Member Reviews
I don’t want to age myself or her, but I’ve been a fan of Ms. Roberts for many years. I was very excited for the opportunity to read this book. I was mesmerized from the beginning. Adrian is seven when she first meets her father when he tries to kill her. Her mother saves her and promptly sends her to her grandparents’ home in Maryland for the summer. That summer forms the basis of Adrian’s life going forward. Living with an absent mother who runs a successful and growing business is hard on Adrian and their relationship is slowly fractured over the years.
This book is all about family, the family you are born with and the family you make when the others let you down. At an early age, Adrian learns to depend on herself, and starts her own successful business despite her mother’s overbearing influence. When her beloved grandmother dies, she returns to Maryland to support her grandfather and return to the only roots that ever nurtured her. In doing so, she reunites with old friends, including an old friend's brother. Dealing with his own pain of losing his wife two years earlier, they form a bond of friendship that slowly develops into more. I appreciated very much how the author made this relationship realistic. She didn’t rush these two into something, but slowly drew them together in a way that made sense.
Of course, as is normal with Roberts’ books there is an evil presence lurking that threatens to destroy them and everything they love. The one negative was that I had a good idea who the culprit was and didn’t feel the suspense was as exciting as some of her older books. Although it was wrapped up a little too neatly for my liking it was still a solid Nora Roberts offering.
My sincere thanks go to NetGalley and the publisher, St. Martin’s Press, for the opportunity to read this book. I gave it three and a half stars rounded up to four.
I received this book as an ARC from NetGalley.
Adrian Rizzo was a small girl, age 7, when she met her father for the first time. It would be the first and last time she would see him. Shorty after the incident, Adrian's mom leaves Adrian with her parents in a quaint little town in Maryland for the summer. Adrian recovers from her injuries, both physical and mental and makes new friends.
10 years later, Adrian has a successful yoga/fitness line and then the poems start arriving. At first, they are once a year, at Valentine's Day, and then they start increasing in number. Adrian has enlisted the help of the FBI and the local authorities, but there are no leads. The postmarks are from all over the US so it makes it hard to trace.
In the meantime, Adrian moves in with her grandfather after her grandmother dies. Adrian builds a life in that quaint Maryland time, reconnects with old friends and continues to grow her empire. As she settles in, those letters are increasing in frequency and tone.
Will they figure out in time before s/he acts on the latest poem, a direct threat on Adrian's life?
I received a copy of this book for review from NetGalley. If you enjoy a good slow burn, this is the book for you. The book begins with a lot of action, when young Adrian is nearly murdered by her father just a few pages in, and then it slows down considerable for the next two and a half decades. I did enjoy this book, but it is a departure from the relatively fast-passed Nora Roberts books of old. The characters are interesting and fairly well-rounded, but they go through a heck of a lot of trauma to get to their happy endings, so warnings abound. Overall, if you like a story about family relationships with a slow-burn romance and a touch of mystery, this could be the book for you.
3.50 stars…Legacy is the first Nora Robert’s book that I’ve read in awhile. I used to read her all of the time, but for some reason, I haven’t read any of her latest novels. While Legacy is enjoyable, it is not my favorite story by this author and I wasn’t fully invested in the characters. Rather than being a romantic suspense novel, it focuses more on family and their ups and downs through the years with a bit of suspense thrown in for good measure. At times, the story is bogged down with minute details, but all in all, I did find it an enjoyable read.
At age 7, Adrian's father tries to kill her and her mother. Her Mother fights back and accidentally kills him. At age 17 she starts her own company and begins getting poems from an anonymous hater. Now many years later the poems have gone from once a year to once a month or more. Now that the killer is escalating, is Adrian ready for what's going to happen?
Overall Nora Roberts' books are formulaic, that's why we read them. Boy meets girl, they grow up, and man and woman meet again. Something scary happens (it's romantic suspense after all) and they discover that they're in love.
Overall each of her books is different enough I usually enjoy them. This one troubled me. At one point Adrian's grandmother is killed in a car accident. Then the very next day the Hero's wife is killed in a school shooting. I just found that way too pat. I realize she needs to keep the story moving and somehow get Adrian and Raylan back to their home town to meet and fall in love. But it just struck a sour note with me.
