For the first time, the final two novels of Nora Roberts's breathtaking Chesapeake Bay saga are together in one volume, bringing "a welcome crescendo to the story-symphony that is the family Quinn in all its boisterous, loving resonance" (BookPage).Includes the novels
Inner Harbor
Phillip Quinn has done everything to make his life seem perfect. With his career on the fast track and a condo overlooking the Inner Harbor, his life on the street is firmly in the past. But one look at Seth and he's reminded of the boy he once was.
Chesapeake Blue
Now a grown man returning from Europe as a successful painter, Seth Quinn is settling down on Maryland's Eastern Shore, surrounded once again by Cam, Ethan, and Phil, their wives and children, all the blessed chaos of the extended Quinn clan. Finally, he's back in the little blue-and-white house where there's always a boat at the dock, a rocker on the porch, and a dog in the yard. Still, a lot has changed in St. Christopher since he's been gone-and the most intriguing change of all is the presence of Dru Whitcomb Banks.
Nora 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.
This edition has two complete books in one - #3 and #4 of the Chesapeake Bay series: Inner Harbour and Chesapeake Blue. This was a reread. Well-written and enjoyable if slightly dated. Lovely setting. I did get a bit sick of Seth's crazy mother and her shenanigans by the end of #4, but I pretty much read all four books back-to-back. It might have been better to take a little break between them. Still, overall, I enjoyed it.
3 stars and 2.5 stars for books 3 and 4 in the Chesapeake Bay series. Enjoyable teasing and conversations among family members.
THE SERIES: The Chesapeake Bay series includes four books which tell a continuing story about a family. Ray and Stella Quinn adopt three troubled boys who came from abusive homes. In the first three books the boys are about 30 years old. They left home, have good jobs and are single. Stella died several years earlier. In the beginning of the first book Ray took in another boy, 10-year-old Seth, who was abused by his mother Gloria. Gloria offered to give legal guardianship to Ray in return for a large sum of money. Before anything was official, Ray died in a car accident. Shortly before he died, he asked his three sons to move back home to take care of Seth. All three men promised they would. They decide to start a boat building business. In the first three books each of the three men meets and falls in love with a woman. The fourth book tells the story of Seth, who is grown, returns home and falls in love. The best parts of the first three books are watching the developing relationships among Seth and the three men and seeing Seth blossom. Each book has a minor amount of fantasy due to some conversations with a ghost. The four books, main characters, and my ratings are: Sea Swept (Cameron and Anna) 4 stars Rising Tides (Ethan and Grace) 3 stars Inner Harbor (Phillip and Sybill) 3 stars Chesapeake Blue (Seth and Dru) 2.5 stars
3 stars for INNER HARBOR (Book 3).
Story Brief: Phillip’s mother was a stripper and prostitute. Phillip survived by stealing, using drugs and sometimes selling himself. At age 13, he was shot in gang crossfire and nearly died. Ray and Stella discovered him in the hospital and took him home. Due to their love and environment, he changed and thrived. He is now a successful advertising executive in Baltimore. He dresses well, drinks fine wines and eats healthy. During his three-day weekends, he handles administrative details, legal issues and paperwork for the brothers’ boat building business, as well as some of the sweaty carpentry work.
Dr. Sybill Griffin has made a career out of the study of urban life and has published two books. She has degrees in anthropology, sociology and psychology. She comes to Chesapeake Bay to observe and study small town life for her next book. However, the reader soon learns that she chose Chesapeake Bay because of Seth. She purposely meets the brothers and finds that Phillip is attracted to her. She begins a relationship with him in order to be closer to and learn about Seth. Gloria (Seth’s mother) returns to the area. Gloria has a bigger role in this book than in the previous two books.
Reviewer’s Opinion: This was ok, but I couldn’t get into the characters. They were good as supporting characters in the Seth story and for the series, but the story about their relationship wasn’t as good as I’d hoped. They each were wounded in the past in different ways. Now they are smooth and polished. I didn’t see how they grew to love each other. They were sort of thrown together, and then they have sex because they are physically attracted to each other. The value of this book is learning about Gloria and seeing some of her actions. It finishes some of the unresolved issues from the first two books. So it’s worthwhile in that way.
Data: Story length: 238 pages. Swearing language: strong. Sexual language: none. Number of sex scenes: 3. Total number of sex scene pages: 7. Setting: current day Chesapeake Bay area and Baltimore, Maryland. Copyright: 1999. Genre: contemporary romance with fantasy.
2.5 stars for CHESAPEAKE BLUE (Book 4).
Story Brief with Mild Spoilers: Seth is now about 28. Gloria began contacting him when he was a teen, threatening to hurt his family. He secretly has been paying her money to stay away. He spent several years in Europe to get away from her. But when he became a famous painter, she followed him to Europe. Since he couldn’t avoid her and since he missed his family, he moves back to Chesapeake Bay.
Dru is the only child of a wealthy family in Washington D.C. Her fiancé cheated on her, and she moved to Chesapeake Bay to open a flower shop. She bought a house and loves living alone, with no domestic help. She likes the small town environment. Seth sees her and immediately falls for her. He wants to paint her. She is reluctant. He rents the space above her flower shop for his art studio.
