Crystal Cove by Lisa Kleypas Series: Friday Harbor #4
Published by St. Martin's Press on February 5, 2013
Genres: Contemporary Romance, Paranormal Romance
Format: Paperback
Source: the library
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Also in this series: Christmas Eve at Friday Harbor, Rainshadow Road, Dream Lake
Also by this author: Christmas Eve at Friday Harbor, Rainshadow Road, Dream Lake, Cold-Hearted Rake, Marrying Winterborne, Devil in Spring, Hello Stranger, Devil's Daughter, Chasing Cassandra, Devil in Disguise
Justine Hoffman has made a comfortable life for herself on the island of Friday Harbor. She is the proprietor of a successful boutique hotel, and she has the safe, predictable life she has always wanted. Growing up with her flighty, nomadic mother, Marigold, has instilled in her a deep longing for stability. But in spite of everything Justine has achieved, there is still something missing. Love. And after years of waiting and dreaming, she is willing to do whatever it takes to change her destiny.
What Justine soon discovers is that someone cast a spell on her when she was born, with the result that she will never find her soul mate. Determined to change her fate, Justine finds a way to break the enchantment, never dreaming of the dangerous complications that will follow.
And when Justine meets the mysterious Jason Black, she accidentally unleashes a storm of desire and danger that threaten everything she holds dear . . . because Jason has secrets of his own, and he wants more from her than fate will ever allow.
Review
Crystal Cove held my attention from beginning to end, and yet I find myself somewhat ambivalent about the novel. On the one hand, I really like Justine, the heroine, and I enjoyed her “aunts”, Rosemary and Sage, who live on a nearby island. Kleypas is a good writer; I have no complaints on that front. So why the ambivalence? Well, I’m less enthusiastic about Jason, the hero (for reasons I’ll get into below), and there are a few elements in the book that made me uncomfortable, and two things I found a bit difficult to swallow.
Justine is kind, caring, lovable… also bright, determined, and even stubborn. After a childhood spent wandering the world with her alternately neglectful and narcissistic, controlling mother, Justine has found a home and a career as owner-manager of an upscale bed-and-breakfast in Friday Harbor. She has friends, and her adopted “aunts” live on a nearby island. But what Justine longs for is love, and when she discovers a spell—a geas—has been put on her to prevent it, she is furious. Her relationship with her mother has left her very resistant to anything that seems like an attempt to control or push her into doing something, and the geas by its very nature is control. To Justine it’s a curse, and she’s willing to do just about anything to break it.
Jason, a highly-respected game designer, is autocratic, demanding, and initially cold. When we first meet him, he is the epitome of controlling, and I’m not sure he ever entirely loses that characteristic. Toward the beginning, I really wondered why Justine falls for him. Their initial attraction is intense and very physical. I’m not sure she even likes him at first, though she’s curious about him. But despite her wariness, she can’t quite stay away from him. As the story and their relationship progress, Jason does reveal some redeeming characteristics; he is clearly willing, in both words and actions, to accept Justine completely for who she is, anger and tears and scary powers and all. That alone did a lot to soften me toward him and explain Justine’s growing feelings toward him. For his part, Jason is fixated on her almost from the beginning. Yet at the same time, he is still pursuing an ulterior motive that he knows will require him to betray Justine’s trust. This being a romance, she eventually forgives him, but it reveals a ruthlessness in him that makes me uncomfortable.
The supernatural elements in the book also bothered me a bit. If you read this blog, you know that I don’t have any problem with paranormal elements on principle; I read fantasy and paranormal books all the time. But I prefer the magical/paranormal elements to make internal sense, not be tossed in in order to provide a plot device. In this case, Justine’s powers as a hereditary witch and Rosemary and Sage’s Wiccan practices didn’t bother me; they work within the book. But two other elements did bother me, because in both cases, they feel like something manufactured to make the plot work, rather than an organic part of the worldbuilding. One in particular is an interesting plot device, and it gives Jason much of his motivation, but it’s a device, and that shows. And that irritates me as a reader. It’s like seeing the back of the scenery at a play; it breaks the spell, kills the illusion of reality. Kleypas can do better.
Finally, there’s one more thing that I found personally uncomfortable: a bondage scene of sorts. Granted, it’s not a heavy-duty dominance/submission scene, and it’s written reasonably tastefully, but… it’s not to my taste. YMMV.
To sum up, then, I’d say that Crystal Cove is pretty well written, with the exception of the obvious plot devices I spoke about in the spoiler section. The romance itself is intense and sometimes steamy, and the main characters are both complex, interesting people. Justine is appealing. However, while some readers will love Jason, others may share my reservations. The paranormal elements are stronger in this book than in any of the previous Friday Harbor novels, including the one with the ghost; if that bothers you, it’s probably not the book for you. For my part, I enjoyed reading Crystal Cove despite the issues that bothered me, but it’s not a book I’ll ever reread. And I still prefer Kleypas’s historical romances, with their blend of humor and passion, over her contemporary romances.
NOTE: Review slightly revised on 4/22/2019
Read for the Take Control of Your TBR Pile Challenge sponsored by Kimba the Caffeinated Book Reviewer.
*****
The books in the Friday Harbor series, in order (links go to reviews on this blog):
About Lisa Kleypas
LISA KLEYPAS is the RITA award-winning author of 35 historical and contemporary romance novels. Her books are published in more than 20 languages and are bestsellers all over the world.
A graduate of Wellesley College with a political science degree, Lisa was chosen as “Miss Massachusetts” for the 1985 Miss America contest. She published her first novel at age twenty-one. Lisa lives in Washington State with her husband; they have two children.
Diana Leigh
Good to hear you still enjoyed reading it. I’m curious about the heavier paranormal elements.
Lark @ The Bookwyrm's Hoard
I didn’t want to give too much away. It’s definitely not as paranormal as, say, Jayne Ann Krentz’s recent books, or any of the paranormal romances featuring vampires, werewolves, and other creature that don’t exist outside of books. But there is magic, and there are practicing witches who can actually affect things with their spells or powers.
Lark @ The Bookwyrm's Hoard
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Bea
Hmm, I’ve never read any of the Friday Harbor books. Should I read them in order? I’m not sure I’d like Jason either from what you’ve said. The soul thing and the bondage don’t sound like they’d bother me but I’d have to read them to be sure.
Lark @ The Bookwyrm's Hoard
It may not be necessary to read them in order, but it might help. It’s funny; they’re all different in tone, and each one edges closer toward the magic/paranormal stuff.
I’ve added a link to my reviews of the other three books above in case anyone is curious.
Kimberly @ Turning the Pages
I read the first book in this series when I first started my blog and I remember not liking it very much but I loved another book that I read by her. I think I prefer her historicals over her contemporary romance series but I’m glad you liked the book 🙂
– Kimberly @ Turning the Pages
Lark @ The Bookwyrm's Hoard
I had a similar reaction to the first book (if you mean “Christmas Eve in Friday Harbor”?) It was sweet and pleasant but at the end I felt like I’d had sorbet instead of a meal. I definitely prefer her historicals.