On My Shelf: Chesapeake Bay Series by Nora Roberts

I love Nora Roberts! She writes beautifully and in such a way that I envy. I especially have a passion for her J.D. Robb “In Death” series and her trilogies. I recently read her Chesapeake Bay series, which consists of four books about four “brothers”.

The first three books were published as a trilogy and these three books are exceptional. I felt as though I lived at the Chesapeake Bay and was a part of the family. The three men are described so well that I believed they were real, and wished that I had brothers just like them. The women are as fascinating as can be, and the young boy is remarkable. 

I highly recommend these three books to anyone who wants to learn how to create characters that your readers can fall in love with. I also recommend them because the books are very good! I love the two main characters in the second book “Rising Tides”, and the third book, “Inner Harbor” is where everything finally unfolds. It is the climax of the whole series!

However, there is a slight flaw, which lies in the fourth and last book, “Chesapeake Blue”. This was a book that readers eagerly waited for because they all wanted to read the young boy's story next. But I was disappointed. The book was... boring. It was just another romance story and nothing happened. To me, it seemed as though it was written just to be written, because readers wouldn’t be happy until it was. But as a reader, I wasn’t satisfied with the story. 

TIP: If you’ve written a book or a trilogy and find that another book is expected, the next book that you write must be better than the last. As a matter of fact, it should be better than them all! If it’s not, you don’t just risk lowering the standard of your work but disappointing your readers. Or losing them!

So if you have to write a sequel or add another book to a series, make sure that it lives up to its standards. Think long and hard about what should happen in the story, how you can raise the stakes even more, and whether it will ultimately satisfy the readers when they finish reading the last sentence. 

TIP: Even though you write for yourself, you need to also write for your future readers, because readers make all of your struggles worthwhile. There is nothing better than knowing someone enjoys and appreciates your work!

QUESTION: Do you have a book recommendation for me to read? If I like it or find it useful it might be featured as a book for an On My Shelf post.