Customer Reviews

Tribute

5 star:		(55)
4 star:		(31)
3 star:		(13)
2 star:		(24)
1 star:		(16)

 

 

Cilla McGowen was raised in the spotlight. Her Grandmother was the famous Janet Hardy; a child star turned Hollywood actress and famous singer. Her mother, Dilly, wasn't quite as famous as Janet but managed to stay in the Hollywood spotlight all her life. From a very young age Cilla was thrust in front of the cameras by her mom. She was part of a successful TV show, made a few records, but by the time she was an adult she was pretty much a has-been.

Happy to be out of the public life, Cilla now makes her money flipping houses; it is a labor of love. Finally getting her hands on her famous Grandmothers long neglected farm, Cilla is rehabbing to make herself a home. Questions surround her Grandmothers too early death and as Cilla repairs the house, she seeks answers. But someone doesn't want Cilla around and is making things very difficult for her, her friends and workers. Finding a friend and an unexpected love in her graphic novelist neighbor, Ford Sawyer, Cilla gets some much needed TLC.

This is a lengthy new novel by Nora Roberts, but amazingly enough I flew through 451 pages, easily, I absolutely loved it.

What Nora does better than anyone is create unforgettable and magnificent characters. This book is filled with people who are written so well, you can see them so clearly and you feel like you know them. Every character in this book added something to this story; love, sex, fear, annoyance, growth, laughter, and sadness. You get as invested with the side characters as you do with the main characters. I love that about her work

Cilla is a heroine not without flaws; she's both hard and soft and has been emotionally drained. She's personable and knows her strengths and weaknesses. I found her extremely relatable. Ford was funny, charming and sexy as hell. It took me all about a page to fall for him and his crazy dog.

The story is strong and takes the reader through past and present day at the farm with clever little visits from the Grandmother. Uncovering the secrets of the past and dealing with the danger of the present lead you through a suspenseful and gripping read. I admit I knew whodunit pretty much from the start, but Nora added a little something extra that threw me off and added plenty of surprise at the end.

This book has everything; a solid mystery, a love story, humor and healing. I really enjoyed it. I am also one of those HGTV junkies that enjoy house flipping and rehabbing and I got a total kick out of the demo and rehab of this house. It was fun to watch it change and I had no trouble picturing the results. This book showcases every reason why I love Nora Roberts writing so much, enjoy!

Cherise Everhard, July 2008

Cilla McGowan is going back to her roots. As the grandchild of the famous Janet Hardy, Cilla had been exploited and used her entire life, and all she wants is to never see Hollywood again. Looking for a family connection, Cilla arrives at in the Blue Ridge Mountains at her grandmother, Janet's, farm. While Cilla is setting up housekeeping and renovating her grandmother's farm, she meets and falls in love with graphic artist, Ford Sawyer. Life is really looking good for Cilla if it isn't for the reoccuring incidents of vandalism and terror that become more and more frequent the longer Cilla lives in the valley. Apparently, not everyone is happy to see Janet's family come home, and as time goes by, the suspicion crosses Cilla's mind that maybe, just maybe, Janet didn't commit suicide as everyone believed. Maybe she was murdered...

Nora Robert's latest, Tribute, is just like every single other book Nora has put out lately. In fact, her writing - which use to thrill me - is just getting stale. Lately her plots have pretty much all been the same, but what really is driving me crazy are Nora's heroes. They are all just so damn perfect and understanding anymore. It used to be the Nora Robert's feature couple had a little spice in each of the characters, as well as conflicts to resolve. Now the heroine is full of angst and emotional disorder, and the hero is sweet, patient, understanding and just plain wonderful. Now don't get me wrong. I don't want to go back to the alpha males of the 80's in romance, where they were mean, cruel and creepy up to the last chapter, when all of a sudden they finally saw the heroine was wonderful and all lived happily ever after, but I don't want all my heroes to be such blandless wimps either. Instead of having all this suspense as a backdrop to the story, what happened with having suspense between the two characters as they work out their difference and unpeel the layers of each other. I truly don't believe Nora has wrote a really, really good book (except for her JDRobb series) for a long time. As for Tribute, it is just an average book. I would wait for the paperback.

