amym84 's review for:

Hidden Nature by Nora Roberts

3.25

slow-paced

Plot or Character Driven: A mix

Strong character development: Yes

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Sloan Cooper was just finishing up a successful arrest when she walked into a convenience store and interrupted an armed robbery. Sloan was shot trying to handle the situation.  After being brought back to life on the operating table, Sloane returns back to her childhood home to rest and recuperate. When a local woman goes missing, Sloane gets pulled into the mystery and just may risk her life again in the process. 

I can't really ding Nora Roberts on this one because I know exactly what I'm getting into when I pick up one of her books. This one felt a little too formulaic and I couldn't stand the villains. Obviously that's to be expected. They are villains after all and you're not supposed to "like" the bad guys, but these two were grating on my nerves and irritating. As in other books by Roberts, we are introduced to the antagonists early on. I wish that this time we, the readers, got to experience the mystery along with the characters instead of waiting for them to play catch up with what we already know - usually at the very end. Considering my dislike of the antagonists this one felt like it dragged a bit too much to get to the conclusion.   

I do like the mundane, the day-to-day and the life of the characters. Sloan had something traumatic happen and I was interested in seeing how she rebuilt her life afterwards. I love seeing the human connection and the building of relationships.  The added "bad guys" just didn't mesh. 

I don't have much more to say about the book. If you've read Nora Roberts before, this book won't surprise or break any new ground for you. That's not necessarily a bad thing, it's just a fact and the nature of an author who has 200+ titles to just their name (not counting, you know, that other famous penname).