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Night Tales #1-4
Night Tales
Detective Boyd Fletcher's Night Shift assignment to protect vulnerable Cilia O'Roarke is fraught with danger... especially to his heart. Prosecutor Deborah O'Roarke suspects a link between enigmatic Gage Guthrie and a heroic phantom who lurks in Night Shadow. Lieutenant Althea Grayson and P.I. Colt Nightshade butt heads and hearts, tracking a killer. And Night Smoke pours from the passions that blaze between Natalie Fletcher and arson investigator Ryan Piasecki.
And be sure not to miss Night Shield, the exciting new follow-up story to Night Tales
761 pages, Trade Paperback
First published September 1, 2000
8 people are currently reading
799 people want to read
About the author
Nora Roberts
1,213 books59.9k followersNora Roberts is the #1 New York Times bestselling author of more than 200 novels, including Hideaway, Under Currents, Come Sundown, The Awakening, Legacy, and coming in November 2021 -- The Becoming -- the second book in The Dragon Heart Legacy. She is also the author of the futuristic suspense In Death series written under the pen name J.D. Robb. There are more than 500 million copies of her books in print.
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January 19, 2016Short synopsis: A deejay, Cilla O'Roarke, in Denver starts getting calls from some creepazoid whose threats intensify with every phone call. The police enter the scene, one of which is Boyd Fletcher, who immediately falls for Cilla. So begins the romance.
Written for Silhouette's Intimate Moments line, Night Shift is an early Nora Roberts' romance and the first in the Night Tales series. While I didn't expect to be blown away by the story, I was hoping to be passably entertained. Unfortunately, those hopes were dashed fairly early on. I got a little taste of what was to come in the second paragraph of the first page:
Needless to say, the romance wasn't very interesting and bored me more often than not. Boyd pursues and Cilla wiffle-waffles throughout the whole book. She's healed after one night in Boyd's bed and then remembers her "reasons" for not getting serious. He's in love with her after one day (I exaggerate, but only slightly), when they hadn't even had very many conversations to get to know each other, which I suppose isn't very important if, I don't know, you want to spend the rest of your lives together . Not to mention, I never got the impression that Cilla was ever in love with him, even at the end. So much tell and no show. The only thing of note were two secondary characters, Althea Grayson and Natalie Fletcher, partner and sister of Boyd, respectively. I'm hoping, if I decide to read them, that their books will be better. Otherwise, this is wholly forgettable and makes me wish for my time back.
Read: June 23, 2013
Reviewed: July 5, 2013
Written for Silhouette's Intimate Moments line, Night Shift is an early Nora Roberts' romance and the first in the Night Tales series. While I didn't expect to be blown away by the story, I was hoping to be passably entertained. Unfortunately, those hopes were dashed fairly early on. I got a little taste of what was to come in the second paragraph of the first page:
"Her voice was like hot whiskey, smooth and potent. Rich, throaty, touched with the barest whisper of the South, it might have been fashioned for the airwaves. Any man in Denver who was tuned in to her frequency would believe she was speaking only to him."Commence internal groaning and eye-rolling. So yeah, that didn't bode well. Still, I surged on, believing that Nora Roberts could make something out of the formulaic plot. Again, I was disappointed. If the focus had been more on the suspense part and less on the "romance," it could have been an okay read. Instead I had to suffer through Cilla's lame hang-ups and excuses for why she can't be in a relationship. All of which could be remedied if she'd just take the time to see a therapist. The only thing that bothered me more was her utter stupidity. She continually left out much-needed information that could help the cops figure out who was behind the threats to her life. Instead, her constant excuses were, "I didn't think of it" or "I didn't think it was important" or other such bullcrap that made me want to slap her silly (if she wasn't already that way). Boyd wasn't bad but he didn't really make a lasting impression either. From the physical description, it sounds like he might have been molded after Clint Eastwood in an homage to Play Misty for Me, but maybe I'm seeing things that aren't there.
Needless to say, the romance wasn't very interesting and bored me more often than not. Boyd pursues and Cilla wiffle-waffles throughout the whole book. She's healed after one night in Boyd's bed and then remembers her "reasons" for not getting serious. He's in love with her after one day (I exaggerate, but only slightly), when they hadn't even had very many conversations to get to know each other, which I suppose isn't very important if, I don't know, you want to spend the rest of your lives together . Not to mention, I never got the impression that Cilla was ever in love with him, even at the end. So much tell and no show. The only thing of note were two secondary characters, Althea Grayson and Natalie Fletcher, partner and sister of Boyd, respectively. I'm hoping, if I decide to read them, that their books will be better. Otherwise, this is wholly forgettable and makes me wish for my time back.
