As usual, Nora Roberts puts together a wonderful world with compelling characters. Great female MC – strong without being overbearing. Absolutely devoured it. I so wish this was a series so I could stay involved with the characters. A must-read.

Thank you to NetGalley for the ARC of Nora Roberts’ Hidden Nature!

This book was a solid 3.5 stars for me, rounded down. I loved Sloan and her family, as well as Theo and Nash. The plot was unique and an interesting story line, but I felt that some of it dragged with unnecessarily elongated descriptives, especially at the beginning. The dialogue between the “bad guys” drove me crazy, but fit the narrative of who they were and what they were doing.

I would label this a romantic suspense, but not in the sense that there is a mystery to solve, because everything is laid out pretty quickly - just that you don’t know how everything will play out in the end. The synopsis made the book sound much more like a police procedural than it was. This wasn’t a bad thing, just unexpected.

Also, if Heron’s Rest were a real place, I’d want to go there!

As a HUGE fan of Nora Roberts I was so excited to get this book

The concept is really great.

The execution....this book is about 100 pages too long.

I do not need to know that much about home improvement, and this book is overloaded with it, and it overshadowed the main plot of the story to me.

I put it down a few times, and could only read a little at a time

Nora Roberts has written another thrilling and fun beach read which keeps the reader on their toes, trying to figure out the next step in a set of mysterious deaths with seemingly no interlocking connection.

Nora Roberts is the queen of writing! I absolutely love her and every book she writes. Her characters pull at my heart strings, and stay in my memory rent-free. This book was no exception, and I cannot wait to read the next one. The stories and the towns have my whole heart. I love the extra mystery element And all the side characters that bring the story to life. Five stars.⭐️

Not going to lie this one was fairly predictable and it's seems like a lot of her newer books are like. Didn't hate it but also didn't love it. I hated guessing what the characters were going to do before they did

Nora Roberts is one of my favorite authors and has been for years.
I was happy to see Hidden Nature as an ebook on Netgalley, available for me to read immediately.

As always, Nora Roberts does a great job with character development and introductions.

Our introduction to the MFC, Sloan Cooper, finds her entering a convenience store where she interrupts a robbery in progress and is shot in the head and chest.
This takes her to her hometown to be cared for by her family as she recovers.

The family members are lovable.
Mom and Dad are both very caring and supportive, sister Drea very close to Sloan.

Fast forward to the sisters meeting and dating the two new men in their small town, brothers who have escaped careers and parents in New York City to buy and renovate an old home situated closely to the Cooper family.

Early on, we are introduced to the bad guys of the tale.
Clara and Sam are crazy enough to believe that they are doing their victims a favor by correcting a wrong thrusted upon them by doctors who brought them back from death after a trauma.
Having witnessed early on that Sloan was brought back to life after she was shot, it was pretty obvious which path the storyline was headed down.

The story bounces back and forth between the Cooper family and the Littlefield brothers, and
Clara and Sam.

Nora Roberts always make the dialogue fun.
It is a regular occurrence for me to laugh out loud at clever conversation and remarks in a
Nora Roberts novel. This one was no exception... With the main characters.
However, the dialogue between Clara and Sam was just cringe-worthy. Maybe that was by design?

I struggled quite a bit with so very much description of designing and remodeling of the two homes.
Nash's fixer upper and Sloan's new purchased.
Which walls to tear down, in depth description of which material to utilize....

I ended up just trusting that Nora, Sloan and Nash had excellent taste in home design and decor and just skimmed much of those sections.

Another point worth mentioning is that as the story drug on in places I began to wonder if this one would be book one is a series, as we didn't get much movement toward the "crimes".
I would like to have seen more activity and interaction with the public in Sloan's line of work as a
Natural Resource Officer.
I would have liked more details of an investigation into the disappearances.
The "ah ha!" moments for Sloan just seemed too easy.

The ending was also a bit too convenient and rushed for me.
There was very little tension or suspense in the crimes.

Would I recommend this one to a friend? Absolutely. And will.

Was this my favorite Nora Roberts book? Not by a long shot.
However, Nora sets the bar high with her writing and stories, so a dud for some fans, here and there, are not surprising, nor do they blemish the true fan's enjoyment of an amazing author.

Thank you to Netgalley and St. Martin's Press for allowing me to read this one before publication.

