Nora Robert's Books

Nora Roberts

 I’d read a few of Nora Robert’s earlier novels and didn’t care for them until I read Montana Sky, written in the mid-nineties. The characters were interesting and well-developed and the dialogue kept me reading. Three sisters, of the same father and different mothers, weren’t raised together and barely know one another. They must come together after their father’s death to save the ranch they have inherited. I didn’t see the ending twist. It made me want to go back and see where I missed it.

In Whiskey Beach, a man on the verge of divorce finds himself the prime suspect in his wife’s brutal murder. His reaction to the stresses and efforts to come back from them are believable and compelling. The woman he falls in love with has a personality full of quirks that make her stand out from the usual romantic heroine. Nora Robert’s characters are generally well-written and people you want to know more about. She has trouble writing believable bad guys who are more than one-dimensional.

I’m glad I didn’t read Chesapeake Blue after Montana Sky. I might not have continued to read her. This book is part of a series starring the secondary characters but stands alone without having read the others. The hero’s main conflict in this story didn’t ring as likely, which weakened the story.

I hadn’t realized Nora Roberts writes more fantasy novels besides her J. D. Robb series until I saw Stars of Fortune, the first novel in a planned The Guardians Trilogy. The beginning read as a bad children’s fairytale and was off-putting, but keep reading. It picks up considerably as the characters meet and talk. Roberts is gifted at dialogue and the good-guy characterizations, not as much with plot and the villains, but I like most of the books I’ve read. In this one, six people with varying gifts form a team to restore three stars to their rightful place and thereby keep the universe safe. Again, the villain isn’t as compelling.

The Liar has smart characters with more sweetness than many of Nora Robert’s books. A young woman with a four-year-old daughter must rebuild the bridges she burned after marrying a con artist who emotionally abuses her, dies, and leaves her with a mountain of debt. My only peeve—these smart characters never see the possibility of the obvious ending twist. The ending confrontation was too stereotypical to be satisfying. Otherwise, I liked the story and can see it continuing with all the secondary characters or not.

I look forward to reading more from this prolific writer. She gives me hope that writers don’t have to stick to one genre to be published or popular.