River's End

by Nora Roberts

#1 New York Times bestselling author Nora Roberts presents a seductively suspenseful tale of one woman’s shattered innocence, the terrifying search for truth and a heart’s journey toward healing…

Olivia’s parents were among Hollywood’s golden couples—until the night a monster came and took her mother away forever. A monster with the face of her father...

Sheltered from the truth, an older Olivia only dimly recalls her night of terror—but her recurring nightmares make her realize she must piece together the real story. Now, assisted by Noah Brady, the son of the police detective who found her cowering in her closet so many years before, she may have her chance. Noah wants to reconstruct the night that has become an infamous part of Hollywood history. He also wants to help Olivia and heal the longing in her lonely heart. But once the door to her past is opened, there’s no telling what’s waiting on the other side. For somewhere, not too far away, the monster walks again...

Genres: Romance, Romantic Suspense, Mystery, Fiction, Suspense, Contemporary Romance, Contemporary

447 pages, Kindle Edition

First published March 1, 1999

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

[Anne Boleyn's Ghost · Rating 3 out of 5]

2.5 stars.

I figured out the murderer's identity early, friends. Like really early. And I'm not particularly good at figuring out the murderer's identity.

On that basis, River's End disappointed me. I think that the In Death series, which Roberts writes as J.D. Robb, spoiled me. Those mysteries are superior, twisty and turny. Even if I'm not always surprised by the culprit, I never figure it out so early.

Ultimately, I rounded up because Nora Roberts has storytelling skills. Her books are undeniably absorbing. The characters, the dialogue, the overall story arcs pull you in. So while I found River's End better than many other romantic suspense novels, it was certainly not one of Nora's best.

Read for SBTB October - December 2018 Quarterly Challenge: A cover that is mostly red, brown, or orange.

[Robin · Rating 4 out of 5]

At four years old, Olivia McBride witnessed her father standing over her mother's bloody body, holding a knife. Olivia ran and hid from him until a police detective found her in a closet. Olivia was sent to live with her grandparents at their home on the edge of Olympic National Park.

True crime writer Noah Brady wants to write the story about the murder of movie star Julie McBride. Noah grew up hearing about the murder. His father was the lead detective on the case. Julie's husband, actor Sam Tanner, was convicted of her murder and has spent twenty years in prison. When Noah contacts Olivia, she is upset. She wants nothing to do with the book and doesn't want to be reminded of her mother's murder. But Sam has been released from prison and wants his story old.

This is an older Nora Roberts book that I hadn't had a chance to read when it came out. The first 30% of the story was on the slow side, setting up the story and getting to know the characters. The pace picked up when Noah decides to write about the famous murder. The story was heavy on romance, but there was some suspense. We also got some in-depth description of Olympic National Park and the rain forest. My rating: 4 Stars.

[Pepa · Rating 2 out of 5]

Reseña completa: https://masromance.blogspot.com/2021/...
Pues es un «no»
No soy muy fan de esta mujer aunque no cuestiono su maestría, es toda una profesional!! y he leído novelas suyas de suspense que me han gustado bastante.
Pero esta novela ha sido un no. No tiene suspense, lo siento, en las primeras páginas ya tienes muy claro quien va a ser el asesino, que es, además, de los que apenas sale en la novela
La relación entre ellos tampoco me ha convencido, tanto salto en el tiempo para acabar siendo un instalove total basado en «no sé qué»
Buenos paseos por la montaña hacen que la novela sea entretenida, al igual que el tema de cómo afronta cada cual la pérdida de un ser querido
La sinopsis prometía una trama compleja y muy interesante y, de entre todo, creo que solo sale con buena nota el personaje de Olivia, que me ha gustado mucho.
Noah también tiene carácter y resulta convincente, pero todo lo demás se queda a las puertas
Investigación hay poca, a lo largo de la novela y junto al tema de la investigación del libro pensaba que se iría desvelando algo, pero todo resulta al final de forma sorprendente y se queda tal cual, sin explicación, sin conversaciones, sin confesiones. SIN NADA….
Le pongo 2 estrellas porque está bien escrito, pero como lectura ha sido toda una decepción.

