River's End

I just love Nora’s older novels!! She did great with this storyline!

Sam and Julie, a Hollywood couple. Their four-year-old daughter, Livvy, was in the house the night Julie was murdered. She tried to find her mother and finds her father bending over her mother's bloody body. She hides in a closet where a very nice policeman, Frank Brady, later found her. Although her mother's twin sister, Jamie, and her husband, David, wanted to have Olivia live with them, she went to live with her grandparents who run River's End, a lodge and campground on Washington state's Olympic Peninsula far from the media circus. Livvy lives in the safe environment her grandparents provided for her. Loving nature, Livvy goes to college majoring in resource science and returns to River's End to open a naturalist center that she dreamed about. Twenty years after Julie's murder, Sam Tanner's parole has continued to be denied thanks in large part to the testimony of Frank Brady and Julie's twin sister, Jamie. Stricken with a terminal cancer, Sam contacts best-selling true-crime author Noah Brady (Frank's son) to finally tell his side of the story. Noah has long been interested in the case; and, particularly in Livvy, who he has had contact with a couple of times in the past 20 years. Noah knows he will have to get all sides of the story, not just Sam's which will mean seeing Livvy again. When Noah sees Livvy, the attraction is still there but little does he know that in his quest to get her father's story, her life will be in danger for there is one person who knows the truth of what happened that night 20 years before. RIVER'S END is one of Nora Roberts best.... way to go Nora!!!

This was the first book by Nora Roberts that I read. I found it to be very suspensful and romantic at the same time. As a reader of a lot of romance novels, I thought this one was refreshing to read. Many romance books focus on a lot of sex between the couple but this one didn't. I had previously read this other romance/mystery book and to be honest I didn't even know what the mystery was. All I read on every other page was how the couple were having sex. Ms. Roberts did a good job of adding everything into this story: romance, mystery, and even some humor. It had me guessing who the killer was. I had a hard time believing if Sam Tanner really was the killer because of the two versions of the story he had of the night Julie was murdered. Originally I had more than one guess at who the killer was and it turned out to be my original guess. I didn't want to put this book down because because it was a real page turner with a surprising ending. The part I liked most was how Noah fell in love with the Olivia's character and not her beauty. A lot of books have the male lead pawning and obessissing over the female lead's beauty and looks and body. Noah loved Olivia for the person she was. They made a sweet and cute couple.I have to disagree with some of the other customer reviews I have read where they criticized Olivia's character. They said that she was cold, annoying, irriating and so and so on. Hello! she witnessed a terrible tragedy, at the age of 4 she saw her mother laying on the floor bleeding to death. I dont blame her for being the way she was. If something like that ever happened to me I'd be messed up too and confused about things. So lighten up and give Olivia a break Ok? All in all the book was very very good and I definitely plan on reading more of her books.

Sam and Julie's four-year-old daughter, Olivia, was in the house the night her mother was murdered. She tried to find her mother and finds her father bending over her mother's bloody body. She hides in a closet where she was later found by a policeman, Frank Brady. Although her mother's twin sister, Jamie, and her husband, David, would have loved to have Olivia live with them, it was decided she should go to live with her grandparents who run River's End, a lodge and campground on Washington state's Olympic Peninsula far from the media circus. Livvy thrives in the safe environment provided by her loving grandparents. Loving nature, she goes to college majoring in resource science and returns to River's End to open a naturalist center.Twenty years after the murder, Sam Tanner's parole has continued to be denied thanks in large large part to the testimony of Frank Brady and Olivia's aunt, Jamie. Stricken with a terminal illness and anticipating release, Sam contacts bestselling true-crime author Noah Brady to finally tell his side of the story. Noah just happens to be the son of Frank Brady and has long been interested in the case; and, particularly in Livvy, who he has had contact with several times in the past 20 years. Noah knows he will have to get all sides of the story, not just Sam's which will mean seeing Livvy again.When Noah sees Livvy, the attraction is still there but little does he know that in his quest to tell her father's story, her life will be in danger for there is one person who knows the truth of what happened that night 20 years before.RIVER'S END is Nora Roberts at her very best!