Book Review: Nora Robert's Land by Ava Miles

 

ISBN-13: 9781490527512

Publisher: CreateSpace Independent Publishing Platform

Publication date: 6/24/2013

 

Synopsis:

 

Journalist Meredith Hale's ex-husband claimed her Nora Roberts addiction gave her unrealistic expectations about marriage, and she believed him. All dreams of happily ever after or Nora Roberts Land as her mother calls it-went up in smoke. But when her family asks her to temporarily help their Dare Valley, Colorado newspaper, she decides it's time to change her life and prove her ex wrong. She's determined to find her own small-town Nora Roberts hero, prove that true love exists, and publish a story about her quest.

War correspondent Tanner McBride has just returned stateside to work for a major newspaper, and the last thing he expects is blackmail. Yet, before he can even unpack, he's headed to Colorado. His assignment? Make his boss's ex-wife fall for him and then break her heart. Her article about discovering love à la Nora might air dirty laundry about her marriage to the media mogul, threatening his senate run. The mogul wants Meredith stopped, and he makes sure Tanner has no choice in the matter.
When the two meet, the sparks between them are undeniable. Meredith, who vowed never to date another journalist, begins to succumb. Could Tanner be her Nora Roberts hero? As they work together to uncover the truth behind a suspicious death, the depth of their feelings unfolds and both realize they've kept their secrets for far too long. But before the truth can be revealed, their investigation takes a deadly turn, one that might make Meredith's personal Nora Roberts Land go up in flames. 

 

 

 

Guest Reviewer: Kathy Westerfield
I was excited to begin this book for the simple fact that it is about a woman who is a huge Nora Roberts fan. The concept of this book is what drew me in! I could totally relate to the heroine's way of thinking by the particular Nora book she referred to in each section. It was fun to see her hero take shape through the book and I know he looked just like Roarke!

 

The book started off really funny. The author had a great way of describing things, and giving us inner dialogue that showed her sense of humor. But about half way through, the book lost most of its humor and kind of fell flat.

I wanted to like this book way more than I actually did.

 

On the down side, there are a LOT of F- bombs dropped which I thought were for the most part needless and crass and made me uncomfortable-so much so that I sent the author an email stating exactly that. Probably wont change anything but if you are F-bomb sensitive, you might want to skip this one.

Book Review: Whiskey Beach by Nora Roberts

 

Author: Nora Roberts
ISBN-13: 9780399159893

Publisher: Penguin Group (USA)

Publication date: 4/16/2013

Synopsis:

For more than three hundred years, Bluff House has sat above Whiskey Beach, guarding its shore—and its secrets. But to Eli Landon, it’s home…

A Boston lawyer, Eli has weathered an intense year of public scrutiny and police investigations after being accused of—but never arrested for—the murder of his soon-to-be-ex wife.

He finds sanctuary at Bluff House, even though his beloved grandmother is in Boston recuperating from a nasty fall. Abra Walsh is always there, though. Whiskey Beach’s resident housekeeper, yoga instructor, jewelry maker, and massage therapist, Abra is a woman of many talents—including helping Eli take control of his life and clear his name. But as they become entangled in each other, they find themselves caught in a net that stretches back for centuries—one that has ensnared a man intent on reaping the rewards of destroying Eli Landon once and for all…

When I first sold my business and found myself with a lot of time on my hands, I picked up the Twilight series.  I became obsessed with it!  Much later than most.  I think most of the movies were already out by the time I picked up the first book.  But after reading that, I began searching out other books to read, preferably romance.  Never having been a big fiction reader, I relied on suggestions from friends and family to fill my to-be-read shelf.

That's when I discovered Nora Roberts.  I think in that first few months, I bought or checked out almost every book she had ever written.  I loved her story telling, how there was always a suspenseful feel to her books.  And I especially liked the ones that had a hint of magic or other-worldly elements. 

She is one of the major reasons I write what I write.

That being said, I did not like this book at all.  The more I read her books, the less I like them.  I really prefer her older books. 

Every thing she writes feels like it was written in 1980 (which was a fantastic year btw) and that was cool when I first started reading them, because they were older books.  But the book she just released has that exact same feel. 

And her dialogue drives me BANANAS!  The male and female characters sound exactly the same.  You could literally switch all their speaking parts and not notice a difference.  It makes it very hard to read because I'm constantly having to look back to see who is actually speaking.

And she writes with a very heavy New England influence.  All her characters are very east coast.  Which is great because that's her comfort zone.  But I just don't think people talk like that.

This book in particular fell very flat for me.  I really struggled to finish it.  The characters seemed to have the same conversation over and over again.  The suspense was borderline boring. 

In the end, I didn't really care who-done-it and I didn't care what happened to these characters.

If you've read Whiskey Beach, or any of Nora Roberts books lately, I would love to hear what you have to say!