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ruxiemcgouth's review against another edition
challenging
dark
emotional
hopeful
mysterious
tense
fast-paced
3.5
heabooknerd's review against another edition
3.0
UNDER CURRENTS started out with a huge bang and I was immediately sucked into the history of our hero Zane. While the detailed look at child abuse was hard to read, I feel like Nora Roberts always handles it well and she created a foundation for Zane that really helped me connect with him.
As the book moves into Part 2 I enjoyed seeing Zane as a confident, protective, and easy going man who knows the value of real family - the kind you make yourself. I also really liked Darby and her quick witted personality. She's tough and outspoken and she knows some pretty badass kung fu! Zane and Darby were perfect together and their chemistry was easy and evident. Their relationship is pretty smooth with little drama and angst and I enjoyed the mature development from easy sex to a committed relationship.
My biggest reason for not rating this a star higher is because I felt like UNDER CURRENTS could have easily ended after Part 3. Things were settled, the mystery was solved, and Zane and Darby were happy together. Part 4 takes the story into more conflict and secrets in this small town and it wasn't really necessary for the story other than to explore Lakeview and it's complicated residents. It just seemed like a lot of bad things all happening at once.
Content Warning: Zane was abused as a child by his parents (on page); Darby was abused by her ex-husband
As the book moves into Part 2 I enjoyed seeing Zane as a confident, protective, and easy going man who knows the value of real family - the kind you make yourself. I also really liked Darby and her quick witted personality. She's tough and outspoken and she knows some pretty badass kung fu! Zane and Darby were perfect together and their chemistry was easy and evident. Their relationship is pretty smooth with little drama and angst and I enjoyed the mature development from easy sex to a committed relationship.
My biggest reason for not rating this a star higher is because I felt like UNDER CURRENTS could have easily ended after Part 3. Things were settled, the mystery was solved, and Zane and Darby were happy together. Part 4 takes the story into more conflict and secrets in this small town and it wasn't really necessary for the story other than to explore Lakeview and it's complicated residents. It just seemed like a lot of bad things all happening at once.
Content Warning: Zane was abused as a child by his parents (on page); Darby was abused by her ex-husband
lminique's review against another edition
4.0
Gripping from the very beginning! Trigger warnings: Domestic and child abuse!
janetk242's review against another edition
adventurous
challenging
dark
emotional
funny
hopeful
inspiring
mysterious
sad
tense
medium-paced
- Plot- or character-driven? A mix
- Strong character development? Yes
- Loveable characters? Yes
- Diverse cast of characters? It's complicated
- Flaws of characters a main focus? Yes
4.5
katrienvancalster's review against another edition
dark
emotional
hopeful
slow-paced
- Plot- or character-driven? A mix
- Strong character development? No
- Loveable characters? No
- Diverse cast of characters? Yes
- Flaws of characters a main focus? Yes
2.0
autumn_moves's review against another edition
2.5
It ended really abruptly. I wish we would have gotten to see more of the “after”
zasou_reads's review against another edition
4.5
This romantic suspense was a really good one! Nora Roberts sure knows how to write convincing assholes... Check the trigger warnings before going into this one. I felt like it was a touch longer than it needed to be, but it was still entertaining.
paulabrandon's review against another edition
1.0
Zane and his sister Britt survive a grim childhood of abuse until their father and mother are sent to prison. The two grow up. Zane, now a lawyer, returns to his hometown. He meets Darby McCray, a landscaping artist who is doing up the bungalows on the property owned by his aunt, Emily, who always believed in him as a boy. Lots of landscaping banality ensues as various antagonists pop up to threaten Zane and Darby's happiness.
I picked up this Nora Roberts book because I needed a break from unreliable female narrators, and I thought this might offer some decent romantic suspense. Not on your nelly! After a decent first part - quite harrowing, at times, as it details Zane and Britt's abuse at the hands of their father - the plot and pacing completely dies in the ass as we get endless details about Darby's landscaping endeavours. Seriously, it's all anybody can fucking talk about!
This book was so boring. Nothing happens. If it's not the constant chit-chat about what a good job Darby has done on someone's property, it's a blow-by-blow account of a softball game or the preparation for a big family party. There's absolutely zero spark to the proceedings. The book relies on not one, but three, antagonists to try to jar this out of its monotony.
As a romantic suspense book, I was expecting a focus on the romance over the more sinister aspects of the story, but this can't even get the romance right. This makes the same mistake as a lot of the category romance that I read, in which there's no stakes to the h and H's relationship, and zero indication of what it is that attracts them to one another. Aside from sharing their abusive histories (Darcy is a domestic violence survivor), they don't talk about anything substantial whatsoever. They just talk about landscaping or other banal activities that Zane's extended family is up to. Zane and Darby start a relationship and fall in love. There's zero conflicts for them to overcome emotionally, just a parade of villains who want to kill them. Everything here was just flat, flat, flat. This was uninspired, uninteresting and undercooked.
I picked up this Nora Roberts book because I needed a break from unreliable female narrators, and I thought this might offer some decent romantic suspense. Not on your nelly! After a decent first part - quite harrowing, at times, as it details Zane and Britt's abuse at the hands of their father - the plot and pacing completely dies in the ass as we get endless details about Darby's landscaping endeavours. Seriously, it's all anybody can fucking talk about!
This book was so boring. Nothing happens. If it's not the constant chit-chat about what a good job Darby has done on someone's property, it's a blow-by-blow account of a softball game or the preparation for a big family party. There's absolutely zero spark to the proceedings. The book relies on not one, but three, antagonists to try to jar this out of its monotony.
As a romantic suspense book, I was expecting a focus on the romance over the more sinister aspects of the story, but this can't even get the romance right. This makes the same mistake as a lot of the category romance that I read, in which there's no stakes to the h and H's relationship, and zero indication of what it is that attracts them to one another. Aside from sharing their abusive histories (Darcy is a domestic violence survivor), they don't talk about anything substantial whatsoever. They just talk about landscaping or other banal activities that Zane's extended family is up to. Zane and Darby start a relationship and fall in love. There's zero conflicts for them to overcome emotionally, just a parade of villains who want to kill them. Everything here was just flat, flat, flat. This was uninspired, uninteresting and undercooked.
orangesyellows's review against another edition
dark
emotional
hopeful
mysterious
sad
tense
slow-paced
- Plot- or character-driven? Character
- Strong character development? Yes
- Loveable characters? Yes
- Diverse cast of characters? Yes
- Flaws of characters a main focus? Yes
4.0
Content Warnings
Graphic: Domestic abuse and Child abuse
Moderate: Violence, Sexual violence, Murder, and Death
Minor: Sexual content