Blue Smoke, 2005
May 11th, 2009
I will freely admit that there’s nothing Nora Roberts can’t do. She started out by writing Silhouette Romances– some straightforward, some series, and some with her trademark magical elements. She got picked up to do stand-alone single-title books, most of which become immediate best-sellers, and many of which fall into the genre of Romantic Suspense.
In my opinion, Roberts is at her absolute best when she focuses on families and relationships, as in her trilogies (the best of which is the 4-book Chesapeake series, which focuses on one family and includes no magical elements at all). Many people live for her single-title Romantic Suspense books, such as Blue Smoke, and I myself have read all of them. But for me, romance will always trump suspense, and that’s my chief criticism of books like Blue Smoke. The mystery takes center stage, and the romance is tangential. I prefer it the other way around.
Blue Smoke follows Catarina Hale, or Reena, from the night when, at age 11, she woke in the middle of the night and discovered that her family’s restaurant was on fire. From that point on, she develops a fascination with fire, and puts herself on a path to become an arson investigator. We follow Reena from age 11 to her early 30’s, through relationships and intensive police and fire training, and become aware that someone from her past is also following her.
Reena and her quiet stalker are linked by their fascination with fire and by an experience they shared as children, going back all the way to the arson she reported when she was 11. Of course, even while people around her are dying one by one, she doesn’t see the pattern until the one man who truly matters comes into her life. Then the stakes are raised, and so is the danger.
The romance is nice, and love interest Bowen Goodnight is fittingly masculine and sexy (as several scenes with low-slung tool belts will attest). He is not a sexist and does not resent Reena’s dangerous work, though he does worry about her safety. She even considers marrying him, providing, of course that she can keep him alive.
Nora Roberts excels at several things that certainly make themselves known in this book. One is research. The details in every book, this one included, are part of why they’re hard to put down. It’s interesting to learn the difference between the fire department and the police department when it comes to arson investigations. It’s interesting to read about what a woman has to do to fit in and be respected in either place. In many ways, that’s the primary romance in this novel.
Another of Roberts’ strengths is her refusal to let her characters become 2-dimensional in any way. Reena can be tough as nails and fierce, but also love her family, cuddle her nieces and nephews, and be very afraid when the situation calls for it. Bo can be strong, self-determined and independent, yet have a romantic streak that takes people by surprise. That’s how real people are. That’s the ultimate draw of Roberts’ books.
My personal preference is less suspense, more romance. But I still read everything Nora Roberts writes. If you like well-researched, compelling suspense and three dimensional, complex relationships, you’ll find Blue Smoke an extremely satisfying read.