Chesapeake Blue: Chesapeake Bay, Book 4

All 4 books in series were excellent. Loved that all 4 of the boys were active in all 4 of the books with the focus on the main character.

For what they were, escapist and light entertainment, the first two books of Nora Roberts' Chesapeake Bay Saga were engaging, touching, charming, humorous and well-written. I enjoyed them immensely. Cam's story made you laugh and Ethan's story tugged at your heartstrings. Roberts was able to draw her readers into her created world in a way that was both tangible and emotionally satisfying. In the third book of what was originally a trilogy, however, I could feel both the author's waning interest and the strains of needing to be fresh and creative with material that was a bit too thin. The Sybill character was supremely unbelievable and we really did not find out much more about Philip Quinn than we had already learned from the first two books. We certainly were not shown a much deeper bond between Phillip and Seth. Inner Harbor was the best indicator that Roberts truly did not need to write another book about these characters. All the loose ends were tied up and nothing more needed to be said. In Chesapeake Blue, however, the author, stretches the limits of believability to the breaking point with a warmed over plot line and a romance that has all the depth of a razor blade. I don't believe in praising anything just because a popular author has written it. They can turn out rubbish as well as anyone and more's the pity since really popular authors are rarely censured or given bad reviews that might affect sales. This book starts off with a promise of a deeper emotional connection to Seth, whom we fell in love with in the first three books, but quickly degenerates into mechanical twaddle requiring the reader engage neither her intellect or feelings.Seth Quinn, now all grown up and a talented and successful artist has returned to his boyhood home with the hint of something troubling him. We are re-introduced to all the original Quinns who now have been fruitful and multiplied and are supremely happy and successful and beautiful--right down to the very youngest. Their wives are all fulfilled outside the home with stimulating and interesting jobs --- even earth mother Grace now owns a company. And of course they are all still gorgeous and desirable after eighteen years and the sex is still hot. Nothing of interest there, so we turn to (sinister music please) Gloria DeLauter, who was menacing and eerie in Sea Swept, but has become <u>ridiculously</u> cartoonish in Chesapeake Blue--the trailer-trash equivalent of Snidley Whiplash or Lord Voldemort in stilettos. Not only that, but in order to write this drivel, Ms. Roberts had to draw the character of Seth as a frightened ten-year-old living in a twenty-eight-year-old's body. This "conflict" of Seth's is utterly ludicrous given what we know of both the Quinns and of Seth's character. Roberts had already established the solidarity of the brothers Quinn in Inner Harbor. Seth had been permanently grafted into the brotherhood. (This was one facet of the book that I found both beautiful and touching.)Now, in this book, we're expected to believe (from the background set up information) that the fourteen year old Seth, after having lived in the comfort and security of the Quinn family for three years, suddenly and inexplicably no longer felt connected enough to his brothers or confident enough in their ability to solve the problem together to tell them that his crazy mommy came back to town and was threatening to do bad things again if she didn't get more money? Hogwash. Seth has been previously portrayed as too intelligent a character to believe that Aubrey would remain safe if he didn't tell the people who could actually do something about the situation, or that his mother could reasonably go to any public venue since she was on the run from a litany of charges. I can't swallow this and I really can't buy that this nonsense is <u>still</u> going on with Seth at twenty-eight. What I could have bought was something involving Seth's past--something more psychological than substantial--perhaps an emotional something from his childhood that haunts and drives him.In my opinion, the boy Seth was far more compelling and engrossing a character than Seth the man, who should have been more carefully drawn and meticulously developed and played out against his brothers and the influences they had upon who he became. But, I imagine that the author could not be bothered to think those things through, since this book had a built in audience who would pay good money to read about Seth even if he were to sit on the Quinn porch rocking and watching paint dry--just as long as he'd get off his duff long enough to engage in a hot sex scene every few chapters.This brings me to the romance which was so contrived as to be almost painful to read. It was badly paced and had no tension or conflict either external or internal. It read like the subplot to a more interesting story--filler material, but not strong enough to stand on its own. Drusilla Whitcomb Banks, because she is so rich, has to be written with many personal problems so she will seem more like us ordinary mortals and so that Seth can show us how sensitive and perceptive he is when he understands her. Gag. I did not like Drusilla Whitcomb Banks, not because she was rich, but because she was a shallow contrivance who had nothing in common with the hero. Even the sex was so fake it left one cold. The author made absolutely no convincing case that these two should be together. The Drusilla Whitcomb Banks character is an annoying hot house flower that was increasingly reduced to an object the more the author tried to show us readers how much Seth wanted to paint her. I did not find it sexy, I found it boring and annoying. It was an easy way for the author to toss together a romantic plot thread without having to actually think about or develop her characters in any meaningful way. And I won't get started about Seth painting Dru lying on the bed with all the red rose petals which was a sloppy copy of the well-known scene from Titanic. In Titanic there was an actual point to it and it had class. In Chesapeake Blue, there is none and it came off as cheap and trashy.Ms. Roberts could have created a believable romance either of two ways; She could have completely redrawn Dru's character with enough depth to actually complement, play off and challenge the Seth character or she could have used Aubrey who was all around a more interesting and likable character to begin with. If Ms. Roberts wanted to truly emphasize Seth's bond to the town of St. Chris, what better way to do it than with a connection to Aubrey, who was inextricably linked to the town from the first moments we meet her in Sea Swept. The connection seems even more feasible seeing that Aubrey overshadowed Dru in every scene they were in together even when Aubrey was not given anything to say. This character literally sparkled and was so down to earth and elemental and full of life she almost jumped off the page. Depicting Seth's love of and deep connection to the town of St. Chris, to its people, to his home, his family, and a deepening understanding of what Aubrey truly meant to him, would have closed the circle nicely since Aubrey was the first person to love him unconditionally and the first person he was able to show love and affection to when he was freshly from Gloria's clutches and and still afraid to be touched by everyone else. It would have been rather sentimental, true, but far, far more satisfying than the warmed over, hacked out scraps of a story the author tossed us and expected us to swallow.

