knew who the killer was at about the halfway point and left a couple too many threads just hanging out there at the end. Fun Read but nothing I am going to read again. ( )

Coming off "Angels Fall" this just couldn't even compare. I was so bored at the beginning. Way too much description and thoughts. I don't feel we needed so much background. I did enjoy the romance between Cade/Tory and Faith/Wade. I actually think Faith was a very complex character. I was disappointed there was no conclusion to the Margaret situation. Not with her kids or with how hateful she was to Tory. I had been suspicious of the actual killer but then thought he would have been too young. Him as the killer just wasn't believable to me which ruined the reveal. I actually think the judge would have been perfect since Margaret was so close to him. It would have been true irony since she blamed Tory for Hope's death. The psychic parts were interesting to me. ( )

Better than average Nora Roberts offering. I particularly like it that the hero is an organic cotton farmer. I'm thinking about donating this to the WMRC Library's fiction collection for that very reason. ( )

Maybe this is an unfair review? It's not that the book is as terrible as all that -- the mystery/thriller plot was kind of interesting, and the writing was decent, if veering off into the purple at times. But the romance plots were amazingly annoying, and confirmed for me that mainstream romance is just not my thing. The romantic lead came across as a total jerk, "winning" the heroine by tactics that are absolutely creepy. He follows her around, shows up uninvited, never takes no for an answer, and basically stalks her. And she likes it. Ugh. ( )

I dithered about the rating and thought about giving this book four stars. However, the romance between Tory and Cade didn't sit right with me (at least the initial stages of it--I can't take it in romance novels when the dude bullies the heroine into being with him) probably cause of the insta-lust on his side of things. The mystery aspect of the book was interesting, though how Roberts tried to work in Tory's ability to "see" things didn't really work for the most part of the book for me. Probably because I have read of too many cases about faux psychics for me to be really fall into the story the way that I should have. I do wish that Tory's character had been a bit better developed. I don't know how or why she got interested in selling high end jewelry and other items. Also Roberts skips over her New York years and she info-dumps on Cade about what happened to her there. I do think her burgeoning and then friendship with Faith was a highlight though.

"Carolina Moon" follows Tory Bodeen. Tory ran away from her abusive father and emotionally absent mother as soon as she was able to. After something mysterious happens to her in New York that has her running from there, Tory returns to her hometown of Progress, South Carolina after a few years of building up her savings and working.

Returning to Progress is an issue for Tory though. When she was 8 years old, her best friend, Hope Lavelle was found raped and murdered. Many people in town believe that Tory left Hope to her fate in order to get away from the man that ultimately killed her. Very few know that Tory has an ability to see visions of people and knew when Hope was being killed. Now that Tory is back in Progress, the murderer is intent on making sure that Tory will not be able to name them. On top of that, Tory starts a relationship with Hope's older brother, Cade.

As I said above, Tory as a character doesn't have a lot of there there until the middle and end of the book. We hear about how her father abused her. How her mother stood by and did nothing. We also know that she has a caring grandmother, aunt, uncle, and cousin. Besides Tory interacting with her grandmother and uncle though, it seems as if she is pretty adrift. When you read about what happened to her as a young girl and then when she went to New York though I sympathized. I just wish that she had more of a backbone when dealing with Cade.

Speaking of Cade, I felt uneasy with the romance in this one. Maybe because the character bullies Tory into going out with him and then gets angry if she doesn't tell her what she is thinking and feeling all the time. Him going around calling her his woman made me roll my eyes too. I saw shades of Roarke in this character so maybe that's why he read as familiar to me while I was reading. And just like Tory, his character doesn't become more interesting until about the halfway point. You find out just how cold his family (specifically his mother was) was and is and how he had to go about proving himself constantly. His showdown with his mother was really good and I am surprised Roberts didn't try to have them fall into each other's arms and love each other. It was more realistic with how she wrote it. The romance scenes between him and Tory read similar to Eve and Roarke a few times.

Faith and Wade are the second couple in this book and a few times I thought it would have worked better if they were our main couple. Faith doesn't put up with a lot from people, but she loves her brother. It was interesting to see how her life was affected by her twin sister's death and knowing her mother wished it had been her that died. Cade and Faith had some hot romance scenes, but not too many which would have gotten boring.

There are secondary characters in this one, we have the local sheriff, the town mayor, Tory's uncle and aunt, her grandmother, Cade's mother, etc. Roberts does a good job drawing them out little by little, I just wish that we had gotten a better ending with this one. An epilogue would have worked nicely.

