When Catarina "Reena" Hale was eleven years old, she watched with her family--father Gib, mother Bianca, sister Francesca, sister Isabella, and brother Xander--as their family business, Sirico's, burned to the ground. The case came to a swift conclusion, when the father of a boy who had attempted to assault Reena is picked up for arson. The family rebuilds their business, their family ties stay strong, and their love and respect in the neighborhood grows.

We fast-forward to Reena in college, where she's finally decided to lose her virginity to Josh, a fellow student who yearns to be a writer. After her sister Bella's dream wedding, Reena has sex with her boyfriend, returns home, and later discovers that Josh has died during a horrific apartment fire--after supposedly falling asleep in bed with a lit cigarette.

Again, fast-forward. Reena is still in training to become an arson investigator, her life-long dream. She's a member of the police force, has worked actual fires with her fellow firefighters, and now needs to finish her training. A firefighter she was thinking of dating dies in an apparent robbery, shot and left in his burning truck.

Still farther into the future, Reena is a full-fledged arson investigator, and tragedy finds her once again. Only days after earning her gold shield, Luke, a boyfriend whose marriage proposal she turned down, has his Mercedes burned sky-high, and of course Reena is the main suspect. After she's cleared, she's only more determined than ever to make fire her job--to find out who sets it, and why, and to bring the perpetrators to justice.

Then she meets Bowen "Bo" Goodnight, her new next-door-neighbor, and feelings and emotions get jumbled up with the fires that seem to dog her every step. Because someone has made her their vendetta, and will stop at nothing to make sure that his own brand of justice is served.

I loved BLUE SMOKE! Although it took me four days to read, weighing in at 437 pages and spanning twenty years, the book is a wonderful mix of engaging family saga, taut police/arson procedural, and down and out thriller. I don't agree with the other reviewers who said this book was "horror" or that Ms. Roberts delved too deeply into the mind of the killer--most romantic suspense (and this is definitely one of those books) these days go more into the who, how, and why and less on the fluff. I commend Ms. Roberts for another winning story, one which I was sad to see end. I loved reading about the Hale family and their extended relations, and I'm sure you'll be as enthralled by them as I was.

**I have to also say that BLUE SMOKE reads a lot like Nora Robert's alter-ego, J.D. Robb, in a lot of instances. Some of the short sentences, rapid-pace dialogue, and out-loud ruminating are reminiscent of Eve Dallas, but that only adds to the allure of BLUE SMOKE, instead of taking away from it. Kudos on another winner! ( )

Aw, this is good. This is Nora Roberts at her best. She writes wonderfully. Tense and suspenseful, characters so individual and concise, and humour just to keep the balance right. When she writes about the heroine's family, always, there is warmth surrounding this reader's feelgood heart. The climax was nailbiting and going into the mind of a murdering rapist wtih a penchant for setting fires was scary but compelling.. ( )

While I haven't read every one of Ms. Roberts works I must state that I have read quite a few. I absolutely adore her way with words and the way she moves a story along without being obvious. Since many other reviewers have given a synopsis of this book I will limit myself to comments on the whole.

Fully rounded characters were what first grabbed my attention. It is through the central character's interaction with those around her that we learn of the events that have brought her to the present day and why she is so fiercely independent.

Ms. Roberts attention to details is one of the many things I love about her writing. Not too wordy, not too sparse, just enough to give you a perfect picture of the who or where she is describing. In Blue Smoke she is absolutely eloquent in her descriptions of fire, especially how it is perceived by some as a living thing. Her heroine, Reena, and the nemesis, Joey, are actually cut from a bit of the same cloth but the fine line between madness and sanity is what sets them apart. Both are drawn to fire because of its power but one is drawn to its capacity to harm while the other is searching for a way to quench the powerful beast.

The Hale family is down to earth as they rally to protect their own. The Pastorelli family is as dysfunctional as they come. Thrown into the mix is a wonderful leading man named Bo Goodnight (with a name like that you know he rides the white horse).

Suspense piled up as this reader tried to figure out where the arsonist would set his next, premeditated fire. I literally held my breath when Reena and Joey finally confronted each other.

I truly enjoyed this book. The final couple of chapters are definitely not for the squeamish but I didn't think they were too gruesome. I've seen plenty worse on the TV set.

I give Blue Smoke five stars for keeping me up way past my bedtime on way too many nights. ( )

Quite a bit of backstory, which shows how villain's obsession developed. The lead characters don't actually meet until Ch. 13 (about halfway through) the book. He keeps seeing her and 'everything stops'; but, he can't ever get to where she was before she is gone. Then she moves in next door to him.

Arson Investigator; Fire; Carpenter; Pyromaniac; big Italian family ( )

I really enjoyed this. I liked how Reena and Bo circled around each other for years. It did seem that it took Reena a bit too long to connect all the fires together. I mean, who has fire touch their life *that* much? And the ending seemed a little rushed. But all in all, it was romantic and suspenseful, as any good Nora Roberts should be. ( )

Prior to reading a book, especially when I have several other books to read on my "to-read" shelf, I check out Amazon.com's reviews. There were quite a few positive reviews for this book but more than a fair share of people slamming the book for one reason or another. Not certain what I was getting into, I read the book with lowered expectations and was pleasantly surprised.

When she was eleven, Reena watched her parents' Italian restaurant burn. It was arson, the culprit went to jail, and Reena found her life's work - investigating arson fires. The novel starts when Reena was eleven and in the first couple of hundred pages follows her at various points in her life as tragedy takes the life of her boyfriend, an almost boyfriend, and another fire is set to frame her. The isolated incidents take place over the course of 10 years, so while it is obvious to the reader that Reena is being singled out, it is not obvious to her.

