FINAL DECISION: One of the best of Nora Roberts’ family dramas, this romance has a languid build between these two friends. The pace feels just right for a real relationship as these two overcome the pain of their pasts.

THE STORY: Ethan Quinn stayed at home when his other brothers roamed. Steady as the bay in which he works, Ethan hides turmoil and pain from his youth. Working with his brothers to raise the boy that their father took in before his death, Ethan plans to focus on their new business. But the woman he has known for years, Grace Monroe, won’t seem to let him go. Determined to keep his distance from the young mother to protect her, Ethan can’t seem to resist Grace’s pull.

OPINION: This book is a perfect example of the best of Nora Roberts’ work. The story has a tremendous feeling of place where I can almost smell the bay. The entire family of characters are three dimensional and interesting in their own right. They feel real and genuine. These are characters without the easy crutch of wealth and power.

This is one of my favorite books of Roberts because everything just works in this book.

Grace is a woman who is struggling but has pride in being independent and taking care of her daughter. She has flaws — the primary one being that she is incredibly stubborn.  She also fundamentally doesn’t know or understand the struggles that Ethan is going through. She makes assumptions without seeing the dark undercurrent of his life.

Ethan is a man good at hiding his pain and self-loathing. He has had his eye on Grace for years but has kept his distance because he doesn’t see himself as being worthy of her. But he is a good man. He is strong and reliable and everything that society sees as manly. Which makes the complexity of his character work so well. He is such a wonderful hero.

I loved these characters and the slow unfolding of their relationship works so well here. The book takes it time in showing their relationship and letting the crisis points come and pass with a natural and real timetable. This is my favorite book in the series.

WORTH MENTIONING: The overarching story line with Sean doesn’t progress much in this book which means that everything is set up for book three.

CONNECTED BOOKS: RISING TIDES is the second book in the Chesapeake Bay Saga. While each book has a separate couple and thus can be read on its own, there is an overarching story line dealing with the family and thus I believe it is better to read this in order as part of the series.

STAR RATING: I give this book 5 stars.