This was a great Christmas romance, and as always I adore Nora Roberts' writing. My only complaint with her (and it relates to this book also) is that sometimes she makes her male characters a little TOO tough for my taste. Sometimes they're just a bit too rude or rough around the edges, and I don't find it romantic. However, Vance (in this novel) was tough AND sweet at the same time - and you could definitely see his past struggles. I thought the story was very cute and realistic, and I loved Shane, the lead female character. This was my first Christmas Nora Roberts novel and I really enjoyed it!

I found this book at a local thrift store. The cover looked so Christmasy I had to have it. But... the cover gave the wrong first impression...

Vance is creepy. And rough. Very rough. And he's also a jerk. Look, I know he had a rough life...but why take it out on Shane? He's also a lying liar (by omission).

And Shane? She's too trusting. And too forgiving. And too clueless.

"Her struggles went unnoticed. A fire consumed him". Ummm may I please have some mustard with that cheese?

Gag me...

I never completed a Nora Roberts book before. I tried with Morrigan's Cross...and now this one. I have given it the old college try.

I ended up, around page 100, just skipping parts. I started reading it in full again the last 30 pages. Yikes. That ending was super cringe.

This book was way too gritty and dirty for me. I want my Christmas books tied up in a nice red bow. This most certainly was not to my liking.

I think Vance needs an anger management class gift certificate from Santa. Shane needs a brain from the Wizard.

The whole "love at first sight" bit really had me rolling my eyes three pages in. The character development from that point was stuck in this box of justification of aggressive or brutish character traits purely from an infatuation standpoint. There was a clear moment we see Vance's attitude towards Shane shift in the way that he authentically loves her, but it could have been achieved much better had the passion from both of them not taken hold of their actions and clouded their judgements.

Again, Nora Roberts is an expert at giving the reader that feeling of familiarity with a twist of novelty. I still don't know how she does it.

There was a lot I enjoyed in this book and some things to relate to, but in the end, it was a simple story. The characters' attitudes were a nice surprise and showed me how little of this 'fated' romances I read in contemporary authors, which I would have thought was the opposite.

This book is good.
The copy (specifically the cover, I judged by it and it didn't work out) of this book I have made it seem as if it were a Christmas story, you know, one of those Hallmark sort of type things. So, if you have that copy, it's really not a Christmas story. There are a few mentions of the holiday and a tree decorating but that's all there is. Still, a good book though.
First Impressions is a well enough written book with characters who are definitely headstrong, to say the least. Pretty much this is a story about a girl who returns to her hometown after her Gran dies since she left her everything. Though it's mentioned a little how the things left weren't worth a ton, it's still a good substantial amount of things. Anyway she leaves her teaching job to strike out on an adventure back home. Next door a new guy has purchased the land. They have moments early on and as she "hires" him to do construction work things change. He has a sticky past, she is an open book. That's about the gist of it.
The book was well written and fans of Nora Roberts should eat this book right up. It's not very long and it reads quickly. If this is your sort of thing, I would say go ahead and give it a read!

I READ THIS BOOK IN LESS THAN 2 DAY WELL I REALLY IN JOY THE
STORY ALOT THE GUY WHO WAS A MILLONAIRE IN THE BOOK HE
LET EVERY ONE BELIVE THAT THE MONEY HE NEED FOR WORK WAS FOR THE
HOUSE HE HAD I LIKE THE WAY THE PEOPLE IN THE BOOK REACTE D TO EACH OTHER
AND THEY ARE CLOSE NEET GROUP THAT WAS GREAT BOOK NORA

A nice piece of escapism with a lot of Nora Roberts' style throughout. Misunderstandings, miscommunication, and of course an antagonist who tries to sabotage the blooming relationship. It's pretty much a predictable plot, but sometimes that's not a bad thing. Just the thing to curl up with on a lazy day.

Mais Nora ? Que s’est-il passé ? Je t'adore, j'ai une etagere consacrée à tes livres, et là ? Quelle déception

Not spending one more minute on this turkey. All I can say is that NR becomes a MUCH better writer as her career progresses. Now I know better than to venture into her early stuff.
I've lived in Sharpsburg for 30 years (the reason I wanted to read this one, set here) and not once- not one single time- have I ever heard one of my neighbors refer to someone from DC (or Baltimore or anywhere else in MD, not even the eastern shore which IS flat) as a 'flatlander.'
DC has way more and much bigger hills than Sharpsburg.

This was a good one by Roberts. A girl (Shane) from the rural part of Maryland returns home from the city. She is intent on starting her own business and needs to redo her grandmothers house. Her next door neighbor (Vance)happens to be a carpenter so she enlists his help.

Vance wants nothing more than to be left alone, especially from women. He's currently hiding out from his old life and job as the head of a major construction business.

I liked the storyline, I thought it was cute but I was a little confused when Shane's mom showed up. It was a little random and felt like it was just thrown in to add some drama to the story. Besides that fact, I couldn't get over the similarities between the character of Vance and Roarke from her In Death series.

I realize this book was written way before the appearance of Roarke, and I have a feeling she may have been basing Roarke's character on the same person Vance was based on, or Roarke came from Vance. Either way, whenever he came onto the stage I couldn't help but think about the similarities.

It didn't ruin the story, but it was distracting.

I found this on my local library Christmas display table. I loved this book! It is about Vance, a man taking a break from his life by buying an old rundown farm in a small town where no one knows him. Shane and Vance meet and it is true love at first sight. Both feel it but they take a little time figureing that out. She makes him feel alive again after so many years of guilt while she comes to terms with the death of the one true family member she has left!

Mais um romance da Nora que gostei bastante... :)