Read: June 23, 2013
Reviewed: July 5, 2013
August 27, 2015
Night Shift 3 stars - Cilla is a late night DJ dealing with a stalker. Boyd is the rich guy turned cop who works the night shift assigned to protect her. Nothing too surprising.
Night Shadow 3.5 stars - this is the story of Cilla's younger sister Deborah who got her law degree and became this gun-ho ADA in a city called "Urbana". She falls in love with
a) an enigmatic rich playboy named Gage with a sad past (his parents were victims of crime when he was a kid, brought up by rich uncle & aunt, became a cop, his partner was killed in an ambush and he was shot and in a coma for a year whilst his uncle & aunt were killed);
b) a masked crusader named "Nemesis" who keeps saving her from her idiotic trips into the crime-ridden side of town.
Shades of Eve and Roarke with a dash of Marvel Comic hero stuff in this book. Weird change from a pure romantic suspense to a "paranormal" from book 1 to book 2.
Nightshade 3 stars Back to a standard romantic suspense starring Boyd's ex-partner Althea who's now a Lieutenant and his maverick cowboy/ex-military covert operative/lawyer/pilot troubleshooter friend Colt Nightshade looking for a runaway teen who has fallen into the hands of a child porn ring. Again, I see shades of Eve in Althea
Night Smoke 3.5 stars Back to "Urbana" we go, this time with Boyd's sister Natalie trying to find who's been burning her properties with the help of arson investigator Ry. There's a bit of the Princess and the Pauper here as Ry believes he's not good enough for classy Natalie. "Nemesis" makes a cameo appearance but apart from that, a normal romantic suspense.
Overall, I will give these 4 books 3.5 stars.
Night Shadow 3.5 stars - this is the story of Cilla's younger sister Deborah who got her law degree and became this gun-ho ADA in a city called "Urbana". She falls in love with
a) an enigmatic rich playboy named Gage with a sad past (his parents were victims of crime when he was a kid, brought up by rich uncle & aunt, became a cop, his partner was killed in an ambush and he was shot and in a coma for a year whilst his uncle & aunt were killed);
b) a masked crusader named "Nemesis" who keeps saving her from her idiotic trips into the crime-ridden side of town.
Shades of Eve and Roarke with a dash of Marvel Comic hero stuff in this book. Weird change from a pure romantic suspense to a "paranormal" from book 1 to book 2.
Nightshade 3 stars Back to a standard romantic suspense starring Boyd's ex-partner Althea who's now a Lieutenant and his maverick cowboy/ex-military covert operative/lawyer/pilot troubleshooter friend Colt Nightshade looking for a runaway teen who has fallen into the hands of a child porn ring. Again, I see shades of Eve in Althea
Night Smoke 3.5 stars Back to "Urbana" we go, this time with Boyd's sister Natalie trying to find who's been burning her properties with the help of arson investigator Ry. There's a bit of the Princess and the Pauper here as Ry believes he's not good enough for classy Natalie. "Nemesis" makes a cameo appearance but apart from that, a normal romantic suspense.
Overall, I will give these 4 books 3.5 stars.
May 20, 2020
Night Shift (Night Tales #1)
👉🏻 Cilla O’Roarke and Boyd Fletcher ⭐⭐⭐⭐
Night Shadow (Night Tales #2)
👉🏻 Deborah O’Roarke and Gage Guthrie ⭐⭐
Nightshade (Night Tales #3)
👉🏻 Colt Nightshade and Althea Grayson ⭐⭐⭐⭐
Night Smoke (Night Tales #4)
👉🏻 Natalie Fletcher and Ryan Piasecki ⭐⭐⭐
Night Shield (Night Tales #5)
👉🏻 Allison Fletcher and Jonah Blackhawk ⭐⭐⭐
Night Moves (Night Tales #6)
👉🏻 Maggie Fitzgerald and Cliff Delaney
March 23, 2025
One of her better collections! Some of the men were aggressive but not as frustrating as some of the other characters. I also enjoyed that these all had some sort of crime and mystery element to them instead of just romance. Don't worry, though. Everyone mutters an oath in each of these books, so you will still get your traditional Nora stories.
3.75/5
3.75/5
January 2, 2016
More like 1 1/2 stars.
