Nora Roberts: From the MacGregors To The O'Dwyers And Everything In Between

[scarynikki12]

A thread where we can go into detail on Nora and her books.

[GHScorpiosRule]

17 minutes ago, scarynikki12 said:

A thread where we can go into detail on Nora and her books.

Thank you for this, @scarynikki12! I think everyone here knows I’m Nora’s Numero Uno Fan!

While some of her early works had some clunkers, she hit the right mark with her first Silhouette Romance: Irish Thoroughbred.

I think she was the first to give us the hero’s point of view. But what I love about Nora is that her characters are all so relatable and that she doesn’t write like she …how do I put this …as someone who hates men. On the contrary, as someone who grew up with five brothers, she “likes men” (that’s a direct quote) and is in the perfect position to know how to write them.

The Calhouns* however, were my first category series  read, though I didn’t know it was a series. From the Book mobile, A Man for Amanda was the first I read. I remember her books were the ones I always reread and later realized it was Nora Roberts. My first stand alone was Carnal Innocence and hoo boy, was my young adult self shocked who the killer was. And I loooooved Tucker Longstreet. That book scared me, enraged me, made me laugh. She set the bar.

As stated above, her characters talk like real people. And she sucks me into whatever world she creates. And the doggies!!! So many wonderful doggies!

*Courting Catherine

A Man for Amanda

For the Love of Lilah

Suzanna’s Surrender 

Megan’s Mate

 

Edited February 13 by GHScorpiosRule

[tessaray]

I think my daughter could challenge you for the title of NR's #1 fan, @GHScorpiosRule 🙂  I'm fairly sure she owns every book the woman ever wrote. 

Personally I bounce between sci-fi/space opera and golden age mysteries (and no, not a fan of JDR) but did love early Nora Robert's genre novels before she hit the mainstream. They were the perfect length for polishing off while my kids napped.

[GHScorpiosRule]

7 hours ago, tessaray said:

I think my daughter could challenge you for the title of NR's #1 fan, @GHScorpiosRule 🙂  I'm fairly sure she owns every book the woman ever wrote. 

Personally I bounce between sci-fi/space opera and golden age mysteries (and no, not a fan of JDR) but did love early Nora Robert's genre novels before she hit the mainstream. They were the perfect length for polishing off while my kids napped.

HAH! I have EVERY SINGLE book she’s written, multiple copies, including the dreadful Promise Me Tomorrow which Nora refused to have reprinted once the publishing rights reverted back to her.

[DearEvette]

I wouldn't call myself a number one fan... I do concede that to @GHScorpiosRule but I have read everything she is written... up to last year... I did not read the last Becoming trilogy.  But I do have the new trilogy and the last two JD Robb books sitting on my kindle idle.

Two early memorable books for me was The Law is a Lady. For a Harlequin romance tin the 80s this was a bit of a game changer because the heroine was the sheriff (heroines were always coded in some very 'female' work) and she was written as someone who'd amble and spoke 'lazily'.  It was. great characterization because Nora gave her the traits that males usually had in those books.

And then there was the Pride of Jared McKade.  The heroine was a single mom who was impatient, prickly and an ex-stripper.  Again.. unheard of for Harlequin/Silhouette.

[JAYJAY1979]

My late mom had a few Nora Roberts books.

I liked the following:

Night Tales series (Night Shift was the one I liked best)

Three sisters Island trilogy (Book #2 Heaven and Earth was my favorite with the hard as nails sheriff Ripley having a romance with a nerdish researcher MacAllister)

 

As a gay guy, it was nice to read books that were about mutual respect and being a team.

[GHScorpiosRule]

What Nora really excels at is writing relationships- be they of blood, friends, strangers who are brought together in a common fight and friendship blooms. And of course the romance. 
 

And the research she does on the different careers-that made me WANT to have the skillz to be the same: glass blower like Maggie in Born in Shame; A gambler like Serena from The MacGregors; an artist like Miranda from Homeport to name a few.

And now I feel the urge to reread the MacGregors. Or should I go with the Calhouns? O’Hurleys? Stanislaskis? MacKades? Eenie, Meenie, Minie, Moe?

[tessaray]

1 hour ago, GHScorpiosRule said:

And now I feel the urge to reread the MacGregors. Or should I go with the Calhouns? O’Hurleys? Stanislaskis? MacKades? Eenie, Meenie, Minie, Moe?

Last night I decided to browse the titles you listed above and was instantly immersed in the split time frame of Courting Catherine. So far, so good.

Eta: it can take me forever to read sometimes - I'm continually interrupted.  Sigh. It's why I listen to more podcasts than anything else. Maybe I should try the library for audiobook versions.

Edited February 14 by tessaray

[scarynikki12]

As much as I love Nora I could never get into her In Death series. I honestly didn't like Eve or Roarke and couldn't get into the stories. 

As for her other books I generally like her family based series. I prefer the MacGregors and Stanislaskis above the others. The two books from her Oxymoron Standalones I enjoy best are Public Secrets and Genuine Lies as I liked the entertainment angles. I still can't believe neither has been at least attempted to become a movie or miniseries as both are tailor made for adaptation. 

