Guest Review: Angels Fall by Nora Roberts

Our friend Jade is here today guest reviewing a book I recommended to her (and to everyone willing to listen to my recommendations *cough* Brianna *cough*). She’s been a regular on the blog almost since the first day. We’re lucky to have her as a friend because she’s just plain awesome (and an excellent blogger as well). Don’t forget to stop by her blog and say hi!

First I’d like to thank Brie Brie for this recommendation, as I totally enjoyed the book.  The writing was excellent and the mystery was captivating!  And the developing relationship between Reece and Brody was beautiful.

When Reece Gilmore’s car breaks down in the little town of Angels Fist, she takes it as a sign to stick around for a while.  She’s been on the road trying to recover from a traumatic experience in her past.  While out hiking one day, Reece witnesses a murder through her binoculars, and given her history, everyone just assumes she’s the new resident loony.  But Reece is convinced of what she saw until strange things begin to happen to her.  Now even she is beginning to wonder if someone is out to get her, or if her mind is playing tricks on her.

This book was so good!  First of all, I love books about small, tight-knit towns, and this falls into that category.  It was the perfect setting because when the mystery starts to unfold, it’s really hard to feel one way or the other about anybody because anyone of them could potentially be the murderer.  That is if Reece actually saw a murder take place.

As it is, and given her past, writer Brody is the only one in town who truly believes her story.  After witnessing the terror in her eyes, he feels there is no way she could be lying.  I think Brody is a God send for someone like Reece.  Through all of her breakdowns, neurosis, and hysterics, Brody refuses to coddle or baby her, which Reece really ends up appreciating.  The last thing she needs or wants is the pitying looks that chased her away in the first place. Brody instinctively knows what she needs, but I think it’s just his personality as well.  He’s abrupt, practical, and to the point with her.  He pulls no punches and never sugar coats his words, but he is a strong and steady support for her.

Reece, despite her past, was such a strong woman.  Although she’d had something horrible happen to her, and still has numerous issues, she is doing her damndest to work through and overcome her fears.  The fact that she witnesses a murder and decides to stick around is very brave of her. Reece is courageous and someone I deem a true survivor.

I loved the mystery in this book.  The different clues presented throughout the novel makes it really hard to pin the murder on any one person that lives in Angels Fist.  This really serves  to ramp up the tension and the intensity of the mystery.  It was well timed and perfectly paced, giving the reader just enough crumbs and evidence to wonder and suspect, and to keep flipping the pages.

Angels Fall is a romantic suspense, which keeps the readers gripped in its clutches and doesn’t let go until the last page is read.  This one is a must read!  

Review by Guest Reviewer

Grade: 4

Sensuality: McSexy
Purchase: Amazon

Synopsis:

The sole survivor of a brutal crime back East, Reece Gilmore settles in Angel’s Fist, Wyoming—temporarily, at least—and takes a job at a local diner.  One day, while hiking in the mountains, she peers through her binoculars and sees a couple arguing on the bank of the churning Snake River.  And suddenly, the man is on top of the woman, his hands around her throat. . . 

By the time Reece reaches a gruff loner named Brody farther down the trail, the pair I gone.  And when authorities comb the area where she saw the attack, they find no trace that anyone was even there.    

No one in Angel’s Fist seems to believe Reece—except Brody, despite his seeming impatience and desire to keep her at arm’s length.  When a series of menacing events makes it clear that someone wants her out of the way, Reece must put her trust in Brody—and herself—to find out of there is a killer in Angel’s Fist, before it’s too late.

Angels Fall by Nora Roberts

Jove. May 29, 2007.