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Risky Business
I felt the knife against my throat and thought I was going to die'. Liz Palmer runs a dive business in the quiet tranquillity of a Caribbean island. Tranquil, that is, until a routine trip over the reef reveals the body of her newest employee - diver Jerry Sharpe. But when his brother, Jonas, shows up asking questions, Liz can't see how she can help. She barely knew Jerry. Then someone breaks into Liz's apartment, intent on her murder. Liz realises that she is already more involved in Jonas' quest to unravel Jerry's murky past than she wanted to be. And now Jonas and Liz will be drawn into a dangerous criminal underworld that could cost them both their lives...
336 pages, Paperback
First published September 28, 1986
2377 people are currently reading
2602 people want to read
About the author
Nora Roberts
1,217 books60k 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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Displaying 1 - 30 of 336 reviews
February 17, 2024
This is a book that is driven by the internal dialogue that the characters have with themselves. In other words, the author is all up inside their heads. I'm not a fan of this narrative, I much prefer a dialogue/action driven narrative. As plots go, this one is pretty good, especially for it being an earlier RS work for Nora Roberts.
Liz Palmer is a business owner on the island of Cozumel off the coast of Mexico. She works hard to make her dive shop and charter business successful. She is driven to succeed so she never has to rely on anyone else to support her or her young daughter. Relying on anyone is not something Liz will ever do again, it has only brought her heartache in the past.
When her employee, Jerry Sharpe, turns up dead, his brother, Jonas, wants answers. Since Jerry had only been working for her a short time, Liz doesn't have those answers. Others think Liz has the answers too and that puts both her and Jonas in danger.
Liz Palmer is a business owner on the island of Cozumel off the coast of Mexico. She works hard to make her dive shop and charter business successful. She is driven to succeed so she never has to rely on anyone else to support her or her young daughter. Relying on anyone is not something Liz will ever do again, it has only brought her heartache in the past.
When her employee, Jerry Sharpe, turns up dead, his brother, Jonas, wants answers. Since Jerry had only been working for her a short time, Liz doesn't have those answers. Others think Liz has the answers too and that puts both her and Jonas in danger.
September 30, 2011
★★★★✩Well narrated by Gabra Zackman. Difficult to rate this book NR wrote way back in 1986. Twenty-five years ago! Parts of it definitely dipped down to 3 stars, but others were excellent. At certain times the pacing is off. Neat to see the romantic suspense writer she will become, but hard not to compare it to the best of to her current work. I love a good treasure hunt and a diving story, so I’m going with four stars.
February 3, 2020
3.5 stars. I’ve never read any Nora Roberts before. You can tell this was written in the ‘80s- the Main character was a smoker!
Read
January 17, 2025I'm not leaving a review so much as a commentary.
This is a good story. Not the best she's written (and I didn't really care for the narrator, she was just okay) but I enjoyed it. It's a nearly 40 year old book (I think originally written in 1986) , but could have been written today -- a timeless story.
But I just wanted to say that, after 40+ years and 150+ books, Nora Roberts is really among the best storytellers of all time. I'm never majority disappointed. I'm thinking about this now because I bought a couple audiobooks from popular authors I've read in the past and present. The books were older, the audiobooks came out much later. The first one I listened to (not Roberts) I really couldn't finish. The book was blah the characters uninteresting. Then I went to this book, and while it didn't have the wow factor, it was a good little story well told. So I started thinking about Roberts career and how she has evolved. Today, her stories are bigger and stronger, but her shorter past romances are still good stories. Thus, my conclusion that she really is just a great storyteller who creates compelling characters I enjoy spending time with.
This is a good story. Not the best she's written (and I didn't really care for the narrator, she was just okay) but I enjoyed it. It's a nearly 40 year old book (I think originally written in 1986) , but could have been written today -- a timeless story.
