Legacy

If you've read any Nora Roberts or J. D. Robb you recognize the cadence, the tone, the word choices, the humor, the irony from the very first page. And of course we all agree the writing is excellent and not much can compare. It feels so warm, so good, so coming home. Sometimes the passion is right there, sometimes just implied, but it’s always sweet, special, honest and true. And there is also often shiver-inducing danger and mystery, fear of the unknown.

Legacy is an excellent addition to my Nora Roberts library. Adrian Rizzo has a good life, but it hasn’t always been easy and she has some terrifying memories. She and her mother aren’t what you would call close, but they are in each other’s lives and that seems to be enough. show more Her grandparents are the most important people in her world, and she is very close to them. Raylan, her childhood friend, was a promise. A promise of what could be, what could wipe away some of those memories. But Raylan is a promise that never got started, because Adrian has a secret and she won’t let herself have a relationship. It’s too dangerous. Adrian’s secret is that she has been receiving death threats every year since she was about seventeen years old.

After her beloved grandmother dies Adrian goes home – to her grandfather, the family restaurant, and the only place she ever felt was home. She moves her business there, some of her closest friends move there as well, and then Raylan moves there. There is a sense of small-town community, family, friendships, and tradition. A small part of Adrian’s mind start to whisper to her that maybe she really can have more than she’s allowed herself. Maybe she can let herself go and feel those feelings that want to escape.

The death threats aren’t downplayed, but they are in the background so that you almost – almost, mind you, but not really – forget about them as you get caught up in the beauty of Adrian’s day-to-day life. Which means you are shocked all over again each and every time Adrian receives another threat. And even more shocked when she decides she’s had enough and it’s time to meet – and stop – this monster.

Thanks to NetGalley for providing a copy of Legacy for my reading pleasure and honest opinion. It’s another marvelous fast-paced, warm, thrilling, totally satisfying story by Nora Roberts. All opinions are my own. show less

This is one of my favorite Nora Roberts books! Adrienne Rizzo met her father for the first time as a young child when he broke into her house and tried to kill her. He was married and had two children. Her mother was one of many women he’d slept with outside his marriage. Fortunately Adrienne’s mother fought him off. I loved the unique career of Adrienne’s mother and Adrienne being health/fitness routine designers. I especially LOVED the friend group that Adrienne developed, both in Maryland and back in New York. The way the ensemble cast worked together was such a treat to read, especially as the book progressed and they grew into adulthood with marriages and kids. Some oh so funny scenes. This had a great romantic suspense show more plotline to go along with it. Someone is angry about what happened years ago the night Adrienne’s biological father came to their house… and they want revenge. And (to make this book even more perfect) there were really cute dogs! show less

Thank you to NetGalley and the publisher.

I always enjoy Nora's books and this one was no exception.

A few things that bothered me that was on one page Adrian is 7 and the next 17 and then she's a senior in h.s. And then she's a senior in college. I know you can't put every detail into a book, but let her have a childhood. I would have like to see the in between years. She grew up too fast literally.
One page was 4 years later which happened with another character. Now that's a little too far into the future.

Adrian was ambitious as her mother Lina with her yoga and exercise videos and at a very young age when she was in h.s.

I enjoyed all of the other characters and how they linked to one another both in NY and then in MD.

A lot going on and show more it was interesting and terrifying in some places with the poet. It all came together at the end. show less

When Adrian Rizzo met her father for the first time at age seven, he tried to kill her. He died instead. Her mother is a fitness guru who puts business in front of everything. Luckily, Adrian has her mother's personal assistant Mimi, her mother's business manager Harry, and her loving grandparents to provide emotional support. After being dragged all over the US while her mother Lina builds her business, she rebels at age sixteen and decides to make her own life.

Adrian gathers a cohort of great friends at the last school her mother sent her to who help her make her own fitness video. With Harry's support, she begins to build her own fitness empire with the help of her friends.

