Dangerous: Risky Business / The Welcoming

by Nora Roberts

Risky Business (1986)
She was a maddening combination of mystery and innocence. But Liz was the key to finding his brother's killer, so cynical Jonas Sharpe had to stick close…too close for comfort.

The Welcoming (1989)
He'd never known the warmth of a home -- until he found his way to Charity's inn…and into her arms. But Roman DeWinter had come looking for a criminal mastermind -- and all evidence pointed to Charity.

Genres: Romance, Contemporary Romance, Fiction, Contemporary, Audiobook

219 pages, Mass Market Paperback

First published January 1, 1989

About the author

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.

Reviews

[Andrea Vankham · Rating 1 out of 5]

DNF. Terrible book, it was so boring. The second story was more interesting than the first but I kept falling asleep while reading so I gave up.

[Marie · Rating 3 out of 5]

This is an author I have often loved reading. But this was a rather poor version of her writing.

[Courtney · Rating 3 out of 5]

Nice, easy summer reading stories.

[Kate Meredith]

DNF at 96 pages (Book #1 of Read it or Unhaul it Challenge)

[Maura · Rating 3 out of 5]

Risky Business - 3/5 - So this isn't the worst of Nora's early books by any stretch of the imagination. Compared to some of her other early works this was very readable. The suspense was pretty good, as the Hero and the heroine try to work out who killed the Hero's twin brother, Jerry. I didn't suspect the bad guy until right before the reveal. The Hero was not my favorite - Jonas was something of a selfish ass coming in planning to use the heroine however he had to in order to get his revenge for his brother's murder. He just inserts himself into her life, bosses her around, demands she take him places (for her own safety supposedly) and he comes across for much of the book as cold and unfeeling. So imagine my surprise when after days of the hero being an ass the heroine realizes she's falling in love with him. Why? Later in the book he kinda becomes a different character... And yes, even I think he's too pushy/creepy there at the end. He leaves per the heroine's request but goes off to woo the heroine's 10 year old daughter, admitting that the way to get to the heroine is through her daughter. What kind of grandparents let a strange man take their granddaughter to the zoo? Then he brooks no argument when he says they will marry, puts the ring onto her finger and tells her to get used to the idea. Not very romantic.

The heroine was even more annoying. Set aside by her daughter's father and left to have her baby alone, Liz is basically an emotional coward who hides and runs from her feelings and stubbornly insists on being independent in everything - despite times when it would make sense to ask for help. She frustrated me more than she earned my sympathy. And Nora Roberts sucks at writing kids. Faith, who we meet briefly at the end of the book is supposed to be nearly 11 years old. Yet when we meet her, she's just lost two teeth in an obvious location revealed by her smile (at her age she should be losing molars..). But that's kind of nitpicky. It's when they get around to her dialogue - she speaks in simple baby sentences, talks about how she tried to run really fast in her new sneakers, fell down and skinned her knee and didn't cry. She leaps into Jonas's arms when he comes to visit. I'm telling you, I know kids this age and they're a touch more mature. She's written like a six-year-old...not a girl on the verge of adolescence. Other than the characters, the book was pretty good.

The Welcoming - 3/5 - This is a pretty decent little book - nothing earth shattering or spectacular but it kept me entertained and I enjoyed reading it. The story focuses on FBI Agent Roman DeWinter who has come to Charity's inn on the Orcas Islands to investigate something...only he's undercover, since Charity is also under suspicion. So he poses as a handyman and as surly as Roman is, Charity starts falling in love with him. What I enjoyed about Roman though is that, despite his gruff and sometimes rude behavior, once he realizes he's in love, he embraces it. There was a great deal of foreshadowing regarding the angst potential in this relationship. Charity ended up having to fire one of her employees for calling in sick when she wasn't, and Charity kept crying about how upset she was that her employee LIED to her. Well, that says it right there. Charity is going to have a pisser of a conniption when she finds out Roman is lying...I'm surprised he didn't see it coming to that degree. And she was really frustrating about it, refusing to use any logic or common sense when looking at it. (view spoiler) So she was beyond irrational and it frustrated me. There were other times when her behavior was somewhat aggravating too, but it by no means ruined the story for me. Overall, it was a fun read.

[Tammy Ortiz · Rating 5 out of 5]

Well this book started slow for me. I am not a mystery reader. I typically love romance! This had that as well! I really was not sure i would like the book. I started getting into it mid stream and the ending is the best! The story is about a struggling single mom doing her best. She has been hurt and finds that she has huge walls up. Her focus is never herself only everyone else's needs. I would recommend a short sweet book.

[Déborah · Rating 1 out of 5]

I only read the first story. I finished it because I thought that maybe, at some point it might get better. I was wrong. I didn't like the characters (really disliked the violent streak of the guy), the plot could have been better handled, and the romance was just not realistic, I could not understand how they fell in love.
First and last Nora Roberts for me.

[Renuka Deshmukh · Rating 1 out of 5]

I didn't find the romance very believable. The chemistry was wrong, and the transition from rival to all of a sudden attraction and interest and love was not smooth and believable. The book was easy to read, but not fun like Nora Robert's usual.

[Darlene Nichols · Rating 4 out of 5]

Enjoyed both of the stories.

[Patricia · Rating 4 out of 5]

easy quick read. If you just want to sit down and enjoy a book, this is it. everything was good from the beginning to the end.

[Serap · Rating 4 out of 5]

Great story!