Friday, May 21, 2021

Review: Black Hills by Nora Roberts

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Title: Black Hills
Author: Nora Roberts

Read copy: eBook (Kindle)
Published: July 7, 2009
Publisher: Berkley
ASIN: B002AU7MFY

Cooper Sullivan spent the summers of his youth on his grandparents’ South Dakota ranch, sharing innocent games and stolen kisses with the neighbor girl, Lil Chance. Now, twelve years after they last walked together hand in hand, fate has brought them back to the Black Hills.

Coop has left his fast-paced life as an investigator in New York to take care of his aging grandparents and the ranch he has come to call home. Though the memory of his touch still haunts her, Lil has let nothing stop her dream of opening the Chance Wildlife Refuge, but something...or someone...has been keeping a close watch. When small pranks and acts of destruction escalate into a heartless attack on Lil’s beloved cougar, memories of an unsolved murder in these very hills have Coop springing to action to keep Lil safe.

Lil and Coop know the natural dangers that lurk in the wild landscape of the Black Hills. But a killer of twisted and unnatural instincts has singled them out as prey...

My rating:

Lil and Coop were childhood friends, turned lovers at the cusp of adulthood. Then, he broke her heart...

Twelve years later, Cooper is back to help his grandparents with their farm and though he claims he's back for good, Lil doesn't really believe it, protecting and guarding her heart. But her heart is the least in danger. Someone is stalking her, threatening her and all she's built, leaving her little choice but to rely on Cooper.


This book just didn't work for me. The re-read actually made me knock off a star.

I liked the backdrop of the Black Hills of South Dakota, I liked the supporting cast (Lil's parents and adoptive brother, Coop's grandparents, Lil's best friend...), I even liked the suspense (to a degree). The rest...Not so much.

There was just too much info and details about wildlife and the refuge. Sometimes, I thought I was reading a guide or something. The villain was a tad too off for my taste and too much time was spent in his twisted mind, if you ask me. These two factors combined, made the pacing slow and plodding and the read rather dull.

And then there was the romance. While I liked both Lil and Coop as children and teenagers, their "present day" selves grated, and despite finding their young love adorable, I didn't buy their adult romance. While I could understand Cooper's character and personality, thanks to his backstory with his parents, Lil's baffled me. Yes, the guy supposedly broke her teenage heart, but, as he pointed out, she agreed with him at the time (or seemed to). She also claimed he wasn't cruel, when he broke up with her...so why the heck was she acting like he was some sort of monster? And why was she sometimes so bitchy about everything else and to everybody else? A mystery. One I'm glad to put behind me.

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