Harry is also just kind of blah. I also wasn't in the mood to root for a thief. I feel like a little bit this was a little of her trying to do another "Roarke" type character for her readers. We all know that Roarke started off stealing as a kid and of course got involved with criminal gangs in Ireland and then New York. Most of the dialogue and circumstances about him I think were supposed to read as thief with heart of gold, but I just kept rolling my eyes. Also Harry does have "relations" with other women in this book so when you get to the whole "heroine" in this one you wonder why it even matters. I will add that I think that most of the books where Nora just follows a "hero" it does not work as well for me, see my review of "Shelter in Place." I think it's time for Roberts to just write a straight up mystery and forget about the romance side of things. You can feel her itching to do it. This is supposedly romantic suspense, but it's so light on that it feels like a misnomer to categorize it as such. It doesn't help that we follow a character (Harry Booth) that is so morally grey you have to wonder why Roberts has him as our "hero." LaPorte was easy to hate, but in later portions of the book, he was less dimensional as a character, as where his henchmen. New York Times bestselling author Nora Roberts introduces an unforgettable thief in an unputdownable new novel...

Harry Booth started stealing at nine to keep a roof over his ailing mother’s head, slipping into luxurious, empty homes at night to find items he could trade for precious cash. When his mother finally succumbed to cancer, he left Chicago—but kept up his nightwork. The characters are not developed at all. We also have insta-love which I don't recall Roberts doing for ages in her stand-alones.

What follows years later, Harry has managed to hide from LaPorte, as well become a chameleon working mostly in Europe, until he spots LaPorte’s enforcer. This forces Harry to return to America, and take a job as a teacher, not doing any kind of nightwork. Harry loves his job, working with the kids, and is happy. Then one day, using another name, he comes face to face with Miranda, who has become a successful writer. I really loved Miranda and Harry (now called Booth) together, as well as his Aunt Mags, Sebastian and many of the secondary characters. I was happy that slowly Miranda will begin to learn the truth about Harry’s life, and if they want a normal life, without danger, they must work together with him to find a way to defeat LaPorte. The last third of the book was intense and exciting climax Oh, the journey this book and I went on. I loved Booth/Harry! His moral code reminded me of early Dexter... but with less death ;)

I finally had the time to read this book. And I ended up reading it in one sitting!!!!! It was SO GOOD!!!!!Thanks to his love of acting and theatre, Booth is by now expert at switching identities, and escapes the country to avoid LaPorte’s further demands: he will not be owned. But he doubts this man will ever tire of his pursuit, and begins to long for a more settled existence: a job as an English/drama teacher in a mid-size town would fit the bill. And does, until someone who knows him arrives… Three woman who join together to rent a large space along the beach in Los Angeles for their stores—a gift shop, a bakery, and a bookstore—become fast friends as they each experience the highs, and lows, of love. I want to start by saying that I tried to keep my walls up about our main character. He has so many names, but Booth is the most important. I tried so hard not to love him and failed completely. He was just a kid when he stole to keep his mother's bills paid while she fought the demon that is cancer. He was barely out of high school when he lost her. He traveled and changed who he was and existed in a world that never gave him a chance. In the meantime Booth meets Miranda and they begin a relationship that comes in LaPorte's cross hairs. Eventually Booth decides he must take care of the LaPorte problem for good. The man is a predator more frightening than the alligators that haunt the bayou—and when he strongarms Harry into robbing a Baltimore museum, Harry abandons Miranda—cruelly, with no explanation—and disappears. But no matter what name he uses or where he goes, LaPorte casts a shadow over Harry’s life. To truly free himself, he must face down his enemy once and for all. Only then can he hope to possess something more valuable than anything he has ever stolen…