Sandy M’s review of The Collector by Nora Roberts
Contemporary Romance published by Putnam Adult 15 Apr 14
I doubt there’s a superlative, adjective, or any string of words that haven’t been used to describe Nora Roberts’ books over her very long career. Though I’ve been reading her work for quite a while now, there was a few years I didn’t, only because I discovered other authors I wanted to try. But when I had the opportunity to review The Next Always, the first book in her Inn Boonsboro trilogy, in 2011, I realized what I’d been missing for so darned long and I haven’t looked back, reading every release since that time. Doesn’t matter what she writes – romantic suspense to paranormal – Nora Roberts is one of the very few of the best in romance, as her latest book, The Collector, shows us once again.
First and foremost for me, it’s the characters in Ms. Roberts’ books that keep me reading until all hours. Of course, her level of writing makes that possible, as does the storylines she still has running around in her imagination after so many years. I remember her characters even years later, whereas a lot of other authors’ characters I can’t remember two days after finishing a book. Lila and Ashton are one more couple to add to her arsenal of heroes and heroines who will come to mind when the title of the book is mentioned.
Lila is a free-spirited, unencumbered house-sitter. She’s made a nice life for herself, even taking care of folks’ homes out of the country. But at home in New York is her spot, and she’s currently helping out a repeat customer, and getting time in for one of her favorite past-times – scoping out folks in the high rises around her, making up stories for what she spies through those windows. One day everything goes horribly wrong as Lila watches scenes behind one of those windows – a woman being struck then pushed and ultimately flying out through breaking glass to land on the ground fourteen stories below.
Regretting not keeping in closer contact with his brother, Ashton Archer now grieves for the loss of Oliver while vowing to find out what happened to him and his girlfriend before they both died. Discovering Lila is the only witness, he asks for her assistance to prove the opposite of what the police think went wrong. Ash knows his brother was self-centered and found trouble at every turn, which Ash always had to take care of, but Oliver was still good at heart and was loved by his entire family. Once he convinces Lila to agree with his doubts and to help him investigate, the need to paint his vision of her begins to crowd in, along with the same need to have her in his bed.
I love these two characters. They speak plain, they listen, the work together like they’ve known each other for years, and their lives explode in more than ways than one. While fishing for clues, following those few they find, they’re stalked by a killer who enjoys their job just for the sheer delight of it. Discovering Oliver’s last act was to up the ante with the wrong person over a very old and valuable Russian artifact leads them to far-flung places to fit the puzzle together, looking over their shoulder less the farther away from danger they seem to be. Which is a mistake. But wit and guts get them through and ever closer to the answers they seek.
Between the growing love, the persistent evil, the fun banter and lively rapport, and the ever-increasing suspense, Ash and Lila, along with their best friends, Luke and Julie – who have a romantic reunion of their own – this is vintage Nora Roberts keeping you turning the pages, not wanting to miss a thing, and happy you’ve made new friends as they survive a nightmare the average person can never imagine. It’s amazing that Ms. Roberts still, after all these years, gets better and better with each book, but she does. And as a reader, I’m so very glad she does.
Grade: A+
Summary:
When professional house-sitter Lila Emerson witnesses a murder/suicide from her current apartment-sitting job, life as she knows it takes a dramatic turn. Suddenly, the woman with no permanent ties finds herself almost wishing for one. . . .
Artist Ashton Archer knows his brother isn’t capable of violence—against himself or others. He recruits Lila, the only eyewitness, to help him uncover what happened. Ash longs to paint her as intensely as he hungers to touch her. But their investigation draws them into a rarified circle where priceless antiques are bought, sold, gambled away, and stolen, where what you possess is who you are, and where what you desire becomes a deadly obsession. . . .
Read an excerpt.