If you are a super fan of Nora Roberts by all means read and enjoy. If you are just beginning her books, check out one of her earlier novels.
#NetGalley #Legacy
I feel like Legacy is classic Nora. It's what I love and expect from her. If you love Nora...I have no doubt you will love this new entry as well.
This book follows Adrian Rizzo for pretty much her entire life. It starts when she is 7 and spans into her late 20s or early 30s. Adrian is an easy character to root for even though she most definitely has her flaws which are actually pointed out to her late in the book. She goes through a lot but is convincingly written as an extremely strong female MC. My one grip which I knew about going in was Adrian's profession. I have no problems with her being a fitness influencer but I wasn't always a fan of how she would push it on others. That did rub me the wrong way but is an overall small gripe in the grand scheme of things.
Her love interest is Raylan. I loved him. He was this perfect nerdy guy who was absolutely amazing. I love seeing him with his kids and his family. Like I've come to expect from the Nora standalones I've read recently, their romantic relationship moves fast. However, it doesn't feel insta-lovey. I think the established friendship really helps in that regard.
The shining moment of this book though...the secondary characters. There is an excellent found family within this story and I adore it. From her school acquittances turned lifelong friends, her business colleagues, and even the dog, they are excellent all around and I adored them all.
The thriller/mystery aspect was also great. I enjoyed the build up and the conclusion. It at times felt like reading an In Death entry which I love so needless to say I enjoyed that aspect of the book as well.
TL;DR - If you enjoy Nora Robert's standalone romantic suspense novels, I think you will be happy with her latest installment.
This review was given for a advanced copy of the book; Let me say that I have read only a handful of Nora Roberts books and this was my first of her Suspense novels. I enjoyed the way that the main characters Adrianne & Rayland have a long history and the depth of the personalities that were brought out, not just in these characters but all of the significant characters. I felt like the “suspense” was a bit lacking, that is to say, there wasn’t enough until the last two or three chapters. I will read more Nora Roberts, just not for suspense.
Not my favorite book by Nora Roberts, but it was satisfactory. I would recommend this to someone who is already a fan of Nora Roberts books and perhaps as a quick book to get you out of a reading stump.
A thrilling reading about ambition, love, trauma, mental illness and taking back your power. Adrian Rizzo from her childhood to adulthood has suffered loss and has been tormented by a vicious stalker. She decides that she will no longer allow her stalker to have any power and takes things into her own hands and will bring him down. While going through this she will find love and acceptance.
I’ve always loved Nora Roberts. This story starts off so well but it becomes too much, too many side stories. I felt like after the first 100 pages, it went into long drawn out parts that were boring to me. I wanted it to have more romance and romantic suspense. I enjoyed the main characters.
This was my first Nora Roberts novel and honestly, wow!! If you like family drama, this one's for you. If you like romance, this one's for you. If you like thrillers, this one's for you. If you like a story about timeless friendship, this one's for you. Seriously, this book has something for everyone and each and every aspect of it was perfect. There is no doubt that this is a 5 star book! Thank you NetGalley for the opportunity to review this fantastic title.
This was a great mystery thriller that I could not put down. Anything by Nora Roberts is a must read !!
I received a copy of this from NetGalley in exchange for fair and honest review.
I truly liked this book! When I first started reading it, I had picked out the "couple" of the story right in the beginning. BUT - that's not the way it worked - at least at first. It was a good storyline, great characters with an underlying suspense. Definitely my kind of book!
Thanks Nora Roberts for another winner!
Another great book by author Nora Roberts. She is an epic storyteller that always delivers a entertaining story.
Adrian is raised by single mother Lina. Adrian's father was Lina's college professor that was married and had a family. When Lina tells him she is pregnant with his child. He doesn't want anything to do with her or his child.
Lina is a career driven women that has created a billion dollar empire making workout and fitness videos. With Lina's work schedule and travel demands the decision was made that daughter Adrian would live with her grandparents in a small town in Maryland. When Adrian starts attending school she makes friends with the nerd group. With the help of her new friends Adrian starts making streaming workout yoga videos. As Adrian's popularity increases she starts to receive letters with threating poems. At first they would arrive a couple times a years and time progressed the letters came more often and the threats more severe.
