Eve and Roarke are both insulted when Commander Whitney has to warn Eve not to allow Roarke access to accounting data. The accounting firm handles data for competitors and possible competitors of Roarke's. Mavis' knocked-up buddy, Tandy Willowby, is kidnapped. The two cases prove to be linked. ( )

There's not much I can say about this series that hasn't already been said. I thought this was another winner. I liked the way the cases wrapped up, and Eve's discomfort with Mavis's pregnancy is just icing on the cake. ( )

What are we up to now? 27? Unreal.

The highlight of this book is the birth of Mavis's baby, and that's also the framework in which the story took place--beginning with Eve and Roarke attending a childbirth class with Mavis, and ending with the birth itself.

In the meantime, a young engaged couple who work in an accounting firm are brutally murdered, and signs point to the cause as emanating from within the firm. Later on, Tandy, a pregnant friend of Mavis's, due any day, disappears, and a teary and hormonal Mavis begs Eve to find her.

My absolute favorite part of the book wasn't the birth of the baby, contrary to the majority of Amazon reviews (we all know I'm contrary). It was the dilemma provided when Commander Whitney tells Eve that there's concern about Roarke using information uncovered during the case to further his own business. This was just so well done and realistic. Roarke initially reacts in anger, and tells Eve to drop the case, demanding that she prove her priorities: him or the job. I'm not going to spoil the fun by revealing how they work it out, but this is the number one reason why even after more than a score of books, this is still one of my favorite series: the marital issues and how Eve and Roarke learn to work through them.

And to my surprise, the long-awaited birth of the baby wasn't sappy or overdone. I suppose I shouldn't have been surprised, given the experience of the rest of the series, which shies away from sappiness--Nora never showed Eve & Roarke's wedding, for example--but it was emotional, and a fitting end to the story.

Another huge plus was that Tandy's abduction hit too close to home, not for Eve this time, as so many cases have done, but for Roarke.

Of course, there were too many funny moments and great lines relating to Eve and Roarke's phobia about childbirth to count. And mostly they weren't over-the-top, and didn't grate on my nerves.

The negatives were that the explanation of the clues found in the accounting records was very muddled; we didn't get to know Tandy well enough to worry about her--in fact, I believed until very near the end that she'd end up being a villain; and the two mystery threads meshed a little too conveniently and abruptly.

This isn't a story to read for the mystery--it's one to read for the characters, and they're done well enough to make up for any deficiencies in the mystery. ( )

RR

I've read all but a couple of the early Eve Dallas books, and like many other women, I'm in love with Roarke. I always buy the new ones when I see them at the grocery store, and thoroughly enjoy them. Nora Roberts' output is truly astounding, and the stories are always interesting, but her books are poorly edited. Although for the day or two that I'm reading her latest book, I'm getting 5* enjoyment from it, I don't believe they are really 5* books. ( )