The Calhouns: Catherine, Amanda and Lilah by Nora Roberts

Not the best of Nora Roberts, I just needed some light reading. This is a reprint of 3 Silhouette books from 1991, so they are written with the quick romance book formula. What I did like about the book, was that it was set in Bar Harbor, Maine – on the island where Acadia National Park is located and which we visited last summer. True, the place is really beautiful. Again, her heroines are strong women – the three sisters are a bit stereotypical as opposites – one is an auto mechanic, one a businesswoman, one a free spirited naturalist. What held my interest was the thread of mystery woven throughout – a long lost emerald necklace, that was hidden somewhere by an ancestor who committed suicide (or was killed in my opinion). We actually don’t get the mystery solved, and I realized that there is at least one more, if not two books in this series. I like the research they do in old family papers and libraries. Roberts’ usual mysticism comes in the form of a ghostly energy from the past and not overdone. What I did not like was the quick way all three sisters found the loves of their lives with one wedding and the other two planned. Their pattern of falling in love was so similar, so predictable, that it drove me nuts. I understand instant connection, chemistry, but love takes a while to realize, to work out differences in life styles, etc. They had three very successful men, one a Cornell professor, drop their lives and move to Maine to live in an old mansion with these ladies, all within a matter of a couple of months. I don’t think so. (Finished reading Jan. 26, 2005)