Nora can usually be counted on for a halfway decent trilogy. Sure, it’s predictable. Sure, the timeline of true love is sped up. Sure, there’s always some Horrible Danger. Sometimes it’s an otherworldly type of danger, just to mix things up, like a werewolf or a witch or something. Sure, the men are always perfect physical specimens, tall and lanky, funny, totally at ease with women in distress, and not at all freaked out at the thought of marrying what amounts to a total stranger. But it’s Nora, so I can look past that. Sometimes I need the predictability, especially when I’m holed up in the house on a rainy Saturday.
But this trilogy? I don’t know, you guys. I just couldn’t get behind it. Maybe it’s cause I read all three in one sitting. Maybe it’s cause they were more like novellas and not her usual 300 pages. Maybe it’s cause it was pretty unbelievable, even for Nora.
The first entry, Hidden Star, introduces us to Bailey James, a cool blonde who has amnesia, and has turned up on the doorstep of rugged (of course he’s rugged) P.I Cade Parris. She’s got a million dollars in cash, a gun, and a blue diamond the size of her fist. What she doesn’t know is that she’s left behind a body or two, as well as two best friends who are searching for her. Oh, also? Bailey’s a virgin. But of course the sex is amazing because Cade knows just what to do.
The second entry, Captive Star, brings us Bailey’s best friend MJ, who meets bounty hunter Jack Dakota when he tries to bring her in for jumping bail. The trouble is, MJ has never been arrested, and they quickly figure out that they’ve both been set up. MJ is busy looking for her best friend Bailey and doesn’t have time for Jack, but Jack has Knight In Shining Armor Syndrome, so once he realizes MJ is in trouble, he decides to stick with her till he can solve the mystery of who is after her, and why she has a blue diamond the size of her fist.
The final book, Secret Star, unveils Bailey and MJ’s other best friend Grace, a world famous heiress who is supposed to be the dead body on the floor in front of Lieutenant Seth Buchannan but is instead standing right in front of him. Grace also has a blue diamond the size of her fist, in addition to a dead body on the floor of her mansion. And even though the good lieutenant makes it crystal clear that he’s sworn off women, especially the (misunderstood) spoiled little rich girl type, Grace has her sights set on Seth, and she’s not taking no for an answer.
Usually Nora writes these in order, so that the mystery isn’t really solved until the final installment, but I kind of felt like I was reading the same book from three different points of view, and it just didn’t work for me this time.
This trilogy was originally published as Harlequins, so they are long novellas, not novels. I read this trilogy when it was first published and I threw each of the books against the wall a few times. This and the fake BtVS trilogy broke me of my Nora Roberts habit.
I read just the third one a while back in a “quick, what does the library have in stock right now!” moment. It was fine, I think I rated it two stars as well, and felt absolutely no need to go back to the beginning. I’ve learned to avoid her earliest stuff, its… not good.