TEST
An AAR Top 100 Romance
review originally published on August 28, 1998
In her second installment of the Quinn Brothers trilogy, Nora Roberts is Rising Tides as well as the temperature on the Chesapeake shores. I have been waiting for this book since I finished Sea Swept, the premier of the Quinn brothers and the start of a love affair I envy in Cam and Anna’s relationship.
The beauty of this series not only incorporates the natural perfection offered by the Maryland coastline, but in the love shared by this band of one-time orphans who all overcame rough hurdles to find and experience a close-knit family. Under the gentle care of Ray and Stella Quinn, these social misfits have grown up to become men that any woman would rush home to meet the parents. Rising Tides focuses on the trials and tribulations of the middle and most bucolic of the Quinn’s, Ethan. Finding a balance on the water, Ethan leads an uncomplicated life — or so it seems on the surface — as a crabber on the Chesapeake Bay. Ethan has buried the dark times in his life – times of abuse, drugs, and violence – behind a thick veneer of complacency. Ethan is determined to settle for happiness brought into his life through a boat building company and the love of his brothers, since he will never let himself find happiness in the heart of the woman he loves.
Another beautiful component of this series is Ray Quinn himself. Roberts doesn’t let Ray’s tragic death hinder him from continuing his sturdy guidance in his sons’ lives. Ray’s appearances, albeit a few close encounters with the afterlife, give Ethan a good dose of logic and a swift kick in the butt needed for him to shed his bullish behavior and get a grip on his true happiness. There were times when I was cursing Ethan for being a stupid typical male, then I would turn the page and cheer when Ray’s booming voice (in my mind, he booms) echoes my sentiments exactly.
In the end, I fell in love with Ethan almost as much as I did with Cam — I go for the strong, arrogant, dark type more often than the dependable sort. Both were romantic and virile, and both showed that no matter what happened to them in childhood, Ray and Stella Quinn instilled in them values which shaped them as great role-models. Just watch how all three brothers learn to love, guide and protect Seth, who might or might not be a Quinn by birth.
Unlike previous trilogies by Roberts where you can read the novels out of sequence and still grasp most of the serial plot lines, the Quinn trilogy should be read in order. What makes this series so unique is that Roberts switches her focus away from the female-biased point of view of relationships. Male bonding and emotional attachments, especially for female readers, is so rarely written of and understood we need to fully understand every minute plot twist inscribed. If anyone can write this tenuous bond with great detail and understanding, it’s Nora. Well done, woman! I only wish Inner Harbor, Phillip’s story, would hurry up and be released…one chapter was hardly enough. I want to see what his type of woman is like and how the brothers will finally clear their father’s name.
Until the third and final novel is released early next year, I suggest we all read or re-read the first two novels, just to make sure we didn’t miss anything the first time around. This series will definitely go down on my Desert Isle Keeper list for years to come!
Grade: A
Book Type: Contemporary Romance
Sensuality: Hot
Review Date: 18/07/17
Publication Date: 1998
Recent Comments …
Yep
This sounds delightful! I’m grabbing it, thanks
excellent book: interesting, funny dialogs, deep understanding of each character, interesting secondary characters, and also sexy.
I don’t think anyone expects you to post UK prices – it’s just a shame that such a great sale…
I’m sorry about that. We don’t have any way to post British prices as an American based site.
I have several of her books on my TBR and after reading this am moving them up the pile.
Over the years, AAR has had many a guest reviewer. If we don't know the name of the reviewer, we've placed their reviews under this generic name.
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This was my favorite of the Chesapeake Bay books, though I liked Phillip’s book a lot, too.
Yes, really good series overall and like you, Rising Tides was my favorite of them all. I believe this series actually introduced me to Nora Roberts too. I think Sea Swept was the first book of hers that I read.
This book is still one of my favorite romances ever and I just reread it a few weeks ago. I love the way that Ethan and Grace interact with each other, especially as they are both trying desperately to hide their love while supporting a lifelong friendship that began when they were children. It depicts one of the most realistic and humorous argument scenes between a couple too that I reread periodically. My heart melted for Ethan as he struggled with unrequited love for Grace, and I am a sucker for unrequited love stories. I recall too this being perhaps the first romance that features a working-class couple. Grace’s struggles to work several low-wage jobs while raising a child single-handed after the abrupt departure of a delinquent husband really touched me. Nora Roberts does not pull any punches in depicting how hard life is for her. Roberts’s “lifestyle porn” novels have never interested me, but there was a time when she cared about the realities of average couples and this is, in my opinion, one of her very best.
Clearly I need to check it out again.
It was my least favorite book, like you said fairly unremarkable, but on a whole The Chesapeake Bay series is one of Nora’s best.
I remember this book as being so unremarkable. Did I miss something?