BLUE SMOKE 
Nora Roberts
Performed by Joyce Bean
ISBN: 978-1593359584
September 2006
Penguin Putnam/Jove Books/Brilliance Audio
Romantic Suspense
Unabridged Audio Book

When she was eleven years old, Katarina (Reena) Hale, made the decision that she would one day become an arson investigator after watching her family’s pizzeria burn to the ground. As Reena grew and followed her dream, she would experience growth, joy and sorrow, with friends and her amazingly close Italian family.  Reena would have close relationships, only to have those relationships end badly or in tragedy making her even more determined to reach her goal. After reaching her career goal and a dream job, she bought her first house and after moving in, she finally met the man next door Bowen Goodnight. 

Coincidently, Bo had seen Reena several times over the years – fell in love at sight and never got the chance to find out who she was – until destiny and fate finally brought them together just in time to fight a dangerous sociopath who has patiently and malevolently stalked Reena for years. 

***  Writing with a riveting combination of danger and romance, Ms. Roberts’ Blue Smoke  had me totally enthralled from page one to her cliff-hanging ending!  It seems hard to believe that having only ever read Ms. Roberts historical romances before, I was clearly thrilled to experience this other side of her multi-talented writing ability.   [And no, I have not read her J.D. Robb series either, but have every intention of rectifying that very soon!]

From the first pages, I was totally entranced with Reena and her close-knit Catholic Italian family whom Roberts sketched out with total realism, warmth and love that invited the reader in to join in their celebrations of life and love.  It was heartwarming to be welcomed into this family and sharing in the Sunday family meals in a neighborhood I could relate to when I was growing up.  Just as enjoyable were the glimpses of Reena as she progressed from child, teenager and young adult as Roberts showed how family and friends affected her life choices and work ethics.  This was as enjoyable to me as was the suspenseful plot.

With as much care as Roberts used in sketching out the goodness and morality of Reena and her family, she effectively fleshed out the twisted and evil mind of the sociopath arsonist whose careful and patient game of violence against Reena and the people she grew close to began to filter through and make her aware once he began contact with anonymous calls.

Reena’s love interest of Bo was one of the more lovely romances I’ve encountered in some time of reading romance.  Not a super spy, knight, or amazing hero, but a hero none the less – actually my kind of hero – handsome, sexy and knows how to handle tools and can build things!  Wow – I really loved this guy – and even though he worried about the dangers Reena put herself in – he accepted her expertise in her career choice.  You have to love a guy like that!  Through Roberts writing and research I also found the life of an arsonist investigator to be extremely interesting and was fascinated by some of the other arson cases she was involved in. 

Bottom Line:   I loved this story – every single aspect!  The scenes of heart-warming family closeness and love were enough to balance out some of the more violent scenes which brought tears to my eyes and shivers up my spine.  All in all this was a most excellent and highly recommended story!

Reviewed By:

I started reviewing books many years ago - but my love of reading began as soon as I could read and that’s a long time! From my very first library card, I would spend my summers at the local library rather than outside playing. My tastes ran from every horse book I could find, to dog books, then gothic romances, and now historical romances with the Regency period having a very close spot in my heart. [Many of my friends, who really know me, say I was born in the wrong era - they’re probably right.] Now that I am retired, and busier than ever, I read almost all genres with the exception of hard core erotica, horror and anything involving more than one sex partner! I am loyal to my tried and true favorite auto-buy authors but love discovering the newer authors as well. I was once a very impatient person, but now retired, and with a book, an audio, or my Kindle by my side - I am the epitome of infinite patience to sit and wait for whatever comes next be it for the light to change, a doctor’s appointment, or a commercial break on the television!

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