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Reading Check In: Birthright by Nora Roberts

Finally finished the book club book for the month, Birthright by Nora Roberts. I honestly had a blast with this one. You get a nice little bit who dunnit, a couple of well developed romances, and plenty of soapy twists and turns. This was at a period when Nora Roberts was really coming into her own, and you could feel her getting a better grasp of her pacing. The story follows several characters connected to a controversial archeological dig in a small New England town. While the back of the book would make you think that the dig was the central focus, the true focus is very different. I kind of don't want to spoil it here, as. I liked not really knowing the full plot as I went into it. Made the reveals more fun. 

It isn't perfect, with some lag towards the end where things should be ramping up. I had a similar problem with Sanctuary, which was a slightly earlier book. When we are supposed to be getting into the swing of things things would screech to a halt for a misplaced love scene. Sanctuary really suffered from this issue. Birthright mostly avoids it accept for a few moments in the last third of the book. I will say, though. For a book that is over 500+ pages, it does clip along really well. 

A big reason it works is because the cast of the book is really enjoyable. There are a lot of characters, but the ones we spend the most time with really are enjoyable to read about. As she does with a lot of her books, we have several romantic couples in various stages of their relationships going on. Our central couple is Callie and Jake, our archeologist and anthropologist. Jake can be a bit annoying with his constant anthropological speak, but over all he is a likable guy. Callie, who is the true lead of the book is strong willed and fun without coming off as mean. As much as I want to talk about the other couples, they would reveal one of the earlier twists in the book. Let me just say that I enjoyed them just as much, if not more, than our central couple. 

I honestly haven't read a bad Nora Roberts book yet. Some were better than others, but none of them have made me want to chuck the book across the room. Yes, she is flowery and loves to list things in groupings of threes. She also can tell really fun romantic suspense, and really seems to enjoy playing with genre. Birthright isn't a bad place to start with her, although I would recommend Midnight Bayou as a starter personally. 

The book club also seemed to enjoy the book, with most who have finished it giving it a four out of five stars. That is a pretty good turn out. 

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