Come Sundown

Not my favorite Nora. Too long, the main romance was paint-by-numbers, and the minutiae about running the ranch resort made my eyes blur. The parts about Alice Bodine, both past and present, were heartbreaking but they were not well integrated into the rest of the plot until the end. I would have liked more pages devoted to Alice's trauma and recovery, and fewer to the predictable romances between beautiful, perfect characters. I couldn't help comparing this book to [b:Montana Sky 114144 Montana Sky Nora Roberts https://images.gr-assets.com/books/1309197209s/114144.jpg 1353111], another big Nora book set in Big Sky Country. There were three heroines in the earlier book but they weren't quite as tough or ultra-competent as Bodine, Jessica and Chelsea (although only one, Lily, started out meek and afraid). But they were somehow a little more human. I think it's great that female characters in today's romance novels take no prisoners and can kick a** as well as any man, but I need them to have a few vulnerabilities as well if I'm going to identify with and empathize with them.