Reviewer’s Opinion: The primary weakness was the two main characters were not interesting enough. There was not enough relationship development. I also felt it was too quick for Seth to ask her to marry him. The best parts of the book were the camaraderie, teasing, and conversations among the Quinn family members. That was entertaining and well done.
The major conflict in this story was regarding Gloria, Seth’s horrible mother. The Gloria problem was resolved in Book 3. So I was unhappy to see that the author had to weaken Seth’s character in order to reactivate Gloria’s bad guy role. I did not enjoy seeing Seth wimp out and pay her blackmail money over fourteen years without telling his family. They stood up to her and scared her off before. They would have done it again. I wasn’t happy with this plot. I enjoyed the first book the most.
Data: Story length: 240 pages. Swearing language: strong. Sexual language: none. Number of sex scenes: 3. Total number of sex scene pages: 7. Setting: current day Chesapeake Bay area and Washington D.C.. Copyright: 2002. Genre: contemporary romance with fantasy.
OTHER BOOKS: For a list of my reviews of other Nora Roberts and J.D. Robb books, see my 4.5 star review of "Angels Fall" posted on 6-30-08.
The Quinn Legacy, books 3 & 4 of The Chesapeake Bay series by Nora Roberts @norarobertsauthor. It's time for some Nora! 💜
~ Inner Harbor - Phil & Sybill. Such a fantastic book! MF, secrets, found family, solved the small mystery, standing up for what is right & lots of love. 💜
~ Chesapeake Blue - Seth & Dru. I absolutely loved this book! MF, omissions of the truth, family drama, standing up for themselves, love for family, love for each other, & and a fantastic end to this series. 💜
There are a lot of Nora Roberts books I haven't read, because I don't like a lot of them. Her Ireland/Witch series was good, the Key series was nice - a lot of them are over dramatic and well...fluffy.
But the Chesapeake Bay books got to me. Set in a small town on (duh)Chesapeake Bay, they tell the story of three men, scooped up as boys on the wrong side of the law and adopted by a local doctor and her husband. The series open with the father dying, and the three men come together to have the funeral and to decide what will happen to the latest boy brought home by Ray.
The Quinn brothers and The Quinn Legacy are superior novels written by the fantastically brilliant writer, Nora Roberts. Immersion into the lives of these meticulously crafted, detailed characters was easy and realistically natural. One can feel the emotional connections between the brothers and with their loved ones. One can empathize with the hardships they faced and the emotional turmoil of their pasts and present. It's several heart felt stories that makes one feel they are feeling and living it alongside the characters. Absolutely love everything written by this great writer!
Found a bundle of the last two Chesapeake Bay Saga in this book. As I sail the Chesapeake, it's lovely to read about the character of the Bay. Unfortunately, there are a few details about sailing in general and sailing in the Bay that Ms. Roberts gets wrong, which is a little jarring, but that does not take away from the enjoyment of the characters or the romances. Wonderful that each couple has their own voice, as the brothers are very different, as are the women they love. This completes the set, highly recommend.
I loved all the books in the Chesapeake Bay Saga. The diversity in Nora Roberts books astound me. She is every bit as gifted in her righting as Seth is as an artist.. Her characters are rich and beautifully human. With all the gifts and frailty we have as humans. It amazes me just how versitle she is. I've read Dark Witch and loved that, this series made me think about kids that through no fault of their own have nightmarish childhoods. Thank God for love and people with good character. That will fight for what's right.
I have loved Nora Robert's book since she started writing. She is excellent at painting picture with words. Her characters are so well defined. Sadly, I probably won't be reading her books now. She has given in to the critics who say she needs to write more sex into her books. I don't mind a page or two but five pages is way too much. She has such talent in creating good story lines. It saddens me to let her stories go.
This entire review has been hidden because of spoilers.
A good finish to a good saga. I love that you tied off them lose ends ha ha it drove me crazy that there was justice left undone. Very good read I am happy to have finally finished. I started the first book years ago and then lost it !!! But found them again and finally got to enjoy and complete their stories. :)
I read this series years ago, it is every bit as poignant today! Love is love, family is family! Nora Roberts is an outstanding author of contemporary fiction. I cried then and again now as these young men became grown men, husbands even fathers. Definitely a must read series!
Excellent series. The guys are a little rough and a little bit marshmallows. Their women are strong and passionate. Absolutely fell in love this family who took in battered boys and made them into upstanding, well respected men. The series is the story of their lives.
After reading and loving Sea Swept, Inner Harbor, then Chesapeake Blue, I was excited to purchase the Quinn Legacy, only to find that it's ONLY Inner Harbor with a different title. Please explain!!!
Best book she ever wrote and they are all wonderful!
I enjoyed this story from the first page to the last and all I can say is I wish it never ended! I simply could not put this book down until I finished it!!!
I can hardly find words for how much I love this book and series!
This fourth book of the Chesapeake Bay Saga was every bit as wonderful and engrossing as the first three. I can only say that I am so sad it's over, I never wanted it to end. Read this series, you won't be sorry!
I really enjoyed this group of books, but I thought it was a little “heavy” on the “bad language” end on this particular book; the last one in the trilogy. But other than that, it was a great read.
Inner Harbour 3 Chesapeake Blue 3 I really liked Seth and Dru. They were so cute. I liked seeing what Seth did with his life and learning more about Stella. I liked how Dru was kind of like Stella in some ways.