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3.89 AVERAGE
3.89 AVERAGE
adventurous
mysterious
medium-paced
adventurous
mysterious
medium-paced
Plot or Character Driven:
A mix
Strong character development:
Yes
Loveable characters:
Complicated
Diverse cast of characters:
Yes
Flaws of characters a main focus:
N/A
A classic!! This has all of Nora’s favorite tropes, but none feel overused or tired. Three couples, a formidable villain, breaking and entering with a purpose, strong secondary characters, a bit of history and art, and some great European adventures. The climax is fun, with just enough tension to hold your interest—even though, as a classic Nora, you know the HEA is on the way. My only complaint is the death of a secondary character, which does the job of ratcheting up the tension but also doesn’t hold up in 2023 (I can’t name the trope without spoiling, but it’s a disappointing one that she falls into). But all in all, an emotional, twisty, and satisfying novel, full of romance!
Different from her usual story telling and a fun read.
Action? Humor? World travel? Romance? This book has it all! Try it out, you won't regret it! -Beth M.
3 love stories in one felt a little overstuffed. And Mal just rubbed me the wrong way. Tia could’ve done better.
emotional
mysterious
medium-paced
Plot or Character Driven:
A mix
Strong character development:
Yes
Loveable characters:
Complicated
As usual, Nora Roberts does not disappoint. Action, adventure, and romance all mixed together in yet another amazing book filled with mythology. Can you tell how much I love reading her books?
This book didn’t age well—it was full of sexism and chain-smoking characters. At first, I thought the Sullivans had some legitimate claim to the statues, but no. They originally had only one, and even that one was in their family illegally—their ancestor stole it from a rich guy. So what right did they have to aggressively pursue all three statues? None. Just simple greed. “Evil” Anita had the same right to them.
What bullshit. 🙄🙄
“Surviving when others died changed Felix. It, you could say, made a man out of him. The Fate was a symbol of that change, and it stood for it in our family for five generations. Now we know what it is, beyond that symbol, and we believe the three should be brought back together. That was meant as well. Maybe there’s profit in it, and we won’t turn from that. But it’s not for greed. It’s for family.”
I couldn’t pick a favorite character. Every time I started to like someone, they’d do something so stupid it ruined my opinion of them. Honestly, my favorite might have been Mikey—Cleo’s background character—because he was the voice of reason for one scene. But then he got killed off. 😀
I really didn’t like how Tia and Malachi’s first meeting was carefully orchestrated and manipulated by Malachi. His thought process was disgusting. And then, after the truth came out, he had the audacity to be hurt by Tia’s rejection.
“Perfect, he thought. He’d give her a little romance, a little adventure. A drive to the sea. And drop in the first mention of the little silver statues.”
“Shy, delicate and sweet. And as far from his type as the moon from the sun. Still, there was no reason a man shouldn’t experiment with a new taste now and again.”
But then we met his sister Rebecca, and suddenly Malachi wasn’t even the worst character in the book. I did like the irony of how she and Jack met—wasn’t that the same strategy she wanted Malachi to use?
I liked Cleo until she made the dumbest mistake of contacting Anita herself. Did she really think she—a woman with no business background or street smarts—could outmaneuver Anita, who made profitable deals every day?
“She hooked her arm through Mikey’s. ‘She’s not as good as she thinks she is. She’ll cough up the dough because I’ve got what she wants.’”
I also didn’t like how every time they fought, Gideon insinuated Cleo was a whore. Then he’d apologize, saying he didn’t mean it that way, but after the second time, his apologies started to feel empty.
The book did get better about halfway through when all the characters finally became one big team and started working together. Before that, everything they did was unproductive and stupid.
By the end, I was just exhausted. I wished the book was way shorter.