The writing was typical Roberts. This was written back in 2000 though and at times the book appears dated. Roberts talks about two characters with one being a Republican and Democrat and it's quaint to see them as having fiery debates, but who are really good friends. Oh the days before Obama came along and divided the country (said sarcastically I just got into that the other day with someone who says Obama was a worse divider than Trump since we didn't have these problems in this country until he was elected). I did laugh at another line about something being as likely as being a liberal Republican.

I also think that showing that the family housekeeper Lilah was essentially the real mother of Faith and Cade didn't sit well with me. Way too mammyish for me. She also has a little dialogue with Faith at one point about the murder girl allowing the man that rapes and murders her and it definitely sounded a bit victim blaming to me.

“Letting a man into your house doesn’t mean you want him to rape you.”

“Didn’t say so.” Lilah colored her lips, rubbed them together.

“Just saying a woman’s got to be careful. You open a door for a man, you better be ready to boot his ass right back out again.”

Or how about men don't come to a woman's house and rape them.

The flow was uneven at first, but improves towards the end. Once the murderer starts killing and raping again the book turns fully into more a suspense book though.

As I already said, the ending wasn't what I think we should have ended with. It was quite abrupt and I felt like I was missing a few pages. ( )

One of my favourite novels by Nora Roberts. It explores grief, abuse, and strength throughout time. ( )

I read this for the Murder Most Foul square for Halloween Bingo

"So many," Tory whispered.
"All were sexual homicides. Raped and strangled. There was no semen. There was some physical violence, particularly in the facial area. That escalates with each victim."
"Because their faces aren't right. Their faces aren't hers. Hope's."

The main and underlining impetus for this story was the rape and murder of an eight year old girl who was the bestfriend of our heroine, Tory; pretty dark stuff. I couldn't help always having that in the back of my mind, even though the author kind of leaves the head on dealing with it until more toward the back end of the second half.

You couldn't erase the past, or kill it, or wish it out of existence . Nor could you will away the present or change what was coming. We were all trapped in that cycle of time, just circling around the core of yesterdays. Sometimes those yesterdays were strong enough, willful enough, to suck you back no matter how hard you struggled.

This story is more of an ensemble piece with a secondary romance that I kind of wish got its own book and two handfuls of family and townspeople edging into the spotlight. This, along with the slow almost murky like way of the atmosphere of the story, kept the main couple's romance from being felt. Our hero Cade was the brother of Tory's bestfriend that was murdered and he never truly felt fully fleshed out for me. He comes on a bit stronger at the end but he kind of instantly goes for Tory (I love me some build up) and it ends up more of a willful strong arm relationship, Cade, at times, just telling Tory how it is going to be with Tory initially balking but eventually going along with him. I like a man who knows and shows what he wants but he immediately starts off this way and without the foundation for knowing Tory, it felt pushy and not too terribly romantic.

"He frightens me, and embarrasses me. By trying to keep it contained, as always, I thought I'd limit the fear and humiliation. It's hateful to be a victim, Cade. Makes you feel exposed and angry and somehow guilty at the same time."

With the underlining murder mystery and the two romances, the bulk of this is family dynamics and oof, are there some doozies. Tory's father was physically abusive and with her psychic abilities (Tory can sense emotions from people so strongly she can "see" their thoughts) she can sense some other dark aspects of his personality. Cade's family has the emotional pain of losing a daughter and sibling, swirling around and tearing them apart. The two handfuls of secondary characters are indirectly and at times directly affected by these issues, which leads to some great real moments between characters. However, it also lead to some dragging issues in the middle.

I'm a Yankee, so sometimes when I read these books set in the south I don't quite jive with the beat or tones. There was a languidness, thick, humid, slowly fanning yourself on the porch while you sip iced tea, that I thought slowed the pace the down. Tory's life after her bestfriend was killed isn't really explained until more towards the end but it felt implied she moved back to her hometown to find out truly what happened, for such a big issue, it felt pushed too much too the side. There was also some trope role characters that the author did a good job breathing layers and complexity to, Cade's sister, but others that for a book published in 2000 were disappointingly locked in, Cade's family housekeeper/nanny.

I know mysteries like, to well, keep the mystery going but when they stay to the side for so long, I think they end up feeling unknown or ineffectual. There are clues to who the murderer is but I wanted more insight into them, instead of one ending scene where thoughts and motivations are relayed concisely but quickly.