One thing she doesn't seem to do anymore is have her characters smoke. I don't think smokers are bad people but it always bothered me when the leads smoked so I'm glad she seems to be done with that. In Public Secrets Emma's abusive husband wouldn't let her smoke as one of the many ways of controlling her and I wish that had been left out of the story. One of the first things she did when she got away from him was smoke and she re-embraced it fully the rest of the book. She clearly associated smoking with being free of his abuse and it never got addressed because smoking was still socially acceptable when the book was written. 

I think the most emotional attachment I have is to the book Lawless. It's not remotely realistic but I love how the romance between Jake and Sarah is written and I revisit it the most.

[GHScorpiosRule]

22 minutes ago, scarynikki12 said:

I think the most emotional attachment I have is to the book Lawless. It's not remotely realistic but I love how the romance between Jake and Sarah is written and I revisit it the most.

That was Nora’s first and only attempt at writing a historical-she said that she’s too much of a contemporary author. And Lawless was the novel that Jack from Loving Jack was writing. I’ve always wondered and wanted Nora to release tge book that Grayson from Born in Ice was writing when he came to Ireland.

And on a personal note, Nora has always said that not all her books are for everyone. But that if someone reacts to a character-positively or negatively-it means she’s doing her job. She’s not the kind of author that expects or wants her readers to “loooooove” everything she writes, like other authors I know who do.

[DearEvette]

39 minutes ago, scarynikki12 said:

The two books from her Oxymoron Standalones I enjoy best are Public Secrets and Genuine Lies as I liked the entertainment angles. I still can't believe neither has been at least attempted to become a movie or miniseries as both are tailor made for adaptation. 

Oh... I love her Oxymoron books.  Carnal Innocence is my hands down favorite but Public Secrets is a close second.  I listened to both of them on audio a few years ago and the narrator for Carnal was fantastic.  The narrator for Public Secrets was hysterically bad.  I had to return the audiobook.  They did an audio  re-issue of Sacred Sins (which I also remember absolutely loving back in the day) but it comes off as a bite more dated than some of the rest.

Also, I lowkey think Genuine Lies was an inspiration for The Seven Husbands of Evelyn Hugo by Taylor Jenkins-Reid.

And  yeah, Nora has terrible luck with tv adaptations.  They either end up looking cheap or they are miscast.  I wish Shonda Rhimes had chosen some Nora to adapt for Netflix instead of the Bridgertons.  We would have at least gotten some really good looking man eye-candy and a lot of big bucks so the books wouldn't look cheap. If not her then Reese Witherspoon --  look what she did with Big Little Lies.

[scarynikki12]

1 minute ago, DearEvette said:

If not her then Reese Witherspoon --  look what she did with Big Little Lies.

Provided Reese sticks to a single season miniseries format rather than a season 2 situation.

[andromeda331]

I was a huge fan for almost a decade. I had it written on the calender when her books were being released. I loved the MacGregors, the Stanislaskis, MacKade and Calhouns. I loved her Three Sisters Island,  the Quinns, Gallaghers, and Dream from her trilogies. I loved Three Fates, Honest Illusions, Sweet Revenge, Montana Sky and Divine Evil of her standalones.

The descriptions were always really good and vivid. I loved her characters and stories were really good. I liked her In Death series in the beginning. I don't anymore. I got to a point where I didn't like any of her storie anymore. I have this problem most of my favorite authors. There always seems to be a point where I just don't like the stories anymore.  

But I still love re-reading my favorites over and over.  

[tessaray]

I enjoyed Courting Catherine but a third-ish into A Man For Amanda and... well, it's boring.

Please tell me it gets better.

Eta: It's mostly Sloan. I just don't like him.

Eta: Now this is much more promising. Lilah and more with the jewel thief. 👍

Edited February 16 by tessaray

[andromeda331]

12 hours ago, tessaray said:

I enjoyed Courting Catherine but a third-ish into A Man For Amanda and... well, it's boring.

Please tell me it gets better.

Eta: It's mostly Sloan. I just don't like him.

Eta: Now this is much more promising. Lilah and more with the jewel thief. 👍

Lilah was really good.

[CheshireCat]

My favorite Nora Roberts books are the Wedding Quartet Series and the Inn Boonsboro Trilogy. Those were characters who I really cared about and who I wouldn't have minded to read more of and about. (Eg, I would have liked if more than one story had been told about each couple).

 

[scarynikki12]

I liked those too, though I wish the one Quartet heroine had dealt with her obvious eating disorder. Nora was giving her a quirky trait but all of her eating habits were the same things people suffering from the disorders do when they don't want anyone to notice. I know another character asks her about it and she responds by saying she only eats the way she does because it annoyed her brothers, so there was some awareness on Nora's part but the character still came across as having an eating disorder. I do love the idea of a group of friends running a wedding/event planning business that showcases their different talents.

I'm looking through her bibliography and among my favorites is Command Performance, Cordina's Royal Family #2. It hits all my sweet spots: glamour, another country, two leads who'd been longing for each other but unsure as to how the other feels, understandable but not insurmountable miscommunication, and then going all in once the feelings are acknowledged. My favorite part of the story is Alex's proposal. I've read so many books, including Nora's, where the proposal happens on a whim or goes wrong for various reasons, so I cannot get enough of Alex planning the proposal and everything working out. It's described perfectly too and is yet another entry on the list of Nora's books that should already have been adapted. 