[Anita · Rating 4 out of 5]

Older Nora romantic-suspense, but a really good book that had me unsure and guessing to the very end. Ther is a lot of detail as only Nora can write it about the location, Olympic Mountains, Washington, and the character's lives. Too much at times. Nora has a love of all things horticultural, and it shows in all her books. While the story is about a twenty-year-old murder, she takes us on a deep dive into each of the characters involved in the case. The character development takes a while but is well worth it.

Olivia McBride was four years old when her mother died. She found her father over her body with the scissors used to kill her in his hand. They were the golden couple of Hollywood, but drugs, alcohol and ego are a deadly combination.

Now Noah Brady is determined to write the true story of what really happened. But getting to that truth will require that Olivia relive that night. No one wants that. Everyone involved wants the night to stay dead and buried much like Olivia's mother.

[Laurie (barksbooks) · Rating 4 out of 5]

After reading a few too many lackluster, hard to get into and hard to stick with until the end novels this one reminded me of all the reasons I use to buy Nora Roberts books the minute they were released (can't do that anymore). Her characterization just grabs me from the first page and her books are difficult to break away from.

The book starts out when Olivia, the heroine, is only four and her storybook life with her beautiful movie-star mom comes to a horrific end. Olivia is the only witness to her mom's murder and her movie-star father, a coke-head with a jealous mean streak, is locked up for the vicious stabbing death. Olivia's grandparents raise her in the woods, secluded from prying Hollywood reporters where they all try to forget the painful events.

Olivia grows into a strong young woman but enjoys staying close to the woods and has pursued a living as a naturalist giving tours and helping to run the family tourism business. But when Noah, the son of the policeman who worked on the murder investigation, decides to write a novel on the events, Olivia must face up to the past while struggling with her romantic feelings towards the man dredging up the past.

I enjoyed this book from the beginning page until the end (despite the unsurprising "surprise" reveal). It has romance, murder, fantastic characterization and a sense of place that most writers don't bother creating.

[Jacob Proffitt · Rating 3 out of 5]

This novel broke a lot of patterns for a romance novel. Much of the book was about Noah's book plans and huge swaths of the book were about the central mystery with Olivia completely absent. This might have worked better if the times we get with Olivia had been more pleasant. Which is my main problem with the book, I suppose. I really didn't care about Olivia. She was an emotional wreck, way beyond what is justified by her background (at least IMO). Or, to put it another way, someone who continues so completely wrapped up in herself for 20+ years isn't someone I'm terribly interested in (particularly when so many of those years were as a child in a loving, caring home).

And it really didn't help that she was so emotionally awful to Noah. She jerked him around hard and while he didn't simply take it, his responses came across as more doormat than sympathetic.

Still, Noah was sweet and the story/plot that took up so much of the novel was pretty interesting so I still stayed up way too late to finish the book. Which means I can't say it wasn't entertaining, just that it's not going to be a favorite and I doubt I'll ever be tempted to reread.

A note about Steamy: Really light steam for a Roberts book. There were two explicit scenes, really (one was extended enough to maybe make three), but they happened really late in the novel and did nothing to enhance my sense of their emotional connection or commitment--which, frankly, was at least part of my dissatisfaction with Olivia.

[Erin · Rating 4 out of 5]

Originally published in 1999, this is a Nora Robert's stand-alone that is more suspense thriller than her usual romance. A murdered Hollywood actress. A convicted man who swears it is time to hear his story. A true-crime author who wants to get both sides. A young woman traumatized by what she saw on that long ago night.

Deliciously good! This book certainly put its hook into me. Enjoyed it from beginning to end! I will admit that I had a good idea of what might have happened on that long ago night but I stayed for the characters I loved- Jamie, Olivia, Noah, Frank etc.



Goodreads review published 11/04/23

[Jane Stewart · Rating 2 out of 5]

Illogical plotting. Not enjoyable. Bad audiobook narrator.

