agency of the Arcane Society and they work together to find (and eliminate) the insane murderer with psychic talents. Situated after Perfect Poison, we are introduced to the Sweetwater family who are tasked with ridding London of psychic killers referred to as monsters. The publisher's blurb gives few hints, but spoilers are tacky. The characters are well drawn and engaging, and the book does stand alone well. ( )

I did like the story line of Quicksilver. This was the first Arcane Society book I had read. I felt though that it moved a little slow.

The main female character, Virginia Dean, was well developed and good at what she does. What she does is read mirror images of the past.

Owen Sweetwater, the main male character, is kind of a side-kick. I don't mean that in a bad way. I just didn't think his character was as developed. The reader doesn't get to know him as well. He has a special talent too. His family all are hunters; not the average kind of hunters but hunters that hunt evil people.

They come together to find an evil whether of the paranormal or human variety that is killing other mirror readers and Virginia is next on the list. Of course, we have the obligatory romance between the two.

Like I said, it was a good story line but seemed to be drawn out a bit much. ( )