Savor the Moment - Nora Roberts

This saved the series for me. I was rather disappointed with Emma and Jack's story but I really liked Laurel and Del.

Maybe it's because Laurel's more like me. She had to scrape and work to get through school while holding down jobs that paid the bills. As a result, she's forthright and not afraid to go after what she wants. She is a pastry chef and runs that aspect of Vows.

Del may be wealthy (and here is where the comparison between Laurel and me ends) but he's not snobbish. In some ways, Laurel is more stuck up than he is. But it's a reverse sort of discrimination against herself as she doesn't feel worthy of being with him.

I liked Del; he wasn't too overconfident and cocky. He was the right mix of man, boy, adult and child for me. Fun loving but serious when the situation requires it. He helped Laurel unwind a bit and stop being so stuffy.

Overall, good job!

Sea Swept - Nora Roberts

Every NR fan I know has told me that I must read the Chesapeake Bay series. And "must" is always emphasized that way when they talk about it. I figured it should be good but I picked it up last year at the last book. I never blogged about it because I didn't want to go out of order here. lol ... yes, I know.

Anyway, Cameron Quinn came from a troubled past as did the rest of the boys that Stella and Ray Quinn adopted. She was unable to have kids so they kept their eye out for children who needed the assistance. Cam did. When they came across him thinking about stealing their Corvette, they never thought about it twice. Cam had been beaten severely and regular abuse from a mother who just didn't care left him wary and mistrusting of everyone. Ray and Stella assumed legal guardianship and fought to adopt him to give him a better life.

It took a while but eventually he came around and became part of the family. In time, they gave him brothers. Phillip and Ethan had gone through similar issues and eventually became absorbed into the family whole. They thought of themselves as brothers and they were at the heart of it.

Eventually, they grew up and left the nest as children so often do. Ethan stayed the closest, choosing to fish the waters of the river and bay. Phillip went into advertising in Baltimore. And Cameron went to Europe to race. I think he raced hydrofoils solely. They're those things that float just on top of the water. Our story really starts with Ray's accident.

He had collected another child and only had him for a few months when he ran into a telephone pole on the way back from Baltimore. It started a ripple effect for everyone connected with him. Cam came back from Europe. Ethan and Phillip moved back into the house after the funeral. Seth was still in a surly stage especially since he didn't really know Cam. He, like the rest of them, had been abused not only by his mother but by the men she brought home constantly. He trusted no one.

Enter Anna Spinelli, a social worker with a caring heart and an insight into the kind of troubles that can tear a child apart. Her only interest, at first, is the best interests of the child. She guides the Quinns through the process, all the while seeing that they're becoming a family unit. The inevitable happens (it IS a NR book after all) and she falls for Cam. Being male, he falls for her too but doesn't realize it until it's too late.

One question lingers over all of them. Was Ray's accident truly an accident or was it suicide?

Homeport - Nora Roberts

This may be one of my favorites of her standalones.

Dr. Miranda Jones is an archeometrist. She is a scientist that studies, authenticates, and restores various art pieces for public and private display. Art restoration and display is a family affair. Miranda and her brother, Andrew, run the Institute in Maine where they teach various classes and restore paintings in the labs as well as work as curators of the museum. Their father, Charles, prefers dig sites to family and is usually off. Elizabeth, the mother, moves to Italy and opens her own lab, Standjo, where she is engaged in authentication of new pieces.

It is on such a mission that Elizabeth contacts Miranda and orders her to Italy. In their family, there is no tenderness ... no care. Miranda is delayed as she is mugged in front of her house, an unusual occurence as she lives in a very small town. For those of you who don't live in a small town, something like that would never happen as there typically aren't enough people to rob or care about.

It is the start of a downslide for the entire family. Miranda gets to Italy and authenticates an original, undiscovered work of Michelangelo's which is later proven to be a fake. Andrew's drinking gets worse and worse. The Institute is robbed after Miranda's return from Florence by a retiring thief who also happens to be a gallery owner in NYC named Ryan Boldari.

He discovers that the statute he stole is also a fake and is bound & determined to prove that Miranda did it on purpose. Along the line, they figure out that someone is trying to ruin her and fall in love. It's a fun ride that takes us from New England's serenity to the bustle of Brooklyn and the beauty that is Florence.

Enjoy!

Face the Fire - Nora Roberts

I think I want to be Mia Devlin. lol ... is it possible to become a fictional character? The chick has it all together. She's smart, beautiful, a successful business owner, has a rockin' body ... and is a hereditary witch. What's not to love?

Oh right ... the evil powers that want her to fail at her portion of the task set to the Three of Three Sisters Island. They want to cause her death. She also has to either accept or reject the love of her life, Sam Logan. It's a fascinating look into how a strong woman can still struggle with basic issues like compromise, love, acceptance, and compassion. Does she win? Does she lose and plunge her island into the sea forever? That's for Mia and Nora to tell you.

And she owns a bookstore. I think it's nirvana.

Heaven and Earth - Nora Roberts

In this second book of the Three Sisters trilogy, Ripley Todd is the focus. She turned her back on who she is and what she possesses on the cusp of adulthood. The story pulls us into the middle of the 300 year old culmination of the spell cast on the island by one of the original Three. For Ripley to stop what's building, she has to forgive and accept herself without condition.

Again, I love the story and I love the final scene on the beach with Ripley making her choice. I know this is brief but I'm trying to review it without giving too much away.

Dance Upon the Air - Nora Roberts

Nell Channing is a hunted woman. She's on the run from an abusive husband, who thinks her dead. She finds her way to the Massachusetts coastline and to a little island called Three Sisters. There is lore and legend attached to it, as there usually is to such places. In this case, the island itself is created by three witches and cast out to sea to protect them from the insanity of the Witch Trails in Salem Town in 1692.

In this first of my favorite trilogy, Nell rediscovers herself, finds her courage, and falls in love. She also discovers she's a witch, one of three descendents of the original Sisters who created their island. And she learns to begin harnessing that power. She uses that power, along with love, to free herself of the enslavement that her ex-husband tries to re-enforce.

I truly love this series. So much so that it influenced my desire for a sapphire engagement ring, which I got from my husband. :o) I just didn't realize it until now.