First of all, I know this is a really minor thing, but the title "Nightshade" annoyed me, because it was just the guys' last name rather than something related to the story like the other stories, which I just felt was a cop-out. Other than that, "Nightshade" was pretty good; the investigation into the prostitution ring and Althea's past was interesting, and Althea and Colt were funny together at times. However, as I've said about the other books in the series, they're just too short to include both a complete and thrilling suspense and romance at the same time, and both tend to suffer as a result. I liked the premise of "Night Smoke," because I find arson investigators very interesting, but the heroine was just stupid and annoying. When someone tells you that there's a fire and to run and call 911, you listen to them. Also, the end was just wrapped up too neat, with the bad guy turning himself in and all. Overall, although I had higher hopes for "Night Smoke," I ended up liking "Nightshade" better. That being said, I enjoyed Night Tales: Night Shift & Night Shadow best of the series, and I wouldn't recommend this to readers other than hardcore Nora Roberts fans.
I don't get what happened with Roberts in this series; usually in her books the characters invest heart and mind in the relationship before body, but in this series *and especially these last two*, they just hop right into bed together without getting to know each other. It probably has to do with the fact that they're so short, but I just don't like that; the relationships in this series just seemed unhealthy. Also, as I mentioned with the other books of the series, they're just too short to include both a complete and thrilling suspense and romance at the same time, and both tend to suffer as a result. For this one in particular, in "Night Shield" the characters figure out the bad guys very quickly and it lacks mystery and real suspense as a result, and in "Night Moves" I figured out the killer almost from the start, which was just disappointing as well. I just can't recommend these; they don't satisfy either the suspense or romance reader.
Try Blue Smoke or the O'Hurley series (Born O'Hurley) and O'Hurley's Return) for the best of Nora Roberts.
First of all, I know this is a really minor thing, but the title "Nightshade" annoyed me, because it was just the guys' last name rather than something related to the story like the other stories, which I just felt was a cop-out. Other than that, "Nightshade" was pretty good; the investigation into the prostitution ring and Althea's past was interesting, and Althea and Colt were funny together at times. However, as I've said about the other books in the series, they're just too short to include both a complete and thrilling suspense and romance at the same time, and both tend to suffer as a result. I liked the premise of "Night Smoke," because I find arson investigators very interesting, but the heroine was just stupid and annoying. When someone tells you that there's a fire and to run and call 911, you listen to them. Also, the end was just wrapped up too neat, with the bad guy turning himself in and all. Overall, although I had higher hopes for "Night Smoke," I ended up liking "Nightshade" better. That being said, I enjoyed Night Tales: Night Shift & Night Shadow best of the series, and I wouldn't recommend this to readers other than hardcore Nora Roberts fans.
I don't get what happened with Roberts in this series; usually in her books the characters invest heart and mind in the relationship before body, but in this series *and especially these last two*, they just hop right into bed together without getting to know each other. It probably has to do with the fact that they're so short, but I just don't like that; the relationships in this series just seemed unhealthy. Also, as I mentioned with the other books of the series, they're just too short to include both a complete and thrilling suspense and romance at the same time, and both tend to suffer as a result. For this one in particular, in "Night Shield" the characters figure out the bad guys very quickly and it lacks mystery and real suspense as a result, and in "Night Moves" I figured out the killer almost from the start, which was just disappointing as well. I just can't recommend these; they don't satisfy either the suspense or romance reader.
Try Blue Smoke or the O'Hurley series (Born O'Hurley) and O'Hurley's Return) for the best of Nora Roberts.
September 13, 2019
Four books with an overlap of characters, what's not to like?
Night Shift: Cilla has the night shift at her radio station and has attracted a stalker who is out to kill her. Boyd is one of the two policemen assigned to protect her. As he and Althea, his partner, work to find out who is threatening Cilla nightly on the radio call-in portion of her program, he and Cilla dance around their feelings for each other until Boyd's protective position is right beside her, all night long. The suspense is great, the romance wonderful, and the characters interesting.
Night Shadow: An odd one to be sure. Deborah, Cilla's younger sister, is now an attorney. In her attempts to track down information on her cases, she runs into Nemesis, who comes to her rescue more than once. At the same time, she meets Gage, a multi-millionaire businessman who used to be a cop. Falling for both of them, she is confused and wary of either. This one has a bizarre twist, so you have to suspend your disbelief to enjoy it, but the mystery is great.
Nightshade: Colt Nightshade is trying to find a neighbor's thirteen-year-old runaway daughter and comes to his old friend Boyd for help. Boyd is now Captain and assigns Althea to the case. Thea is great at butting heads with Colt over following the rules, but Colt is used to special ops in the Air Force and has his own way of doing things. In the end, they find a way to work together. There is little mystery in this one, but lots of intrigue while they track down leads.