This book will appeal to the fans of romance and also to the fans of suspense/thriller. The heart of this story is about family and friendship.
Thank you NetGalley and St, Martins Press for the opportunity to read and give an honest review.
This is a standalone romantic thriller by illustrious author Nora Roberts. Having been a huge Nora Roberts fan, especially her In Death series (written as JD Robb), I went into this book with pretty high hopes. However, I ended with quite a bit of disappointment. Please don't get me wrong, NR is Queen when it comes to romantic suspence/thrillers but somehow this book lacks the romance and the thriller!
The book starts off strong, I was pulled into it and through the halfway marked I started to lose interest. I guess this is because I couldn't connect with the FMC, Adrian. I find her pushy, a bit OTT with her shoving her fitness lifestyle unto her friends, a wee bit too headstrong for my liking.
Still, if you're a Nora Roberts fan you might still enjoy this book. Thank NetGalley for the advance copy. The views above are of my own.
A solid mystery/thriller. Roberts almost always delivers the goods.
If you like a strong female main character, outstanding secondary character development and some family drama thrown in, you will love Legacy.
Thank you to the publisher and Netgalley for providing an ebook in exchange for an honest review.
I found Legacy to be a bit underwhelming, and did not care for the pace of the romance between Adrian and Raylan. Every Nora Roberts’s book I’ve read is beautiful in its world building, and Legacy is no exception to the rule. The mystery of Adrian’s stalker was predictable but it was interesting to see what the stalker would do next to elicit a response from Adrian. The conclusion of the book reaches a satisfying resolution for all the characters, and the reader.
Legacy is another superb addition to the Nora Roberts’s library.
Thank you to #NetGalley for the advanced copy of Legacy!
#Legacy #NetGalley
First, let me thank the publisher, St. Martin's press for an advance copy of this book in exchange for a review.
Now. Deep breath, big sigh. I had a very hard time with this book. Here's what I liked: Adrian's friend group, Raylan's friend group, the dogs, Adrian's grandparents and their town and Raylan's kids.
I had a very hard time with the main character. She grew up in a house with a mother who was more interested in her yoga empire than her daughter. So the one time ever that Adrian is left home alone at age 16, she decides to go find some random kids at school, make them her friends and use them to help her do her own yoga/exercise videos. Granted, those kids stuck by her through all the bullshit but I don't like the pretense the friendship started under. More importantly, because the main character and her mother were both in to healthy eating and exercise, I felt like the book was one long lecture on the benefits of both. Adrian went so far as to create videos for her friends unasked for to make them work out and forced gear on them. Yes, friends can say no but all of the health/exercise/pushiness rubbed me the wrong way that I really genuinely did not care a bit about her and her happiness.
Another issue I had with the book was the time jumps. The book moves forward in time quite a bit from start to finish but I never really felt like I was following the jumps. I kept getting confused and having to go back and re-read just to figure out how much time had passed and it was still blurry.
There are also quite a few content warnings that I will be putting under spoiler tags. Overall, this will not be going on my favorites list.
Publish Date: May 25, 2021
True to form, Nora Roberts has created another page-turning story, one that quickly sucked me in and wouldn’t let go. She is a master at writing well-rounded and interesting characters and relationships, and I especially enjoy the way she fleshed out the side characters of this one, as well as the main characters. It also had an interesting, if slightly predictable, mystery B plot, which I also enjoyed. Well worth picking up when it’s released at the end of May.
Thank you to NetGalley and St. Martin’s Press for the review copy.
I knew Legacy by Nora Roberts was going to have me hooked with the very first sentence. I loved this book so much, that I allowed myself a couple chapters a day in order to savor it. I was still sad when I finished it, because I wanted to spend more time with Adrian and the gang. I absolutely loved this book. It had everything: laughs, tears, romance, dogs, and nail-biting suspense. It even made me want to take up yoga! I loved Adrian and Raylan so much. I loved that Adrian marched right over to the nerd table at her new school and made lifelong friends because of it. I can’t say enough good about this book. I am now a forever fan of Nora Roberts. The good thing is that she has quite an extensive list for me to read! Thank you to Netgalley and St. Martin’s Press for the ARC. All opinions expressed are my own.