Mind Games was both riveting and compelling. I paired the e-arc with the audiobook, narrated by January LaVoy, which is one of my favourites. January LaVoy was excellent at differentiating between the many characters in Mind Games. Lavoy emotes the characters' grief, heartbreak, and joy through her narration. She did an outstanding job. She brought me along for the ride. With bringing them alive, I could picture them in my mind's eye. It was well-paced and cleverly written. I was captivated from beginning to end and had difficulty saying goodbye to the characters.

John and Cora Fox lived the ideal life with their two children, Thea, their twelve-year-old daughter and Rem, Thea's 10-year-old younger brother, in Fredericksburg, Virginia. The family lived in Virginia in a beautiful neighbourhood and lived comfortably. Thea's parents worked together. John specialized in Real Estate, and Cora was an Interior Designer. They had a healthy and happy marriage that had not lost any of its spark or magic even after all these years. Every year at the end of June, Thea and Rem receive a special treat they look forward to all year. John and Cora packed up their car and headed to Kentucky, where Thea and Rem spent two weeks with their Grammie, Lucy. Their parents enjoyed some alone time at home in Fredericksburg while the children were with Grammie. Redbud Hollow was Thea's and Rem's favourite place to visit. Thea and Rem spent two weeks with their Grammie and loved every minute. Lucy lived on a farm where she grew many fruits and vegetables and raised several animals, including chickens and goats. She also made homemade soaps, lotions, candles and special homemade medicinal remedies called Mountain Magic that she sold and bartered to the people in their community in Redbud Hollow

Shortly after Thea and Rem arrived at Grammie Lucy's house, Thea was awoken from sleep one night by a horrific and vivid vision. Like all the women on her mother's side of the family, Thea had a unique and special gift. She was born able to see things sometimes before they occurred and sometimes while they were happening. That night, Thea was able to see a man break into her parent's house while her parents were sleeping in their bedroom. Not only could Thea see what this terrible man was doing, but she could read his mind. They knew he was planning to murder her parents. As the intruder passed Thea's portrait in the hallway, he felt like someone was watching him; Thea realized that this man possessed the same ability as she did. Thea witnessed the horrific murder of both of her parents. She watched and was defenceless, though, to save them. Thea and Rem lost both of their parents that night. The only good thing was that Thea knew precisely where and who the man who murdered her parents looked like, and because she was able to read his mind, she knew exactly where he was planning to go after he left her childhood home. Thea, with Grammies's encouragement, helped the police catch the man who had murdered her parents by supplying them with all the details Thea had recovered by getting inside the man's head. She helped put him in prison for the rest of his life with the details she was able to tell the police officers.
Cora's mother and Thea's and Rem's grandmother, Lucy Lannigan, had been named as the legal guardian for Thea and Rem by Cora and John Fox in their will if anything ever happened to them. Grammie Lucy embraced both Thea and Rem and lovingly made a safe and nurturing home for both Thea and Rem. Both Thea and Rem healed over time, but Thea never forgot. Even though the murderer was in prison, he was often able to torment Thea and get inside her head as the years progressed. They made good friends in Redbud Hollow, attended college, built lucrative and successful careers, and Thea eventually found love. Through all those years, though, the inmate's voice and actions never left Thea's mind. And it was starting to take its toll on her mind and body. How could Thea sever the connection and rid herself of him once and for all?

I enjoyed listening to Mind Games by Nora Roberts. It portrays the true meaning of family, finding friendship, romance, and purpose in life. It exemplified the way the same gift could produce different outcomes. Both Thea and the man who murdered her parents had the unique ability to see things, but Thea used her gift to help others and for good causes, and the man used him to perform evil acts, which often involved using violence. Over time, Thea learned to trust others again. I enjoyed the cast of characters in Mind Games. The ending was satisfying, and all the loose pieces tied together nicely. I didn't want this book to end. I am hoping there will be a sequel. I am keeping my fingers crossed. 🤞The touch of magic infused within the story was perfection. (IMO)— I highly recommend you read this book; the audio is essential. You won't be disappointed!!

Thank you, St. Martin’s Press, Macmillan Audio and NetGalley, for allowing me to listen to and read an e-arc and alc of Mind Games by Nora Roberts in exchange for an honest review. All opinions are my own.

Nora Roberts is a master storyteller and one of my all-time favorite authors. This book was filled with suspense and very well-developed, likable characters except for one...who is spooky and evil. As expected, the dialog and interactions between characters are so well written! You will not want to put this one down.

4 1/2

If you’ve been a reader long enough, you have an expectation about where an author is going to take a story based on everything you’ve read in the past. Kudos to Ms. Nora Roberts for resetting this reader’s expectations regarding her plot. She made unexpected choices and gave me a pleasurable read with surprising twists.