AUDIOBOOK NARRATOR:
I was annoyed with Sandra Burr. She has a nice voice for general narration and women, but she is awful with men. She lowers her voice to create weird male voices. One guy sounded like a B-movie robot. The hero wasn’t as bad, but there was no emotional interpretation in his voice. It was monotone and wooden.

Less of a problem, but it still annoyed me was her twang (southern-ish or hillbilly-ish). She said “hees” instead of “his” And she did “ew” instead of “oo” for example stewed (stood) gewed (good) shewed (should). There are many actors who do a southern accent which I enjoy, but not this twang.

THE STORY:
Really bad plotting. Some crimes happen and there is no logical investigation or questioning. No logical evidence. Wrong people are accused. It was frustrating and not enjoyable.

When the main characters have a conflict or fight, illogical things were said. I think the author was tired when she wrote this book since she couldn’t come up with motivations fitting actions.

BAD PLOTTING SPOILERS:

Character A sees a dead woman and picks up the weapon/scissors. B walks in and sees A with scissors. B says “A killed her”. For the rest of the book everyone believes A killed her. No one even asks, did B sees A stab the victim? Or could someone else have done it? No, During the entire book, all characters say A killed her. There was no evidence or investigation or anything to question it. When someone wanted to talk about the murder, most of the characters would say I don’t want to talk about it.

Character A could not defend himself because he was high on drugs at the time of the murder and couldn’t remember what happened. A couple times later he said he killed her. But that was not true, he was just feeling guilty because he wasn’t the best husband. But the author used that comment to confuse the issue - not interesting.

The bad guy has no part in the story until the very end. So we don’t even get to watch his actions and motives during the story. That might have made things better, but no. He’s introduced at the very end.

Also the ending was too sad for me about an innocent man being in prison for 20 years.

A similar thing happened with a second crime. The victim sees his property destroyed and immediately says his ex girlfriend did it. That was not true but he assumes it was her. No one investigates or asks about her alibi until the very end of the book. But for the rest of the book all the characters talk about the exgirlfriend doing this.


DATA:
Narrative mode: 3rd person. Swearing language: strong but rarely used. Sexual language: mild. Number of sex scenes: about 4, not much detail. Setting: 1979 - 1999 California and Washington state. Book copyright: 2000. Genre: romantic suspense.

[Sara · Rating 5 out of 5]

Aproveitei uma promoção fabulosa da Feira do Livro do Continente e comprei «A pousada no fim do rio». Não tinha grandes espectativas. Gostei da sinopse, fiquei interessada em ler mas não criei muitas ilusões à volta da história. Ainda bem porque adorei completamente esta história de Nora Roberts.

O livro está dividido em 3 partes, a primeira com o nome Olívia, segunda Noah e terceira O Monstro, em que cada uma destas personagens é o centro da narrativa.
Julie McBride e Sam Tanner, vivem uma vida de sonho, têm fama, fortuna e amor. Olívia, personagem central da história, é a filha que resultou desta vida de sonho. Mas quando aos 4 anos de idade, esta encontra a mãe brutalmente assassinada aos pés do pai, nada será o mesmo para esta criança. Olívia vai viver para junto dos avós em Washington, onde passa a sua infância resguardada pela floresta e esquecendo o passado. Olívia é uma personagem forte mas ao mesmo tempo muito frágil. O seu passado molda as suas relações pessoais, torna-a fria para quem não é da família, não se deixando encantar por ninguém, com medo de ter um fim como o da mãe.
Noah Brady, filho do inspector, Frank Brady, que tratou da condenação de Sam Tanner por 20 anos de prisão, é jornalista e desde cedo se fascinou pelo caso que mais abalou o seu pai - o assassinato de Julie MacBride, querendo escrever um livro, onde esclarece todos os porquês. Noah, no meio de todo este enredo, apaixona-se por Olívia de uma forma que não estava à espera, tornando-se, para mim, a figura central da história. Ao inicio não simpatizei muito com o Noah, com as suas atitudes, mas com o desenrolar da narrativa, constata-se facilmente a grande personagem aqui criada por Nora Roberts. Ele é forte, persistente, calmo, protector e o homem perfeito para Olívia. É ele que conduz toda a narrativa, todas as pequenas evoluções de Olívia, muito fechada para as relações amorosas e para as relações com o passado. Não só consegue quebrar a fechadura com o passado de Olívia como de toda a família McBride. Noah, é sem dúvida a personagem que mais evolui com a narrativa e a faz evoluir.
Sam Tanner, é um a personagem curiosa, fácil de odiar mas que deixa sempre uma pequena ponta de dúvida ao leitor, sobre o assassino de Julie. O decurso da sua vida é surpreendente e ao mesmo tempo assustador.
Sam Tanner não é o assassino de Julie, vale a pena ler para conhecer o seu verdadeiro assassino e as suas razões, assim como para conhecer o desfecho do amor entre Noah e Olívia.
A vida é aqui muito importante, a vida de todos os seres vivos da natureza, que nos são apresentados como tendo uma razão para a sua existência, a vida do ser humano, à qual ninguém tem direito de retirar.
É um livro cheio de vida, leiam-o!