FINAL DECISION: Enjoyable read if somewhat forgettable in the end. The story works fine as I was reading it, but there is nothing lasting or intense in the story to make it a keeper.THE STORY: Eighteen years since Seth Quinn came was rescued from his negligent and abusive mother to come live with the Quinns, Seth has returned home after a stint in Europe where he honed his skills as an artist. When he returns, he meets Dru Whitcomb Banks, who has shed her rich family to open a florist shop. As Dru and Seth get to know one another, Seth's past won't stay hidden as he has to deal with problems that arise while coaxing a woman who has been betrayed and finds it hard to trust and make connections.OPINION: This book was difficult for me to rate. I enjoyed it while I was reading it, I really liked seeing the Quinn siblings and their families. I even liked Seth and Dru as a couple as they discussed their issues. But ultimately while I enjoyed this book, I don't think it stands up against other books that I have read. The storyline works, but isn't compelling enough and the characters aren't interesting enough for this to be a book that calls for me to re-read it.Seth is a little too good, perhaps. (Except for his blind spot for which he is rather wrongheaded). I thought he and Dru were a nice match and I really liked her character. But nothing in this case really goes deep. The characters drama and hurts just don't feel intense. I did think their sexy encounters when Seth was painting Dru were the best part of the book. That felt emotional and intense.I also really enjoyed the relationships between the brothers. That was a highlight of the entire series and repeated here with even more emotional resonance.I think readers of the series should definitely read this one as it adds to the series in a nice way. I just walked away wanting more emotional connection and intensity.WORTH MENTIONING: I've always wished that this book either resolved Aubrey's story as well or that Roberts had written her story. She ended up being a really interesting character.CONNECTED BOOKS: CHESAPEAKE BLUE is the fourth and final book in the Chesapeake Bay Saga. This book was a coda to the original trilogy and thus really depends upon the knowledge in the first three books in the series. I don't think the plot works well without knowledge of those books.STAR RATING: I give this book 3.5 stars.