But I just wanted to say that, after 40+ years and 150+ books, Nora Roberts is really among the best storytellers of all time. I'm never majority disappointed. I'm thinking about this now because I bought a couple audiobooks from popular authors I've read in the past and present. The books were older, the audiobooks came out much later. The first one I listened to (not Roberts) I really couldn't finish. The book was blah the characters uninteresting. Then I went to this book, and while it didn't have the wow factor, it was a good little story well told. So I started thinking about Roberts career and how she has evolved. Today, her stories are bigger and stronger, but her shorter past romances are still good stories. Thus, my conclusion that she really is just a great storyteller who creates compelling characters I enjoy spending time with.
June 21, 2016
Review haiku:
Murder brings lawyer
To diving business owner.
Love in Cozumel.
Murder brings lawyer
To diving business owner.
Love in Cozumel.
October 26, 2025
4+ stars ⭐️⭐️⭐️⭐️
What is it about a NR book... it doesn't matter how long ago it was written ...she always pulls you into the story and makes you feel all the emotions of the characters.
I loved this story and the setting of Cozumel an Island off the Yucatan Peninsula which is known for it's world-class diving and snorkeling.
I also feel that romantic suspense is what she writes best.
Such a good read.
Anytime her books are on sale...I just auto click. Eventually I will read all that I currently have on my kindle.
What is it about a NR book... it doesn't matter how long ago it was written ...she always pulls you into the story and makes you feel all the emotions of the characters.
I loved this story and the setting of Cozumel an Island off the Yucatan Peninsula which is known for it's world-class diving and snorkeling.
I also feel that romantic suspense is what she writes best.
Such a good read.
Anytime her books are on sale...I just auto click. Eventually I will read all that I currently have on my kindle.
December 28, 2010
Another good NR oldie. Wonderful suspense with the drug-trafficking ring, great pacing, and wonderful hero. The heroine bugged me, though, which came as a huge surprise. And it’s because of her indecision, her insecurity, and her inability to face the truth about herself, that lowered the rating for this story. I could’ve done without all her “angst”.
Still, it was a pleasurable, quick, exciting, and intriguing read.
Still, it was a pleasurable, quick, exciting, and intriguing read.
August 25, 2016
Okay, so now I've read a Nora Roberts. I'm rather thankful that this was a library lend and not something I bought.
---------- spoilershed ----------
The book is dated, severely dated in fact. The hero is smoking without any comment by anyone around him, he simply goes ahead and not only visits the parents of the heroine without her knowledge, he even takes her ten-year-old daughter alone out to the zoo and buys her stuff. Today this comes over as rather skeevy, just as his comments about said daughter.
The writing was so incredibly facile that I ended up being very astonished about the success of this author. The plot was harebrained and thin, the prose nothing to positively notice, headhopping occurred by the paragraph, even sentence at times, and the romance was none. Just "plop" and suddenly they were kissing. No emotional journey at all. This is less than what I'd expect a teenaged girl to write these days.
Some reviewers commented on the "arseholish hero". That amuses me a bit right there, because yes, the hero is overbearing. But. But he doesn't even come near the horrid antisocial bad-boy alphamales the rage in contemporary romance at the moment! He's a stupid idiot, but relatively benign compared. Not that anyone mistakes this and thinks he is an acceptably normal guy. Just that he is mild-mannered compared to the idiot alpha hunks populating romance right now.
I don't recommend this book.
---------- spoilershed ----------
The book is dated, severely dated in fact. The hero is smoking without any comment by anyone around him, he simply goes ahead and not only visits the parents of the heroine without her knowledge, he even takes her ten-year-old daughter alone out to the zoo and buys her stuff. Today this comes over as rather skeevy, just as his comments about said daughter.
The writing was so incredibly facile that I ended up being very astonished about the success of this author. The plot was harebrained and thin, the prose nothing to positively notice, headhopping occurred by the paragraph, even sentence at times, and the romance was none. Just "plop" and suddenly they were kissing. No emotional journey at all. This is less than what I'd expect a teenaged girl to write these days.