Cilla, child actress turned house flipper, and Ford, a graphic artist, at first glance make an odd pairing for a romantic couple. However, Nora Roberts has scored a success with this hardcover in making this unlikely pairing work on several levels. The mystery/romance also works as Cilla tries to untangle the mystery of her famous actress/grandmother's death as well as threats to her own life.

If you are a fan of Roberts you will also enjoy some glimpses into her hobby of gardening and the research she did on home restoration!

The book is crisp and tightly written, although with judicious editing, twenty to forty pages probably could have been trimmed. I did not care for Angel Falls (too far fetched), Birthright (felt the coincidences were too over the top) or my least favorite of all her books--Northern Lights. I waivered on whether to buy Tribute, but the 40 percent off combined with a sticker that said "Signed Copy" swayed me to purchase it. Glad I did.

The book is solid Roberts at her best.

Cilla McGowan is a former child star. She has been flipping houses for the past couple of years. In the near future, Cilla plans to make a business out of doing what she likes best - rehabbing, remodeling homes, and flipping houses. First, she plans to make herself a home, a real home. From her own mother, Cilla purchases her grandmother's house and begins restoring (and a bit of remodeling) it. Her mother, Dilly, is currently married to Mario (husband number five) and in New York working on her latest show. There is no love lost between Cilla and Dilly. In fact, Dilly did not want her own mother's home, but refused to give or sell it to Cilla either. The only way Cilla got her hands on the "Little Farm" was by giving Dilly the money she desperately needed for her show. Used to Dilly's drama, drama, drama, Cilla is more than happy to ignore her and get on with her own life and career. That no longer involved acting.

Cilla's grandmother was the legendary Janet Hardy. She had been one of the best actresses/singers of her time. As legend goes, Janet escaped to the "Little Farm" between shows. But the legend does not stop there; an affair with a married man while on the farm is mentioned too. Thirty years ago Janet supposedly overdosed in the house, ending her life at the young age of thirty-nine. In Cilla's dreams, she visits with Janet and learns about life long ago. And as Cilla cleaned out the attic (in preparation for converting it into her home office) she comes across unsigned letters to Janet from a lover. It is in the letters that Cilla learns that Janet may have died while pregnant.

Across the street lives Ford Sawyer, a graphic novelist. He and his charmingly ugly dog, Spock, begin to wiggle their way into Cilla's daily life. So when threats on Cilla begins, Ford and Spock take interest. Unless they figure out who and why is targeting Cilla, she may end up being cut down in the prime of her life - just like her grandmother.

**** The novel does not begin with anything to capture the reader's attention immediately. Instead, it begins with the telling of (part of) Janet's legend. Most of the first part is setting up characters, the house, and nothing fantastic. But toward the end of part one things begin getting dangerous and everything begins to build. There is a lot of reminiscing with Janet, so expect some time hopping throughout the novel. The author manages to do this without the dreams/back flashes becoming tedious though. That is not easily done for an author, yet Roberts succeeded. This is not one of the author's best novels, but I found it to be very entertaining and gladly recommend it. ****

Reviewed by Detra Fitch of Huntress Reviews.

Boring. I too had a HARD time getting through this. It was a chore. I guess I might have learned quite a bit about restoring a house if I'd actually paid close attention to that drawn out part of the story. Oh, and can't forget the graphic novel descriptions. I found the whole premise of the story - the Janet Hardy mystery to be totally dull and I really couldn't care less what happened so many years before. It was simply drawn out, way out and it got old fast for me.

The characters were 2 dimensional. They all talked alike (as is NR's routine these days in her books), so the character development or personalities didn't come out. Ford was supposed to be a nerd, but talked 'cool' like everyone else. Lots of slang. I'm married to a nerd and have known many. They don't talk like Ford. His speech patterns were not any different than Cilla's. AND CAN SHE POSSIBLY WRITE A BOOK WITH COMPLETE SENTENCES, USING 'the's, 'a's', pronouns, etc??? It is unnatural for everyone in a book to speak like that.

I did like Spock, the dog. He was the best character in the book.

I used to be a huge NR fan. I've read nearly all her books. I think this book will have to be the last one for me. I have tired of her, I guess. She doesn't write the way she used to. Some people will argue that it's natural for her writing to evolve and change, but give me the old great Nora Roberts books. Those were great romances. I, myself, don't care for her new writing style she has adopted.

