Whiskey Beach by Nora Roberts – a Review

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Description:
For more than three hundred years, Bluff House has sat above Whiskey Beach, guarding its shore—and its secrets. But to Eli Landon, it’s home…

A Boston lawyer, Eli has weathered an intense year of public scrutiny and police investigations after being accused of—but never arrested for—the murder of his soon-to-be-ex wife.

He finds sanctuary at Bluff House, even though his beloved grandmother is in Boston recuperating from a nasty fall. Abra Walsh is always there, though. Whiskey Beach’s resident housekeeper, yoga instructor, jewelry maker, and massage therapist, Abra is a woman of many talents—including helping Eli take control of his life and clear his name. But as they become entangled in each other, they find themselves caught in a net that stretches back for centuries—one that has ensnared a man intent on reaping the rewards of destroying Eli Landon once and for all…

Review:

Nora Roberts has done it yet again with her newest standalone novel Whiskey Beach.  It had everything I look for in a Nora Roberts book, from suspense and intrigue, to a classic case of who done it, with a sweet and sexy romance that weaves seamlessly throughout the story. To top it all off, she even had the setting of the story take place in a small coastal town called Whiskey Beach.  There’s just something about a novel that takes place in a coastal town for me. It just seems to add an air of mystery, and provides beautiful scenery for the story.  I must admit, I do love a good mystery thrown into a romance every now and then, and Nora always delivers for me. Even though Nora is classified a romance writer, she does an amazing job of creating her mystery, setting up the backstory, weaving it seamlessly into her romance, and bringing it full circle by the end of the book.  I can never figure out who the culprit is until the very end, and even then there are times when I’m sitting there with my mouth hanging open, going, no way, I never saw that one coming.  In Whiskey Beach Nora creates a suspenseful and sexy story that centers around the hero this time, Eli Landon. 

As the book blurb states, Eli Landon recently moves back into his family home in Whiskey Beach to escape the past year of his life and try to find some sort of normalcy.  I really liked Eli from the start. He’s not your typical hero in a romance story.  He’s not big and brawny, over the top alpha, taking control of the heroine’s life.  Instead, Eli is more of your normal everyday type guy who’s currently going through some issues of his own and just wants to be left alone. Yes he’s brooding to a point, because of what’s happened to him, but it never got on my nerves. It’s just enough of a brood that allows Nora to pull the reader in, drawing you to Eli’s side, making you want to be his savior and help him overcome the past year of his life.  You can’t help but want to see him find that special someone who will change everything for him, while at the same time, finally putting the past to rest.  As the story progressed I found myself liking Eli more and more, and wanted desperately to find out who exactly was after him and why. I enjoyed the Landon family lore that we learn about through Eli’s research and bringing with it stories of pirates and buried treasure.  See what I mean about a novel set in a coastal town, that air of mystery with endless storylines, sorry I digress, back on track now.  With all this Landon lore, Nora weaves a good old fashioned mystery that surrounds our hero and grabs the reader by the throat and doesn’t let you go till the very end.

Along with the mystery that surrounds Eli and his family, our heroine of the book is quickly pulled into this mess.  Abra Walsh has known Eli’s grandmother for a long time and has become good friends with her.  Abra, like Eli is not your typical heroine.  She’s not the type of women who is fragile, needs protecting and an over the top alpha male to jump in and take control of her life.  We learn that Abra had her own issues and learned how to take care of herself from them.  She’s a real free spirit type girl and to me was a breath of fresh air.  I really liked the bit of role reversal Nora created with Abra and Eli.  It was Abra taking care of Eli and helping him sort through the past year of his life.  When Eli decides it’s time to set the trap for whoever is after him, Abra is quick to jump in and want to be a part of it, loved that about her.  She had me giggling a few times at the things she had poor Eli do throughout the book to help improve his spirit.  The massages and bringing him a pet/security dog were especially cute scenes. Along with fixing him meals and leaving him little reminder notes to eat it. This role reversal worked well and it made both Abra and Eli more endearing to me as a couple as the story progressed

As I said earlier, Nora does a wonderful job of setting the stage for her mystery that surrounds Eli and his family’s legacy.  The mystery and romance in the story are beautifully tied to together to form a cohesive storyline and keep the reader on the edge of their seat wondering who done it right up to the very end.  Reversing the hero/heroine roles was a nice touch and breath of fresh air in this particular story.  It was nice to see the female take care of her male for a change.  Abra was just what Eli needed and Nora couldn’t have written a better heroine for him. They made for a perfect match and balanced each other nicely.  I especially enjoyed watching Eli try to figure out Abra, to taking on a pet/security dog, researching his family’s history to find answers to his troubles, and re-opening the murder case against him.  Nora once again proves why she’s a number one romance writer with Whiskey Beach.  For any Nora fan, or even a non-Nora fan for that matter, I highly recommend Whiskey Beach. I promise you won’t be disappointed. 

Until next time, Happy Reading

Reviewed by Marcie