Tag: Nora Roberts

Book Talk Tuesday: Thankless in Death

Published on by Live Vi-Carrie-ous

For a few of my favorite authors, I’m a total fan girl.

me and noraNora Roberts is one of them. I got the opportunity to meet her last month in San Antonio at the Romance Writers of America (R) annual conference.

I’ve read several of her stand alone romances and enjoyed them but I love her J.D. Robb … In Death  series.

She signed Thankless in Death for me and I just finished it.

This series just gets better and better. I teared up at the end.

This book is seriously good.

 

It’s approaching Thanksgiving in New York City in 2060. Lt. Eve Dallas is kinda-sorta looking forward to the holiday. Roarke’s Irish family is about to descend on them.

Of course, Eve gets a murder case.

A couple murdered in their home. The prime suspect is their son, a perpetually petulant and selfish man who blames his life (or lack of one) on everyone else. It’s never his fault that he gets fired, even though he’s late to work most days. tid

The son sets out to avenge all his perceived slights on the friends and family he holds responsible.

Eve and the team work tirelessly to find him and catch him before he kills again.

What I love about this series is not just the characters and the stories, but the humanity Robb brings.

Eve is not a perfect character. She’s wounded but she’s finding healing in her husband and new family and friends and her work. She takes her work very personally and it makes her good at her job.

The victims matter to Eve. I got a bit teary at the close of this book when Eve had to fight down her own emotions. She’s getting better at acknowledging her feelings and facing them.

If you’re a fictional character in 2060 NYC, Lt. Eve Dallas is the cop you want working your case.

Who’s your favorite fictional cop?

Besides Eve Dallas, I really like Magnum P.I. Because really, Tom Selleck?

 

Book Talk Tuesday: Chasing Fire

Published on by Live Vi-Carrie-ous

Book Cover

I love Nora Roberts when she writes as J.D. Robb. I read one of Roberts’s traditional romance years ago and, while it was a good book, I didn’t put her none Robb stuff on the top of my TBR mountain. A friend read this one and recommended it so I did put it on the stack.

It’s really good.

Rowan Tripp is a fire jumper, like her father before her. She’s still having nightmares about the jumper who died last season.

Gulliver Curry is a hot shot fire fighter, and a rookie in his first season jumping fire.

The whole team is still recovering from Jim’s death last year and it doesn’t help when the woman he was sleeping with shows up with a baby she claims is Jim’s and looking for a job. She blames Rowan for Jim’s death and sets out for revenge. Soon, several other deaths follow and fires are when the bodies are dumped.

Parts of Chasing Fire are predictable. Rowan and Gull end up in bed. (But the sex wasn’t overly graphic.) I thought I knew who the bad guy was but I wasn’t completely sure until he revealed himself. I love when an author can stump me and they’ve played fair with the clues.

For me, this book worked on several levels. It’s a good romance. Even though hero and heroine fall into bed pretty quickly, it was believable. There was none of that instant hatred of each other, then jumping into bed when lust gets the better of them. I like that Roberts respects her readers enough to not use that tired plot. It’s a crackling good mystery. There are clues but they’re not obvious. There are subplots and layers to the story that made a compelling read. I don’t know much about fire jumping but I feel like I do now. The fire fighting scenes were well placed and so hot, my fingers felt singed.

This is a definite winner!