[Bonita Liu · Rating 2 out of 5]

I generally like Nora Roberts' books as they're great easy summer reads, but I just could not get myself into this one. For a mystery, the plot was not so much about trying to investigate a murder as it was about two people who are somehow super into each other but seemingly for no apparent reason. The characters were two dimensional and the 'twist' in the end a bit ridiculous, like it was chucked there as an after thought. That being said, the book is kind of sort of sweet if you ignore the odd pacing such as the Noah proposing way too early and then talking about children and proclaiming his undying love for her when thdy barely knew each other. Kinda creepy dude.

To conclude, the book was kind of enjoyable but if you want a good Nora Roberts book try Angel's Fall. Much better than this one.

[Meeko · Rating 3 out of 5]

I wanted give 4 stars, because I liked the end. It's sad but happy ending that made me think it was worth to read till end.
I wish I could read more emotions, thoughts and feelings of other characters. And this is way too much sexual scene. No, no, no.

[paige (ptsungirl) · Rating 5 out of 5]

"I didn't choose her. I think I ran out of choices the minute I saw her."

[İlkim · Rating 3 out of 5]

Kitaplığımda senelerce bekledikten sonra nihayet okuyabildim. Seneler önce Ankara Kitap Fuarı'nda bir sahafta bulmuştum ama hiç elime alıp girişmedim. GR'de bile okuma listemde senelerce bekledi, yeter artık okumalıyım dedim ve elime aldım. Şimdi bu kitapta birkaç sorun var. Ben Nora'yı aşşşırı seven biriyim, o yüzden çoğu kitabını da özellikle de Ölüm serisini ayıla bayıla okumuşumdur. Öncelikle anlatılan çok uzun bir dönem, Olivia'nın 4 yaşındaki haliyle başlıyor. Yavaş yavaş ilerliyor, sonra Noah anlatıyor bir süre. Yani biraz fazla uzun sanki... Ya da yavaş ilerlemesi belki de dert oldu emin olamadım.

Tabi ki görünen kişinin katil olmayacağı tezine güvendim. Nasıl Agatha romanlarında uşak katil çıkmaz, burada da öyledir dedim ve sanırım ilk sayfalarda tahmin ettim katili. Gerçi uzun süre göremedik katil kim ama on ikiden vurdum demeliyim. Sanırım artık yazarın beynini görebiliyorum, bence bunu katil yaparsak en iyi öyle şaşırtırız diye düşünüyorlar gibi. Hadi o kısmı da geçtim - tahmin edemediğim katiller her zaman favori romanlarım - sonunu o kadar oldu bittiye getirmiş ki, sanki yazmış yazmış çok yorulmuş burayı da hemencecik bitirelim demiş. Bir epilog olsa, karakterlerin hepsini bir kere daha okuyabilsek kesinlikle puanım en azından 4 olurdu.

ps: Bir de belirtmeyi unuttum ama aşırı derecede imla hatası vardı. Kitap eski bir basım kabul ama dilbilgisi kuralları da senelerdir ayrı. Berbat bir edit dönemi geçirmiş orası kesin.

