Identity

 

NORA ROBERTS

Stats for my copy: Kindle edition, Pdf, St. Martin’s Press; expected publication May 2023.

How acquired: NetGalley.

(Goodreads synopsis below.)

My thoughts: I’ve only previously read six books by Nora Roberts and for the most part I’ve enjoyed them (especially BLACK HILLS which I highly recommend). But this one...just wasn’t at all what I expected I guess. I didn’t love it, didn’t hate it, but it was a bit of a slog to get through. I mean, when work is really busy it can take me longer to read a book, but this one took a month. Literally a month minus one day. Part of it was the writing style, which I do not remember from her previous books.

When she went over to join him, sat, she let out a sigh.

Smiling, Olivia reached down, gripped Morgan’s chin, gave it a gentle wiggle.

Those are just two small examples of the myriad sentences in the book with multiple commas and an absence of such words as “and” or “then”. I found it a bit jarring. And while I read an uncorrected digital galley of the book, meaning those quoted lines could of course be changed in the final copy, there are so many instances of the issue I’m complaining about that I’m confident they are not typos that will be edited or fixed but rather an artistic choice by the author.

I expected a romantic suspense story. There was very little suspense until the very end, and while there is a romance it wasn’t particularly romantic, other than the occasional passage here and there. I did quite like the hero, Miles, but as appealing as he was he didn’t seem fleshed out as much as the heroine. Which, of course it’s really her story, so that could have also been a choice the author made.

Overall, I enjoyed some parts much more than others, and I did love the relationship between the heroine and Howl, the hero’s dog. But I probably could have misplaced the book (or lost it from my Kindle app) at any point in the story and not been invested enough to really care if I never finished it. Regardless, I will continue to read Ms. Roberts’ books since I have very much enjoyed some of her in the past.

*received via NetGalley and voluntarily reviewed*

Goodreads Synopsis: 

Former Army brat Morgan Albright has finally planted roots in a friendly neighborhood near Baltimore. Her friend and roommate Nina helps her make the mortgage payments, as does Morgan's job as a bartender. But after she and Nina host their first dinner party—attended by Luke, the flirtatious IT guy who'd been chatting her up at the bar—her carefully built world is shattered. The back door glass is broken, cash and jewelry are missing, her car is gone, and Nina lies dead on the floor.

Soon, a horrific truth emerges: It was Morgan who let the monster in. "Luke” is actually a cold-hearted con artist named Gavin who targets a particular type of woman, steals her assets and identity, and then commits his ultimate goal: murder.

What the FBI tells Morgan is beyond chilling. Nina wasn't his type. Morgan is. Nina was simply in the wrong place at the wrong time. And Morgan's nightmare is just beginning. Soon she has no choice but to flee to her mother's home in Vermont. While she struggles to build something new, she meets another man, Miles Jameson. He isn't flashy or flirtatious, and his family business has deep roots in town. But Gavin is still out there hunting new victims, and he hasn't forgotten the one who got away.