All of the women in Thea’s family have the gift of sight, seeing and knowing things about people that they couldn’t possibly know. Some, like Thea’s mother, decide not to keep the gift, but Thea does. It’s part of who she is. It also puts her in the position of seeing the night her parents are murdered by a serial killer, Ray Riggs She feels his emotions that are driven by greed and anger, sees his actions. Her clarity of sight sends the police to the hotel room where Ray Riggs is staying. While he confesses to the murders of her parents and others and is imprisoned, he vows vengeance on Thea. It seems that the horror of that night and Ray Riggs will never leave Thea alone.

So guess what. What? you ask (or not, if you’re not playing along 😉 ). I am not going to tell you about the surprising twists or anything else about this novel that surprised me because if you read it, I want you to be surprised as well. Because of Nora Roberts’ longevity as a writer of romance, mystery, supernatural, etc. I have no doubt that her choices on plotting were purposeful and intended to take the reader on a different trip from everything else in the genre.

WHAT I LIKED

I enjoyed the Appalachian setting with its music, food, sense of family, relationship to nature. Thea, Grammie Lucy, and Thea’s brother, Rem, are extensions of that life, capable and self-sufficient. I want to make an apple stack cake.
I loved the close-knit community, fictionalized as it is, and their acceptance of Thea and Lucy’s capabilities.

WHAT I DIDN’T LIKE

Portions of the middle/last third sagged and dragged making me think the book was longer than its 432 pages.
Some characterization felt flat. I would have liked some of the characters to surprise me as much as the plot/action did.
While the depiction of Thea’s parents’ murder was not overly graphic, the nastiness of the situation gave me pause and almost turned me off from reading the rest of the book because of its juxtaposition with the lovely scene of the entire family together. I suppose this was intended, but my reaction probably was not.
The customary romance breakup between Thea and her love interest (not telling who it is) felt a little unbelievable.
Well, ha. The unlikes would almost outnumber the likes if it weren’t for the fact that I’d spent a paragraph raving about the unexpected plot.

I did enjoy Mind Games and think that perhaps I should check out more of Nora Roberts’ standalones of recent vintage. I recommend Mind Games for anyone who enjoys novels of clairvoyance merged with a folksy setting and a thriller feel . . . oh, yes, and some romance.

Many thanks to St. Martin’s Press for sending me a copy.

Thea and Rem are to spend the next two weeks at their grandmothers house like they do every summer. Little did they know something horrible is about to happen. Thea and Grammie share the same ability to look into others minds. They will see the horrifying acts as if they were there themselves.

First of all, I am very thankful that I do not have this ability. I can't even imagine seeing such a thing at the tender age of 12.

Full of suspense and creepiness. But also love, hope and so much more. I loved/hated the characters as I was supposed to throughout the book. They felt like real people to me.

I loved the ending and how everything was wrapped up neatly.

Roberts does it again!

Thanks to netgalley and St. Martin's Press for the arc.

I don't think I'll ever get enough of Nora Roberts. I won't be able to stop thinking about this book for along time. I had the BEST time reading this. She had me so engaged into this story. The first part of this book will definitely pull at your heartstrings. It's got the good, bad, beautiful, horrific, you name it. Nora wrote it so wonderfully and you felt all the emotion and rawness. The second and third part of this book is beautiful . You really get to see there lives coming together. Thea will still be dealing with her past but she will fight to over come it. The characters in this book are absolutely amazing and well written. I loved this family. You felt like they were apart of you family. This book will give you a little bit of a thriller, mystery, romance and even some magic like moments. I had such a great time with this book and I could go back and read it again because it was that good! I would HIGHLY recommend this book!!

Thank you NetGalley and St. Martin's Press for allowing me to read this ARC for my honest opinion.

Twelve-year-old Thea Fox is excited to be spending two weeks with her grandmother in Kentucky. Every summer Thea and her younger brother, Rem, spend some quality time with their Grammie. Meanwhile, their parents go back to their Virigina home. No one knew this would be the worst summer of their lives.

Thea has psychic abilities and can actually see her parents being killed. She can even see their killer in her mind. The family is devastated by this great loss. Thea and Rem now live with their grandmother. Although the killer is spending the rest of his life in jail, he shares Thea’s psychic ability and frequently taunts and invades her mind.

This is a frightening and emotional book. Nora Roberts has an excellent talent for creating characters you can either care about or truly hate. This book has it all. My heart broke for Thea and her family. I wanted to read how they would all survive from this tragedy.