Some reviewers commented on the "arseholish hero". That amuses me a bit right there, because yes, the hero is overbearing. But. But he doesn't even come near the horrid antisocial bad-boy alphamales the rage in contemporary romance at the moment! He's a stupid idiot, but relatively benign compared. Not that anyone mistakes this and thinks he is an acceptably normal guy. Just that he is mild-mannered compared to the idiot alpha hunks populating romance right now.
I don't recommend this book.
July 2, 2014
Risky Business is another one of Nora Roberts earlier books,circa 1986. And she combines mystery and romance very well.Her focus character, Liz Palmer,was easy to relate to. Single mom, jilted by rich boyfriend while pregnant, starts over in Cozumel.Works her way up from hotel maid to owning her own business. Fiercely independent and determined not to expose herself to the hurt of romantic involvement again. I liked her.
A murder mystery begins almost immediately, so this is a page turner for that reason alone. The love interest, twin brother to the murder victim, comes on the scene.Jonas Sharpe is the responsible twin,who has played the straight man for his adventurous, womanizing brother all his adult life. A lawyer(of course) he is determined to find his brother's killer and mete out his own brand of justice.
While not the most likable man, he and Liz do the romance dance as the mystery unfolds and eventually find themselves having an island romance. When the mystery is solved and Liz decides to send Jonas on his way, it gets creepy.Having been told no thank you by Liz and sent packing back to the States, he takes it upon himself to contact her parents and said parents allow an unaccompanied visit to Liz's ten year old daughter to the local zoo!
And when the daughter and parents come for their summer visit with Mr Creepy tagging along with an engagement rock, Liz is flabbergasted and says yes! I don't care what decade this was written in, that kind of creepazoid behavior would not fly with any mother I know of!
Fortunately, the mystery was engaging enough to keep me interested. The romance was controlling b.s. and I was sorry that Liz fell for it.
A murder mystery begins almost immediately, so this is a page turner for that reason alone. The love interest, twin brother to the murder victim, comes on the scene.Jonas Sharpe is the responsible twin,who has played the straight man for his adventurous, womanizing brother all his adult life. A lawyer(of course) he is determined to find his brother's killer and mete out his own brand of justice.
While not the most likable man, he and Liz do the romance dance as the mystery unfolds and eventually find themselves having an island romance. When the mystery is solved and Liz decides to send Jonas on his way, it gets creepy.Having been told no thank you by Liz and sent packing back to the States, he takes it upon himself to contact her parents and said parents allow an unaccompanied visit to Liz's ten year old daughter to the local zoo!
And when the daughter and parents come for their summer visit with Mr Creepy tagging along with an engagement rock, Liz is flabbergasted and says yes! I don't care what decade this was written in, that kind of creepazoid behavior would not fly with any mother I know of!
Fortunately, the mystery was engaging enough to keep me interested. The romance was controlling b.s. and I was sorry that Liz fell for it.
February 12, 2020
For a book published in 1986 I thought this was really good, like it wasn’t the best nora I’ve read but I like it enough. I loved the characters, and obliviously her writing as I keep picking her books up every week. I just love the way Nora formulates her books. This was a book that has a murder mystery, and it’s set in Mexico which was Awesome. I should mention that the audio book was good too, it’s on audible escape package where you can listen for free with that service. I liked that I couldn’t figure out the killer at all, had me guessing the whole time. The book isn’t fairly long roughy 200+ pages.
gonna-pass-not-interested
March 13, 2020Pass on this book as the heroine pushes the hero away and she denies all feelings due to past.
November 27, 2016
Author: Nora Roberts
First published: 1986
Length: 208 pages
Setting: Contemporary. Cozumel
Sex: Infrequent and reasonably frequent.
Hero: Lawyer
Heroine: Single mother and dive shop owner
It’s a mid-1980s Nora Roberts. Romance. Strong, independent heroine. Strong hero who accepts her for who she is.
It works.
References:
Author's website: http://noraroberts.com
(Read in The Business of Love ISBN 9781743559987)
-CR-
First published: 1986
Length: 208 pages
Setting: Contemporary. Cozumel
Sex: Infrequent and reasonably frequent.
