Chesapeake Blue by Nora Roberts

Released: January 2004

Chesapeake Blue is the fourth and last novel in Nora Roberts' "Chesapeake Bay" series featuring her infamous Quinn brothers. Each book in the series focuses on a different brother, all of whom came from troubled and abusive families and were adopted by Ray and Stella Quinn early on in their childhoods. Chesapeake Blue is about Seth Quinn -- the only young man truly related to Ray Quinn by blood as his grandson.

There are very few authors I read in the realm of mass market publishing, and Nora Roberts is one of them. With Nora Roberts, you always know what you're gonna get; which is sweet, old-fashioned romance of the sort found in Hollywood movies and angelic gentlemen with perfect manners, lots of money, and massive sex appeal. If I need a light pick-me-up after reading a horror novel, true crime, or award-worthy Holocaust literature, Nora Roberts will usually do the trick in bringing me back from the dark trenches into happy reality.


The premise of the book is about Seth returning to the Chesapeake Bay area (which is 15-20 years later) after being abroad as a successful artist. Seth comes home and reunites with his three brothers and their families which have all been featured in the previous three novels in the series. Seth meets troubled and stubborn flower-shop owner Dru, and they begin to fall in love after some trials and tribulations.

Although the majority of Nora Roberts novels have the same formula, Chesapeake Blue surprised me because not only is there lots of cussing, but it seems hotter and steamier than the other books in this series. Seth's character is super hot and sexy, especially being an artist, but I found his love-interest Dru to be pathetic. I'm really sick of reading about these beautiful and dramatic women with troubled pasts who need saving. But of course nobody in the novel is going to tell Dru she's sexy, young and beautiful and life goes on, so get over it!

I think the readers who'll enjoy Chesapeake Blue most are the readers familiar with the other books in this series, which are Sea Swept (1997), Rising Tides (1998) and Inner Harbor (1998). The novel is still great as a stand-alone, but you'll get more enjoyment from it if you treat yourself to the entire series.

Here is my link to a review for Inner Harbor - Dreamworld Book Review for Inner Harbor