Having read these four books previously in paper back, I truly enjoyed reading them all again. Nora Roberts story telling draws me in and makes me feel part of the interweaving action. Having grown up in a small country community centered around a seaside town I felt right at home. Star rating: 5

Ich liebe die Quinn Brüder! Dieses Buch fehlte noch in meiner Sammlung. Die drei ersten hatte ich schon vor Jahren gelesen, aber dieses hier gab es da noch nicht. Ich habe sie jetzt alle noch einmal gelesen und bin begeistert. Aus dem verschüchterten Jungen Seth, ist ein großartiger Mann und Maler geworden, der die Welt bereist hat und nun wieder zu seiner Familie zurückkehrt. Seine drei "Brüder" (alle adoptiert von Ray und Stella Quinn) sind inzwischen um die fünfzig Jahre alt, haben Frauen und Kinder. Diese drei Männer gaben ihm ein sicheres Zuhause als er zehn war, genau wie es Stella und Ray ihnen ermöglicht hatten. Alle kamen aus schlimmen Verhältnissen und wurden als kleine Jungen verprügelt. missbraucht, beinahe erschossen. Gemeinsam bildeten sie eine Einheit, eine starke Familie, obwohl total durcheinandergewirbelt. Drei starke und wundervolle Frauen machen ihr Leben perfekt. Doch Seth hat ein Geheimnis, das er seinen Brüdern nicht verraten kann. Seine leibliche Mutter(Gloria) erpresst ihn seit Jahren. Um seine Familie zu beschützen, lässt er es zu. Doch dann verliebt er sich in die hübsche Drusilla und versucht, auch vor ihr alles geheinzuhalten, denn ihre Familie ist steinreich. Ein weiterer Aspekt für Gloria, an viel Geld zu kommen. Doch Drusilla liebt Seth und hört sich seine Geschichte an. Auch sie ist eine starke Persönlichkeit, der Reichtum egal ist und auch, dass ihre Familie eventuell öffentlich verleumdet werden könnte. Dann trommelt sie den Familienrat zusammen. Am Ende kommt es zum Showdown mit Gloria und der Quinn-Familie. Großartig! Nora Roberts schafft unglaubliche Charaktere, von denen man nur träumen kann. Vielleicht hat sie ja Männer studiert, denn sie beschreibt sie so perfekt. Diese Männer sind zum Teil wild, ein bisschen gefährlich, bildschön, chaotisch, fluchen eine Menge, aber innen drin sind sie ganz weich. Liebe hält sie alle zusammen, das ist wirklich wundervoll. So kann aus ein paar "Streunern", denen man eine Chance gibt, eine richtig starke Familie werden. Die Dialoge mit den verstorbenen Eltern, beziehungsweise Großeltern, die allen vier Männern im Traum (oder auch nicht) erscheinen sind zwar unwirklich, aber gehen ans Herz. Spitze! Ich konnte die Bücher nicht aus der Hand legen und werde sie in ein paar Jahren sicher nochmal lesen. Ich würde übrigens immer die englische Version ihrer Bücher vorziehen, denn oft hängt es von der Übersetzung ab, wie das Buch ankommt. Ich besitze inzwischen über vierzig Nora Roberts-Bücher oder Kindle Versionen. Habe zwei Bücher auf deutsch gelesen, die von Männern übersetzt wurden und die Art und Weise hat mir nicht so gut gefallen. Also, lieber erst eine Leseprobe anfordern, ob der Schreibstil passt. Nichts gegen euch, liebe Männer, aber schreibt lieber Krimis, statt Liebesgeschichten.

Gripping book abd a beautiful story..

Sea Swept、Rising Tides、Inner Harborに続いて、大人になったSethのお話。大家族になったQuinn一家が、相変わらず楽しく温かく描かれています。英語も比較的簡単だと思います。英語勉強中の私でもすらすら読めました。お薦めです。

I do love Nora Roberts. OK favs are her Dallas books but some of the trilogies etc are awesome too. Loved this set as I needed to know what happened!