[M João (Livros?gosto) · Rating 4 out of 5]

Nora Roberts no seu melhor
Vejam o vídeo

https://youtu.be/NzaNjg_LqF8

[Jessica · Rating 4 out of 5]

So good!

[Darcy · Rating 3 out of 5]

I was sucked into this one right away. There was something about the little girl Liv that made you want to protect her, to make sure that the monster never got her, that her mama would come back. That Liv had to see what she did was horrible, but even more chilling was the questioning in the aftermath by Detective Brady. Frank was so good with Liv and treated her gently that I found myself agreeing with adult Liv, that Frank is a great man.

Even when we met Noah as a child I wasn't sure about him. His actions as an adult were more so. He always seemed out for himself, didn't matter if his dream would hurt Liv. I didn't understand that as he was attracted to her, the two seemed at odds. I was glad that Liv realized what Noah was doing and took steps to thwart him.

I will say that early on I guessed what happened the night that Liv's mother was killed. There weren't any clues, but what everyone thought was reality seemed to easy. I hate that when the truth came out Liv's family has to live knowing what they did and you know they will always be second guessing themselves.

I'm still on the fence with Liv and Noah's HEA. I'm more excited that Noah's parents will be part of Liv's family more than anything else.

[Melissa · Rating 4 out of 5]

Olivia MacBride has lived with her grandparents since the day her mother was taken from her by a monster she called Daddy. Now, 20 years later her father has been released and he is hoping the truth will be told. He contacts Noah Brady, the son of the cop who arrested him and is now a true crime writer, to write his story. Will the book draw Noah and Olivia closer together ot draw them further apart with the truth?

This was a very interesting and intense thriller with just the right amount of romance. There is no doubt right from the start that there is something pulling Noah and Olivia together. Noah messes up big time the first time he meets with Olivia and I don’t blame her for getting mad and pushing him away. I also don’t blame her for the way she acts 6 years later when he tries again. Noah ends up being a pretty straight up good guy by the end of the book.
When Olivia’s dad is released from prison and things start to happen I got a feeling that all was not as it seemed. I felt like someone else was playing the game as well. When I found out who that other person was, I was shocked. I was not prepared for that conclusion. The tense race through the forest to the conclusion had me glued to the book and I was fairly pleased with the ending.

[L.M. · Rating 3 out of 5]

I loved most of this book, it started out really dramatic and suspenseful. For the first few hundred pages I could hardly put it down... then the romance angle came in. Noah was a great character, he was sweet and caring and nice. Olivia was eh. Her family was described as so wholesome and caring and yet they practically kept Olivia imprisoned throughout her childhood which turned her into kind of a weirdo. Then when Noah is trying to woo Olivia into a relationship (I don't really know why he'd want that, she's a dysfunctional pain in the butt) he's manhandling her and being a total brute. It was icky. Up to about 3/4 of the way through this was a 5-star book, but I didn't much care for the last 1/4.

[Julie Aldridge · Rating 1 out of 5]

Don't you hate it when you solve the mystery in Chapter 2, but you keep reading it bc you are certain the book couldn't possibly be that simple..then it turns out the book is just as simple as you had feared and you wasted all of that time? Yeah...me, too.

[Cristina · Rating 3 out of 5]

