Hidden Star by Nora Roberts

Goodreads Summary: Diamonds can be a girl's best friend…or her worst enemy. Bailey James can't remember a thing, including why she has a satchel full of cash and a diamond as big as a baby's fist. It's clear she's in big trouble, and Bailey desperately needs private investigator Cade Parris to help her live long enough to find out just what kind. The moment the coolheaded detective laid eyes on Bailey, she almost had him forgetting who he was. Surely she isn't a criminal—but how can he unravel this mystery if he keeps tripping over his heart?

Goodreads Rating: 3.87 stars with over 9,000 ratings

Genre listing: Romance, Contemporary Romance, Mystery, Fiction

Goodreads Challenge: 22/60

2020 Reading Challenge: #33 a Book with the word "Star' in the title (find the full challenge here)

Book Review:

I ended up picking this book because I needed something for #33. What few Nora Roberts books I've read are kind of hit and miss for me. I'm not a huge romance fan. I'll read it if it's mixed in with a bigger plot, but I'm never really wanting to read something that's solely romance. Luckily, there was a little bit of mystery in Hidden Stars to keep me entertained.

I think I would have liked this a lot more if Cade wasn't an absolute sleazebag through most of the book. Ugh. I wanted to pepper spray him and have sexual assault charges filed on Bailey's behalf. (No, that's not an attempt at humor. I felt like his actions were borderline sexual assault through most of the book.) The majority of the book, I thought it was gross how he was coming on to her so strongly and being demanding with her. Bailey had amnesia, hired him to help her figure out who she was and what happened to her, but he just had to hit on her the entire time, despite her requests for him to stop. 

As I said before, I'm usually not a huge fan of romance. If I read it, I like for there to be some building to the characters feeling the way they do. I want it to make sense. Maybe part of that is because my husband and I were friends before we started dating. For me, the whole spend a weekend together, and wanting to get married wasn't realistic, and I rolled my eyes at it a lot. 

I thought the take on the amnesia was interesting. I liked the idea of Bailey still being who she was, even if she didn't realize it. Despite my disdain for his sexual advances on Bailey, I thought that his way of helping her find herself was thoughtful. He took the time to explain well you probably do this because of this reason, or if you hate this food before, you probably still hate it. Putting the pieces together like that made the private detective job make sense and fit well within the story.

I think what saved this book for me was the mystery. The idea of Bailey being a gemologist and jewelry designer appealed to me because I make jewelry and, at one time, thought about becoming a gemologist. I wasn't really sure where the mystery was going to go, or what Bailey actually saw. I wasn't expecting her connection to the culprits. This was the part of the story I really wanted to read. How she got her memory back, what happened to her, and why was the diamond so valuable. 

Overall, I did like the book. It was a short read, which I got through quickly. I liked Bailey a lot, but couldn't stand Cade. The mystery kept me entertained. I do tend to think that Nora follows a couple of formulas for her books, and I could kind of see already how it was setting it up for the other two books in the trilogy. I don't know if I'll pick up the other two. I enjoyed it, but not enough to where I feel like I need to continue on with the trilogy.

Book Review: Blood Brothers by Nora Roberts

Goodreads Summary: In the town of Hawkins Hollow, it’s called The Seven. Every seven years, on the seventh day of the seventh month, strange things happen. It began when three young boys—Caleb, Fox, and Gage—went on a camping trip to The Pagan Stone...
It is only February, but Caleb Hawkins— a descendant of the town founders—has already seen and felt the stirrings of evil. Though he can never forget the beginning of the terror in the woods twenty-one years ago, the signs have never been this strong before. Cal will need the help of his best friends Fox and Gage, but surprisingly he must rely on a stranger as well.