I liked this, some great emotional complexities were weaved in out, but it was a little slow moving for me. The rape and murder of an eight year old girl is never easy to read about, so be prepared for that, along with physical violence. If you're looking for an unhurried heavy on the family dynamics, mystery, with some romance, and love iced tea, this would be a well written option. ( )

Carolina Moon was hard to get into and dry in some places, yet once it picked up it was hard to put down. Unlike other of Robert’s books, this one seemed to have an ending that was easy to understand, that is until the whole twist of the book, which resulted in once again a rushed scene that is a bit confusing as to what is happening. ( )

Believe it or not this is my first Nora Roberts book. I was drawn to the South Carolina setting, the mystery, and the sultry psychic. I was not disappointed. As a native of South Carolina the setting and the people rang very true.It made me homesick. I also thought the mystery was very good. There were several possible killers that I debated. The psychic visions were creepy and not too heavy-handed. And there were dogs. It was a perfect storm of a book for me. There is romance and sex. I am not a big fan of long sex scenes and the ones in this book were not too long or detailed. (I don't need to SEE the math). Even though it had all the things I love, I was still surprised by how much I enjoyed this book. ( )

Some of the books Nora Roberts writes are good and some are awful. This one was great. Interesting twist and good character development. ( )

While herself an abused child, Tory Bodeen's best friend, Hope Lavelle, was killed in a vicious attack. Tory left home when she was eighteen and moved to New York, but now she has returned to Progress to face her childhood fears and open a boutique. Her arrival catches the attention of Cade Lavelle, Hope's brother. If you enoy Nora Roberts for her romantic suspense, this book will not disappoint. ( )

Excellent book. Great build of characters and surprise curves. ( )

I don't give one star reviews because, generally, I've at least found a book tolerable if I've finished it.

After 465 pages of this 470 page novel, I would have given this book a 3-star review. I like characters who are psychics and the romance was solid if a little bland. The resolution to the suspense plot was decently satisfying too.

The twist ending in the very last pages made me so unbelievably angry. I hate having the rug pulled out from me as a reader and this is what Nora Roberts did. She solved the suspense plot and then went "Psyche!! There was a secret sociopath hiding in plain sight the entire time!!"

Gah.

GAH!

Yup, that one still fills me with rage. ( )

I really liked this story, but I was frustrated by the ending. The climax comes in the last ten pages, we find out the murderer (which I totally had called from the beginning) and then it ends. There were so many threads left dangling that it didn't feel satisfying. Nora Roberts has a bad habit of leaving her climaxes until the last ten or twenty pages of the book and ending too soon after, but usually it does wrap up the story for the most part. This just raised more questions that needed to be answered, and I would have liked to have seen the effect on people. ( )

Good not great. Fairly typical contemporary romance. ( )

Romanzone d'amore con elementi gialli ambientato nel Profondo Sud tra alligatori e paludi e antiche magioni. Tutto solito, ma raccontato come Dio comanda, da scrittrice di razza a bambina che pende dalle sue labbra. Ogni tanto mi ci vuole.

Tory Bodeen grew up in a small, rundown house where her father ruled with his fist. Only her friendship with Hope, from the big house nearby, allowed Tory to be the child she couldn't be at home. But Tory's life fell apart when Hope was brutally killed - a murder which was never solved. Now, as Tory returns to her hometown to settle and start a business, she is determined to rid herself of the nightmare of that terrible night. Forging a bond wi3/15/2010th Cade Lavelle, Hope's brother, she's unsure whether the loss they share will unite them or drive them apart. But she's willing to try. Only living so close to those unhappy memories is more difficult and frightening than she expected. Because Hope's killer is still free - and extremely close ( )

this is the first nora roberts book i read and i was pleasantly surprised that i liked it as much as i did. ( )

This book had its ups and downs, but I have to say it was mostly ups. I thought I had it all figured out very early, but Nora surprised me! Though sometimes I think her climaxes are over a little too quickly (no pun intended). I am a little tired of the couples in these romance novels deciding to get married in what seems like seconds after they connect. I guess that's supposed to be romantic. ( )

Excellent book, and I couldn't put it down. Luckily, I had the day off, so was able to finish it. The characters are so real, that I found myself looking for her father over my shoulder. Creepy, but good reading and written in such a way that the ending is ALWAYS a surprise. ( )

* * * 1/2

Loved it!!! Great characters and good suspense. ( )

Why the name? No mention of a carolina moon in the whole book. The end was surprising, but not overally. Liked that she teamed the good and bad girl up. ( )

A Psychic story from Nora Roberts. Getting my interest going right from the start. And kept my interest right through to the end! One of the best Nora Roberts books I've read, it has plenty of twists and turns to keep you guessing right to the end. ( )

June 2006 ( )