Nora Roberts

#1 bestselling author Nora Roberts presents a new novel of a mother and daughter, of romance and ambition, and a traumatic past reawakened in Legacy.

A Novel

Legacy

Celeste Richardson

Actual rating: 4.5 stars

When will I learn? I’ve read over 200 Nora Roberts novels, and yet every once in a while I will still read a synopsis for an upcoming novel of hers and decide that I’m not sure I’m going to love that one. So instead of preordering, like I generally do for her new releases, I place a hold with my library. That’s what I did with Legacy. And now I have to buy it anyway, because I loved it. 

Adrian Rizzo is among my favorite of Nora’s protagonists. We first meet her when she’s seven, and we follow her through her childhood and teenage years into adulthood. Her mother, Lena, is the founder and face of Yoga Baby, a fitness line specializing in workout videos. After Adrian’s biological father storms into her home and tries to kill Adrian for simply existing, Lena kills him in self defense. This notoriety blasts her already successful brand into a multi-million dollar corporation. As Adrian grows, we see her determination to forge her own path, even as it closely resembles her mother’s. 

I’m going to be honest here. One of the main reasons I didn’t expect to love this book was the choice of professions. Nora tends to give her characters interesting jobs and an entrepreneurial spirit, but I doubted her ability to make me care about the drive and ambition of someone who made fitness DVDs. I was wrong. I ended up being incredibly invested in every aspect of Adrian’s life, and that definitely includes her career. Adrian is strong and creative and driven and kind, and I thought Nora did a brilliant job balancing all of these attributes without making Adrian’s very existence seem improbable. I also really loved her friends, her grandparents, the town of Traveler’s Creek, and even the two adorable dogs whose love story is just about the sweetest thing I’ve ever read. 

And then there’s Raylan. He’s another fantastic, creative character. His arc differed greatly from most of Nora’s leading men. I can’t say a lot about his story without spoiling some important plot points, but I will say he’s a wonderful father and a truly gifted artist. Raylan writes and illustrates superhero graphic novels, which reminded me of the lead in another of Nora’s standalones, Tribute. But as that’s a profession I find fascinating, and as there were plenty of other traits to set the two men apart from one another, I didn’t mind the repetition. 

Something I’ve been loving for the past few years is Nora’s decision to veer away from her own template. Her early novels, while great, were indubitably formulaic, so much so that I could just about pinpoint at what percentage in the book the main characters would kiss for the first time, have sex for the first time, have a disagreement that seemed like a dealbreaker, and when they would face some kind of outside conflict that would cement their relationship. Obviously I didn’t mind this, as I read dozens upon dozens of these books, but her newer works are less predicable in this regard. I can still usually tell who the antagonist is far before the protagonist does, and I know that there will always be a romance for the main character and a happily ever after at the end of the story. But the actual pacing of each story is no longer identical, which has made for a more interesting reading experience. Not more enjoyable, but more interesting.

I also love that Nora has been trying to incorporate more real-life issues into her novels. This book alone included elements like domestic violence, school shootings, stalking, and sex scandals between professors and students. Then there were broader themes, like dealing with grief and the different faces of parental relationships with children. I love that her work has gotten deeper while still staying true to her fans and delivering the kinds of stories that made so many readers fall in love with her books.

I shouldn’t have been surprised by how much I loved Legacy, and yet here we are. Nora never disappoints. She’s been my go-to comfort author for over half of my life (?!) now, and I don’t see that changing for as long as she continues to publish. Her characters always win my heart, and I can always trust her to give me a happy ending. I have no doubt that I’ll be a faithful fan of hers until my dying day.

You can find  this review and more at Novel Notions.

Lynn Braden

Adrian Rizzo's violent father falls to his death as he attacks her and her mother, Lina. Ten years later, Adrian has followed in her mother's footsteps and established a fitness brand, but threats come with fame in the form of poems that come in the mail each year around Valentine's Day. Adrian mostly ignores the poems for years, but when her grandmother dies, she decides to moves back home to live with her grandfather, and finds herself back in the community she once loved. After Raylan loses his wife, he decides to move back home where he can find the help he needs raising his children and the consolation of his family. His plan to work remotely on his growing graphic novel line works well, and it isn't long before the old spark between Raylan and Adrian catches fire. The poet, however, can't be denied and has started escalating, bringing a new threat to the couple's blossoming relationship.

