7/03/2021

Sweet Revenge by Nora Roberts

I´ve read this excellent novel several years ago for the very first time and re-read it again in 2015. And every time it was able to thrill me even though I already knew the story. If a book, no matter what genre, can put you in a thrilling mood repeatedly - even after years -, it tells you something. Nora Roberts, you rock!

Sweet Revenge

by Nora Roberts
Publisher Bantam on April 28, 2009
Genre Novel
Pages 384
Format Paperback
Goodreads
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At twenty-five, Princess Adrianne lives a life most people would envy. Beautiful and elegant, she spends her days dabbling in charities and her nights floating from one glamorous gala to the next. But her pampered-rich-girl pose is a ruse, a carefully calculated effort to hide a dangerous truth. For ten years Adrianne has lived for revenge. As a child, she could only watch the cruelty hidden behind the facade of her parents' fairy-tale marriage. Now she has the perfect plan to make her famous father pay. She will take possession of the one thing he values above all others -The Sun and the Moon, a fabled necklace beyond price. Yet just as she is poised to take her vengeance, she meets a man who seems to divine her every secret. Clever, charming, and enigmatic, Philip Chamberlain has his own private reasons for getting close to Princess Adrianne. And only when it is too late will she see the hidden danger...as she finds herself up against two formidable men - one with the knowledge to take her freedom, the other with the power to take her life.

Story

Adrianne is regarded by the Society as a beautiful but detached princess of a paradise and is celebrated for her charity. But who or what Adrianne really is and what the truth behind all the glamor and wealth looks like, nobody has a clue. Only retired jewel thief Philip Chamberlain instinctively senses that the beautiful princess has secrets. But even he has not the faintest idea of how reality really is and why it does what it does. Only a visit to her father, King Abdu of Jaquir, allows him to understand what contrasts Adrianne has in her life, and how brutal and cruel the reality behind the palace walls is.

Style

There are only a few books by Nora Roberts that deserve to be called “excellent novel”. Sweet Revenge is one of them. The plot is haunting, the figures are exciting and the author's writing style simply said brilliant.

Over two lines of action, Nora Roberts shows how Adrianne´s life at the palace was and how her mother’s decision changed it and in the other the life of Philip. He is a thief and specialized when it comes to jewels and diamonds. Both have one thing in common: their devoted mothers. Mothers, who would do everything to keep their children from being harmed. How they do it, and what they must do to achieve their goal shows Nora Roberts in a wonderfully sensitive way. Even the cruelest scenes are written in that tone, and it is up to the reader to see and make up his/her mind for themselves. Alone the scene, where Adrianne talks to her father in her US apartment and is, well, blunt and without the behavior that she must show when she´s in the palace with him, alone that one is worth an Oscar. Or the scene, where Philip talks to the king – WOW!!!

Ok, I´m not that much into religion, but the one Nora Roberts used in this novel is on one hand a good choice to bring some Opposites not only to the figures, but also the plot. On the other hand, that religion brings some spice into the story. Although Adrianne lives her western heritage from her mother, she is embossed by the religion that is lived in Jaquir. The combination of both, western lifestyle, and the lifestyle of the Orient, handles the author in a very entertaining and sensitive way.

Characters

Strong, incredibly unique, some of them are weak, others nothing but superficial, but every single character is convincing and seems very real. Although I must admit that there was, at some point during the reading, where I could have smashed the King with pleasure against a wall and where I could have called him a lot of names! That character is quite something and I don´t mean it in a good way. He is evil, cruel, and does things, that are against the law and if the public would know about them, he would be no longer king of the country.

Adrianne´s feelings for him are not less intense. But she has a heart and her way of seeing things and how she cares about others is something that makes a big difference. Her struggle to get revenge and hate in balance without losing herself completely is quite something to read. I was extremely impressed when I read why she does what she does and why she can´t let go of that last piece in her plan before she kind of retires.

Conclusion

What a brilliant and great novel! The story was fantastic many years back when I´ve read it the first time, and it was now – if not even greater. What a thrilling and fantastic read. Highly recommended!

Happy reading

Nora Roberts

Nora Roberts, born in Silver Spring, Maryland is the #1 New York Times bestselling author of more than 200 novels. During the now-famous blizzard, she pulled out a pencil and notebook and began to write. It was there that a career was born. Several manuscripts and rejections later, her first book, Irish Thoroughbred, was published by Silhouette in 1981. Having spent her life surrounded by men, Ms. Roberts has a fairly good view of the workings of the male mind, which is a constant delight to her readers. It was, she has been quoted as saying, a choice between figuring men out or running away screaming. Nora is a member of several writers´ groups and has won countless awards from her colleagues and the publishing industry. Recently The New Yorker called her “America’s favorite novelist.” She is also the author of the bestselling futuristic suspense series written under the pen name J. D. Robb. There are more than 500 million copies of her books in print.

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