Nora Roberts is one of my always-buy authors. Her thrillers hold my interest from beginning to end. In Hidden Nature there’s just enough romance to distract me for a while, then the evil plot of twisted people interrupts and invades the otherwise normal story. Glad I read it! Thank you NetGalley for the chance to read an advance copy in exchange for an honest review.

Nora Roberts has a new thriller coming out on May 27, 2025. I was lucky enough to receive a copy from @netgalley and @stmartinspress to review.
First of all, I really like this cover. It instantly caught my eye, I’m always into a splash of purple flowers.
As for the book itself, it did not take me long to read because I couldn’t put it down. I am a Nora Roberts fan and have been since I was a teenager, and her books are always one to two sitting reads for me because I can never stop.
Natural resources officer Sloan Cooper was coming home from a shift with her partner Joel when she accidentally walked into a robbery. Shot in the chest her life would be saved, but not before having to be shocked back to life on the operating table. Sent home to her parents to recover she does her best to get her strength back. While recovering a local case of a missing woman catches her attention. And then another two catch her eye as well. With seemingly nothing in common the cases are unsolved and nag at Sloan. And as more people go missing she knows she needs to find the link and put an end to this.
I am a light thriller reader, I don’t want to be terrified while reading. Roberts thrillers always hit the sweet spot for me with enough mystery and suspense to keep my attention but not so much I can’t get through it.
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Every spring I look forward to the new Nora Roberts mystery romance she releases. Alas this year's release, Hidden Nature, didn't work for me. There were too many plot holes, especially with the mystery component, that stopped me from fully enjoying it. The romance was a little too "insta like" for my personal taste. I did partially read and listen to Hidden Nature. While I enjoyed the narrator, it was hard at times to differentiate between characters and thus events happening, as some happen in different places with different people. Overall I don't see myself returning to this one in the future. I don't regret my time reading it, but it was just a mid book for me.

One of my favorite things is a brand new Nora Roberts book and chunks of weekend reading time. Hidden Nature did not disappoint! The romance was happy, the banter was cute and I enjoyed the mystery. As in the best NR books there's a loveable dog and entertaining family around the romance. Most importantly to me the pacing of the main characters was great even if the crimes were wrapped up right at the end. There was a definite ick factor to the mystery for me but this was a twist I wouldn't expect. I like being inside the head of both the "good and bad" guys like this even if I'm icked out. I did wonder how she was going to pull it together satisfactorily in the end -but she always does. Another win for NR and something to keep me happy until The Seven Rings comes out later this year. Thank you for this ARC!!

Hidden Nature by Nora Roberts is a mystery and women’s fictions with a romantic subplot. If you’re a Nora Roberts fan, this novel will hold up to her promise of characters who are strong from the start, conquering extraordinary situations while loving their normal everyday lives.

This story is told primarily from the female main character’s perspective, but is a multi POV novel. The villain’s POV is eerie, and a stark contrast from the other characters. While the heroes of this novel are level headed and don’t make many mistakes (as is typical for a Nora Roberts story), the villains in this story are interesting, meticulous, and creepy,

Thank you NetGalley and St. Martin’s Press for this advanced listening copy.

I'm pretty much down for anything Nora writes, but I especially love her rom/sus standalones.

I really liked Sloan and Nash. They're both smart and solid people with a loyalty to their family that was wonderful to read. Together they sort of fall into something, first from their shared passion for building and then more. This family of Sloan's is supportive and wonderful and I loved reading them all together.

Plot wise, it's so good. I enjoyed getting the POVs of the killers and how they saw things from their side. As always, it's a sort of slow meandering towards the ending, with all of the conflict and resolution in one chapter. The epilogue was short and sweet and exactly what I wanted for these two.

Overall, it was another strong story from Nora and by now I know she never disappoints.

**Huge thanks to the publisher for providing the arc free of charge**

What do you do when her injured when you need to recuperate from being shot while on the job? You move into your parents house while you get better. This is what Sloan did. she interrupted robbery in progress while she works as a Natural Resource Officer.
However, she can only take so much boredom so she finds a case in investigate while she's at her parents house. She comes across a local woman's case so went missing. while investigating, she discovers that this case follows a pattern for multiple missing persons cases across multiple states.
While she investigate these cases, she keeps crossing paths with Nash, who recently moved to the area from New York. His younger brother, Theo decides to join him and move, too. Nash buys a Fixer upper and is renovating it with Theo. A relationship evolves between Nash and Sloan, and One evolves between Theo and Sloan's sister Drea.

They all begin talking about the case that Sloan is so engrossed in and everyone decides to help out. Nash quickly realizes that Sloan will do whatever it takes to solve this case.

