Author: Nora Roberts
Genre: Romantic Suspense
Rating: * * * * *
Publishers: St. Martin's Press (Jul 7, 2019)
Hardback: 436 pages
FTC Disclosure: Book from local public library
Within the walls of a tasteful, perfectly kept house in North Carolina's Blue Ridge Mountains, young Zane Bigelow feels like a prisoner of war. 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. Zane and his sister know the truth: There is something terribly wrong.
As his father's violent, controlling rages - and his mother's complicity - become more and more oppressive, Zane counts the years, months, days until he can escape. He looks out for little Britt, warning her Be smart. Be careful. In fear for his very life, he plays along with the insidious lie that everything is fine, while scribbling his real thoughts in a secret journal he must carefully hide away.
When one brutal, shattering night finally reveals cracks in the facade, Zane begins to understand that some people are willing to face the truth, even when it hurts. As he grows into manhood and builds a new kind of family, he will find that while the darkness of his past may always shadow him, it will also show him what is necessary for good to triumph - and give him strength to draw on when he once again must stand up and defend himself and the ones he loves...
This is one of those books that you absolutely cannot put down until the end. While it didn't have any mindblowning twists, (it's more a romance than a suspense story) you'll realize very quickly the who, it will make you flinch with horror that parents could be so cruel. It will often have you near tears, but the main characters had so many Roark/Eve mannerisms and words of wisdom, I knew it would be a satisfying read.
I loved the depth of the main characters and how much they grew and evolved throughout the book. It's not often that the author takes the time and allows us to understand their back stories as well as allowing their love to grow slowly. I loved the locale as it's one I'm very familiar with and was right on the money with the locals in a small town in the mountainous North Carolina hill country. I hope that Nora took the opportunity to spend some time in the Asheville communities and see for herself some of the beautiful scenery and possibly the Biltmore house.
With a gardening soul myself, there may have been a bit too many pages spent on details with Darby's landscaping job but I enjoyed it.
Within the walls of a tasteful, perfectly kept house in North Carolina's Blue Ridge Mountains, young Zane Bigelow feels like a prisoner of war. 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. Zane and his sister know the truth: There is something terribly wrong.
As his father's violent, controlling rages - and his mother's complicity - become more and more oppressive, Zane counts the years, months, days until he can escape. He looks out for little Britt, warning her Be smart. Be careful. In fear for his very life, he plays along with the insidious lie that everything is fine, while scribbling his real thoughts in a secret journal he must carefully hide away.
When one brutal, shattering night finally reveals cracks in the facade, Zane begins to understand that some people are willing to face the truth, even when it hurts. As he grows into manhood and builds a new kind of family, he will find that while the darkness of his past may always shadow him, it will also show him what is necessary for good to triumph - and give him strength to draw on when he once again must stand up and defend himself and the ones he loves...
This is one of those books that you absolutely cannot put down until the end. While it didn't have any mindblowning twists, (it's more a romance than a suspense story) you'll realize very quickly the who, it will make you flinch with horror that parents could be so cruel. It will often have you near tears, but the main characters had so many Roark/Eve mannerisms and words of wisdom, I knew it would be a satisfying read.
I loved the depth of the main characters and how much they grew and evolved throughout the book. It's not often that the author takes the time and allows us to understand their back stories as well as allowing their love to grow slowly. I loved the locale as it's one I'm very familiar with and was right on the money with the locals in a small town in the mountainous North Carolina hill country. I hope that Nora took the opportunity to spend some time in the Asheville communities and see for herself some of the beautiful scenery and possibly the Biltmore house.
With a gardening soul myself, there may have been a bit too many pages spent on details with Darby's landscaping job but I enjoyed it.
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