Legacy: A Novel

It's been a while since I've read a Nora Roberts book so I was excited to dive into this one. It starts off dropping you right into the action, which thrilled me, but it just doesn't stay there. There is a lot of depth and detail to this book, which is usually one of the things I love about Nora Roberts books - she introduces you to complete and complex characters with a lot of nuance, but in Legacy it's almost too much. There was so much detail around certain aspects of Adrian's life that it felt like it slowed the story down rather than kept it moving forward. Normally those details are what I love, but in certain parts it was just a bit too much. Adrian was also frustrating at times. She would do things and I get the sense maybe Nora Roberts was trying to make those character traits seem endearing- telling people what to eat, pushing fitness routines on them- but instead I found it irritating since it's something I wouldn't like in someone in my real life. This is a romantic suspense, and I very much enjoyed this aspect of the book. It's a very slow burn romance and you really get to know them well before they finally get together. But it also dealt a lot with the complexities that can come with mothers and daughters and how they related to each other. Thank you to Netgalley and St. Martin's Press for the Advanced Reader Copy. I have voluntarily left an honest review.

Legacy by Nora Roberts is a novel involving Lina and Adrian Rizzo. When Adrian is seven years old, she meets her father for the first time when he arrives at their home angry and drunk. He ends up injuring Adrian, Lina, and Lina’s friend, Mimi before his death. This violence jump starts Legacy. I thought Legacy was contained good writing with relatable characters. I liked the mystery portion of the story. While it is easy to identify the guilty party, it gave the story more depth and interest. I did feel that Legacy was more women’s fiction than romantic suspense, mystery, or thriller. The story centers around the relationship between Lina and her daughter, Adrian. Lina is a woman lacking in maternal instinct. She does, though, have great business acumen which propels her to create an empire. Lina’s life and actions shape Adrian’s life (her goals and relationships). There are some great secondary characters. I loved Adrian’s grandparents. They were such sweet, loving people who lived in a charming town. I also liked Adrian’s “nerdy” friends: Hector, Teesha, and Loren. Adrian and her friends developed a special friendship that evolved into so much more. I did feel the story was too long with 435 pages. The story became bogged down in places with too many details. I enjoy descriptive writing, but I felt this went a bit overboard. The story could have easily been edited down. I was turned off by the foul language (there is so much of it). Even a ten year old uses foul language. Nora Roberts, at one time, never used this type of language in her stories. I did feel the story lacked suspense (for a romantic suspense). While Legacy had some good parts, I felt this story missed the mark. This will not, though, keep from reading this author’s books especially since I have been reading them since I was a teenager. I appreciated the ending which nicely wrapped up the story. Legacy is an interesting tale with yoga poses, ominous poems, fine friends, a motivated mother, gracious grandparents, nutritious noshes, and an alarming menace.

Adrian Rizzo spent a long time in creating a line of yoga and workout videos, following in her mother's footsteps. She and her mother have a contentious relationship, but as long as each stays in their own lane, they can remain affable. Adrian, as many of those in the public eye, begins receiving death threats. Her mother shrugs it off as being the price you pay for popularity and success. The vicious notes keep coming .. year after year, postmarks keep changing, but the threat is always the same. But then the threats escalate and the murders begin. It's a well-crafted complex plot with many characters. The mother/daughter backstory was informative and set up the events of today quite nicely. The character are solidly drawn and work well together in this fast-paced page turner. Throw in a romance and you have the work we've all come to expect from this author. Many thanks to the author / St Martin's Press / Netgalley for the digital copy of the Romantic Suspense. Read and reviewed voluntarily. opinions expressed here are unbiased and entirely my own.