Noon in the Garden of Good & Evil

I do this thing where I keep a running list of my book titles in my drafts folder, so when I have downtime, or when the inspiration strikes, I can go back and write my reviews. I’m very undisciplined in my review-writing, as evidenced by the fact that it’s May July and I’m reviewing stuff I read in January. Anyway, I was going down the list and saw the title High Noon and had to look it up on Amazon. Usually the cover sparks a memory. It did not. So I read the synopsis, which did spark a memory, but also reminded me that the entire time I was reading this, I was pretty sure I had read it before, but yet could never quite remember for sure.

Anyway, on to the synopsis. Lt. Phoebe MacNamara is the Savannah Police Department’s hostage negotiator. When she is tasked with talking a suicidal bartender down from the ledge on St. Patrick’s Day, the mysteriously wealthy bar owner is very intrigued. Duncan pursues her, much to Phoebe’s surprise. After all, who would want a single mom with a precocious young daughter, an agoraphobic mother, and a crumbling Savannah estate? But want her he does, and they set out to have a good old fashioned romance, only to have it threatened by danger coming from within her own department. And just when they think they’ve solved all of those problems, a new one crops up, and this one threatens Duncan’s own family and friends, and Phoebe has to save the day again.

It’s classic Nora Roberts: a strong and stubborn female protagonist, an equally strong and stubborn (and not at all commitment-phobic) male counterpart, danger, a parental figure, people who depend on our heroine to save the day, and a semblance of family. Think about it. All her books – even when she writes as J.D. Robb – follow that same basic structure, and while that does tend to get old, there is something comforting in knowing that at the end of the day, the heroine’s going to kick some ass, take some names, and get the guy.

More reviews found here.