Jennie's B(ook)log

Title: Sanctuary
Author: Nora Roberts
Published: 1998, Jove
Category: Contemporary Romance/Suspense
Rating: 6/10

I bought this at the airport on my trip to Texas last weekend. I had packed Lake of Sorrows, a mystery that I've been meaning to read. This was a mistake because it was a little too heavy to read while traveling. I am a total spaz about traveling--I'm going to be late for my plane! Did I remember to take my pocket knife out of my purse? WHY is that baby crying so loudly? My ass hurts in this awful chair. How do those oxygen masks work? Fret, fret, fret.

Really, it's not pretty. So I decided a nice Nora Roberts, who I almost always love, would be something I could fall right into and be a good distraction for the 3-hr plane ride. And it was. But it's definitely not my favorite NR.

Jo Ellen Hathaway is a famous photographer who is being stalked by a man who is following her around taking pictures of her and then sending them to her. She is understandably creeped out by this, so she decides to go home to Sanctuary, which is the name of the house where she grew up on an island off the coast of Georgia. She and her family have not been close ever since her mother abandoned them 20 years ago. They're still dealing with the fact that they never found out what happened to her. She meets Nathan Delaney who is vacationing on the island and has a terrible secret that is connected to the Hathaway family. Jo's stalker has of course followed her to Georgia, and we have an exciting climax during a hurricane.

I loved the setting of this book. It's something Roberts does so well. She really captures the feeling of the island. Plus it's in the south, on a barrier island. YAY!

I also liked the big cast of side characters--Jo's brother and sister both get romances too. (Though it is incredibly unrealistic that three siblings would all meet their future spouses within 2 days of each other, unless someone put some love potion in their water supply or something.) It's a lot to cram into one book, but she manages to make each of the side stories interesting and sweet. Though I think she does this even better in Montana Sky (probably my favorite NR) which has three sisters all falling in love in the same book.

What didn't work for me so much was the suspense part of the book. It was just a little predictable. I mean, I never guess who the bad guy is, and I knew who it was. Also she drops little hints early on that Nathan is the villain, and this annoys me. It's a romance book, we KNOW that the guy who the heroine falls for isn't going to turn out to be evil. Even I am not that gullible.

Still a good read though.