Spine chilling murder mystery. A tale I've never read before. Just the right amount of awful to be riveting. Great characters, even the bad ones
Snappy dialogue and beautiful descriptions of an area of the country that is spectacular.
I loved it

I'm a big Nora Roberts/J.D. Robb fan. After reading her books for decades, I can pretty much predict the plot and the ending. Quite honestly, that is partly why I read her books; for the comfort. This was not the most compelling of her books. It was more a cozy than anything else. Nonetheless, I thoroughly enjoyed the read and the happy ending. I am always impressed with what I learn from the descriptions, in this case of the natural beauty of the book's location and of the renovations. I'm always looking around my house thinking about what I'd do if only ... I had the necessary help and money.
I'd give it a 3.75

I know Nora is fond of recycling and I can't even say this one was a direct recycle, but of all the books I never expected to find a comp to again, Divine Evil was it. And yet, as I read <spoiler>the blood draining villains</spoiler> all I could think about was the satanic cult at the center of that book. As ever, Nora remains the queen of the home renovation plot and I could and would read a billion words of her describing interiors. Romances were fine!

<i>Thank you to NetGalley and the publisher for the ARC.</i>

Hidden nature is a very intense book. Many trigger warnings: serial killers, mutalations, This was a hard book for me to get through, I didn’t want our main character to go through harmful situation

Nora Roberts is just the best storyteller! Sloan is a Natural Resources Police Officer, walked into a convenience story where there was a robbery in progress and gets shot. Her heart stopped more than once and she had to be resuscitated . It took her some time to recover and she stayed with her parents for her recovery. She is not one to be brought down and she fought to bet her life back up. Even while recovering she still worked on a case that mystified her. How she investigated and tried to solve the case is fascinating. I loved especially the background of her family and their stories. I will read everything this author writes.
I voluntarily read and reviewed an advance copy of this book. All thoughts and opinions are my own.

I wouldn't call this a thriller, but it is suspenseful. This has a cozy mystery vibe. Small town. Close family feelings. Behind closed doors sexual content (meaning it's a clean read.) There is some mild language throughout. The Protagonist is a officer of the law, so smart and observant and has a strong will. She gets injured on the job, but not in the line of duty, and goes back to her hometown for rest and rehab. While unable to be physically active, her mind hasn't stopped running, so to keep herself busy, she looks into a missing person case "off the clock.' One missing person turns into two, which turns into more. When she figures out the connection between all the missing, she discovers she fits the bill. Meanwhile, new neighbors move in, houses get remodeled, people fall in love, people die. The book reads in 3rd person POV, which is noy my favorite, so it took me awhile to get into it. The story is a somewhat slow moving story. Things are happening throughout, but there is no one big event that catapults the story or pushing it along. Things happen at a gradual pace. (With the exception of the big reveal ending.) The characters are written well, and well developed. All very likeable (well, maybe not the villains.) There is romance as well. The story is interesting enough. It would have been interesting to learn a little more about the villains... more about their background and exactly how the two met and how they came about their beliefs (in regards to why the kidnappings.) We know the 'why' but how they came to that realization. It does have a HEA ending for our Heroine.

*I received an ARC of this book from Netgalley.

Thanks to Netgally and the publisher for an ARC in exchange for an honest review!
I love the way that Nora Roberts tells a story. The mystery/suspense, the romance, the details about the story and the setting, and the way she just connects you to the characters and their story is not something a lot of author's can do. This story was so good. The first chapter had me hooked and I was invested in seeing Sloane recover, find herself and what's really important in her life, and kick some major butt at her job. The mystery kept me guessing, the romance wasn't over the top, and I loved every minute.

I want to thank St Martin’s Press and NetGalley for allowing me to read and review Hidden Nature by Nora Roberts.
Sloan is dead! That’s how this creepy book starts! Sloan is brought back to life after she is declared dead for a short period of time.
Seems someone out there feels that bringing people back to life is wrong. They should be allowed to die and be at peace! What is of utmost importance is finding out what their death experience was like!
The main character is Sloan. As a police officer she begins to investigate people suddenly disappearing for no reason and sets out to connect them.
And of course there is a love story or two when the Littlefield brothers buy a dilapidated old house near Sloan’s family home.
Good well defined characters.
A predictable ending?
Hidden Nature is scheduled to publish 05/27/2025.

Nora Robert’s has done it again. I just love her books. The ending felt a little rushed, but overall, a great read.