Hero: Lawyer
Heroine: Single mother and dive shop owner
It’s a mid-1980s Nora Roberts. Romance. Strong, independent heroine. Strong hero who accepts her for who she is.
It works.
References:
Author's website: http://noraroberts.com
(Read in The Business of Love ISBN 9781743559987)
-CR-
April 18, 2011
These were some REALLY DUMB villains! Aside from that, it was a good read for what it was: an 80s romance. You know what to expect and you get it...although, the hero wasn't NEARLY as big a jerk as I've read from other books in the same time period.
September 23, 2015
Gostei tanto desta história, para além das paisagens de Cozumel de sonho gostei da forma como Jonas e Liz se apaixonam a par de tudo o mistério inerente ao crime em questão e aquele final foi mesmo cute com a filha dela de regresso aos braços da mãe na ilha!
May 5, 2015
Loved the setting, Carribbean. Again, some romance, a d some mystery. Good combination !!!
January 25, 2022
3.5/5 🌟 (rounding up to 4)
🇷🇸 Tanka Linija ( izdanje BDR media)
N.R. books are my comfort read. Sometimes I just need fun, exciting (yet a bit predictable) romance and this one delivers.
It was just what I needed now. I had very much enjoyed this "old school" romance with a mix of mystery and action.
Liz is a strong, admirable, hardworking single mom. She's focused on work and providing for her daughter, and completely pushed away from the thought of having love. She quickly realizes that ignoring feelings is not that easy anymore.
Jonas is one of those guys who don't take 'no' for an answer. He's fighting for what he wants and that's great, BUT he was too pushy in my opinion. That ending had some (unrealistic) red flags.
This romance entwined with murder and drug trafficking investigation was predictable, but super fun to read. Although I usually like to be surprised, something is satisfying about guessing outcomes correctly.
🇷🇸 Tanka Linija ( izdanje BDR media)
N.R. books are my comfort read. Sometimes I just need fun, exciting (yet a bit predictable) romance and this one delivers.
It was just what I needed now. I had very much enjoyed this "old school" romance with a mix of mystery and action.
Liz is a strong, admirable, hardworking single mom. She's focused on work and providing for her daughter, and completely pushed away from the thought of having love. She quickly realizes that ignoring feelings is not that easy anymore.
Jonas is one of those guys who don't take 'no' for an answer. He's fighting for what he wants and that's great, BUT he was too pushy in my opinion. That ending had some (unrealistic) red flags.
This romance entwined with murder and drug trafficking investigation was predictable, but super fun to read. Although I usually like to be surprised, something is satisfying about guessing outcomes correctly.
July 14, 2025
I actually enjoyed this story. There were times it was hard for me to believe the love story bt the main characters. I haven’t read the reviews yet, but as a romance story goes, it did sort of fall flat for me.
But the plot and intrigue kept me in this book. If you read it for the mystery, then you won’t be disappointed. There are gaping plot holes. Be warned. But they don’t feel horrible being left as is.
Also, the personality of the mc was weird. Is he dangerous or is he not? Ok I get that once a man loves a woman he may show that softer side.
But it felt like the fmc just fell in love with him so quickly with very little interaction that felt of value. And he was basically manipulating her to get the answers he wanted. They never seemed to address that. It was just breezed over when he admitted at the end he was planning to use her by any means to get his revenge.
And she was like. Ok. 🤩
The fmc was sort of tragic and frankly her life choices made no sense.
She gets knocked up, threatened bc she was dating an uber wealthy idiot and then she runs away?
They address her full story but why she was scared and why not tell your parents?
Seek their assistance? Or did she and I missed that part??? That was a gaping plot hole.
A few times she would think about how her parents aren’t reliable but now she has her own daughter living with them? So what is it? And WHY?? If they were willing to care for her daughter then they would have been willing to help her out when she got pregnant. It was sort of odd that she sent her daughter to her parents for private school but then doesn’t talk to her that much? It circles weird for me.