Este libro me ha tenido atrapada pero a la vez me ha decepcionado, la protagonista Olivia me ha caído fatal, el prota Noah es un amor y la trama de suspense para mi ha sido sorprendente el final por quién era el asesino, porque hasta el último momento dude si lo había hecho el padre o no, hasta ahí todo bien, pero el final fue muy rápido y muy triste sin confesiones, sin reacciones de los familiares sin ver qué se hacía justicia, el pobre Sam ha estado 20 años en la cárcel por un crimen que no cometió y el verdadero asesino no sufrió nada y encima cuando sale de la carcel es para morirse en brazos de su hija, no debería haber muerto sin ver qué se hacía justicia y todo porque Olivia con 4 años lo vio con las tijeras en la mano pero no clavándoselas, también me parecía surrealista que Olivia teniendo solo 4 años cuando pasó tenga recuerdos tan nítidos vamos yo con esa edad no tengo apenas recuerdos, no me parece nada creible y Olivia me ha caído fatal por su forma de ser, por su forma de entender el sexo y por su trato con Noah la mayor parte del tiempo, Noah a tenido mucha paciencia porque yo la hubiera mandado bien lejos.Y me hubiera gustado ver las reaciones de Frank ,Jamie y los abuelos a quién era en realidad el asesino porque fueron muy injustos con el. Le pongo un 3 porque me ha tenido enganchada y con la duda constante de si era o no era el asesino, pero la historia de amor la salva Noah y de verdad no entiendo muy bien cómo se han enamorado y porque Noah aguanta lo que aguanta, en fin una decepción tanta introducción durante los años para una historia de amor instanlove y sosa y un crimen que se resuelve en la últimas páginas muy precipitado y se acaba de repente sin ver las reacciones de los demás, en este caso creo que hubiera venido bien un epílogo donde Noah saca el libro y se limpia el nombre de Sam por lo demás la historia de amor podría haberse llevado de otra manera pero fue una total decepción.

[Belinda · Rating 4 out of 5]

4,25 stars.

It broke my heart When I read the first chapters of this book. Poor Olivia. Who can do this to a little girl? The policeman who had the chase I took to my heart because he is human. That is one of the great things about the writting of Nora Roberts. The characters are real characters. The story lines well written. One of the things I did not like this time is that there are 4 parts of the book who are not connected with one an other in my opinion. I loved the blooming love between Noach and Olivia and would love to live in the beach house ore the house they will build in the woods. Just to be clear.... with my family. They have to find their one place 😀

[Laura de Leon · Rating 3 out of 5]

This book was 3.5 stars for me. In deciding whether to list it here as 3 or 4 stars, I decided to round down, since my standards for Nora Roberts are pretty high.

I actually liked the first half quite a bit.

The book took its time setting up the primary romance, starting when Olivia was only 4 years old, and revisiting her at her first meeting with Noah when she was 12 (no romance) yet. Their next meeting (when she was 19) was full of sparks, which lead to some burns, and a refusal of all contact for more years.

This also gave time to develop some secondary characters, particularly the family members. Noah's parents were great characters. I did like Olivia's aunt and grandparents, but they weren't as intriguing to read about.

All of this building of the characters and the overall story was great. I liked both leads, I found the characters interesting, I had a guess as to where the whole story was going.

Unfortunately, once the story kicked into full gear, I had a couple of problems with it that really got in my way.

The first is a common aspect of romance novels that doesn't appeal to me. Olivia is unwilling to get involved with Noah, but he knows better. She tells him to back off, but he proceeds to kiss her, and of course she discovers that's what she really wanted all along. And then she backs off and thinks about it, and the whole thing starts over again.

The second is the guess I had about the surprise direction the book would take. I guessed early on where it was going, but didn't really see anything to support it through the book until the end. Either the reader is supposed to know what's going to happen, and there should be more support for it through the book, or it is supposed to be a surprise, and I shouldn't have guessed so early.

I still enjoyed the book, and if I'd gone in with lower expectations, I probably wouldn't have let either of these things bug me as much.

[Branwen Sedai *of the Brown Ajah* · Rating 5 out of 5]

And she floated, drifted, glided. She imagined herself a single white feather, weightless, spinning slowly, endlessly, through the soft green light of the forest. her heart swelled and its beat quieted to a thick, dull thud. The muscles in her stomach loosened and dipped. As she skimmed her fingers into his hair, tipped her head back in surrender, she could have wept from the discovery.
This, she thought, is life. Is beginnings. Is everything.

When Olivia was only four years old her movie star mother was brutally murdered by her father and she has lived under that shadow for her whole life. Growing up with her grandparents, secluded in the forests of Washington, has taught Olivia the importance and sancity of nature and that people cannot be trusted. But when the son of the police officer assigned to her parents case comes back into her life, seeking her help for a book he is writing, she discovers that she has much more strength than she realized. And she's ready to face the demons from her past. And to experiance a love that she never knew she could feel.