The Romance, setting, character development, mystery and suspense were all top-notch in Hidden Nature. The word building was great, too. Nora Robert's use of dreams to bring vision to the story was phenomenal.

A big thanks to St. Martin's Press and Netgalley for the arc in exchange for my honest review.

expected publication May 27,2025

Very interesting premise makes for suspensful reading. After police officer Sloan Cooper is badly wounded on the job her recovery takes her home to heal. Her family keeps her motivated, although a bit annoying to read about, while she works to solve a crime that has gotten her interest.

The story is interesting and keeps moving. The criminals and descriptions of their actions are jarring set against the rest of the story and I had to skim over some of their parts of the story. Overall the main characters made this a good read even if the 2 parts of the story didn't reall gel together.

This story was very suspenseful. It was difficult to figure out where Clara and Sam was fitting into the story,, but as I kept reading it started to make sense. This story had some tragedies, murders, hardships, friendships, family and love.
Overall, a good story. I found this one different than a lot of Roberts other books.

Hidden Nature is a true classic Nora. The suspense is perfectly built, giving you a secret window into the mind of cult-y serial killers with a mission. Sloan is a classic, no bs heroine with a spine of steel & Nash is a abuse survivor who is finally releasing the threads on his past. Their romance is not as prominent in this story but you can see the slow build from familiar to in love. The crime portion of this book was the true focus of this book. Nora really outdid herself with the crazy on the killer front. I deducted a star because the pacing was a little off, & I was hoping for a bit more emotion and more vibrance from the characters.

Thanks to St. Martin’s Press and Netgalley for providing this ARC. I only started reading Nora Roberts a few years ago, and mainly 2 specific series, but I know she is quite prolific, so I thought I would check this new series out. I found it enjoyable but maybe not as engaging as the other series. For me, the thriller part seemed kind of “stuffed in” to the main story of a police officer re-starting her life after a shooting. It felt like the story couldn’t decide if it was a serial killer story or a romance. I think Nora Roberts’ main fans will enjoy it nonetheless.

HIDDEN NATURE by Nora Roberts is an intriguing mash-up of mystery, crime thriller, investigation, and romance with a bit of HGTV like home renovation going on throughout. The setting of this story is the beautiful Maryland mountains with a main character who is not only a member of the Natural Resources Police but is a genuine lover of nature and all its varied seasons. This is a standalone novel.

Sloan Cooper grew up knowing exactly what she wanted to do with her life. While her family runs a successful year-round vacation resort in the Heron’s Rest, she has her heart set on a career with the Natural Resources Police of Maryland. After closing a successful case, she and her partner stop at a small-town convenience store. Sloan walks into a robbery in progress and is shot in the chest.

After being shocked back to life, she has a long recuperation ahead. She returns to her childhood home, but even though she cannot return to work, she is bored. When she hears about the case of a missing woman which intrigues her. She decides to do a bit of online searching on her own and soon discovers there are more missing people in the tri-state area of Maryland, Pennsylvania, and West Virginia that appear to have no connections other than their disappearances.

As the investigation continues with several jurisdictions on the case, Sloan realizes what the connection is between all the missing, but it is so bazaar, others find it hard to believe, but Sloan knows she is right. When a local friend goes missing, she is determined to find him and bring him home and stop the killer or killers because she may be on their list, too.

This is another great all-around, intriguing and satisfying book by Ms. Roberts. I opened this book and could not stop. Sloan is a strong, intelligent protagonist who is put through difficult physical and mental trials and doggedly continues forward. Her family and friends are all fully developed characters that are a strong support system and interesting in their own rights. The HGTV home renovations add a unique twist to the dialogue and focus when they are not discussing or chasing down the missing. I also loved the beautifully integrated descriptions of nature and wildlife in the area. The crime thriller plotline is woven throughout the book at an ever-increasing pace. The perpetrators are seriously scary and depraved and made the hair on my arms stand-up.

I highly recommend this amazing mash-up! Ms. Roberts is one of my all-time favorite authors and I always look forward to her books.

Thank you for the advanced review copy of Hidden Nature by Nora Roberts. As a longtime fan of Nora Roberts’ novels, I was really looking forward to reading this one. She has a real talent for creating characters that feel authentic and emotionally resonant, and that strength definitely came through here. I found myself connecting with the characters and enjoying the dynamics between them.

However, I did feel that the pacing in this book was a bit choppier than what I’ve come to expect from her. Some of the transitions felt a little abrupt, and at times the story didn’t flow as smoothly as her previous works. That said, the plot still managed to hold my attention. I was curious to see where the story would go, and I was engaged enough to keep turning the pages right up until the end.

While Hidden Nature may not be my favorite of her books, it was still an enjoyable read that entertained me and offered moments of charm and intrigue. I’m always eager to see what Nora Roberts comes up with next.