Then the plot hole of the baby daddy. He’s rich. He’s powerful. He’s wanting to run for senate.
That’s all that’s said about that issue. 🥴🤣
It never comes back up again. Well it does get settled but in a diff way. As the mc wants to adopt her daughter. 🤷🏻♀️
Nora writes amazing mystery based romances. This is an older one of hers. I wouldn’t call it her best stuff BUT if you go into this story for the intrigue and mystery with a side of spice, it should be a 3/4 star read for ya.
MF✅
KU❌
HEA✅
Standalone✅
Single mom trope
Single mom avoiding love trope
Murder mystery/who done it
Dark dangerous angry man seeking answers and revenge
But the plot and intrigue kept me in this book. If you read it for the mystery, then you won’t be disappointed. There are gaping plot holes. Be warned. But they don’t feel horrible being left as is.
Also, the personality of the mc was weird. Is he dangerous or is he not? Ok I get that once a man loves a woman he may show that softer side.
But it felt like the fmc just fell in love with him so quickly with very little interaction that felt of value. And he was basically manipulating her to get the answers he wanted. They never seemed to address that. It was just breezed over when he admitted at the end he was planning to use her by any means to get his revenge.
And she was like. Ok. 🤩
The fmc was sort of tragic and frankly her life choices made no sense.
She gets knocked up, threatened bc she was dating an uber wealthy idiot and then she runs away?
They address her full story but why she was scared and why not tell your parents?
Seek their assistance? Or did she and I missed that part??? That was a gaping plot hole.
A few times she would think about how her parents aren’t reliable but now she has her own daughter living with them? So what is it? And WHY?? If they were willing to care for her daughter then they would have been willing to help her out when she got pregnant. It was sort of odd that she sent her daughter to her parents for private school but then doesn’t talk to her that much? It circles weird for me.
Then the plot hole of the baby daddy. He’s rich. He’s powerful. He’s wanting to run for senate.
That’s all that’s said about that issue. 🥴🤣
It never comes back up again. Well it does get settled but in a diff way. As the mc wants to adopt her daughter. 🤷🏻♀️
Nora writes amazing mystery based romances. This is an older one of hers. I wouldn’t call it her best stuff BUT if you go into this story for the intrigue and mystery with a side of spice, it should be a 3/4 star read for ya.
MF✅
KU❌
HEA✅
Standalone✅
Single mom trope
Single mom avoiding love trope
Murder mystery/who done it
Dark dangerous angry man seeking answers and revenge
This entire review has been hidden because of spoilers.
February 11, 2021
Nora Robertsin Harlequin-kirjat ovat kioskiviihdettä parhaimmillaan - vai pahimmillaan - aivot saa narikkaan, henkilöhahmot ovat sopivan tasapaksuja nopeaan lueskeluun ja juoni etenee radallaan nopeasti eteenpäin. Sen suuremmin ei kannata pureutua henkilöhahmojen ajatuksien epäloogisuuksiin, taustojen samankaltaisuuksiin muiden teosten kanssa tai edes saman kansikuvan käyttöä edellisen luetun Roberts-harlequinin kanssa...
October 6, 2017
Nora Roberts tiene una enorme capacidad de entretener, cierto que algunos libros son mucho mejores que otros, pero no podemos negar su enorme capacidad de entretener, con libros románticos con toques de suspenso e intriga.
Enmarcado en la isla de Cozumel, los protagonistas se ven envueltos en un asesinato y narcotraficantes, aunque el argumento pareciera pesado, la realidad es que es muy pero que muy ligero.
Enmarcado en la isla de Cozumel, los protagonistas se ven envueltos en un asesinato y narcotraficantes, aunque el argumento pareciera pesado, la realidad es que es muy pero que muy ligero.
February 25, 2019
Cozumel, a dive shop, drug running and murder. And of course romance. The story was compelling and very believable. Again Roberts’ characters just jump off the page.
December 6, 2018
An interesting mystery.
March 8, 2019
3.5 stars
Interesting read; the mystery about H's brother is well written, h is strong while H is suitably tortured ... made for an engrossing read ...
