The Hand Of Ethelberta Book

Nora's books are one of my most reliable cures at times when my brain begs for a much needed rest. All of us readers have this amazing capacity to shut down and unplug, and for me, the best way to achieve this state of complete detachment from my everyday troubles is through one of Nora's books. While I don't much care for her paranormal work (PNR is just not my genre), no one writes romantic suspense better than she.

Blue Smoke is an old one, released more than ten years ago, but aside from the years on each chapter, nothing about it seems outdated. It begins as Nora's story so often do, with our heroine's childhood and the traumatic event that will determine the course of her life. From the very beginning, Catarina Hale stands out among her brothers and sisters. She is intelligent, inquisitive and systematic, a child that is never really a child. When a fire takes away her family's livelihood, Reena knows exactly what she wants to be when she grows up. Everything from that point on is just another step toward her desired career as a fire investigator.

We follow Reena through various stages of her life, from one traumatic event to the next. While her career is on an accelerated path, her love life is miserable from the start. Somehow Reena's love interests, no matter how superficial, always end up dead, and their death always involves fire. It takes a while for Reena to connect the dots, but not so long to make us doubt her intelligence.

As usual, Nora gives us a strong, independent heroine. She doesn't need a man to save her, and even when the right one comes along, she doesn't just hand over the reins. If anything, Reena is reluctant to share her life, but Bo Goodnight is just a bit too hard to resist. As we follow Reena through her education and the beginnings of her career, Bo is always in the background, dreaming about the mysterious girl he's never had a chance to meet. Even though he's just a touch too perfect, as Nora's heroes tend to be, he is precisely what our Reena needs. I adored these two together and I appreciated how much time Nora took to develop a true relationship between them.

Even when her books are not perfect, I never hesitate to recommend Nora - not that she needs my recommendation. The woman is simply magical. Sinking into her story is one of my favorite feelings in the world.