This story was so compelling and thrilling! I almost forgot about the romance that was blossoming between Olivia and Noah because I was so caught up the mystery and intrigue of the story with her parents. This book was so amazingly well written and the characters very likable, espescially Olivia. I loved watching her transform from a scared young woman to a woman with confidence in herself.

[Ela (Mouse333) · Rating 2 out of 5]

This book was fine, but it wasn’t really for me.

I liked some of the side characters, such as Celia and Frank, but none of them were fully developed.

I don’t really know if I liked Olivia or not because this book’s main focus was Noah and him writing the book. While I liked how Noah fought for Olivia even when she kept closing herself off, I really didn’t like or understand his need for writing the book. He said that it wasn’t about glorifying what the criminals did, but about finding out the whys of the crime. I didn’t agree with his perspective, and I thought that it gave more attention to the killers than they deserved and more unnecessary pain for the victim’s family.

I did suspect what happened at the end. It turns out that Olivia’s father was innocent and that it was actually David who killed Olivia’s mother.

This book definitely wasn’t for me as I just didn’t like the main focus of the book (Noah and his book).

[Jonetta · Rating 4 out of 5]

This is not your typical mystery or suspense but it has all of the elements to make it a really good story. Olivia is as complex as they come but Noah was the perfect man to help her tear down the walls she built to cope with the tragic circumstances of her childhood. While a suspect was imprisoned for the murder of Olivia's mother, you're never quite certain if the right person was brought to justice and this book takes you the distance.

To say anything more would ruin the experience for other readers. I highly recommend this book if you appreciate the subtleties of a good suspense novel.

[Christina (A Reader of Fictions) · Rating 2 out of 5]

Well, on the plus side, the mystery did catch my attention enough that I read through 450 pages to find out the truth. On the minus side, basically all of the plot is in the last 3% of the book. It's amazing how little happens in this 450 page romantic suspense. The romance itself is flat and instalovey. Meh.

[Stacy · Rating 4 out of 5]

A good thriller, with an ending I never would have expected.

[livraria pequenita da sarita · Rating 3 out of 5]

Teve a minha atenção toda até metade do livro, a partir daí enrolou e enrolou e enrolou mais um pouco, para no final ser algo mais que previsível.
O sub-plot de romance foi medíocre e chato, ficavam chateados, tinham sexo, ficavam chateados...e por aí andando.
No meu ponto de vista, nenhuma das personagens foi construída de modo a ganhar qualquer tipo de conexão com elas, todos eles viviam pelo passado e apenas respiravam para mostrar angústia ou raiva pelo que tinha ocorrido.
Por fim, senti que imensas pontas ficaram soltas, para a quantidade de páginas escritas, um livro de 400 páginas poderia facilmente ter-se tornado num de 250.

[Tamara De Cubber · Rating 3 out of 5]

3,5 sterren

[Spencer · Rating 3 out of 5]

2020
3.5 Stars

There were several things I liked about this book and several I didn't. For one, I didn't like how isolated Nora Robert's made Livvy be for almost the entire book. I mean, yes, she had family and they were all very close to one another, but she didn't have any friends. At all. How could she not have one close friend? One person that she had grown close to at college or working together at the Lodge or some one that she had met through other family? Something somewhere someone. It just bothered me that she didn't have anyone to talk to aside from her family. And even then she couldn't bring up a lot of things. Talking about her mom would upset her grandparents, so she just avoided it.

I liked the romance between Noah and Liv, although they were slightly annoying at times. I think mostly because he was so pushy for a relationship with her and she was so terrified of it. She hadn't ever had a relationship like that and he had already hurt her in the past, so I didn't like that he was so pushy with her.

I've read this book before, although it has been six or so years, but I still vaguely remembered the ending. I'm glad that Roberts gave Sam Tanner his redemption. What I didn't like was her making Uncle David be the murderer in the end. I mean, what a twist. What a shocker. But the point of it seemed so ridiculous. Him claiming to have been in love with her mother, but married her aunt instead because her mother was married to Sam Tanner. It was just ridiculous. Plus, what a bummer for Aunt Jamie. And why, after all these years, did he want to go after Liv? It just didn't make a lot of sense to me.