At thirty-one, Reena buys a house next door to Bo Goodnight (great hero, but seriously horrible name, how high of a cheese factor can you get?). Bo has glimpsed Reena through the years at various points, once at a party, another time at the mall, once in traffic, but he has always been thwarted from actually being able to meet no matter how hard he tried to reach her. One of the highlights of the book is Reena stepping out into her back yard and meeting Bo for the first time. This is a funny, endearing scene that really had me liking Bo.

For those who are fans of J.D. Robb, this book will be a fun and great read for you. I'm a Nora Roberts fan, and I am also the first to admit that not all of her books are winners (the Key trilogy was unreadable). "Blue Smoke" is a fun book and an entertaining read. Reena has a large family that she is close to and spends a lot of time with, people in the neighborhood know her, and reading about her life and her neighborhood was enjoyable.

The romance is enjoyable, too, with two characters who do not treat each other horribly or get into stupid misunderstandings or fight for no reason. I particularly like to read romances where the main characters are not stupid or mean with each other, and this is a great example of that. The most believable romance stories to me are the ones where the characters like each other, respect each other, and have a fairly easy going relationship with each other. This novel illustrates the joy of that type of relationship.

In reading the unfavorable reviews, I think that Nora Roberts is in a very difficult position. There are many people who love the familiarity in a Roberts novel, the known happily ever after, the type of hero and heroines she writes, the kind of families she showcases. I think that when she writes books with these signature elements some people really enjoy them and some people wail "She's in a rut!"

However, when she branches out and does something different with her novels, as she does here, the reverse happens, people are upset that they had to read almost 200 pages before the main romance kicks in, while much of the book is relegated to solving a mystery that the readers have solved from page one.

None of these factors really dulled my enjoyment of the book. I tend to like Roberts' work, especially when she does something out of the ordinary. She writes well and even the beginning parts that I knew ahead of time would contain tragedy were extremely entertaining to read because Roberts is simply an excellent writer. I enjoyed the book immensely, in part due to the big family, the friendships, and sense of community she imbues this novel with.

I'm pleased that Nora Roberts continues to write different types of novels without paying too much attention to the criticism she receives. She can't please everyone, but her popularity shows that she does please the majority of people the majority of the time.

If you do not like her J.D. Robb books, give this one a pass, but for those who enjoy reading Roberts for her excellent writing, you will enjoy "Blue Smoke" ( )

The blaze that night at her family's pizzeria changed young Reena Hale's life in more ways than one. Neighbors and relatives would pull together to help the Hales get through the crisis and rebuild. The Baltimore authorities would arrest the arsonist responsible. But as Reena gazed into the fire, her destiny began to take shape. She would study, struggle, and walk the gaunlet to understand and master its terrible force - and one day become an investigator herself.

The book started well, it just got to be too long. ( )

I love Nora Roberts. This one was excellent - I think I've read it three or four times now.

I've read many of Nora Roberts' books and most of them hit the spot when you want something intriguing with some romance, but I agree with other reviewers - that rape scene at the end was just over the edge. I expected the bad guy to kill a few more people before it was over with, but man... That kept me awake a while after I finished the book. Not cool.

Also, I found it hard to comprehend that it would take so long for the main character to figure out who was killing all her boyfriends. ( )

You can always count on Nora Roberts for a great read. ( )

This is the first Roberts book I've read (other than the J.D. Robb "in Death" series). I picked it up at a used bookstore after seeing a favorable review.

It's a romance, sure, but it's also a tightly-plotted suspense novel. Will the cops catch the arsonist before he reaches his ultimate goal? The love story advances the plot, or at least doesn't get in the way, and the characters are realistic, even the secondary ones.

I don't want to get started on the works of an author as prolific as Roberts or I'll go broke, but I would certainly buy any of her stand-alone novels if they're as good as this one. ( )

Romance, Thriller ( )

As usual, Nora Roberts can do no wrong! This was an excellent book... well written, suspenseful, hot sex, fabulous characters!

If you're looking for a fast and enjoyable read, I highly recommend Blue Smoke! ( )

Loved, loved, loved this book!! I'm an avid Nora Roberts reader and Blue Smoke is a top 5 Nora favorite! Gripping suspense, complex characters, and as always, riveting romance! A must read!!! ( )

One hot summer night in Baltimore, eleven-year-old Reena Hale watches as her family’s restaurant goes up in flames. She decides in that moment to become an arson investigator. That fire shaped another’s destiny also, as Joey Pastorelli sees his father arrested for setting the fire. Reena’s close-knit Italian family rebuilds and she goes on to complete police and firefighter training. While she excels at her job, she is unlucky in love – all of her relationships end with a fire. Things start looking up when she meets Bo Goodnight, the hunky carpenter next door. Reena’s one problem: the pyromaniac psychopath determined to kill everyone she loves. With wonderful characterizations and attention to detail, Nora Roberts offers another thrilling combination of danger and romance. ( )

There's really no mystery here to who the culprit is. But the writing is good and keeps you going through the phases of the lead characters life. I could hardly put it down. ( )

I was quite surprised with this book. It's not the normal Nora writing you usually see in her nice and happy romance novels. She can get a bit to graphic and violent for me. ( )

I was very suprised with this book. It wasn't the normal Nora writing like in her nice and happy romance novels. But she does get pretty graphic and violent in some parts. ( )

Arson and detection and romance ( )