I know I'm a broken record on this point but Nora's books are all centered on twenty and early thirty somethings. Movies based on her work would be perfect roles for young actors looking to make a name for themselves in the industry. Her work needs a producer champion like Shonda, Reese, or Margot Robbie. 

[CheshireCat]

8 hours ago, scarynikki12 said:

I liked those too, though I wish the one Quartet heroine had dealt with her obvious eating disorder. Nora was giving her a quirky trait but all of her eating habits were the same things people suffering from the disorders do when they don't want anyone to notice. I know another character asks her about it and she responds by saying she only eats the way she does because it annoyed her brothers, so there was some awareness on Nora's part but the character still came across as having an eating disorder. I do love the idea of a group of friends running a wedding/event planning business that showcases their different talents.

It's been a while since I've read it and I don't remember the eating disorder. I'll have to go and re-read it.

Yes, I think the group of friends running the business was one of the things that appealed to me. I also liked the dynamic that the author had created between the characters. They had a great kind of friendship and it felt true.

One other Trilogy that I remembered that I enjoyed was the Key Trilogy.

 

Quote

I know I'm a broken record on this point but Nora's books are all centered on twenty and early thirty somethings. Movies based on her work would be perfect roles for young actors looking to make a name for themselves in the industry. Her work needs a producer champion like Shonda, Reese, or Margot Robbie.

I don't know anything about Nora Roberts, so I have no idea about her as a person and I haven't read any of her recent books. (As much as I enjoyed some of her books, the newer ones that I read all started to read the same, so I stopped reading her). So, it's possible that her characters are more diverse by now. But in all the books that I've read, I remember only one LGBTQ character and he was a friend of a main character (and while I don't remember which book he was in, I remember I liked him and had hoped that the next book in the series would maybe be about him). To make a long story short, I think in order for her books to be attractive to someone like Shonda, Roberts would have to agree that the producer could make certain changes. If she were willing to do that (and as I said, I don't know anything about her, so it's entirely possible she would be) then I think you're right, they'd be perfect for young actors and actresses and it would be great if a big name producer bought the rights.

Although, I feel like either Lifetime or Hallmark did use a plot or two from her books. I know Hallmark has Debbie Macomber movies and I believe she's an author, right? And there's a Chesapeake Series and I've meant to look that up to see if that's based on the Mariah Stewart books and I keep forgetting. But I thought that some time within the past two years, I'd seen an announcement for a movie based on a Nora Roberts book, too.

 

[tessaray]

On 2/16/2024 at 1:51 PM, andromeda331 said:

Lilah was really good.

It was! It flowed into Suzanna perfectly. Supper was late and it was almost dawn when I finished - the mark of a really good read. 

I still think they could have completely dropped Amanda and Sloan, so I haven't started the last (Megan) book yet.  I have to catch up on some things that were neglected the last few days. 

It occurred to me while reading that those books have turned into historical novels. No cell phones, no Google, stacks of paper to sort through, about the only tech I caught was the copy machine from the library. 

[DearEvette]

On 2/18/2024 at 4:10 AM, CheshireCat said:

But I thought that some time within the past two years, I'd seen an announcement for a movie based on a Nora Roberts book, too.

Alyssa Milano optioned Brazen Virtue for Netflix ant it was released in 2022.  It was called Brazen.  I honestly think it was another clunker. 

 

On 2/18/2024 at 4:10 AM, CheshireCat said:

So, it's possible that her characters are more diverse by now. But in all the books that I've read, I remember only one LGBTQ character and he was a friend of a main character (and while I don't remember which book he was in, I remember I liked him and had hoped that the next book in the series would maybe be about him). To make a long story short, I think in order for her books to be attractive to someone like Shonda, Roberts would have to agree that the producer could make certain changes. If she were willing to do that (and as I said, I don't know anything about her, so it's entirely possible she would be) then I think you're right, they'd be perfect for young actors and actresses and it would be great if a big name producer bought the rights.

I honestly don't think she'd mind too much.  She writes primarily Irish and Irish-American characters.  (Hey, now that the Irish have embraced Ayo Edebiri as on of their own maybe she can be a Nora heroine?  Heh)

But she has written books where the B-romance plot features non-white characters.  The one off the top of my head is Black Hills.    I don't believe she has written any  LGBTQ+ romance arcs, but I think some of her books could easily change up character orientation and or race.  A great candidate would be Montana Sky -- the one with the three sisters who co-inherited a ranch from their now deceased father.  They all had different mothers and didn't grow up together.  It would be simple to race swap one, and make one bi or gay. and it wouldn't change the story at all. 

Or any of her fantasy trilogies that features three couples -- like The Guardians trilogy (one of the characters was a friggin; mermaid) or the Year One trilogy which has a bunch of characters a la The Stand who come from everywhere.

On 2/13/2024 at 7:06 AM, GHScorpiosRule said:

including the dreadful Promise Me Tomorrow which Nora refused to have reprinted once the publishing rights reverted back to her.

OMG!  I think I have this one!!!  I have to go look.  This book is selling for like 150.00 on Amazon. 

[GHScorpiosRule]

23 minutes ago, DearEvette said:

Alyssa Milano optioned Brazen Virtue for Netflix ant it was released in 2022.  It was called Brazen.  I honestly think it was another clunker. 

