Book Review- Tuesday.. Whiskey Beach by Nora Roberts

WHISKEY BEACH by Nora Roberts- Book Review

for 3/4/2014

**Side note:  I know that I was SUPPOSED to be reviewing COMPLETE ME by J. Kenner (Stark Trilogy), but I haven't been able to pick it up this week. I have two sick kids- still, one is on breathing treatments every 3 hours and with keeping up on cleaning to get rid of these germs, I have not had  a minute to myself- sorry! Tune in next week!**

 

Book Cover from Barnesandnobles.com

I am reviewing Whiskey Beach by Nora Roberts this week. I read this book in February of this year and have it still pretty fresh in my mind. I think that it should be noted that I  might do a lot of book reviews about Nora Robert's Books- I am a HUGE fan! I love to write and feel that I idolize the way that she write and captures the pictures in her stories and try my hardest to reflect that quality in my own work. 

So, onto Whiskey Beach. It is centered around an old historic home, Bluff House that sits on Whiskey Beach.  The main character is Eli Landon, a lawyer from Boston who goes back to the house, which his Grandmother lives in, after there is a murder, involving his ex-wife.  His Grandmother has a fall in the house late one evening and is back in Boston with the rest of Eli's family and has entrusted Eli to take care of the house in her absence, while she is on the mend. She really wants him to relieve some of the stress that he is under due to being under investigation for the murder.

Eli is fighting his demons during the story and relieving a lot of the past. He meets his Grandmother's "housekeeper" Abra Walsh.  Her character is presented as a bit of an eccentric, she teaches yoga, which Eli finds out his Grandmother attends regularly, she makes jewelry and does massages. She is on top of everything from getting the groceries that Eli likes, to talking to his Grandmother on a regular basis. 

There is definitely a spark between the two and during the story you watch what unfolds, all while the house unlocks its own old secrets. Murder starts to happen within Whiskey Beach's community and stirs controversy with Eli's recent visit. 

Eli and Abra are also dealing with an intruder in both Abra's home and in Eli's, attacking Abra, while trying to reach the basement. It leads to the discovery that the intruder was in the house the the night that Eli's Grandmother was attacked. 

There is a man who will stop at nothing to destroying Eli and his reputation. 

***I think that Nora produced a page turner with this one, as I could NOT put it down. I read it cover to cover (well, on the Nook of course) in less than 2 days. I was engrossed with the budding romance of Eli and Abra, hooked with the historical house and the picture it painted and taken back with the twist of the plot and trying to find out the "who Dun it" of the story line.

ANOTHER REVIEW:

Adapted from: Goodreads.com  

After a year spent at the center of a murder investigation, Boston lawyer Eli Landon has taken refuge at Bluff House, his family’s home in Whiskey Beach. Eli’s tired of the spotlight and the accusing stares from people who believed he killed his wife during their acrimonious divorce. He wants peace and finds it at Bluff House. Until housekeeper/yoga instructor/massage therapist/jewelry designer Abra Walsh turns his world upside down. Abra seems determined to bring Eli back into the world of the living — whether he likes it or not. But there’s someone in Whiskey Beach who’d like to do more than see Abra fail. Someone’s out to destroy Eli Landon, and they’ll kill anyone who gets in their way.

Nora Roberts takes readers on an engrossing journey of love, lust, betrayal, and treasure in Whiskey Beach and I, for one, could not be more delighted.

In many ways, Whiskey Beach is Eli’s story. Eli’s a successful criminal attorney who lost a lot of himself when he was accused of murdering his soon-to-be-ex wife. He’s been hounded more than anyone could handle and it’s no surprise he begins the story a bit broken. I loved watching Eli develop over the course of Whiskey Beach. Seeing him come out of the darkness thanks, in large part, to Abra, was a joy all of its own. And speaking of Abra… What a heroine. She bursts onto the page with a palpable energy that endeared her to me from the start. I adored her strength, charm, and attitude toward life. The romance between her and Eli develops so smoothly over the course of the book that I was amazed; no one can write such flawlessly organic love stories like Ms. Roberts. Separately and together, Eli and Abra are dynamic and are sure to draw readers into the world of Whiskey Beach.

