Ratings6
Average rating3.3
For both Zane and Darby, their small town roots hold a terrible secret. Now, decades later, they've come together to build a new life. But will the past set them free or pull them under? Zane Bigelow grew up in a beautiful, perfectly kept house in North Carolina’s Blue Ridge Mountains. Strangers and even Zane’s own aunt across the lake see his parents as a successful surgeon and his stylish wife, making appearances at their children’s ballet recitals and baseball games. Only Zane and his sister know the truth, until one brutal night finally reveals cracks in the facade, and Zane escapes for college without a thought of looking back... Years later, Zane returns to his hometown determined to reconnect with the place and people that mean so much to him, despite the painful memories. As he resumes life in the colorful town, he meets a gifted landscape artist named Darby, who is on the run from ghosts of her own. Together they will have to teach each other what it means to face the past, and stand up for the ones they love.
Reviews with the most likes.
A reread, since apparently I'm getting into “horrific events treated gently and kindly” at the moment. This lives up to the rest of Roberts' novels. I think my only quibble was with the concept of every bad guy coming out of the woodwork in the span of a couple months, just to throw themselves upon the barricades and get hauled to jail. I know that's just the nature of a story, but it was right there at the edge of my suspension of disbelief. The characters, though, are believable and a delight, as always.
Her thrillers are just very hit or miss for me. This one felt a bit too all over the place with the only cohesive theme to the plot lines being domestic violence. Just not for me.
I'm glad I listened to this book rather than read it. When I thought it was over, it wasn't and it kept me from looking too far ahead and guessing so I was more surprised. If I read the book I would have known it wasn't over and would have been guessing regarding the next parts of the story. As with any Nora Roberts book, I liked it. Nothing deep. I call these cotton candy books and it did the trick!