Next book

FIFTY SHADES DARKER

From the Fifty Shades Trilogy series , Vol. 2

A fun summer read—not the best thing you’ve ever read, not the worst, but not to be taken too seriously.

Anastasia Steele and Christian Grey move into a deeper, more committed relationship, impacting her fledgling publishing career and placing them both in physical and emotional danger.

Following the wildly popular Fifty Shades of Grey (2011), Ana and Christian reconcile after their breakup.  Their intense attraction and growing emotional attachment offers the reader a lot of passionate lovemaking scenes, as well as a couple of “beyond vanilla” sexual interactions. As Christian works on overcoming his dark sexual past while placing faith and emotional stock in his relationship with Ana, it affects past relationships, for better and worse. Old lovers come out of the woodwork, threatening their happiness and their physical well-being. Conversely, Christian’s connection to his family is strengthened through Ana’s gentle, supportive influence. Meanwhile, Ana has started as the assistant to an editor at a small Seattle publishing company, setting up a string of professional hazards and triumphs that ultimately lead her to a promotion, but also set up a dangerous situation for Ana and Christian that will act as the segue into the third book in the series. Fifty Shades Darker continues the saga of Ana and Christian, the zeitgeist erotic romance that’s hit a chord with women everywhere, with the same universally appealing themes and the same writing weaknesses.

A fun summer read—not the best thing you’ve ever read, not the worst, but not to be taken too seriously.

Pub Date: April 17, 2012

ISBN: 978-0-345-80349-8

Page Count: 538

Publisher: Vintage

Review Posted Online: Aug. 8, 2012

Next book

THE SEARCH

A little slower-paced than the typical Roberts romantic mystery (Black Hills, 2009, etc.) but every bit as steamy. It may...

A dog trainer and a wood craftsman dance around love and danger in the Pacific Northwest.

Fiona Bristow is the only victim who got away from serial killer George Perry. Now a copycat, inspired and perhaps guided by the jailed Perry, is on her trail. After Perry murdered her fiancé, Fiona rebuilt her life as a dog trainer and search-and-rescue expert on lovely Orcas Island. She’s recently met talented woodworker Simon Doyle and his misbehaving puppy Jaws, and her dormant love life is about to revive as she and the reluctant Simon slowly build a complicated relationship. Though she’s done her best to overcome her fears and make herself whole again, this new series of killings, with herself as the ultimate target, can’t help but strain her nerves. As the police and FBI track the killer, a persistent reporter makes Fiona’s life more difficult by printing information about her life and location. Through it all, Fiona keeps working. As she continues to go on rescue missions with a team that may soon include Simon and Jaws, her friends help to keep her balanced. But ultimately it will be the trust she has built up with Simon and the talents of her dogs that will change her life forever.

A little slower-paced than the typical Roberts romantic mystery (Black Hills, 2009, etc.) but every bit as steamy. It may well add dog lovers to her legion of fans.

Pub Date: July 7, 2010

ISBN: 978-0-399-15657-1

Page Count: 496

Publisher: Putnam

Review Posted Online: March 6, 2011

Kirkus Reviews Issue: April 15, 2010

Next book

THE VILLA

A smooth blend of suspense and romance. As ever, the author's trademark effortless style keeps a complex plot moving without...

Megaselling Roberts (River's End, 1999, etc.) goes to Napa Valley for the tale of an Italian-American family wine producers rocked by scandal and a series of murders.

Dynasty head Tereza Giambelli knows that her granddaughter Sophia is the only family member capable of running a multimillion-dollar wine business—and no one contradicts La Signora. It's just as well the lovely young woman is still single: Tereza has plans for her. The matriarch has recently married Eli MacMillan, the American founder of another famous wine company. Eli's grandson Tyler knows everything there is to know about producing wine, from the vineyard to the vat. Ruggedly handsome, intelligent and earthy, he's a perfect match for public-relations whiz Sophia—or so thinks Tereza. The two young people begin to work together; Tyler teaches Sophia the fine art of making wine and making love. But other family members hope to claim their share of the Giambelli fortune, and people start dying mysteriously, including Sophia's good-for-nothing father, Tony Avano. Long divorced from long-suffering Pilar Giambelli, Tony led an opulent, self-indulgent life that provides plenty of murder suspects. He might have been killed by the mob, or a jealous mistress, or his spoiled brother-in-law, Tereza's lazy son, who's produced a passel of brats with his foolish Italian wife in the hopes of making Tereza happy. Everyone has a motive, and nothing is what it seems, Sophia discovers, but Tyler stands by her. Then a bottle of tainted merlot kills a company exec. A tragic mishap caused by poisonous plants growing near the vines? Or deliberate product tampering intended to destroy the company? Sophia and Tyler will need to delve even deeper into the convoluted and sometimes unsavory history of the family and its three-generation business.

A smooth blend of suspense and romance. As ever, the author's trademark effortless style keeps a complex plot moving without a hitch.

Pub Date: March 19, 2001

ISBN: 0-399-14712-8

Page Count: 432

Publisher: Putnam

Review Posted Online: May 19, 2010

Kirkus Reviews Issue: Feb. 1, 2001

Categories:
Close Quickview