Roberts/Robb does it again in this tale of murder and romance set in the mountains. Sloan Cooper, a DNR police officer based in Annapolis, and her partner, Joel, have just captured some criminals who have been preying on hikers. Stopping for gas and a bathroom break on the way back to the office, Sloan stumbles into a robbery and is shot twice.

After being resuscitated and undergoing surgery and a hospital stay, she spends her convalescence back home with her family at the mountain resort they own and run. The local police chief, a friend of the family and her inspiration for becoming an officer of the law, checks in on her and answers her questions about local happenings. She's especially interested in the mysterious disappearance of a young woman who vanished from the grocery store parking lot Thanksgiving Eve and, to keep her mind busy, decides to see what she can learn about the case on her own.

Brothers Nash and Theo have recently relocated from NY and opened their own fix-it business, timely for the Coopers as their previous jack-of-all-trades retired. Drea, Sloan's sister, quickly falls for Theo. While Sloan enjoys Nash's company, she isn't looking for romance. Instead, she's thrilled to spend time with someone who listens to her disappearance theories. Nash collaborates with her on her theories and she identifies other people who have mysteriously disappeared and may have connections to the missing woman.

Working with police in three states, Sloan dives deeper into the motive behind the disappearances, putting her own life in danger.

This is the kind of book that makes a reader want to check back in with the characters a few years later to see how things turned out in their 'happily ever afters'. Recommended for the author's fans as well as anyone who enjoys a mystery and a little romance.

I really enjoyed this book. Nora really pulled me into the story right from the beginning, so much so, that I finished the book in two days. The plot is well paced and there is great development of the main characters. The setting is described so well, that you can visualize yourself in Heron’s Rest. This book encompasses everything I enjoy in a book - romance, suspense, an investigation into murders, and even remodeling homes.

Thank you St. Martin's Press and NetGalley for a copy of Nora Roberts work in exchange for my honest review.

Thank you to NetGalley for this ARC.

So, I have been a Nora reader for over 10 years now. No one does romantic suspense better than her. Literally, no one. Every year I look forward to the release of her standalone and this book was so good. She tells you in the beginning who the bad guys are and you follow along with them as well as the central figures of the novel throughout the story.
The romance was perfectly done, and believable. The family dynamics and members of said family added richness to the story. And, as always, Nora hits us with the competence porn. This time, in terms of home renovations and nature through the eyes of a Natural Resource Police Officer.
Thanks to this book, I now know the sounds of a Great Horned Owl and the coloring of a Walleye.

Sloan Cooper, a Natural Resources police officer, finds herself thrust into a life-altering situation when she stumbles upon a robbery in progress and is nearly killed. After being revived on the operating table, Sloan faces a long and arduous recovery and temporarily moves back to her hometown, Heron’s Rest, to heal under the care of her supportive parents.

During her convalescence, Sloan becomes intrigued by the case of a missing woman. A mystery that lingers in her mind until she can no longer ignore it. Armed with determination and a growing body of research, she convinces her boss to let her investigate the case informally in her spare time. What begins as a single missing person case soon unravels into a chilling pattern: multiple disappearances across three states, with victims of all ages and backgrounds. The only common thread? Each victim had been resuscitated at some point in their lives—just like Sloan.

As Sloan delves deeper into the investigation and gets closer to the truth, she must rely on her wits, resilience, personal strength, and the strength of her relationships to outsmart a serial killer and survive.

Nora Roberts once again delivers a richly descriptive and immersive world. The characters are vividly drawn, and I found myself particularly fond of Sloan, Nash, Drea, Theo, and Sloan’s parents. The search for the killer or killers added just the right amount of tension and suspense to keep me on edge, and each character felt authentic and contributed meaningfully to the story.

That said, while the story was engaging and kept me hooked, I occasionally felt the narrative relied too much on telling rather than showing. For example, while the day-to-day details and the renovations of Sloan’s and Nash's home were described in depth, the investigation itself sometimes felt glossed over. I would have loved more scenes of Sloan actively piecing together clues or confronting suspects to heighten the suspense. Additionally, the ending felt somewhat abrupt, leaving me wanting more closure—though this could simply be because I wasn’t ready to let go of the story.

Overall, 'Hidden Nature' is a blend of mystery, thriller, and romance, with a strong, relatable protagonist at its core. Despite a few pacing issues, it’s a gripping read that fans of Nora Roberts—and newcomers to her work—will likely enjoy.

Note: This advanced reader copy (ARC) is an uncorrected proof.
Mystery & Thrillers | Romance | Women's Fiction