At 16, Elizabeth Fitch is a genius. Her life’s been planned since before she was born. She’s already graduated from high school and in September she is going to Harvard to study medicine. But one night she decides to let herself go and heads to a nightclub with friend Julie where they meet the handsome Russian cousins, Ilya and Alexi. Elizabeth is fascinated by Ilya who makes her feel like a woman and not a teenager. But the night ends in tragedy when Elizabeth witnesses Julie and Alexi being killed on order of Ilya. Elizabeth goes into hiding and twelve years later she is Abigail Lowery, a freelance security systems designer, who lives alone with her dog in Bickford, a little town in Arkansas. Brooks Gleason is the local police officer and has come back to his hometown after ten years stationed in Little Rock. He finds Abigail strange and attractive at the same time and can’t stay away from her. Abigail is used to being alone but can’t resist Brooks’ charm and his attentions and starts to fall in love with him. But she doesn’t know if she can trust him enough to tell him her secret. Suspense and romance are mixed in this great story. (NP)
Lila is a professional house-sitter living all over the world in a business she has built. She stays at high-end homes while their owners are away on vacation or travelling for work. She has always loved to people-watch in each new place. While in New York, she is watching the people in the building across the street. She begins to get to know their movements. One night she sees a woman hit before plunging out of the glass windows to her death. This sparks the beginning of a mystery for Lila as she comes forward to the police to share what she witnessed. A chance meeting with Archer in the police station begins an international chase with romance, heat, mystery and love. Nora Roberts hits another novel out of the park. It's a wonderful read and I could not put it down. (MS)
Welcome back to Greenwich Connecticut to help the four friends, MacKensie, Parker, Emma and Laurel, plan weddings. This boos focuses on baker Laurel and lawyer Del, who is Parker's older brother. Laurel and Del have known each since childhood. Del has always thought of Laurel like the little sister he never had. But Laurel would like their relationship to be something more. One day they have an argument and Laurel makes her move which seems to thoroughly confuse Del. Will Laurel and Del get their signals straight and figure out their relationship? I loved this romantic story - the third book in the Brides Quartet series - and was gladly transported back to the wedding scene in Greenwich Connecticut. I can't wait to read the final book in the series. (JG)
Cilla McGowan is realising her dream of restoring her grandmother’s old house in Shenandoah Valley, Virginia. Her grandmother was the famous actress, Janet Hardy, but Cilla had never the chance to meet her because she died before she was born. By restoring her old house, Cilla thinks she can finally connect with her famous grandmother. But not everybody is happy to have a member of the Hardy family back in Shenandoah Valley. Strange accidents start to happen from threatening messages left on her door to her ex-husband being assaulted and sent to the hospital. Luckily, Cilla doesn’t have to face the dangers alone because her neighbour, Ford Sawyer, is falling in love with her and will do anything to protect her. This is my favourite Nora Roberts book so far. It is intriguing, romantic, engaging and suspenseful. Sometimes humorous, it is a real page-turner. (NP)
This is the second book of the Bridal quartet which chronicles the lives of four lifelong friends - MacKensie, Parker, Emma and Laurel - who start a wedding planning business called Vows. This one focuses on Emma, who arranges the flowers. Jack the architect does business with Vows on a regular basis. He plans the space that Vows uses but also would like to design a way into Emma's heart. Even if you aren't a huge Nora Roberts fan, this one comes highly recommended - especially for all the anecdotes of the different brides that grace their doors. (JG)
Reece Gilmore was a chef in Boston at the top of her game and one rung away from owning her own restaurant. But then violence erupts, which leaves her life fragmented and her mind shattered. She checks herself into a psychiatric hospital. Once out, she fills up her car and takes off for places unknown with only her gut as her navigation tool. When her car breaks down in Angel's Fist, Wyoming, she takes a job at a small diner as a fry cook. The beautiful landscape and a man named Brody keeps Reece in Angel's Fist longer than she intended. While hiking into the mountain, Reece sees a woman being murdered while looking at the terrain through her binoculars. When she tells Brody what she saw, he has problems believing her story, but does not dismiss her entirely. When things start happening to Reece, and the folks in town including the sherriff thinks she is losing her mind, she has to prove that what she saw was real.
The book is riveting, the characters are likeable and the story line is believable. Once again, Nora Roberts shows how a good book is written. (ZP)