Nora Roberts does it again! How does she keep coming up with this stuff? As usual her characters are amazing, and very well developed, with a whole cast of side characters who you get just as invested in as the main characters. While this one started out slow, it still kept me reading because of the gradual buildup. While I found the ending a little anticlimactic, it was actually perfect for the character and this book, anything else would have been OTT drama that wouldn't have fit the FMC at all, and the epilogue was just pure gold.

I love Nora Roberts. It’s been awhile since I picked up one of her books but it doesn’t disappoint. I found this one a bit slow going and it didn’t feel like a typical Nora book. I think it was the serial killer aspect. Reminded me a bit more of her JD Robb books. But it was still good. I enjoyed getting to know all of the characters. In true Nora fashion you get to know each character and a lot of small details. If your live Nora Robert’s and JD Robb you will enjoy this book.

Nora has a way of writing that hooks you in early and keeps you dangling, and this was no different, except that I was honestly beginning to doubt where we were going. Setting the foundation for Sloan and Nash was great, the Coopers are a Nora signature family, as is Theo, and the extended cast of Joel and Sari, Cap and Elena, all hit the right notes. But giving Drea and Theo the big lightening strike moment, the whirlwind love story, left me wantin, add in all the page space for Sam and Clara's day-to-day beyond being psychotic killers, and I was flagging. By the time Sloan and Nash have their moments together, I was ambivalent to them becoming a couple. And yet, I couldn't put it down. I had to see Sloan put the pieces together to solve her mystery. I just wish there was more mystery for the reader instead of having it all revealed to us at the start, and more Romance (odd to say in a book that had multiple couple story lines). Thank you for the chance to read this early.

Sloan Cooper unknowingly walks into a convenience store with an armed robbery in progress. She surprises the jittery thief, and he promptly flees the premises . . . but not before he hastily fires a gunshot that alters Sloan's life.

Seconds after passing away on the operating table, she benefits from the feats of modern medicine and is shocked back to existence. Sloan, resigned to a prolonged work absence, decides to live with her parents for the recommended recovery period. While re-evaluating the trajectory of her life and career, she is put on the scent of a new local case involving the bizarre abductions of seemingly random victims.

I adore this fun combination of great character development and exciting crime investigation. I highly recommend this upcoming novel for fans of Nora’s work, crime fiction, murder mysteries, or domestic thrillers.

I thank NetGalley and the publisher for an advanced copy of Hidden Nature for my unbiased evaluation.  5 stars

Thanks to Netgalley & St. Martin's Press for the
E-ARC! Really enjoyed! Dark & twisty and very
well-done characters. Another great book by this author.

I have only read a few books by Nora Roberts. I am by no means an expert, but it amazes me the caliber of writing that Roberts puts out hundreds of books since 1981, and they are all very popular and seemingly well written. The four I've read have all been top notch.

This particular book is a romantic suspense, heavy on the suspense. However, even with the romances and the murdering going on, there are other subplots. This book starts out with Sloan walking into a mini-mart and being shot and nearly killed. The first portion of the book is Sloan having to move in with her parents while she heals and recovers. A recovery, both physical and mental. During this recovery, we learn about Sloan, her family, and the town that she lives in. Sloan has to learn to accept the things she can not control and to rely on others, which she doesn't like to do. We have another POV from Nash, who was an investment banker who moved to town with his lawyer brother to start a handyman business. He and his brother come from wealth and privilege but want to get out from under the family and make their own way in the world. He meets Sloan and helps her refurbish her house, and they become fast friends with Sloan. Our final POV is the bad guy. Who would be sweet and nice if she weren't insane. As Sloan discovers a bunch of missing person's she takes it on herself to solve the crimes, and that's our story!

I enjoyed the ride that we had here, even the bad guys had interesting stories. I think that a lot of bad guys think in this same vein and do not see themselves as bad people necessarily. The romance is slowish and builds from friendship and attraction to more in a wholesome way. Sloan's struggles in healing were nice to read, though I'm sure people who are really shot go through much more, it is still nice to see the addition of the mental health aspects of a trauma instead of just physical. The story is engaging, I didn't want to stop reading, I wanted to know what would happen next. The characters, even the minor ones, were all flushed out and felt important. The setting and imagery were described beautifully and make you want to visit, minus the murderers. Overall, it's a Nora Roberts book, more police procedural with a bit of romance and murder thrown in.

Nora Roberts offers a master class in romantic suspense with Hidden Nature. Great characters and an original plot had me on the edge of my seat. I loved Sloan’s tight knit family. Hidden Nature delivers characters you can root for, swoon over, and a few you hope to never meet. As usual the setting soaks you in slowly and before you know it you’ve been swept up into the suspense that holds you captive until the very end.