Chesapeake Blue
Grade : A

When I learned Nora Roberts hadn't originally planned to write Seth Quinn's story but changed her mind because readers clamored for it, I got a sinking, "Oh no" feeling - my opinion being that connected books should end where the author originally intended. But then I read Chesapeake Blue and have been "buzzing" about it ever since.

Successful artist Seth Quinn has returned home to St. Christopher, Maryland after years in Europe. His extended family knows there's more to the story of why he left - and why he returned - than he's letting on. Unfortunately, his horrendous early life, until Ray Quinn rescued him from his abusive mother Gloria DeLauter, has left him so scarred that, though he loves the Quinn family and they love him, he can't bring himself to tell them that the horrible Gloria has been blackmailing him for years and years. That's why he went to Europe in the first place, and why, when she followed him, he came home. He feels he owes the Quinns everything and that he, because of Gloria's machinations, has brought them nothing but trouble.

Drusilla Whitcomb Banks comes from a wealthy political family. She's escaped her mother's "ladies who lunch" lifestyle and opened up a flower shop in St. Christopher. When Seth stops in to buy flowers for the "women in his life," - ie, his aunts and cousin - she immediately believes the gorgeous artist must be buying flowers for a bevvy of lovers. Seth, of course, who is drawn to Dru as they meet, decides to pursue her. He begins his plan of attack, which includes renting the room over her store to use as a studio, and involving her in his life (often via Quinn family activities) as much as he can.

Dru's defenses slowly erode in the face of Seth's efforts and the extended family around him, and they fall in love. Unfortunately, Gloria's trouble-making eventually threatens all of Seth's relationships. Seth's history has so altered his mindset that he cannot fathom the good his mere existence has been for the people in his life and does his best to compartmentalize Gloria and her blackmailing schemes from those he loves. When she becomes more and more blatant, he doesn't believe he can reach out to his loved ones and does what romance novel heroes tend to do - he retreats. While this may seem a plot-driven action, I see it as character-driven. A scene between Seth and Cam near the end of the book is all the more poignant because it's like the proverbial lightbulb going off over Seth's head...well, maybe a cudgel.

Chesapeake Blue features quite a few touching scenes, and many funny ones as well. At one point fairly early on, Dru refuses to believe there's no subliminal attraction between Seth and his cousin Aubrey. How they set about proving her wrong, and how Dru and Aubrey talk it out made me laugh out loud.

As always, the family relationships in this series set it apart from so many other books. Were I older and Cam younger, I'd want to be his wife Anna and be married to him. His passion and intensity, and her humor and ability to keep him in line haven't lessened since they first fell in love, and given that they're pushing 50 in this book, its gives one hope. Truth be told, I'd never have been able to reform such a bad boy, but a girl can always dream. And while I'm at it, Seth's a pretty dreamy fellow and Dru makes a worthy Quinn mate. There's so much more than a romance between two people in this book; there's an entire family to fall in love with, and none of it detracts from Seth or Dru. It simply makes the reading experience all the richer. Those who've read the earlier books in this series know that the Quinn boys are visited by the ghost of their dead father - Ray Quinn. Seth's visitations in this story are slightly different, but the gifts imparted are magical and joyous in the end.

Ray and Stella Quinn's love and guidance, offered so freely to the once-wayward Cam, Ethan, and Phillip, and the love they in turn extended to Seth after Ray's death is extremely powerful. For each of these men, so damaged as boys, nurturing brought the freedom to love, achieve, and create. Roberts excels in sharing this creativity with her readers. Her ability to write about the creation of art is one of her strong points; when Seth paints Dru it's almost as absorbing Maggie's glass-making in Born in Fire. If you've read the previous books in this series, you know that from a young age Seth created drawings of the boats his uncles built to display at their boat yard. There's a scene involving those illustrations guaranteed not to leave a dry eye in the house.

Of the thirty Nora Roberts books I've read, Chesapeake Blue is my favorite, edging out Born in Fire, Sea Swept, and Jewels of the Sun. Those who felt the Chesapeake trilogy ended perfectly with Phillip's story needn't be worried that Roberts performs perfunctorily with this one; to me it's the best of them all, with a fantastic romantic storyline and comeraderie among family members you might wish were your own.

Reviewed by Laurie Likes Books
Grade : A

Sensuality: Warm

Review Date : October 31, 2002

Publication Date: 2004

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