When her grandmother dies in a car accident, Adrian moves show more her life back to the small town where her grandfather lives because that's what you do when you love someone. At the same time her grandmother dies, her best friend's brother Raylan loses his wife who was a teacher in a school shooting leaving him with a broken heart and two small children to raise.

Raylan and Adrian met when her mother left her with her grandparents to get away from the publicity around the death of her biological father. He was ten and she was seven and she was his sister's new best friend. They heard about each other over the years but were both busy building their own lives. He is an artist who works with friends to produce graphic novels about super heroes of their own devising.

More time passes with Adrian getting a threatening poem once a year from someone who wants her dead. The first one arrived shortly after the release of her first fitness video when she was seventeen. It was scary and she let the police know but thought it was just some jealous fan. But the letters kept coming. First once a year but the pace kept escalating so that now when she's near 30 she's getting four a year. And the poet has decided it's time for her to die.

This story is filled with love. Even Raylan's dog Jasper and Adrian's dog Sadie are in a romantic relationship. There is the love of friendship with her girlfriend and romantic love as their friends find their own life partners. Adrian and Raylan are building their own relationship as a friendship grows into a romantic relationship. This is in stark contrast to the glimpses we get of the poet's isolation and obsession with revenge.

The story was both heart-warming and horrifying as the poet gets closer and closer to Adrian. Fans of Nora Roberts will enjoy this one with all her trademarks: smart dialog, strong relationships, cute kids, and even dogs. show less

I received a complimentary digital copy of this book from the publisher and NetGalley. This review is my voluntary and unbiased opinion.

“power to do good, is the true and lawful end of aspiring.” Sir Francis Bacon

A tumultuous and disturbing story about unconventional families and struggles to maintain safety and resilience. It might be a trigger for those sensitive to stories involving domestic abuse, serial killers and mass shootings.

“Some people leave a legacy of goodness behind them.”

In Georgetown, Adrian Rizzo has only known an unconventional family environment moving several times since age 7 with her mother, Lina Rizzo and her friend, Mimi. They have lived in LA, Chicago or Miami where she was homeschooled by Mimi as show more Lina focused on building her company, Yoga Baby. Everything changed the day Jon Bennett barged into their house, beat Mimi, grabbed Adrian and began beating Lina. Jon had taught English literature at Georgetown University until a reporter exposed his affair with Lina. It was this fatal night as he toppled over the railing that Adrian learned that the angry man was her father.

Lina developed a successful career in fitness, yoga, and healthy lifestyle. She was raised in rural Travelers Creek where her parents Sophia and Dom run a restaurant, Rizzo Italian Restaurant. Adrian spent most summers with her grandparents as her mother traveled promoting her business. It was during that time she met 7 year old Maya and her friend Cassie and Maya’s older brother Rylan, 10. Jan Wells worked as a cook for Rizzo's Restaurant after her husband left her to raise Rylan and Maya alone.

As the years pass, Adrian seems to follow in the path of her mother developing yoga videos for kids. She moves to NY where she meets friends who help her with her ambitious campaign to be as successful as her mother. Unfortunately, the independent teen soon becomes the target of a stalker after appearing on magazine covers with the success of her business growing. Adrian has legitimate reason to worry as she begins receiving creepy poems and senses her life is in danger.

Although there is a backdrop of suspense and danger, several characters exhibit extraordinary strength and courage with their sacrifices and acts of bravery. show less

All hail, Queen Nora! Legacy is a fantastic story of family and strength. As always, she captures complicated family relationships so well. She is even better at portraying friends as family. Adding to that, she layers loss, the idea of blended families, and the importance of roots. I simply love Nora’s mind and the families she creates for us.

I feel like you know what you're getting with a Nora Roberts book. The characters will be serviceable, if not particularly vivid, the plot will move just quickly enough to keep you interested, but not so quickly you don't know what's coming, and the ending will be happy. And, honestly, sometimes that's all I want out of a book. Something fun enough to hold my interest without requiring too much concentration. If that's what you are looking for, Legacy definitely fits that bill nicely. If it's not...perhaps a different author entirely.