So, obviously I don't recommend this book and I got it from the library.

I've always been first in line to buy whatever Nora writes. But I've stopped buying the JD Robb books because they are all the same and there is absolutely no character development. I'll definitely never waste the money for a Hardcover now.

Tribute is beyond boring. Is it even ethical to write a review of a book that I just absolutely could not finish? Although I guess that says it all. These were the most uninteresting characters. After 199 pages (yep, I got that far, but it took 2 weeks) I just seriously did not care a whit what happpened to any of them. In addition to boring characters, this book had a weak storyline; and let's face it-easily discernible. It read so much like just about everything else she's ever written, complete with talking to the ghost of a dead relative. Keep your money, people.

Cilla McGowen is a former child star brought up in the glamour of Hollywood. Both her parents were actors up until their divorce, when her father Gavin McGowen dropped out of the limelight to live a normal life. Cilla now longs for that same normal life, and decides to renovate her grandmother's old farmhouse. She loves the area, and she will also be continuing in her chosen profession of flipping homes. There is lot of stigma behind this old house owned by Janet Hardy because she died at such a young age in this house under mysterious circumstances. Many believe she was murdered, while others believe it was simply suicide after the tragic death of her beloved son.

Ford Sawyer returned from vacation to find a presence at the Hardy home. Since no one had lived there since Janet's death, he was suspicious. Upon seeing Cilla, he knew immediately she was a relative due to the striking resemblance. He was taken immediately with the woman he met who was determined to bring the old neglected farm back to life. As construction got underway, he felt more and more drawn to Cilla, but she discouraged him. He knew just from talking to her that she was a mess, but he just couldn't stay away. She kept asking him what a washed up actress afraid of intimacy had in common with a graphic novel author. Ford was constantly throwing Cilla off balance in his pursuit of her.

As Cilla spent more time in this small community, the more she was positive she made the right decision in moving. She was getting to know her father and half sister, and was realizing what she had missed out on. Even her precarious relationship with her mother couldn't sway her from living in her new home. When threats and vandalism endangered the new life she was trying to build, it took all the strength Cilla possessed, not to give up. While Ford and the rest of her extended family rallied around, she was determined to fight for her future hoping the cost wouldn't be her life.

This was a pretty good read, but will not be one of my favorites. The characters were well written, and I enjoyed some of the secondary characters as much or even more than the primary characters. Cilla's down to earth loving father in direct contrast with her diva mother explained a lot about her. Ford's parents were a hoot, but his grandfather was priceless. Spock stole the spotlight! I felt cheated by the lack of development of the suspense plot. It seemed sloppily thrown together as if it were almost an afterthought. Not a keeper!!

I fully understand why many of Nora's faithful fans have disliked this book. They feel abandoned. She has changed her standard format of "strong woman coming to strong man who doesn't change her." It is somewhat like making a hamburger out of lamb -- unexpected although enjoyable.
Putting aside Nora's insistence on talking about flowers, and in this case, paint colors and plumbing fixtures, my disappointment was in the ending. It's just too much like Miss Marple in the sitting room, solving the whodunnit. All of a sudden, we know the villain.

I have been a big Nora Roberts fan since the 80's, but recently I've found myself bored by her books (the exceptions being the JD Robb series). I don't know if I can put my finger on why I didn't like this book, but it took me a month to read it which is highly unusual for me. In fact, I had to force myself to finish which I've never done with one of NR's books. I couldn't have cared less about either of the main characters. I prefer characters who aren't so one-note and both Cilla and Ford came across as very one-note to me. I actually liked Cilla's ex-husband better than anyone else in the story...maybe Nora should have written about him instead.

I love Nora Roberts and have been reading her books for probably a dozen years. Although she didn't cover any new ground in this book, that's fine with me because I enjoyed the characters of Cilla and Ford. I always love the focus on family relationships in Roberts' books, and she definitely created a character with Spock!

My only dislike of the story was how hurried it was in the end - the sweet relationship between Cilla and Ford came to a screeching halt and all of a sudden there was a twist and an unexpected bad guy...and this didn't ring true to me or to the story line.

However (and this could just be me), I enjoyed the book overall - it was just the last 30 or so pages that disappointed me.