A healthy dose of intrigue from not one, but two mysteries rounds out Whiskey Beach. Buried treasure and murder ensure there’s quite a bit of suspense and keep Whiskey Beach moving at a quick clip. I won’t say much about these storylines other than they’re excellently crafted and even if you can see what’s going to happen, the way Ms. Roberts writes the story each revelation and action sequence is still exciting.

ABOUT NORA ROBERTS:

Nora Roberts- goodbook.com

aka 

Jill March
J.D. Robb
Sarah Hardesty


Eleanor Marie Robertson was born on October 10, 1950 in Silver Spring, Maryland, USA. She was the youngest of five children, also the only girl, of a marriage with Irish ancestors. Her family were avid readers, so books were always important in her life. She attended a Catholic school and credits the nuns with instilling in her a sense of discipline. During her sophomore year in high school, she transferred to a local public school, where she met Ronald Aufdem-Brinke, her future first husband.

In August 17, 1968, as soon as she had graduated from high school, Eleanor married, against her parents' wishes; the couple settled in Keedysville, Maryland. Her husband worked at his father's sheet-metal business before joining Nora's parents in their lighting company, while she worked briefly as a legal secretary. "I could type fast but couldn't spell; I was the worst legal secretary ever," she says now. After their sons, Dan and Jason, were born, she stayed home. Calling this her "Earth Mother" years, she spent much of her time doing crafts, including ceramics and sewing her children's clothes. The couple ended up separating; they divorced in January 1985.

In February 1979, a blizzard forced her hand to try another creative outlet. She was snowed in with a three- and a six-year-old with no kindergarten respite in sight and a dwindling supply of chocolate. During the now famous blizzard, she pulled out a pencil and notebook and began to write down one of her stories. It was then that a career was born. Several manuscripts and rejections later, her first book, Irish Thoroughbred, was published by Silhouette in 1981 under the authorship of Nora Roberts, a shortened form of her birth name Eleanor Marie Robertson, because she assumed that all authors had pen names.

Eleanor wrote, under another pseudonym (Jill March), a story titled "Melodies of Love" for a magazine.

Eleanor met her second husband, Bruce Wilder, when she hired him to build bookshelves. They were married in July 1985. Bruce owns and operates a bookstore in Boonsboro, Maryland called "Turn the Page Books". Since getting married, Eleanor and Bruce have expanded their home and traveled the world.

In 1992, she adopted another pseudonym so as to publish a futuristic-suspense novel series. She first decided to use the pseudonym D.J. MacGregor, but discovered that this pseudonym was used by another author. In 1995, her first "In Death" serial novel was published under the pseudonym J.D. Robb. The initials "J.D." were taken from her sons, Jason and Dan, while "Robb" is a shortened form of Roberts.

Eleanor has also been known as Sara Hardesty, because when the "Born In" series was released in U.K. it carried that name instead of Nora Roberts. She has since changed publishers.

Eleanor has been plagiarized by another best-selling romance writer, Janet Dailey. The practice came to light after a reader read Nora Roberts' Sweet Revenge and Janet Dailey's Notorious back-to-back; the reader noticed several similarities and posted the comparable passages on the Internet. Calling the plagiarism "mind rape," Eleanor sued Janet Daily. In 1997, Janet admitted to repeatedly plagiarizing from Nora Roberts' work and that both Aspen Gold and Notorious lifted heavily from Roberts' work. Both of those novels were pulled from print after Janet's admission. She acknowledged the plagiarism and blamed it on a psychological disorder. In a settlement, Janet paid Eleanor an undisclosed sum, which Eleanor donated to the Literacy Volunteers of America.

A founding member of the Romance Writers of America (R.W.A.), Eleanor was the first inductee in the organization's Hall of Fame. She also is a member of several writers' groups and has won countless awards.

**Recommended Books**

Inn Boonsboro Trilogy (these are ecelent!)

Wedding Quartet

Sign of Seven (really good Trilogy!)

Midnight Bayou (my favorite!)

Cousins O'Dwyer (new triology- read the 1st book and LOVED IT!)

 

 

Enjoy!

~KEL~