While I adored Darby and Zane I just couldn't get into the plot and found it to feel a little too forced for me, especially at the end. The conflict wasn't the heart-pounding experience that I was expecting for romantic suspense and even the romance to me felt a little off. I wish I loved it as everyone else seems to but it was a miss for me. I also feel like its important to mention that the first part of the book is just in teenage Zane's perspective, which really threw me in a loop as opposed to if the book had immediately jumped to present. overall I felt like this book was very long and dragging with not enough action for a suspense.

I’m sure most everyone who follows my reviews has noticed this by now, but I really love Nora Roberts. I don’t tend to read all that much in the contemporary or romance genres, but she’s my exception. I’ve been reading my way through her back catalogue since I was fifteen or so, and for the past ten years have been reading her new releases as soon as I can get my hands on them. Now, she’s one of the few authors who is an insta-buy for me. While Under Currents didn’t blow me away, it was another strong offering that demonstrated to me once again that Nora seems incapable of producing a dud. She’s just awesome. “The couldn’t take who we are away from us. We’re who we are despite them.” Over the past few years, Nora’s writing has undergone a shift that I both respect and regret. She’s always been the source of my ultimate comfort reads, but that light easiness has fallen by the wayside. And I respect her so much for it. Nora’s stories have shifted from fairly straightforward romances to books that, while still romantic with an almost guaranteed happy ending, deal with some pretty hard topics. Recently, these topics have included mass shootings and how survivors wrestle with the aftermath decades later, kidnapping and sex-slavery and how families adjust to having a broken family member returned, and how the children of serial killers have to deal with the horrors wrought by said parents and the fear they feel that their blood might be tainted with violence. And that’s just to name a few. In Under Currents, Nora addresses domestic violence and abuse in various settings, from suburbia to squalor to affluence. We see how abuse impacts children from their first contact with it and through their adulthood. We see how easily hidden the worst abuse can be, and how it can pervade even the seemingly nicest and safest neighborhoods. We also see how abuse can become a cycle for some, but that others break free of it and often spend their lives helping pull others from the wreckage. “You showed me what was real. Real family, real parents, even real husband and wife. Without that, without you… Abuse is a cycle. Without you, I might have become like him.” Mixed into and rising above this trauma were characters who were Nora’s patented blend of funny, engaging, hardworking, and empathetic. These were people who would come together to help each other or outsiders at a moment’s notice. They are incredibly self motivated, and most of them are self-employed entrepreneurs on a small scale. The setting is lovely, the community charming, and the writing is beautifully descriptive and easy to envision. As always, romance and family are the key binding agents of the story Nora weaves. The only thing that didn’t ring true for me was the mystery element. It was glaringly obvious who the secondary and tertiary villains would be, so much so that the main characters should have guessed it immediately. Their ignorance was almost jarringly unbelievable. “Maybe there were undercurrents and always would be, but they’d never drag him down again.” I love that Nora took a chance and started incorporating issues close to her heart into her fiction. It was a huge risk to take, especially with such a large fanbase. Thankfully it’s a very loyal fanbase, and they/we seem happy to follow her anywhere. I applaud her for stepping outside the box and producing meatier works like Under Currents. I can’t wait to read whatever she writes next. You can find this review and more at Novel Notions.

This was a good story about overcoming what’s happened in your life and finding community. Under Currents is an emotional read as it does have several different types of abuse happening throughout. I truly was on the edge of my seat throughout the whole book. The first 20%-25% is sad I won’t lie it is truly sad The other 75%-80% is about Zane and Darby and you really get to know each character and their relationship which is usually not often in these types of books. Don’t even get me started on lake view and the community around them. Everyone was supportive and helpful a real community. People that believed and helped each other when needed. I loved their family and how the worked and talked about everything. Overall I loved this book and gave it five stars. The message was important and the writing was beautiful. Nora has never disappointed me yet with one of her books. I can’t wait to read one of her others • • • • • • • • TWs - Child Abuse, Domestic Abuse, Spousal Rape (2 scenes, easily skippable), gay slurs, sexist slurs against women, unwanted sexual touching, fighting.

Not at all what I was expecting and not a typical Nora Roberts book. **Trigger warnings: graphic domestic abuse against women and children, rape scenes and strong graphic language and sexual content. Zane is a survivor of domestic abuse at the hands of his parents. Darby is a survivor of domestic abuse at the hands of her husband. Their worlds collide as they are trying to rebuild for their futures. Their love story is going well until their past comes back to haunt them.

After seeing someone recommend this book, and hearing the rave reviews, I brought this book with high hopes and expectations... How I was so disappointed. The storyline was interesting, but the writing was clunky and confusing. The point of view/perspective changed between a couple of characters, so I felt like I did not know the characters well enough. Also, the author would jump through years, only briefly describing critical events.

From the outside, Zane Bigelow, star high school baseball player, seems to have everything, but underneath it all, he and his sister are living a nightmare with abusive parents. One night changes everything when Zane tries to protect his sister from their father and takes a beating that almost kills him. That's when Zane begins to keep the notebooks detailing his abuse. With the help of his aunt and his best friend's father, Zane's parents finally go to jail. Years later, Zane is now a lawyer and is returning to his hometown to start a law practice there. When he meets Darby McCray, who has survived an abusive marriage, his future looks bright until Zane's and Darby's pasts come back to haunt them both. Nora Roberts' detailed description of Lakeview weaves a picture of a quaint town inhabited by friendly, colorful characters, making it a place where many people would like to live. The story is divided into four sections, with each containing separate but important plot points. The most intense section is the first, recounting Zane's early abuse and the havoc it caused in his life. The following three sections are not as good as the first, but do lead to a satisfying conclusion. Overall a good read.