It’s totally engrossing and captivating. A both sad and uplifting story. It’s one of those books I couldn’t put down and had me reading late into the night. Nora Roberts never fails to disappoint me, and this was no exception.






FTC Disclosure: I voluntarily reviewed a free Advance Reader Copy of this book from NetGalley and the publisher. I was not required to write a positive review. All opinions expressed are my own.

I savor Nora Roberts books like the little mini-vacation they are.

In this story, Thea & her brother end up staying with their grandmother longer than anticipated when their parents are murdered - & even though Thea was hundreds of miles away, she witnessed it. Her psychic abilities allow her to bring her parents’ killer to justice, but unfortunately the homicidal psychopath has the same gift she does (he just chooses to use his in a twisted way). Over the years Thea builds a life for herself, but consistently has the shadow of that imprisoned murderer in her mind - & eventually she’ll have no choice but to face him…

Thea’s Grammie is the kind of woman I aspire to be when I’m her age, & I love how NR can make anyplace she decides to set a story a destination I’d love to visit. The paranormal aspect of this book was very interesting, & I loved all the dogs running about (a constant I can count on in NR stories). I very much enjoyed the way that video games were featured in this story, & the unexpected aspect of Thea getting to live many a teenage girl’s dream (you’ll see what I mean if you read it, no spoilers!) was a fun addition.

Thank you very much to NetGalley & St. Martin’s Press for the ARC in exchange for an honest review.

Thea and her brother love spending time every summer at Grammie Lucy's house out in the country. But when Thea and her Grandmother have the same dream, they know something terrible has happened. This is the gift that generations of women in the family have had and Grammie needs to help teach Thea how to use it. After helping the police find their parents killer and putting him in prison, everything should be better, but it isn't.

This is fast paced page turner that keeps your interest from the first page to the last. A very interesting plot with wonderful characters! I highly recommend this one.

Thank you the Publisher and NetGalley for the ARC in return for my honest review.

Nora Roberts is the queen of storytelling.
How good, you ask?
Well, we don't meet the hero until nearly 50% in the story....and I wasn't even mad about it!
I was engrossed in the heroine's backstory, the tragic family history, the fleshing out of the creepy villain.

When our hero and heroine finally meet, it felt like a sigh, like coming home to all of our Nora Roberts' books.

I loved the hero's son. I loved his dog. I loved it all.

Another win for Nora Roberts. She showed us, again, why she is simply a master at her craft.

This novel has a complicated and absolutely compelling plot dealing with two children who lose their parents to a senseless and horrible murder. Thea and Rem were visiting their Grammie in the hills of Kentucky when their parents are brutally murdered back home in Virginia. Thea has the “sight” to see and lead the police to the killer but although he is in prison, he has a thirst for revenge that will not be quenched. The story meanders through the lives of Thea and Rem as they grow up, finish their education and start their own careers. It’s fascinating that Thea’s career is designing video games since she seems to use part of that angst from her parents’ murders to create games about seeking truth and justice. The plot is fast-paced at first, slows down some in the middle as they establish their independent lives, and then picks up the pace again as the killer gets closer to Thea. The premise isn’t exactly believable but it is very entertaining. The characters were very relatable, and my heart broke for the kids who lost their happy family too young and had to make choices to move forward without their loved ones. Grammie, I think, was a favorite character because she is so wise and rock solid during the whole ordeal even though it was her daughter who was murdered. She remained a strong and steadfast presence in the lives of Thea and Rem. I enjoyed the complexities of the story and the way the psychic abilities of Thea and the killer added an extra layer of mystery and some gripping suspense-filled moments. With heart and hope, this is a tale of overcoming adversity and using one’s strengths to ultimately defeat evil. Great and memorable story!
Disclaimer
Disclosure of Material Connection: I received a complimentary copy of this book from the publisher via Netgalley. I also purchased my own copy because the author is a favorite of mine. I was not required to write a positive review and all opinions expressed are my own. I am disclosing this in accordance with the Federal Trade Commission’s 16th CFR, Part 255, “Guidelines Concerning the Use of Testimonials and Endorsements in Advertising.”

In "Mind Games," siblings Thea and Rem spend summers with their grandmother in Kentucky. Thea has psychic abilities that help solve a tragedy. Following Thea's journey from loss to growth, the book blends family, mystery, drama, and romance.

Nora Roberts' storytelling captivated me, especially in Thea's development and psychic gift. The characters, like Grammie, add depth with their wisdom. The audiobook enhances the experience with great narration.

Overall, "Mind Games" is a captivating read, well-written and engaging. Thanks to St. Martin's Press, Macmillan Audio, and NetGalley for the ARC!

