MIND GAMES is another excellent standalone thriller by Nora Roberts. It has it all: great family, great friends, a wonderful new romance and a killer who can find his way into the main characters mind.

Thea Fox and her brother Rem really enjoy spending two weeks with their Grammie in Redbud Hollow. They can feed the chickens, milk the cow, and just enjoy spending time with their Grammie. Their parents enjoy the time to just be a couple while the kids are gone too. But a jealous killer has the couple in his sights.

Thea and her grandmother both wake up during the night because they have seen the killer enter the house and kill the couple. Unfortunately, the killer who has the same sort of psychic gift as Thea has seen her too. Thea's gift allows her to offer police detectives the information they need to track the killer Ray Riggs too.

Ray Riggs will be spending the rest of his life in prison but that doesn't mean that he won't keep barging in on Thea's life. She needs to learn to block him out and live her life. She grows, makes friends, becomes a game designer, and falls in love with the rock star she had a crush on when she was a teen. But Ray Riggs is always there in the background trying to spoil her life.

Excellent story. I especially loved the strong family ties and the way they all choose to make their best lives after an unspeakable tragedy. ( )

I haven't read a Nora Roberts book I didn't love, and this one is no exception. As usual, we run the gamut of emotions from beginning to end, starting with a happy family that ends in violence. Through this trauma, though, Thea learns that she shares a "gift" with her grandmother that helps the police bring her parents' killer to justice. This leads to a connection between victim and killer that only gets more intense with time.

I loved the characters in this book so much. They were easy to relate to and made you really root for a happy ending. And the setting was written brilliantly, as well. You could practically smell the seasons changing in the Appalachian hills of Kentucky!

All in all, I absolutely loved this book and highly recommend it.

5/5 stars.

*** I would like to thank NetGalley, St.. Martin's Press, and Nora Roberts for the opportunity to read and review Mind Games. ( )

MIND GAMES is yet another stellar novel by Nora Roberts. Breaking from her normal story formula, MIND GAMES focuses less on the criminal element’s need for revenge and more about the importance of relationships and the challenges that come with opening yourself up to someone else. It is a sweet story, somewhat sappy and a bit wholesome in its rural setting complete with home-cooked meals made with ingredients fresh from the garden, but I find it a balm to the soul in these turbulent times. MIND GAMES reminds us that we choose our families, and there is beauty and love where you least expect to find it. ( )

Every spring, Nora Roberts' fans can look forward to a fantastic suspense novel that is a standalone. This spring is no exception and this year's novel will keep her readers rapidly turning pages as they read the terrifying new novel that's full of twists and turns and will keep her readers guessing until the end. I read the book during a very short period of time because I was so involved with the characters and had to see how it ended.

Every June, the Fox family takes their two children, Thea and Rem, from their home in Virginia to visit their grandmother in Kentucky. The parents then head home to have two weeks of life without children. Grammie is an active women who has her own business of making candles and soap and allows the children to have plenty of free time while they are there. Both children look forward to their two weeks in Appalachia -- not just the clean air but spending time taking care of the animals on Grammie's farm is always exciting to them. This year starts off the same as other years but after the parents get settled back in Virginia, they are murdered by a heartless criminal. Because both Grammie and Thea have a special sight, they know immediately what has happened. Thea has even seen enough that she is able to give the police information that help them arrest the killer. He is arrested and will spend the rest of his life in prison. As Thea and Rem grow up, Thea realizes that the killer has the same sight as she does and he can communicate with her in their minds. She has to work to deliberately block his evil and twisted thoughts. The mental communication will eventually come to a show-down between them.

This book is full of suspense but it's also emotional in parts (yes, I cried). I liked both Thea and Rem and I really liked their grandmother and the wisdom that she displayed and the great job that she did of raising two shattered children. Along with all of these other pluses in the novel, there's also a romance in the latter half of the book that is sweet and uncomplicated.

This is a book that you don't want to miss. Clear your calendar and find a comfy chair before you open the book. You aren't going to want to put it down until the end! ( )