I refused to watch it because I knew it would be another fail. Especially since they changed so much from the original story, and this was the sequel. They could have still used the original source. Practically ALL of her books that made it to television were horrible. Just horrible. Nora gives up the rights and the asshat "writers" just don't know how to use the original source.

25 minutes ago, DearEvette said:

But she has written books where the B-romance plot features non-white characters.  The one off the top of my head is Black Hills.    I don't believe she has written any  LGBTQ+ romance arcs,

Yes, and also in Divine Evil, Claire's Agent and best friend Angie, was a WOC, and her husband was French/White; and for a short time, the heroine in Legacy, I think it was, where she had a short romance with an African-American guy when the heroine was in her late teens/early 20s; as for LGBTQ+, Jacko, from Public Secrets, I'm blanking on his name, but the bestie, supporting character in the Garden Trilogy, and Fox's sister in the 7th Trilogy was lesbian. No arcs that I can recall, but sprinkled in.

 

29 minutes ago, DearEvette said:

A great candidate would be Montana Sky -- the one with the three sisters who co-inherited a ranch from their now deceased father.  They all had different mothers and didn't grow up together. 

No. just no. This was already adapted and it had HORRIBLE casting; and Adam and Adam and Willa were half-white/half native american, but the "movie" only cast Adam Beacher as Adam and he was HORRIBLE. Yes, yes, a majority of them came from the house of Hallmark, so there you go. But the first, Sanctuary, was from CBS, and they massacred the source material as well.

So with Nora not having any say in them, of course she can only praise them. My eyes couldn't roll hard enough when she said Heather botoxed-Face Locklear had the "bones of the character" (direct quote to me when I was bitching about the casting when it came out) of Reece from Angels Fall. And dude playing Brody was to smiley. Brody was moody; abrupt. Rarely broke a smile. UGH. Don't get me started on these. 

It's why I hope none of the In Death make it to series or any of her more classic ones. Non one, and I mean NO ONE has been able to do them justice.

I'm swamped at work, but just got through the Calhouns this weekend. Suzanna and Megan's are my favorite of this series.

[JAYJAY1979]

Sadly, Nora missed the window of having her books adapted well.

The time to have done it would have been in the 90s when NBC  had a whole host of Danielle Steel books adapted to some success.

My mom said Heather Locklear was at least a decade too old for the character she played in Angel Falls.

 

 

[GHScorpiosRule]

11 minutes ago, JAYJAY1979 said:

The time to have done it would have been in the 90s when NBC  had a whole host of Danielle Steel books adapted to some success.

Nora’s books are vastly superior and Sanctuary  was on CBS  in 2000 I think it was. 
 

Yes! Heather was about 15 years older.

[DearEvette]

22 minutes ago, JAYJAY1979 said:

Sadly, Nora missed the window of having her books adapted well.

I don't think so, though.  She publishes about 4 books a year every year.

She puts out two In Death books, a trilogy book, and a stand alone suspense book each year.  This year she had Random in Death (came out in January), Mind Games (stand alone suspense coming in May),  Passions in Death (coming September) and The Mirror - the 2nd book in the Lost Brides trilogy (coming November). 

So even if her older books are not attractive, she has many current and future projects.

The bigger issue, imo,  is that Hollywood  has never taken romance novel adaptations seriously.  Hallmark adaptations are not great, imo, of any of the authors they adapt.  They've made them conveyor belt movies with a round-robin of replaceable actors about two decades older than the characters they are supposed to portray. 

I think once Netflix got into the game they were potentially better.  Robyn Carr's Virgin River instance, has the great casting and production values that Nora's books could have.  It is a shame they absolutely butchered the books.  I think Shonda's adaptation of Bridgerton is really the standard of what an adaptation could be in the right hands could be.  Someone who loves and respects the material with the clout to get a quality product made. 

So Nora just needs the right team to get her stuff made.

[scarynikki12]

6 hours ago, GHScorpiosRule said:

just got through the Calhouns this weekend. Suzanna and Megan's are my favorite of this series.

Suzanna was my favorite of the Calhouns. I would love to see Colleen putting the abusive ex in his place play out on screen someday.

I like to say I would start my own studio if I had the money and my focus would be on romance stories. Mainly rom-coms but adapting Nora would fit the much needed romantic drama category. Sadly, no money.

I've posted before about my dislike of Born In Shame but that is a book I would love see adapted simply to improve upon the awful parts. Murphy spends the whole book basically harassing Shannon to stay in Ireland and marry him and of course he gets the girl. Why can't they be into each other and on the same page with the conflict being they have lives on opposite sides of the globe? Why does he have to be a creeper and all but force her to leave her whole life behind?

I never read Promise Me Tomorrow but that blurb is dreadful and now I'm desperate to read it. 

[GHScorpiosRule]

13 hours ago, scarynikki12 said:

I never read Promise Me Tomorrow but that blurb is dreadful and now I'm desperate to read it. 

It truly is awful. I didn’t spend a single cent for it. A friend gave it to me. She was also a huge Nora fan, but we lost her suddenly about, GOD-17 years ago. She had a brain aneurysm.

When I told Nora I didn’t pay a dime for it, she laughed. She has such a wonderful throaty laugh.

And yes, as she’s local, I’ve met her at every signing at her husband’s shop and when she toured. Haven’t had one since the pandemic as the store is very small. 

I can’t wait to see her again this summer. Hopefully.

