Sign in with Facebook
Maja (The Nocturnal Library)'s Reviews > Blue Smoke
Blue Smoke
by
by
Maja (The Nocturnal Library)'s review
bookshelves: romance, romantic-suspense, reviewed-iin-2016, alternating-povs
Jun 12, 2016
bookshelves: romance, romantic-suspense, reviewed-iin-2016, alternating-povs
Nora’s books are one of my most reliable cures at times when my brain begs for a much needed rest. All of us readers have this amazing capacity to shut down and unplug, and for me, the best way to achieve this state of complete detachment from my everyday troubles is through one of Nora’s books. While I don’t much care for her paranormal work (PNR is just not my genre), no one writes romantic suspense better than she.
Blue Smoke is an old one, released more than ten years ago, but aside from the years on each chapter, nothing about it seems outdated. It begins as Nora’s story so often do, with our heroine’s childhood and the traumatic event that will determine the course of her life. From the very beginning, Catarina Hale stands out among her brothers and sisters. She is intelligent, inquisitive and systematic, a child that is never really a child. When a fire takes away her family’s livelihood, Reena knows exactly what she wants to be when she grows up. Everything from that point on is just another step toward her desired career as a fire investigator.
We follow Reena through various stages of her life, from one traumatic event to the next. While her career is on an accelerated path, her love life is miserable from the start. Somehow Reena’s love interests, no matter how superficial, always end up dead, and their death always involves fire. It takes a while for Reena to connect the dots, but not so long to make us doubt her intelligence.
As usual, Nora gives us a strong, independent heroine. She doesn’t need a man to save her, and even when the right one comes along, she doesn’t just hand over the reins. If anything, Reena is reluctant to share her life, but Bo Goodnight is just a bit too hard to resist. As we follow Reena through her education and the beginnings of her career, Bo is always in the background, dreaming about the mysterious girl he’s never had a chance to meet. Even though he’s just a touch too perfect, as Nora’s heroes tend to be, he is precisely what our Reena needs. I adored these two together and I appreciated how much time Nora took to develop a true relationship between them.
Even when her books are not perfect, I never hesitate to recommend Nora � not that she needs my recommendation. The woman is simply magical. Sinking into her story is one of my favorite feelings in the world.
Blue Smoke is an old one, released more than ten years ago, but aside from the years on each chapter, nothing about it seems outdated. It begins as Nora’s story so often do, with our heroine’s childhood and the traumatic event that will determine the course of her life. From the very beginning, Catarina Hale stands out among her brothers and sisters. She is intelligent, inquisitive and systematic, a child that is never really a child. When a fire takes away her family’s livelihood, Reena knows exactly what she wants to be when she grows up. Everything from that point on is just another step toward her desired career as a fire investigator.
We follow Reena through various stages of her life, from one traumatic event to the next. While her career is on an accelerated path, her love life is miserable from the start. Somehow Reena’s love interests, no matter how superficial, always end up dead, and their death always involves fire. It takes a while for Reena to connect the dots, but not so long to make us doubt her intelligence.
As usual, Nora gives us a strong, independent heroine. She doesn’t need a man to save her, and even when the right one comes along, she doesn’t just hand over the reins. If anything, Reena is reluctant to share her life, but Bo Goodnight is just a bit too hard to resist. As we follow Reena through her education and the beginnings of her career, Bo is always in the background, dreaming about the mysterious girl he’s never had a chance to meet. Even though he’s just a touch too perfect, as Nora’s heroes tend to be, he is precisely what our Reena needs. I adored these two together and I appreciated how much time Nora took to develop a true relationship between them.
Even when her books are not perfect, I never hesitate to recommend Nora � not that she needs my recommendation. The woman is simply magical. Sinking into her story is one of my favorite feelings in the world.
Sign into Å·±¦ÓéÀÖ to see if any of your friends have read
Blue Smoke.
Sign In »
Reading Progress
June 12, 2016
–
Started Reading
June 12, 2016
– Shelved
June 18, 2016
–
Finished Reading
Comments Showing 1-3 of 3 (3 new)
date
newest »
newest »
message 1:
by
Juliann
(new)
Apr 18, 2021 09:21PM
Great review! I agree with you wholeheartedly about how Nora’s books take you into a different world, free of the day’s worries .... Her ‘Wired� is fulfilling that need for me right now : )
reply
|
flag
Absolutely true. I couldn't have agreed more. I always like to read a Nora Roberts book after reading a heavy mystery. Her writing just soothes one. What I liked the most is the easy banter at the family dinners. Simply superb.
I never considered my self a romance fan. Usually there just isn't enough there to hold me. But Nora's ability to weave believable characters that you can genuinely like is a kind of magic. I've read nearly everything she's written for that reason alone. She has some stock characters that come back again and again, dressed in different skin - but to me it feels like an actor that you recognize and love starring in the next film. It means she has fully realized imaginary playmates that each are different and completely consistent internally. I go back and revisit them over and over because they are people I miss if I haven't bounced around in their heads for a while. They've become my playmates too.