Reporter Quinn Black came to Hawkins Hollow hoping to make its eerie happenings the subject of her new book. She too can see the evil the locals cannot, somehow connecting her to the town—and to Cal. As winter turns to spring, they will shed their inhibitions, surrendering to a desire that will grow and form the cornerstone of a group of men and women bound by the fight against what is to come from out of the darkness…
Goodreads Rating: 4.16 stars with over 45,000 ratings
Genre Listing: Romance, Fantasy, Paranormal, Mystery
Number of Pages: 314
Book in Series: 1/3
Get the Book: Amazon, Book Depository
Goodreads Challenge: 20/30
2018 Reading Challenge: 5.) A book by Nora Roberts (Find the challenge here.)

Book Review:

I finally have time to sit down and do this review! I feel like I've not stopped moving around the past two weeks or so. Between working 40 hours, being a full-time student, running a jewelry business, and running the blog, I feel like a crazy person. Sometimes I get asked if I sleep. My functionality each day is 100% proportionate to how much Starbucks I've had. Anyways, that was my gibberish way of saying that I finished this book like a week ago and haven't time to write about it. The good news is that once I graduate in May (hopefully), I should have more time to read and have thoughts.

So, the lovely Sister-in-law has been jumping up and down (for gods knows how many years) to read Blood Brothers by Nora Roberts. Another friend and I were discussing it as well, so I figured I should probably give it a try. Plus, I needed a Nora book for the 2018 reading challenge, so it worked out. I don't know why I'm hesitant to read Nora Roberts. I'm assuming it's because I've had it in my head it's going to always be a sappy romance. I also try to convince myself that's not my kind of book when my reviews probably beg to differ.

I've got mixed feelings about Blood Brothers. So, I'll start with the good. I'm just running through my thoughts with this one, so there's probably going to be all kinds of spoilers. I liked the premise of the boys' birthday, and the things happening every seven years for the week surrounding their birthday. It made me think of the earlier seasons of Haven with "The Troubles." I felt that even though the book didn't quite get into the upcoming birthday in the storyline, it gave good details on how it affected different people in the town. I also really liked the historical aspect of the plot. I could probably just read a book on Giles and Anne Hawkins and be completely happy. 

I'll even give the book a lot of credit regarding being creepy. There were parts of the story regarding the Pagan Stone, Hester's Pond, and the Demon that legitimately freaked me out. I questioned reading the book alone in the dark. If a supernatural book can actually give me the creeps, it's usually a plus for me. There was one scene where I had to go turn on the hallway light when I was reading way too late because I was freaked out.

Here's where I have the issues. First off the characters/romances. When the boys go to the woods and make their blood pact they're nine.  The things they were sneaking around doing seemed a bit older than what they're projected as. It's even mentioned in the book, but it feels forced. The age doesn't match the actions and just seems like they were that age to make the every 7 years theme work. 

The relationships in this book made me roll my eyes a lot. I felt like they moved too quick and Caleb and Quinn declaring their love for one another just didn't make sense for when it happened. When Quinn first arrived into Hawkins Hollow, I felt like I was missing something. I actually checked a couple of times to make sure I was reading the first book in the series. Basically, there's this connection with them that doesn't come out until the end of the book. Which is fine, but instead of coming off as surprising it makes the early part of the relationship just not make sense at all. Or, at least the speed of it. They go for business-esq meetings so Quinn can get to know the town and she ups and decides they're dating. Then like three days later profess their love for one another. 

Another glaring issue I have with this is that Gage and Cybil felt forgotten in the story. Fox and (can't think of her name at the moment) made enough appearances that I could remember their presence, so that wasn't too big of an issue for me. But towards the end of the book it just felt like "Oh yeah, I forgot to include Gage and Cybil." To make matters worse, Cybil comes across as a complete bitch. Finally, the end of the book was really anticlimactic for me. The guys take all three girls to the Pagan Stone/ Hester's Pond. The Demon shows up and tries to show off his power. The group basically just stand there holding hands giving it the carebear stare until it goes away. The end. 

Basically where I'm at with this is I really liked the premise, I liked the history, and I liked the spookiness. Those parts were super interesting to me, and I do want to continue on with the Signs of Seven trilogy because of that. The characters however definitely left a lot to be desired. I'm hoping that they'll have some more development that makes me care about them in the next book. 

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