Edited February 21 by GHScorpiosRule

[andromeda331]

1 hour ago, GHScorpiosRule said:

It truly is awful. I don’t spend a single cent for it. A friend gave it to me. She was also a huge Nora fan, but we lost her suddenly about, GOD-17 years ago. She had a brain aneurysm.

When I told Nora I didn’t pay a dime for it, she laughed. She has such a wonderful throaty laugh.

And yes, as she’s local, I’ve met her at every signing at her husband’s shop and when she toured. Haven’t had one since the pandemic as the store is very small. 

I can’t wait to see her again this summer. Hopefully.

Your so lucky to have met her.

[GHScorpiosRule]

14 hours ago, scarynikki12 said:

Suzanna was my favorite of the Calhouns.

I think my favorite line from her book is:

Holt: "Suzanna?"

Suzanna turns back to look at Holt

Holt: "You ever learn how to drive?"

Me: 🤣

I also love how Nora wrote Alex and Jenny massacring words: "pregnant" for "impregnable", "morally" when it was "mortally" and I'm sure there were others. Be it the category romances or single titles, Nora is wonderful at writing children as children and not pedantic little adults.

8 hours ago, andromeda331 said:

Your so lucky to have met her.

She's awesome. I think I may have mentioned this in another thread here, but when I first met her, it was her husband's store (Turn The Page Book Cafe in Boonsboro, MD), and I had written down the questions I wanted to ask her. Back then, you could chat with Nora before the signing started. She came up to to me, and like a tween/fangurrl that I was (and still am*), I told her I couldn't believe I would ever meet her, how long I'd been reading her books, and on and on, and she placed her hand on my shoulder and said: "Take a breath."

I apologized, whipped out my paper with questions and peppered her with them. Most were about the MacGregors, I think.

She's a very private person, but always so very open and gracious with her fans.

Even at the one signing, I think it was before my cancer diagnosis, I was tripping over myself, asking her HOW she continually tops herself and my heart was racing and I knocked over her can of diet Pepsi! I'm apologizing all over the place, dabbing at the little bit of soda, and I'm sure my face turned bright red as I fought to keep my breath. Nora was very understanding and helped to calm my klutzy ass down. So no matter how many times I see her, speak with her, it's always like the first time!

I'm nearly finished with The Inheritance, but DAMN! I was hooked, though I could do without all the intricacies of graphic design. I can't wait until Book 2: The Mirror, which I think is Owen and Cleo's story. But dammit, again, just as she did with last year's single release Identity, we have to wait until over half the book before we get the hero's pov! I don't get to see Trey's pov until over 50% of the book and even then it's sporadic! Me no likey this.

But I love Mookie and Yoda!

[JAYJAY1979]

18 hours ago, GHScorpiosRule said:

Nora’s books are vastly superior and Sanctuary  was on CBS  in 2000 I think it was. 
 

Yes! Heather was about 15 years older.

Agree to disagree.

Danielle and Nora write completely different from one another so I don't compare their books to one another.

The 1990s on network tv would have been the best time to start adapting Nora's books..with the higher budgets and larger selection of performers.

I will say the Lifetime adaptation I liked best was Midnight Bayou...only because I have a soft spot for Faye Dunaway...she is a queen within the gay community for obvious reasons..and she was the best part of the movie (and my mom said the book was better).

[Makai]

I love seeing this as a topic. I think I’ve read everything she’s written except for Promise Me Tomorrow. My interest has waned somewhat in the last few years but I still enjoy most of her books. 

Birthright is probably my all time favorite book. 

On 2/13/2024 at 3:11 PM, GHScorpiosRule said:

What Nora really excels at is writing relationships- be they of blood, friends, strangers who are brought together in a common fight and friendship blooms. And of course the romance. 

I agree. I just love how she writes characters. They feel like real people with real relationships. 

On 2/13/2024 at 4:55 PM, scarynikki12 said:

The two books from her Oxymoron Standalones I enjoy best are Public Secrets and Genuine Lies as I liked the entertainment angles.

The oxymoronic titles never fail to amuse me. I loved both of those, particularly Public Secrets. Honest Illusions is another one of my favorites. 

On 2/18/2024 at 1:10 AM, CheshireCat said:

So, it's possible that her characters are more diverse by now. But in all the books that I've read, I remember only one LGBTQ character and he was a friend of a main character (and while I don't remember which book he was in, I remember I liked him and had hoped that the next book in the series would maybe be about him).

I still wouldn’t call her books diverse, but she does seem to be improving in that area. Her last completed trilogy (Dragon Heart Legacy) features a gay romance alongside the main couple. The main female lead has a found family within the LGTBQ community. 

On 2/20/2024 at 4:23 PM, DearEvette said:

So Nora just needs the right team to get her stuff made.

Yep. Unfortunately, I doubt it will ever happen because she is very hands off about her adaptations. 

On 2/21/2024 at 6:55 AM, GHScorpiosRule said:

I'm nearly finished with The Inheritance, but DAMN! I was hooked, though I could do without all the intricacies of graphic design. I can't wait until Book 2: The Mirror, which I think is Owen and Cleo's story

Inheritance really hooked me. I’m curious if the second book will be entirely focused on a second couple since she seems to be moving away from that format somewhat. 

[scarynikki12]

I did like Inheritance and my guess is, while there'll be a new couple explored, the overarching ghost/supernatural story will be the primary focus.