Interesting read; the mystery about H's brother is well written, h is strong while H is suitably tortured ... made for an engrossing read ...
May 16, 2012
I've read so many Nora Roberts books over the years, I'm really out of compliments on her work. However, I'll give it a shot. *LOL*
This is a typical Nora Roberts book. A little different in my opinion than her usual stuff, but nevertheless excellent. You have a heroine who became pregnant in college and for reasons explained in the book, she leaves her home and even her country to start a new life with her daughter. She winds up creating a successful business and a comfortable life for her and her child.
The book starts when the glass-bottomed boat she is captaining comes across a horrrific scene. The passengers spy through the bottom of the boat a man with an anchor around his neck, obviously murdered.
Police investigations and the arrival of the murdered man's brother causes the heroine's life to be temporarily chaotic.
Overall, I would recommend this book. It's definitely one of those books to pack in your bag or download to your e-reader and take on a plane, a bus or best yet, to the beach and have a light, enjoyable read. So go for it!
This is a typical Nora Roberts book. A little different in my opinion than her usual stuff, but nevertheless excellent. You have a heroine who became pregnant in college and for reasons explained in the book, she leaves her home and even her country to start a new life with her daughter. She winds up creating a successful business and a comfortable life for her and her child.
The book starts when the glass-bottomed boat she is captaining comes across a horrrific scene. The passengers spy through the bottom of the boat a man with an anchor around his neck, obviously murdered.
Police investigations and the arrival of the murdered man's brother causes the heroine's life to be temporarily chaotic.
Overall, I would recommend this book. It's definitely one of those books to pack in your bag or download to your e-reader and take on a plane, a bus or best yet, to the beach and have a light, enjoyable read. So go for it!
February 2, 2013
To a point, I can understand why this story is so offensively patriarchal; the book is from the late 80s - things were different then. However, a weak-willed heroine plus an over-bearing-to-the-point-of-ridiculousness hero with a completely unrealistic masculine pov, multiplied by an unbelievable (in a bad way) love story, equaled lots of skipped pages. I enjoyed the mystery/suspense portions so much more than the 'romance,' as the latter had me stopping multiple times to groan or roll my eyes. It sucked, because if the romance part had been better the book would be a really fun read.
From now on, I will endeavor to check the decade of first publication the next time I check out a Nora Roberts book, even if it's on sale for kindle. Lesson learned.
From now on, I will endeavor to check the decade of first publication the next time I check out a Nora Roberts book, even if it's on sale for kindle. Lesson learned.
May 16, 2017
El libro en general está bien. La trama es buena, aunque puede ser algo predecible, sorprende bastante una vez resuelto el caso. Lo que no me ha gustado de esta novela es que el final es un poco precipitado, se quedan muchas cosas en el aire, sin resolver, que a mí me hubiera gustado conocer. Creo que este libro ganaría mucho más si se le añadieran 50 o 100 páginas detallando lo que sucede desde que se resuelve el caso para poder entender bien el final de la novela y hacerlo creíble, ya que hay un salto temporal y el final llega de repente.
En resumen, el misterio me ha gustado, lo que no me ha terminado es como se resuelve la historia entre los protagonistas.
En resumen, el misterio me ha gustado, lo que no me ha terminado es como se resuelve la historia entre los protagonistas.
September 24, 2020
Elizabeth Palmer's world is shaken when one of her dive shop employees is found murdered in the ocean. Jonas Sharpe arrives determined to avenge his brother’s death, but he needs Liz’s help. A fast-paced suspenseful romance set in Cozumel makes this a good quick summer read. To hear a full discussion of Risky Business listen to Season 2, Ep. #1 "Nora Roberts 1986: Tales of Intrigue" of Romancing the Shelf, a Nora Roberts podcast: https://romancingtheshelf.libsyn.com/
April 23, 2018
Re-read
March 22, 2015
I actually think I wanted this to be shorter, which is not something I say about a category length title very often.
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