Before I start my review I feel like I need to post some disclaimers about this review. First, Nora Roberts is one of my top 10 favorite authors. Second, Nora Roberts is also one of my auto-buy authors (see first point). Third, when I was given the opportunity to receive an ARC of The Obsession I’m pretty sure I screamed so loudly my husband thought something was wrong (hehe). But seriously, I love Nora Roberts’ books and The Obsession was no exception.

Rating: 4.5/5 stars!

Goodreads description

Naomi Bowes lost her innocence the night she followed her father into the woods. In freeing the girl trapped in the root cellar, Naomi revealed the horrible extent of her father’s crimes and made him infamous.

Now a successful photographer living under the name Naomi Carson, she has found a place that calls to her, thousands of miles away from everything she’s ever known. Naomi wants to embrace the solitude, but the residents of Sunrise Cove keep forcing her to open up—especially the determined Xander Keaton.

Naomi can feel her defenses failing, and knows that the connection her new life offers is something she’s always secretly craved. But as she’s learned time and again, her past is never more than a nightmare away.

My honest review:

My favorite type of novel that Nora Roberts writes are her thrillers. There is always an element of romance to them, but it is in no way overwhelming nor the main point of the novel. That remains true for The Obsession.

The first few chapters are extremely intense and involve a very sensitive subject matter. Naomi is only a preteen when she uncovers that her father is a serial killer and rapist. Her childhood is spent moving around trying to protect her and her brother from the horrible things their father did. By the time Naomi is an adult she is a successful yet reclusive photographer trying to hide her family’s past.

Naomi stumbles onto the town of Sunrise Cove, WA and immediately falls in love with a run down, secluded manor house. Despite the odds against her she slowly starts to fall in love with Xander, the town mechanic, part bar owner, rock band leader, and all around great guy. Xander slowly breaks down Naomi’s defenses even as something sinister seems to be happening in the tiny town of Sunrise Cove.

One thing I love about Nora Roberts’ novels is that she never makes the male love interest also be the bad guy. I like knowing I can trust at least one person throughout the novel. From the first introduction you know Xander is great for Naomi. He is a grounding force who loves hard and protects harder. When women start turning up tortured, raped, and murdered Xander rallies his friends and family to help keep an eye on Naomi. I loved Xander’s character. He is a macho man without being a chauvinistic pig. He main concern is to keep Naomi safe from the psycho who is terrorizing the town.

I had a feeling I knew who the murderer was fairly early on in the novel. This did nothing to spoil the novel for me. I loved the intensity and suspense throughout the novel. I was constantly on the edge of my seat. The ending was PERFECT! I didn’t want the book to end any other way. This will be my newest highly recommended Nora Roberts book. Now I’m hoping that they turn it into a Lifetime movie 😉

Keep Me Posted by Lisa Beasley was released a few days ago, and I have to say that this book is one-of-a-kind. I loved every second of reading it. The Goodreads description and my honest review are posted below.

Rating: 4/5 stars! 

Goodreads description

Two sisters share the surprising highs and cringe-worthy lows of social media fame, when their most private thoughts become incredibly public in this fresh and funny debut novel.

Sisters Cassie and Sid Sunday have not done a bang-up job of keeping in touch. In their defense, it hasn’t been easy: life veered in sharply different directions for the once-close sisters. Today, beautiful and big-hearted Sid lives an expat’s life of leisure in far-off Singapore, while harried, iPhone-clutching Cassie can’t seem to make it work as a wife and a mom to twin toddlers in Manhattan.

It doesn’t help that Sid spurns all social media while Cassie is addicted to Facebook. So when Sid issues a challenge to reconnect the old-fashioned way—through real, handwritten letters—Cassie figures, why not?

The experiment exceeds both of their expectations, and the letters become a kind of mutual confessional that have real and soul-satisfying effects. And they just might have the power to help Cassie save her marriage, and give Sid the strength to get her life back on track.

But first, one of Cassie’s infamous lapses in judgment comes back to bite her, and all of the letters wind up the one place you’d never, ever want to see them: the Internet…

My honest review:

I was immediately drawn to both Cassie and Sid. Two sisters that couldn’t be more different. Sid the beautiful yet carefree sister, a bit of a free spirit, who lives in Singapore with her two children and rarely-home husband. Cassie is the typical New York-type sister. She’s more conscience about her looks, her New York style, and whether she’s keeping up with all the latest big city fads.

Their letting writing experiment starts as a way to repeat and preserve history. The romantic notion of having physical copies of correspondence is a huge attraction so much so that Cassie takes it upon herself to keep hard copies of each letter they send and receive. She scans each letter into her computer then uploads them to a (supposedly) private blog. By the time Cassie realizes that her blog is no longer private the damage has been done.

My absolute favorite part of this book was the actual letters. They were about real-life problems that anyone could experience. The emotions shown cut right to the heart. I found myself invested in the sisters’ lives. I wanted the best for them. I wanted them to make everything work out for the best. Each letter dives deeper into the human psyche of what each woman is dealing with half a world apart from each other.

Since this book deals with real life situations and problems that many people face today at times it can almost be painful to read. My heart hurt multiple times because Cassie or Sid were hurting. Their problems don’t just go away like a magical fairytale. They have to work at it. They have to admit defeat in some cases, and they both have to grow and mature if there is any chance for them to find happiness.

This book reads like nonfiction. I had to remind myself several times that the letters, characters, life situations, and consequences were all fiction. I devoured each chapter and letter. I found myself thinking about Cassie and Sid were doing while I wasn’t reading the book. (I know, I know they are fictional characters). I will only touch briefly on the ending by saying this…. IT. IS. PERFECT. There’s no fairytale poof that makes everything magically ok. The conclusion is real. It shows the faults of all the characters and if or how they can get past them

I highly recommend this book to any reader of any genre. You will love Cassie for her spunk and you’ll love Sid for her loving and grounded spirit. I think I’ll always wish that I could actually meet them in real life. If you haven’t done so already, PICK UP THIS BOOK ASAP!

Find Lisa Beazley at the links below ∇

Author Website

Facebook

Twitter

Purchase on Amazon here

A huge thank you to New American Library for sending me a copy of this book!