[DearEvette]

19 hours ago, Makai said:

Birthright is probably my all time favorite book. 

Ooh... that's the one with the archaeologists isn;t it.  I think I have that on audible.  Might be time for a re-read.

If I had to pick... I'd say my favorite book of hers is The Witness.  The backstory, the brilliant, socially awkward, possibly on the spectrum heroine, the lazy affable Southern hero. The killer dog! The Russian mafia. The takedown. I think I've read it three or four times.

[GHScorpiosRule]

Birthright Is up there with The Witness  for me in her most recent. I always laugh when Callie plays the JAWS  theme which scares the bejesus out of Jake, and get a huge smile when he comes up with the names of Mike and Carol (Brady Bunch) when investigating her background. And in The Witness when Brooks taunts what’shsiface (sorry, on meds and feeling dopey so memory is fuzzy) penis as a gerkin makes me 🤣🤣🤣🤣🤣🤣🤣🤣 I had to put the book/Kindle down until I could read again.

Among what I consider Nora’s classics and I love to read and read and read again are:

*Divine Evil  (Scared the bejesus out of me and also shocked who the big bad was)

*Private Scandals

*True Betrayals

*Hidden Riches

*Montana Sky

*Sweet Revenge

*Sanctuary

*Homeport

*The Villa

And those are just from her single titles. And while some I don’t like as much as others, when Nora is good, she’s really GOOD and why she is always the bar for me and I hold her to a higher standard. What can I say? I’ve been reading her since I was a tween. And as I’ve stated up thread, when she had the message board she posted to (it was created and run by another fan but is now defunct), you didn’t have to always praise her. She has thick skin and has stated not everyone will like her books or characters and that the In Deaths, specifically aren’t for everyone if they are expecting a pretty red bow tied at the end. And whatever and however we feel? It means she’s doing her job.

Finished The Inheritance and I CAN’T believe she ended it on that cliffhanger! Now I have to wait until NOVEMBER!! ARGHHH!!! But I do agree that this trilogy, just as with the last one had one MAIN couple with possibly others. Usually we meet all three in the first book with the past ones.

So now I’m going back to the MacGregors and then see where my mood takes me.😁

Edited February 25 by GHScorpiosRule

[scarynikki12]

Choosing a singular favorite is super hard so instead I'm cheating.

Favorite book from the Oxymoron category:

Genuine Lies. I love the Old Hollywood of it all and the mystery and romance are rock solid. 

Favorite series and book from said series:

The MacGregors and The Winning Hand. The whole family is charming and I think Darcy and Mac compliment each other well. Ian and Naomi are a close second but I would have preferred to read them in a proper novel where we could have gotten more exploration.

Favorite book that is not part of a series or category:

Montana Sky. I think the three sisters are nicely balanced in the story and, while I wish we'd gotten just a bit more from Tess' story with regard to continuing her career while living in Montana, their romances worked well. It had a nice group of supporting characters who all felt like people even if they were in only a couple of scenes. The serial killer story was also well done and the whodunit reveal was both laid out well and a surprise when I first read it. 

Favorite book in spite of the main story:

Carolina Moon. The main story is fine. The mystery is good and works on reread. But I return to this book over and over because I love Faith and Wade.

Favorite book that is part of a series I otherwise don't care about:

Lawless. I've mentioned this one before but it bears repeating as I love it.

[andromeda331]

The MacGregors are my favorite out of all her books. I love the family. Daniel's always hilarious and only he would convince someone to break in his granddaughters' home to test their security system. I loved every time his grandchildren realized he had set them up. My favorite couple is Serena and Justin I love cruises and grew up going to Vegas every year. The idea of working in on cruise or in and casino always seems like fun. I like Cybil because she was a cartoonist. I also liked the poker games because my parents' always played cards with friends or when ever they visited my dad's parents' and siblings. 

[DearEvette]

Oh yeah if we are going with phases then I'd say:

 

Favorite overall: The Witness

Favorite Rom Suspense single title: The Three Fates

Favorite Oxymoron title (tie): Carnal Innocence and Public Secrets

Favorite Trilogy (entire): The Guardians

Favorite Trilogy single title: Year One

Favorite Family: The O'Hurleys

Favorite Category title: (tie) Dual Image (which imo feels like a proto-version of Private Scandals) and Gabriel's Angel

Favorite In Death:  (tie) Treachery in Death and Origin in Death

[GHScorpiosRule]

I can't choose just one. Even if I use @scarynikki12 and @DearEvette's methods!

I've still yet to read Nora's Year One trilogy-because it's too close to dystopian and pandemic that we went through. Nora has been teased with being psychic as she wrote Year One about a year before it came out(that's how long it roughly takes, I think she said), but of course hers as the added element of magicks.

Same with the In Deaths, giving us "reporters" from Rupert Murdoch's Fox, and that was in early '94!

But I'll try--from the MacGregors, hands down, Justin and Serena are my favorite from Playing the Odds. I love the introduction of Daniel. I love how he still refers to Culloden as a recent war, especially when he dons his plaid and meets Shelby for the first time, her being from the "Thievin', murdering Campbells!" in All The Possibilities. Shelby gives as good as she gets.