Night Smoke: Former Fire Fighter, now Fire Inspector, Ryan Piasecki meets Natalie Fletcher, Boyd's sister, when he investigates a fire at a warehouse owned by Fletcher Industries, run by Natalie. As more fires occur, they get closer in spite of the fact that they are so different. There is both mystery and suspense as well as romance. All of the characters from the previous three stories show up in this one, so you feel like you are one of the family by now.
Night Shift: Cilla has the night shift at her radio station and has attracted a stalker who is out to kill her. Boyd is one of the two policemen assigned to protect her. As he and Althea, his partner, work to find out who is threatening Cilla nightly on the radio call-in portion of her program, he and Cilla dance around their feelings for each other until Boyd's protective position is right beside her, all night long. The suspense is great, the romance wonderful, and the characters interesting.
Night Shadow: An odd one to be sure. Deborah, Cilla's younger sister, is now an attorney. In her attempts to track down information on her cases, she runs into Nemesis, who comes to her rescue more than once. At the same time, she meets Gage, a multi-millionaire businessman who used to be a cop. Falling for both of them, she is confused and wary of either. This one has a bizarre twist, so you have to suspend your disbelief to enjoy it, but the mystery is great.
Nightshade: Colt Nightshade is trying to find a neighbor's thirteen-year-old runaway daughter and comes to his old friend Boyd for help. Boyd is now Captain and assigns Althea to the case. Thea is great at butting heads with Colt over following the rules, but Colt is used to special ops in the Air Force and has his own way of doing things. In the end, they find a way to work together. There is little mystery in this one, but lots of intrigue while they track down leads.
Night Smoke: Former Fire Fighter, now Fire Inspector, Ryan Piasecki meets Natalie Fletcher, Boyd's sister, when he investigates a fire at a warehouse owned by Fletcher Industries, run by Natalie. As more fires occur, they get closer in spite of the fact that they are so different. There is both mystery and suspense as well as romance. All of the characters from the previous three stories show up in this one, so you feel like you are one of the family by now.
December 25, 2017
Really enjoyed this quartet by Nora Roberts. Solid romantic suspense; slightly dated, but almost in a comforting way, if that makes any sense. Characters feel true to their time, and I enjoyed the intersections between the stories. They can be read stand alone, but are enjoyable together.
April 1, 2019
4 novels in one. I'm a fan of Roberts but this is not her best work. I don't like men who won't take no for an answer, and in my opinion all couples fell in love too fast with too little justification. Am I the only one that thinks you have to get to know a person before you love them?
October 29, 2014
I wish this series would continue
October 27, 2018
I really enjoyed rereading this book. Since I am now on the night shift, it made it more fun. All 4 books were classic Nora.
July 17, 2022
Enoyed all 4 stories, but definitely "Night Smoke" (no.4) the best.
January 19, 2018
4 interrelated novels.
"Night Shift" - Cilla O'Roarke is a night DJ being threatened by one of her callers. Daughter of a woman cop and DA killed on the job, she's been trying to raise her sister Deborah and keep things together. When detective Boyd Fletcher and his partner Althea Grayson get on the job, sparks fly between Boyd and Cilla - they get the bad guy and marry.
"Night Shadow" - Deborah's now an assistant DA in Urbana. While investigating a case she meets "Nemesis" a vigilante type night person who can disappear at will. She also meets wealthy Gage Guthrie - an ex-cop at a party. Gage was severely shot on the job and can now make himself disappear. He's Nemesis and together they break up some crime rings... and marry.
"Nightshade" goes back to Althea who meets lawyer/free lancer/wealthy Colt Nightshade, an old friend of Boyd's while working a case to find a runaway dragged into the prostitution underworld of Denver. They also get their men and marry.
"Night Smoke" - Natalie Fletcher - Boyd's wealthy businesswoman sister is setting up a new lingerie company but somebody's torching her buildings which hooks her up with Ry Piasecki - fire inspector. The likewise solve the crime and marry. All are now related. Good stories, some sex in each.
"Night Shift" - Cilla O'Roarke is a night DJ being threatened by one of her callers. Daughter of a woman cop and DA killed on the job, she's been trying to raise her sister Deborah and keep things together. When detective Boyd Fletcher and his partner Althea Grayson get on the job, sparks fly between Boyd and Cilla - they get the bad guy and marry.
"Night Shadow" - Deborah's now an assistant DA in Urbana. While investigating a case she meets "Nemesis" a vigilante type night person who can disappear at will. She also meets wealthy Gage Guthrie - an ex-cop at a party. Gage was severely shot on the job and can now make himself disappear. He's Nemesis and together they break up some crime rings... and marry.
