Irish Thoroughbred (Irish Hearts #1)

I’m horse crazy so it didn’t take much for me to want to read this book and obviously I was biased to like it. But I was disappointed. From the beginning I thought the character of Adelia was overdrawn and the outcome with Travis entirely predictable. And pretty improbable. But even so, I enjoyed the horsey setting and the story moved along. But I was shocked that Adelia’s employer repeatedly touched her inappropriately and even worse, kissed her every time she got mad. They were NOT in a romantic relationship; she was his employee and what Travis did, and repeatedly, was sexual harassment. And poor Adelia didn’t seem to notice. I didn’t check to see what was the publishing date of this first Nora Roberts; perhaps it was before sexual harassment in the workplace came to be viewed as a crime and perhaps that’s why it was treated so nonchalantly. But I thought it was a terrible choice of a plot device.

The note says this was Nora Robert’s first published book. Even this one was a page turner. I hadn’t read this set before, but I love big long books and books in series that take a week to read, so I bought the whole series for my Kindle. And I couldn’t stop until I had read the entire series. It never hurts that Nora loves Ireland and the Irish people, as I do. And she was writing about horses. I live in Lexington, and the pasture behind my house is often full of horses–so again Nora was speaking to my heart. As I suspected, from the first, Miss Roberts had a knack for creating wonderful, believable characters. I fell in love with sweet Dee immediately. But all that said, I must add that sweet Nora has gotten considerably better over the years. If you haven’t read this set, by all means do. I am sure I will reread it again and again as I have most of her books.

I love this entire trilogy and all the characters involved! I always greatly enjoy the stories that take place in Ireland. The main characters are always so much fun to read about. They’re brutally honest; but with a flair and are strong, enduring and entertaining people. You can never go wrong with Nora Roberts and especially when they’re centered in Ireland and with the Irish people and country. I always find myself smiling while reading the stories. There’s always plenty of intrigue as well.

Nora Roberts publishes really good books with well drawn characters, interesting plots, detailed settings and backgrounds –and romance and sex. Then she writes lightweight romances with limited characterizations, simple plots, minimal setting details. This is one of the latter genre. If they remind you of others written in past, it is because of that similarity. It is OK but I prefer the first type!

This was Nora Roberts first best seller. I had read it years ago but when they decided to release a hard cover version on the anniversary, I bought it for old times sake. It’s an enjoyable story but she has grown 100 fold as a story teller over the years. If you are a Nora Roberts fan and somehow missed this book in your reading, it’s a fun read and let’s you see how far she has come.

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