I just love Justin's backstory; there's an extra edge to it that I love. And how Serena saves herself and then demands of Daniel that he didn't think she could do it? When they have their emotional reunion. Or when Justin tells Caine and Alan how Serena is "Everything" to him when she's been kidnapped.

And Damned Straight I went to all the casinos Nora described in this series and they were exactly as written. Except for The Comanche, of course. Because that's fictional. Dammit.

I'll go back and pick my favorite quotes and post them here later this week.

 

 

[DearEvette]

47 minutes ago, GHScorpiosRule said:

I've still yet to read Nora's Year One trilogy-because it's too close to dystopian and pandemic that we went through. Nora has been teased with being psychic as she wrote Year One about a year before it came out(that's how long it roughly takes, I think she said), but of course hers as the added element of magicks.

I'd be so fascinated by your take on Year One, the first book especially.  It is so very unlike anything else she has written.  So much so that some people speculated that she had a ghostwriter.  But if you know anything about her or her writing style...that is ridiculous.  It is all her. 

Also she did something so very unthinkable in that book. And even so, it was a 5-star book for me.

But that could also be because it is more than a tip of the hat to one of my all time favorite books ever, The Stand by Stephen King.  Year One is The Stand's kissin' cousin.

It is unlike all the rest of her trilogies in that it doesn't pair up three couples.  There are a lot of different romances going on but  they are 100% out of her normal trilogy formula.

I would have named the entire trilogy my hands down favorite, imo, except... the final book.  Sigh.   I was so stoked for the final book, The Rise of Magicks and I could have cried, legit CRIED with the disappointment that it did not bring it all home for me. 

Anyway... this thread has prompted me to reread Birthright.  And after that  I have Private Scandals queued up.

[tessaray]

On 2/25/2024 at 11:13 AM, DearEvette said:

. I'd say my favorite book of hers is The Witness.  The backstory, the brilliant, socially awkward, possibly on the spectrum heroine, the lazy affable Southern hero. The killer dog! The Russian mafia. The takedown. I think I've read it three or four times.

I read this over the weekend. Loved Abigail as a character.  She reminded me a bit of Sarah Connor for some reason. Maybe it was the mental image of a woman standing with a gun and a dog?

[GHScorpiosRule]

On 2/27/2024 at 10:47 AM, DearEvette said:

Anyway... this thread has prompted me to reread Birthright.  And after that  I have Private Scandals queued up.

I absolutely LOOOOOVE Jake and Doug from Birthright and Finn from Private Scandals!

As I stated up thread, Nora did have her clunkers, and some of her early works were typical of the style of the time, but we all (us fans that became friends from attending her signings and the board) did all agree that Nora's "Agatha Christie" was Storm Warning (Autum and Lucas).

[scarynikki12]

I was browsing the list of titles of Nora's books and I randomly remembered one of the best retcons of any book, movie, or tv show: Freddie's hair. When we meet her in Natasha's book she has straight blonde hair. Spencer even makes a point of telling Natasha Freddie's adoration is so strong she wants to curl her hair. Yet in the next Stanislaski book Freddie's hair is being described as reddish blonde and curly. The color change isn't a retcon as plenty of people born with blonde hair will see it change as they age but straight hair becoming as curly as Freddie's did isn't exactly common. Obviously Nora just changed her mind and decided Freddie should have naturally curly hair but I like the idea that Freddie loves Natasha so much she willed her hair to change texture and shape. It makes me laugh.

I was also thinking more about the Oxymoron category and True Betrayals would make for another good adaptation. Kelsey is a great protagonist and her relationships with all the main players work really well while Millicent is an excellent villain even before we learn the whole story. We would get great landscape porn and who doesn't love watching horses running and frolicking? Lots of potential just like her other books. 

[Makai]

Trying to come up with a favorites list just caused to be add more books to my re-read list. Fortunately, my library has them all available through Libby since my physical copies are in storage at the moment. 

 

17 hours ago, scarynikki12 said:

I was also thinking more about the Oxymoron category and True Betrayals would make for another good adaptation. Kelsey is a great protagonist and her relationships with all the main players work really well while Millicent is an excellent villain even before we learn the whole story. We would get great landscape porn and who doesn't love watching horses running and frolicking? Lots of potential just like her other books. 

Another for the re-read list. I agree that I would be a good one to adapt. 

[GHScorpiosRule]

Grandma  Byden was the WORST. She’s up there with Maeve from the Born In Trilogy (I detested her redemption because shed dine NOTHING  to earn it), and Gloria from the Chesapeake  series. It  ALWAYS breaks my heart knowing Seth’s childhood drawings were destroyed. But that’s Nora for you-high stakes. Very rare easy solutions and cop outs.

As for Freddie-that picture of her on the original book made her now curly hair look like a Brillo pad! I just imagined soft and silky hair.

WHAAAAT?

Confession: as much as I love the MacGregor Brides/Grooms, my favorite parts are with Caine/Diana, Justin/Serena, Alan/Shelby. And of course Daniel and Anna.

[GHScorpiosRule]

HOLY FUCKING CRAP!!!

I’m with Nora: Bite me.

https://fallintothestory.com

[Ohiopirate02]

On 3/29/2024 at 9:54 PM, GHScorpiosRule said:

HOLY FUCKING CRAP!!!

I’m with Nora: Bite me.

https://fallintothestory.com

I am also with Nora.  The audacity of those supposed fans.

