Sanctuary - Nora Roberts
Oct 11, 2019 15:36:19 GMT -7
Banana Boat, secretromancejunkie, and 3 more like this
Post by Mari on Oct 11, 2019 15:36:19 GMT -7
3 ⭐
Sanctuary by Nora Roberts is an oldie but goodie. It was originally published 20 years ago and it shows. The plot centers on Jo Ellen Hathaway and her siblings Brian and Alexa. Their parents, Annabelle and Sam owned most of the island of Desire and ran vacation cabins beside their beautiful southern plantation house. When Jo Ellen was a child her mother disappeared. No trace of her was ever found. The police believed she just up and abandoned her family. This event seems to define all the character's lives. No one has come to terms with the past.
Now Jo is 27, she's a very successful photographer and she has a stalker. Someone is sending her pictures of herself, which is creepy. One day the creep factor exceeds Jo Ellen's capacity to cope. Mixed in with photos of herself she finds one of her mother, naked and dead. Jo Ellen promptly has a 'nervous breakdown' and is hospitalized. When she is released no trace of her mother's pic is found. Jo heads home to the island of Desire and her dysfunctional family.
There are really 3 romances going on. Jo Ellen and Nathan, Brian and Kirby, Alexa and Giff. Then there's cousin Kate who would love it if Sam gave her a second look. With each couple there's one partner who's romantically indecisive. They love the other person, they don't love them. The characters smoke and if men behaved like the characters in this book they'd be arrested for sexual assault. All this revolves around the running of the family business and vacationing guests. Everyone must come together when women begin to go missing reminding the family of Annabelle's disappearance. Jo Ellen's love interest, Nathan, has secrets of his own. Secrets that will destroy Jo Ellen's growing affection for him. As the plot thickens a hurricane is threatening the island. 95% of the book was a huge buildup, unfortunately I thought the climax and ending were rushed.
The book had that 90's soap opera feel to it. I did like the descriptions of the island and the house. Nora Roberts excelled at describing the colorful scenery. If you can overlook the dated dialog and attitudes toward woman and mental health issues you might enjoy the story. I think there were too many romances going on at once. Nora should have chosen one couple and stuck with them. Or turned the story into a trilogy with one book dealing with one couple.
Sanctuary by Nora Roberts is an oldie but goodie. It was originally published 20 years ago and it shows. The plot centers on Jo Ellen Hathaway and her siblings Brian and Alexa. Their parents, Annabelle and Sam owned most of the island of Desire and ran vacation cabins beside their beautiful southern plantation house. When Jo Ellen was a child her mother disappeared. No trace of her was ever found. The police believed she just up and abandoned her family. This event seems to define all the character's lives. No one has come to terms with the past.
Now Jo is 27, she's a very successful photographer and she has a stalker. Someone is sending her pictures of herself, which is creepy. One day the creep factor exceeds Jo Ellen's capacity to cope. Mixed in with photos of herself she finds one of her mother, naked and dead. Jo Ellen promptly has a 'nervous breakdown' and is hospitalized. When she is released no trace of her mother's pic is found. Jo heads home to the island of Desire and her dysfunctional family.
There are really 3 romances going on. Jo Ellen and Nathan, Brian and Kirby, Alexa and Giff. Then there's cousin Kate who would love it if Sam gave her a second look. With each couple there's one partner who's romantically indecisive. They love the other person, they don't love them. The characters smoke and if men behaved like the characters in this book they'd be arrested for sexual assault. All this revolves around the running of the family business and vacationing guests. Everyone must come together when women begin to go missing reminding the family of Annabelle's disappearance. Jo Ellen's love interest, Nathan, has secrets of his own. Secrets that will destroy Jo Ellen's growing affection for him. As the plot thickens a hurricane is threatening the island. 95% of the book was a huge buildup, unfortunately I thought the climax and ending were rushed.
The book had that 90's soap opera feel to it. I did like the descriptions of the island and the house. Nora Roberts excelled at describing the colorful scenery. If you can overlook the dated dialog and attitudes toward woman and mental health issues you might enjoy the story. I think there were too many romances going on at once. Nora should have chosen one couple and stuck with them. Or turned the story into a trilogy with one book dealing with one couple.