As in many of Nora Roberts' books, community and found family become the core of the story in Legacy, which is more of a family saga than romantic suspense. Even though there are suspense elements in this book, they really don't take center stage until the very end of the story and unfortunately feel a bit rushed. However, the rest of the book delivers realistic characters that are easy to care about and the tear-jerking tragedies that develop throughout their lives. While being a little bit slow in the beginning, Legacy delivers a story that is easy to enjoy.

Jolie

Nora Roberts is one of my favorite romance authors to read. I was first introduced to her work when I was in middle school, and the library had one of her books in stock (I don’t remember which one, that was thirty years ago). When my oldest daughter was born fifteen years ago, I stopped reading and didn’t pick up a book until she was four and my son was two. But, it took me until mid-March to pick up a Nora Roberts book. I am glad I did. I enjoyed reading Legacy!!

Legacy is a medium-paced book. The book’s pacing was medium-paced, but it ramped up quickly during the last few chapters of the book. There was some lag in the book’s middle (when Adrian and Raylan’s storyline came together), but it didn’t last for long.

There were two main points of view, with a third point of view added later in the book. I am not a big fan when an unexpected POV is added late in the book. But, in this case, considering who the POV belonged to, it made perfect sense.

I adored Adrian in Legacy. She was one of the more grounded characters that I have read in awhile. But, I did find it hard to connect to her during certain scenes. But overall, I read her scenes with a smile.

I liked and sympathized with Raylan’s character. His loss was one of the saddest that I have read. I liked that the author showed a realistic view of someone’s grieving process. I thought that he was a great father also. Plus, I like his dog…lol.

Speaking of the dogs in Legacy, they were fantastic. Sadie and Jasper made the book whenever they appeared. Sadie proved herself to be the true MVP at the end of the book (Jasper too).

I loved Raylan’s children, but I did think that they talked a little too grownup for a six and eight-year-old. I have a seven-year-old, and she doesn’t have the vocabulary that Mo did. But, that aside, they were adorable.

I was surprised at who The Poet was. For some reason, I thought it was going to someone else (the PI had mentioned another person).

The author built up the romance angle of the book slowly. Of course, I knew that Raylan and Adrian were going to get together. It was just a matter of when/where. When they did end up getting together, there was a feeling of “Finally.” I liked that the author had them dating before the events that led up to the end of the book. It made the ending so much better!!

The thriller/suspense angle of the book kept me on edge. I liked the mini-chapters where The Poet was featured. I got a better understanding of how this person was spiraling. When that person started escalating, I couldn’t read the book fast enough. I needed to see how this book played out with Adrian. And once the author revealed the connection to her, I was even more eager. Of course, there was poetic justice with how those scenes played out too!!

The end of Legacy was good. The author was able to wrap up the storylines in a way that satisfied me as a reader. There were no storylines left open/hanging. There were no questions about specific events that happened in the book.

Legacy was a great romantic suspense novel. The plotline was great and the characters made the book. Plus, I didn’t figure out who The Poet was until the reveal which surprised me.

I would recommend Legacy to everyone over the age of 21. There is sex, but it is not graphic. There is somewhat graphic violence. At the beginning of the book, Adrian’s father attacked Adrian, her mother, and her mother’s best friend/nanny.

Liz Carpenter

Caitlin Snyder

Caroline Trent-Gurbuz

Risti Auliya

danielle bush

Samantha T-E

Jenny Simon

'If you're after the perfect pick-me-up, take-me-away-from-the-world read, then she's your woman' The Guardian 'Nora Roberts is, quite simply, a one-woman phenomenon' Heat 'I love Nora Roberts' Stephen King Thoughts of her lived in that angry and patient brain. But there was time, so much time yet. And there were others. Many others who would come before. She, a crescendo, a culmination. But before the crescendo, one needed to begin. Adrian Rizzo is a beautiful young woman with a successful business, and a wonderful family and friends. She's worked hard to build a happy life for herself. When she receives a death threat in the post, she puts it down to someone's jealousy of her success and tries to forget about it. But Adrian doesn't realise that it's more than just spite. Someone is very angry about her happy life and will stop at nothing to bring it all crashing down.

Legacy A Novel

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