Reviewer: Connie Payne
Title: Sheer Dynamite
Author: Jennifer Skully
Publisher: HQN
ISBN: 0-3737-7132-0
Release Date: October 2006
Genre/Sub-genre: Contemporary Romantic Comedy
Year/Setting: Present day - CA
Overall Rating: 4.5
Sexual Content Rating: Sexual
Language (Profanity) Content Rating: Minimal/Moderate
Violent Content Rating: Minimal
Jennifer's Website:
www.skullybuzz.com
The fact that Opal Smith gets rear ended by gorgeous Jack Davis on the freeway is nothing compared to thinking she just ran over a body falling from the overpass. How wonderful! Wonderful from Opal's point of view because that means she's Psychic!!! She's no longer the misfit of her family of psychics. Or at least she won't be with her independent witness (Jack) to verify her vision. Once it comes true that is.
Hitting a woman on the freeway was bad enough, but then he finds out she thinks she's psychic. Jack doesn't believe in that stuff and warns himself to keep his distance from the beautiful Opal. Yet here he is, protecting and "verifying" -- try ogling -- as she stakes out the overpass waiting for a man to attempt a leap off of it.
Things unfortunately don't go as either planned. And if that didn't send Jack running, Opal’s Grandma Blue claiming he's the reincarnation of Dynamite Davis, a racecar driver from the '60's and her nutty family of psychics should. But for some reason he sticks around.
Yet there's more going on here than meets the eye, there are various threads to this story. Opal's sister's ex (worm) is back for more than one reason, driving Pearl to distraction. Mr. Patell, the third driver in the accident, desperately needs a séance to contact his deceased wife. Opal still needs to verify her vision before telling her family she's one of them. Jack is the most wonderful man Opal's ever met.
On the surface, Sheer Dynamite is cute and sassy and fun, but when you start seeing through the layers as Ms. Skully reveals them, there's a sense of intensity, urgency. All the threads I mentioned at first seem unconnected, but as the story unravels it becomes clear they're all tied together.
If that weren't enough, Jack and Opal create sexual tension thick enough to cut and ride an emotional roller coaster with personal issues crowding in the seats with them. In my mind the tension and roller coaster was enough to sustain the wonderful plot. A complement to it. But Ms. Skully chose to take the tension several steps further with sex. Though the scenes aren’t overly lengthy, they are graphic and not for the reader (me being one of them) who prefer a little more subtlety and romance to those scenes.
As for the characters, they’re by turn a hoot, endearing, both likable and unlikable, and in some cases wormlike. All a good fit for Opal and Jack and the charm, generosity, strength, and kindness (though Jack would say he wasn't kind) they both have.
Sheer Dynamite is explosive. I believe this is Ms. Skully’s best to date (sex aside). It captivates with its warmth, emotions, wonderful characters, sense of fun, and unique plot.
Connie
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