Friday Five - Five Short Reviews for Nora Roberts Books

I'm taking a bit of a break from my usual Friday Linkups to try something a little different.  I'm in a list making kind of mood so I thought I'd start making random five lists.  Sometimes they'll be bookish other weeks not so much. This week I'm sharing 5 quick reviews for 5 books by Nora Roberts' that I've read recently.

1.  The Becoming by Nora Roberts - Honestly, I'm not a big fantasy reader and I'm not a big continuing story arc fan.  That said if Nora Roberts writes it I'm willing to give it a chance and in the case of this story I'm so glad I did.  I absolutely loved the first book and was fully caught up in this book.  It had none of the placeholder issues that can often happen in the second book of a trilogy.  I am so glad that Marco made the leap with Breen and that we got to see his personality develop as well as his friendship with Breen and see that he gets his own romance.  I did see the secondary villain coming from about a mile away but that didn't make it any less compelling.  I absolutely cannot wait for the third book coming out later this year.  My Rating: Really Liked It!

2.  Vision in White by Nora Roberts - Roberts excels at writing a toxic character and MacKenzie's mother Linda may just be her most narcissistic character yet.  Roberts also excels at writing friendship and I loved the friendship between Mac, Laurel, Emma, and Parker as well as how they used their own strengths and talents to run a flourishing wedding business.  Carter is the perfect counterpart to Mac's relationship issues and seeing them come to understand each other was really quite lovely.  This is a delightful quick read and just the kind of book I expect from Roberts.  My Rating: Really Liked It!

3.  Born in Ice by Nora Roberts - The second book in the Born in trilogy focuses on younger daughter Brianna.  As calm and controlled as her sister Maggie is fiery and unpredictable Brianna loves taking care of people and truly enjoys running the small Bed and Breakfast and taking care of her guests.  Long term guest, writer Grayson Thane doesn't like any emotional attachments and runs from even the smallest whiff of family feeling.  I really liked Brianna.  I liked how she learns to stand up for herself as the book goes on and that she doesn't expect anything from anyone except herself.  She's kind and caring and frequently puts herself last.  I didn't like Grayson nearly as much.  I get his issues with family and commitment but there were times where he had almost a cruel edge that.  I still enjoyed this and will read the final book in the trilogy but it wasn't my favorite.  My Rating: Liked It (3 Stars)

4.  Nightwork by Nora Roberts - To be honest I have very mixed feelings about this book.  I really loved the last half when Miranda comes back into Booth's life and the revenge element came into play.  I loved the scenes that took place in New Orleans and the scenes when Booth was at UNC.  However, the in between when he was on the run got a bit tedious.  I could have used way less of that and would have loved to see way more of the conclusion.  After all the hiding and whatnot we follow Booth through it didn't feel quite fair to the reader that the HEA was kind of glossed over.  My Rating: Liked It (3 Stars)

5.  Savor the Moment by Nora Roberts - This is the third book in the quartet that started with Vision in White.  I skipped the second book because that couple annoys me and went right to book three.  This is the story of professionally trained baker Laurel and older brother of Parker - Delaney.  I love a friends turned more romance and I especially adored all the baking mentions in this book.  This is another entertaining romance with strong friendships and interesting main characters.  Just what I expect in the best possible way from Roberts!  My Rating: Really Liked It