Wow! I'm so very glad the first Nora Roberts book I ever picked up was *not* written in her early days. On the flip side, it's kind of cool to get to read a longer series with the stories of multiple generations of family members, even if none of them are completely realistic.

This book starts the MacGregor family series with the youngest two children of (gazillionaire?) mogul Daniel MacGregor. Serena, the youngest daughter is paired up, through Daniel's first of many fix-up shenanigans, with tons-of-casinos-owner Justin Blade. (Side note: Where did that last name come from?) Following that, middle child and lawyer Caine meets Justin's sister, Diana Blade, also a lawyer! What are the odds? No pun intended. Somehow, this is possibly the first (and only?) time Daniel isn't directly meddling to bring the two together, even though he not so discreetly does so later on.

***SPOILERS AHEAD***
Let's start with Serena and Justin. First of all, what's up with this dude? It seems like all he does is follow Serena around everywhere, takes off all her hairpins and litters the ocean with them (super wtf character thing here), and never takes no for an answer. Every time Serena rejects him, he just kisses her more deeply. And then she's all like, oh yeah, maybe I did want that anyway. All because Justin is determined to make her "love" him back. Stalker much? It's not fun to read forced romance, no matter what decade it's supposed to be taking place. The ending also feels random and contrived. It's all over the place until someone says I love you.

Then there's Caine and Diana. Their story seems to follow more of the standard Nora Roberts conflict and resolution plot we typically see, but again, Caine practically forces himself onto Diana in every way until she literally can't picture life without him. It's unrealistic for this seemingly strong female character to break down and expose her every vulnerability in front of the Caine just so that she will eventually come to the conclusion that she "needs" him in her life. Their love story is a bit more believable but still tough to swallow given how it was written. Also, I kept hoping to see more of Diana's professional journey, like how was she in the courtroom rather than just reading that she managed to win her crazy tough first major case. Roberts fails to provide this portion of character development even though she has strenuously established how driven Diana seems to be on shaping her career path while getting to know herself more. It's weird to get lazy here with that but I guess we're just supposed to assume she's a perfect lawyer anyway, and her only flaw is not admitting she needs a man fast enough? ( )

3 ½ Stars ( )

Serena was a card dealer on cruise ship and Justin a casino owner on vacation. I couldn't get into this story where he'd make a move, she'd resist, but she couldn't control her bodies reaction to his kiss; then she spent equal time mentally reviewing everything. I gave up after 85 pages not even bothering to browse second story about her brother.
( )

Typical contemporary romance from Nora Roberts. ( )

Patriarch Daniel MacGregor wants grandchildren, and having located the perfect mates for his children, he's not above playing matchmaker - but only so his wife has some grandbabies to dandle on her knee, of course...

Gambler Justin Blade wasn't looking for the love of his life, but when he spots blackjack dealer Serena MacGregor across the green felt, suddenly it's not his stake he's concerned about keeping intact - it's his heart.

For successful attorney Caine MacGregor takes winning cases and women in stride, until he meet his new sister-in-law Diana Blade. Convincing Diana to join his legal practice is one thing - but can he crack her cool and win her heart?

A little suspense, a lot of heat. ( )