[GHScorpiosRule]

Rereading one of my all time favorites! This scene ALWAYS cracks me up because it's so REAL!

"If you can't behave like a decent human being, I don't want you to speak to any of my friends, ever again."

"All I did was mention that if she had some really basic plastic surgery, she would improve her looks, her self-esteem, and her sex life."

"You're a pig, Patrick."

"Yeah, well, your friend has a nose like a tail fin on a fifty-seven Chevy."

"Not only a pig, but a shallow, superficial asshole on top of it."

Then there's this one:

He'd saved her life, the worm.  Then he'd vanished, without a word, without a warning.  He'd packed up and left.

She knew just where he'd gone.  He was the only other person who knew about the storage garage.  He'd gone after The Dark Lady.  She didn't doubt he had it by now, that and the David.  He'd probably passed them along to one of his clients for a fat fee and was basking on some beach in the tropics, sipping rum punch and oiling some blonde's butt.

<snip>

"You're in love with me." When her brows came together, he grinned.  "Don't bother to deny it.  If you weren't you'd have turned me over in a heartbeat when you realized I'd gone after her for myself."

"I've gotten over it."

"Liar."  He lowered his mouth, just to nibble at hers. "Take the deal, Miranda. You won't regret it."

"You're a thief."

"Retired." He molded her hip with one hand, reached into his pocket with the other.  "Here, let's make it official."

She struggled out of the kiss and jerked her hand free when he tarted to slip the ring onto it.  The ring, she noted with surprise and delight, he'd given her once before.

"Don't be so pigheaded." He took her hand, uncurled her fingers and pushed the ring into place.  "Take the deal."

Now she recognized the pressure in her chest. It was her heart beating again. "Did you pay for the ring?"

"Jesus. Yes, I paid for the ring."

Homeport

I absolutely LOVE Ryan. This is a book I re-read a LOT.

[DearEvette]

Aw yeah, Aw Yeah.  I just got an ARC for Nora's newest Rom-Suspense, Mind Games being published in May.  I'll do a review here.

[GHScorpiosRule]

On 4/12/2024 at 8:27 PM, DearEvette said:

Aw yeah, Aw Yeah.  I just got an ARC for Nora's newest Rom-Suspense, Mind Games being published in May.  I'll do a review here.

Brag, brag, brag!

Seriously! I am soooo jealous! The last ARC I had of hers, was the Born in Death, which I won in a contest on her message board. I was peeved because I thought it was for Innocent in Death. I didn't give any bluedilly fucks about Mavis' pregnancy or her birth.

[DearEvette]

On 4/18/2024 at 9:25 AM, GHScorpiosRule said:

Brag, brag, brag!

Heh.  Yes.

 

So I finished it.  And it kinda reminds me a little bit of Black Hills (the one with animal preserve and the serial killer) and a little bit of Legacy (the one with the Irish Hollywood movie family).  

Nora is basically doing what she's done quite a bit recently with her stand alones, where a fair amount of the first part of the book, roughly 1/3 takes place when the main character is a kid.  Having a bit of a great idyllic life until s seminal event happens that upends their childhood. 

This one reminds me of Black Hills a bit because the set up of a city kid with sophisticated, rich city parents, go to spend time in the summer in the country (in this case the hills of Appalachia) with their grandmother.  And while there their parents get killed (not a spoiler, it is in the blurb). 

But this also has a lot of the woo-woo element because Thea, the main character,  is psychic and her ability is very much "I can read people's mind very clearly' type of ability.  And it plays a huge part in the entire story. 

The first part was pretty sad because Thea sees what happens to her parents in detail.  Excellently written.  If you are a cryer, you will cry at this part.

The suspense takes more real estate than the romance.  The romance is almost an afterthought, imo.  We don't even meet the hero til almost halfway through the story.  And there is no conflict really.  The meat of the story is her mental relationship with the killer and the feeling that the other shoe will drop at some point with him. But there is a sweet kid and a great dog.

I'll spoiler a bit

Spoiler

It is actually pretty anti-climactic because the killer is really no danger to her.  He is in a supermax prison.  Most of the tension comes from him taunting her in her dreams.  There is one part that really kinda took me out of the story and it is basically the idea that they can actually physically harm each other during their mental combat, e.g. in their mental world he stabs her with a knife and when she wakes up she had blood from a wound in her shoulder.

I think I liked the first part of the book the best.  And her relationship she develops with the two police officers who investigated her parent's murders over the course of the book.  There is a pretty rad scene whens he first meets them that I re-read because I liked it so much.

Overall I would give it a B-

[GHScorpiosRule]

31 minutes ago, DearEvette said:

So I finished it. 

Sounds interesting.

What I want to know is, do we see both Thea and the hero's POV in equal measures? Or is this like Nightwork, Identity, and even Book 1 of The Lost Bride trilogy, where in the first, the majority was from the hero's POV, and the last two from the heroine? I don't want to guess at what the hero is thinking or feeling.

But, like I've posted before, I'm hardly ever disappointed. And after the INSULTING and FRUSTRATING books I read by another author, I've gone back to re-reading Vintage Nora to cleanse my brain palate, which has helped.

I finished Homeport last week, and started Sanctuary. I really love how Nora writes relationships-be they of friends or family. And here we have family that's been estranged for nearly 3 years.