"Nightshade" goes back to Althea who meets lawyer/free lancer/wealthy Colt Nightshade, an old friend of Boyd's while working a case to find a runaway dragged into the prostitution underworld of Denver. They also get their men and marry.
"Night Smoke" - Natalie Fletcher - Boyd's wealthy businesswoman sister is setting up a new lingerie company but somebody's torching her buildings which hooks her up with Ry Piasecki - fire inspector. The likewise solve the crime and marry. All are now related. Good stories, some sex in each.
August 16, 2019
Nora Roberts books are always a pleasure to read, a guilty pleasure. This was a collection of 4 books written in the 90s. I was struck reading these books how much has changed as far as the bullshit that women are willing to put up with from men. A lot of the stuff in this book would not be accepted in 2019. With that said, I enjoyed the first and fourth books very much. The second was a straight up Batman rip off that had me constantly groaning. The man in the third book was way to much of an ass for me to buy into the romance. I did love that all of the characters from the books were woven into each of the four stories.
April 11, 2019
Sent to Breanne
This entire review has been hidden because of spoilers.
November 22, 2019
Two really good stories in one book from a great author.
March 4, 2021
Light and fluffy and just plain fun.
I really enjoyed these interwoven stories.
I really enjoyed these interwoven stories.
February 2, 2022
Still one of my favorite series from Nora Roberts. I especially love Ry!
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September 22, 2022Turno da noite
A sombra da noite
Um grito na noite
Fumo na noite
A sombra da noite
Um grito na noite
Fumo na noite
February 2, 2024
I loved this series. All four stories are wonderful. It's a great read.
July 23, 2025
I liked Night Shift (Night Tales #1) the best. I did enjoy the character connections throughout all 4 books but think the Nemesis character was a little too comic book-like for my taste.
February 4, 2010
This book is a collection of four related books by Roberts. In Night Shift, deejay Cilla O'Roarke begins receiving death threats on her midnight to two a.m. radio request line. Boyd Fletcher is the detective looking into the case, and quickly moving to protecting and caring for Cilla. In Night Shadow, Cilla's younger sister Deborah, now an ADA is attacked in an alley and rescued by her city's mysterious vigilante. Soon afterward, she also meets an ex-cop and millionaire who quickly becomes important to her as well. As she works a difficult case, her life is threatened and her heart is torn between these two men. In Nightshade, Captain Boyd Fletcher's former partner, Althea Grayson, finds herself working with Boyd's prep school friend, Colt Nightshade, in order to find a missing runaway and put a stop to the pornography ring the girl has fallen into. However, the tension between the two leads to than just investigating. In Night Smoke, Boyd's sister Natalie finds her fledgling company the target of an arsonist - and herself the target of the arson investigator.
I really enjoyed these stories and the way that the characters from each had a cameo in the others. I enjoy romantic suspense, as well as the mystery aspect in each case, as well as the romance part.
I really enjoyed these stories and the way that the characters from each had a cameo in the others. I enjoy romantic suspense, as well as the mystery aspect in each case, as well as the romance part.
February 5, 2016
Night Shift: (Cilla and Boyd) good story, good suspense, good romance; Night Shadow: (Deborah and Gage) very good; suspense and romance; Nightshade: (Althea and Colt) okay but I thought Althea was almost a little too "hard" even with her past experiences; Night Smoke: (Natalie and Ryan) good romance.
June 20, 2008
Not a typical Nora Roberts' romance. These are "four dark and dazzling tales of passion and peril". Night Shift, Night Shadow, Nightshade and Night Smoke. I'm lookng for Night Shield which is a Silhouette Intimate Moments #1027. Great stories.
October 18, 2011
I finished the first book and returned it to the library. The first book seemed flat and wasn't very interesting. The others sounded a little better, but I had no desire to read them. Maybe I'll read them when I have nothing else left to read.
November 30, 2012
I'm not sure why this wasn't already on here as I have owned this book for years. I just re-discovered it when I was over at my Mom's house and once I started it I had to finish. This is a great Nora collection.
March 7, 2015
Nora Roberts is one of my favorite authors, and I love when an edition becomes available where I can read a series in one place. I especially love the larger paperback editions. This was a good series by her, and it flows together well.
March 6, 2016
This book has four stories with characters that interchange within each story. The stories themselves are romantic and entertaining with a twist to each one. I enjoyed this book and highly recommend it.
October 7, 2007
I just love nora! This series was fun! Mystery, possible murder... oh my!
June 3, 2008
It was neat since all the characters interweaved in each of the four stories.
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February 27, 2009F Rob
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