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A review by lassarina
Hideaway by Nora Roberts
4.0
It's never a question that I'll pick up the new Nora Roberts and devour it in as few sittings as possible. Sometimes that works out better than other times. This time it did work out, and I really enjoyed this book. Cate is a delightful heroine, smart and sharp and determined, and also flawed--her stubbornness is not really a benefit in a lot of ways. The ensemble cast of family and friends weaves together in a compelling way, and although her mother Charlotte is definitely a despicable, vain, shallow, garbage human being, there are so many women of so many different types and styles that it's clear Charlotte is just one type of person amid the crowd, rather than it being up to just her and Cate to display the entire range of feminine personality. Dillon is a delightful, calm, steady presence, happy where he is and knowing exactly who he is, confident and content with his land and his work, and aware of a lot of the world around him in a way that's refreshing.
This book has echoes of other Nora Roberts books - the most obvious comparison is Genuine Lies, because of the Hollywood connection, but it's also clear how her writing has evolved over the years. Hideaway is more diverse than many of her previous books, including multiple interracial relationships (some happy and long-term, some not.) The book addresses several instances of racism head-on, not as a "message" but as things that, well, needed to be addressed as part of the evolution of the story. For all of that, it doesn't feel like the characters of color are there just to be cardboard diversity cutouts, which is important.
The main relationship between Cate and Dillon is obviously set up right at the beginning, during the kidnapping and escape, but it doesn't come to any kind of fruition until very late in the book, probably the last third. This has been a trait of several of Roberts' books over the last few years, where romance is a big and important component later on but the book is overall more about exploring the life and growth of (at least) one of the main characters from childhood onward, usually through a major trauma. (Shelter in Place comes to mind.)
Speaking of that comparison, there were a few moments with the police investigation that gave me hives, and it's not the first time a Nora Roberts book has done that. Her cops are often the good guys and they bend or break the rules, we're clearly meant to understand, in pursuit of real justice. But the world doesn't work that way, and--well, it's June 2020 as I'm writing this, and I live in the United States. Specifically, I live in Chicago, and while I don't think it's appropriate to list the names lost to police violence in this city in a book review, it makes it really hard to swallow cops cutting corners especially around suspect rights, even if we "know" the cops in question are the "good" ones. (I'm fairly sure I wrote almost this exact paragraph for my review of Shelter in Place, but my opinion has not changed!)
That said, overall I really did enjoy this book and loved the characters in it, the wide range of things Cate experienced and the vast Sullivan clan. I think I'd enjoy rereading it. (Also, I really liked the resolution of the climactic action scene - a really, really good balance of self-rescue and assistance. Very solid.)
This book has echoes of other Nora Roberts books - the most obvious comparison is Genuine Lies, because of the Hollywood connection, but it's also clear how her writing has evolved over the years. Hideaway is more diverse than many of her previous books, including multiple interracial relationships (some happy and long-term, some not.) The book addresses several instances of racism head-on, not as a "message" but as things that, well, needed to be addressed as part of the evolution of the story. For all of that, it doesn't feel like the characters of color are there just to be cardboard diversity cutouts, which is important.
The main relationship between Cate and Dillon is obviously set up right at the beginning, during the kidnapping and escape, but it doesn't come to any kind of fruition until very late in the book, probably the last third. This has been a trait of several of Roberts' books over the last few years, where romance is a big and important component later on but the book is overall more about exploring the life and growth of (at least) one of the main characters from childhood onward, usually through a major trauma. (Shelter in Place comes to mind.)
Speaking of that comparison, there were a few moments with the police investigation that gave me hives, and it's not the first time a Nora Roberts book has done that. Her cops are often the good guys and they bend or break the rules, we're clearly meant to understand, in pursuit of real justice. But the world doesn't work that way, and--well, it's June 2020 as I'm writing this, and I live in the United States. Specifically, I live in Chicago, and while I don't think it's appropriate to list the names lost to police violence in this city in a book review, it makes it really hard to swallow cops cutting corners especially around suspect rights, even if we "know" the cops in question are the "good" ones. (I'm fairly sure I wrote almost this exact paragraph for my review of Shelter in Place, but my opinion has not changed!)
That said, overall I really did enjoy this book and loved the characters in it, the wide range of things Cate experienced and the vast Sullivan clan. I think I'd enjoy rereading it. (Also, I really liked the resolution of the climactic action scene - a really, really good balance of self-rescue and assistance. Very solid.)