WOW!!! This was so good!! I loved Thea and Rem and Lucy!!! I didn't want to put it down. The monster that was Riggs was horrible. Ty and Bray were fun. My only knock, is the misunderstanding that separates Thea and Ty. I felt like there needed to be a little more development of Ty's character or a different reason for the break. But other than that it was amazing!!

I am a long time Nora Roberts fan; I have read many, many of her books and have yet to find one that I didn’t like. This one was no exception! It’s a traditional Nora Roberts, but with a paranormal twist that I enjoyed. It was definitely suspenseful and I really enjoyed the main character, Thea. I am a sucker for a strong woman finding love through adversity, and this one fit that bill perfectly!

Mind Games pulled me in from the very first page. Thea is a smart, strong, capable woman who has lived through tragedy. She finds strength from her family and friends. Tyler has a young son he's raising on his own and has come to his great grandmas house to decide if it's where he wants to put down roots. When he meets Thea and her mountains a dog those roots start to take hold. Romance that makes your heart sigh, the cutest little boy that will make you laugh and the suspense of what is stalking Thea will have you turning pages to the very end! I loved every minute of it.

This was a totally amazing and enthralling story! Ms. Roberts has a way of making the fantastical into reality that is easy to roll with and is so enjoyable. She is a wonderful writer and I enjoy her wide variety of books.

Thea had special gifts that she had used sparingly throughout her life, especially after the deaths of her parents when she and her brother were young. She grows up to be a highly successful video game designer, who had a teenage crush on famous singer Tyler. They meet as adults and their relationship slowly grows, with ups and downs long the way. In the meantime, she also continues to deal with the man who murdered her parents. The climax is so fitting and well-done, totally befitting a Nora Roberts book! Highly recommended.

A must read from Ms. Roberts.
I’m a huge fan of her books and I love how her books develop. I love the suspense.
Thea suffers a traumatic loss that bring her and her brother and grandmother closer together.
I love how Ms. Roberts makes you feel and keeps you on the edge of your seat.
A definite page turner.
Can’t wait to see what’s next from Ms. Roberts.

Reading Nora Roberts is like sitting down in a comfortable armchair in front of a roaring fire. You know you can relax and settle in.

I really liked Thea and the entire supporting cast, the small town Kentucky setting. The whole thing is just so competently constructed, I sunk into the story and hundreds of pages just flew by.

My one niggle is that I always hate reading Villain POV so I skimmed those sections.

Note: I received an ARC of this book from the publisher, via NetGalley.

I finished this in the early morning hours as this cute pup thought it was breakfast time.

I used to gobble up Nora Roberts book like they were life affirming air but as I get older I like to take my time with them. Reading a few chapters a night was my reward for doing the hard things throughout the day.

Mind Games has quickly become a favorite NR book. I adore the setting of Appalachian KY. I love my home state and enjoy when writers do it justice.

Thea is the strong heroine we want in life. The kick butt and take names later female. Family is everything to her whether that be blood or ones she has picked. You mess with family and she will take you down like sticks in a windstorm.

A few scenes will take your breath away at the gruesomeness of a serial killer’s mind. A few scenes will leave you smiling from ear to ear with love. A perfect 4.5 star read.

I have really come to enjoy the new direction Nora Roberts has taken in her last few standalones. They aren't the typical romantic suspense formula and I have enjoyed the change. In fact this is more suspense to me than romantic suspense, but I'm here for the change. In Mind Games we have Thea, who has the sight and on a particularly horrifying night when she was 12 she ends up seeing her parents murder. Because of what Thea saw she is able to give police enough information to locate the killer and put him behind bars. The killer also has the same ability so they have a connection of sorts that Thea spends most of her life working to block out.

As Mind Games progresses we watch Thea (and her brother Rem) grow up in the mountains of West Virginia. We see them grow and change and I loved these glimpses into how they because the adults they are now. As we enter the final phase where Thea is being bombarded by her parents killer she is also falling in love with former boy band extraordinaire Ty, who has an adorable son. Thea and Ty's relationship was fun to watch unfold and you can easily seem them being pulled to each other.

Mind Games felt like the older Nora Roberts books that I used to devour. Thea is a strong and stable through all the adversity that is thrown her way. I can see myself right there in the Applachians with Grammy making special candles and soaps and all the baking. I felt the ending was a bit flat for how long Thea and her parents killer went head to head. Then it was over so quickly from all the build up. I feel the romance in her books now really fall flat. But compared to her recent last 4-6 books I felt this has been closer to her previous work. I enjoyed the dog and the little boy and how Ty was her childhood boy band crush. Now that would be something to end up dating/marrying your boy band crush. Hanson brothers anyone?