Chesapeake Bay Saga by Nora Roberts

The Chesapeake Bay Saga was the first books i was recommended to read but i chose to read the bride quartet instead and although i will always hold those first books close to my heart I will always regret that i didnt read these books first.
There is a reason she told me to read these and i was foolish enough not to listen to her. I am big enough to admit that i was wrong and i shoudl have read these first, not only because i would have the had the place in my heart that willl always love the first book read just like Nora feels her first book she ever wrote is special, but i would also just purely love the saga.

The Chesapeake Bay Saga is quite honestly brilliantly written. The story in each book is so individual but with a clear and distinctive emotional link to the other books. The subject of the books in respect to the four men in the lead roles and what happened to them as kids, due to my job i feel connected to the subject.
I am a paediatric nurse and i deal a lot with children who have been or are in violent or abusive families, these books touch on this subject and very well. Nora captures the emotion in the children and then the  men, when they deal with what happened to them. All four stories are very touching and i cried adn laughed and felt warm and fuzzies.
The books focus around Seth, a young boy recently taken in by Ray Quinn, he does that, take in strays and now he is dead. A freak car accident and he is gone but asking his three sons to take of Seth.
The first book leads of with Cameron Quinn...

Sea Swept by Nora Roberts

Cameron Quinn is a very sucessful and famous boat racer, he travels the world and has many women and a lifestyle you can only dream of.
He goes home after his dad dies and makes a promise to him with his brothers to take care of Seth, Ray's newest stray.
Cam is a very tall strong man who i see as a taller Vin Diesel type of man, he has a mean streak in him but deep down he is warm and kind and full of emotion.

Cameron and his brothers come together to help care for Seth and a number of issues come up which they have to deal with. Cameron dealing with his own childhood of being beaten regularly by his father gives him some idea of how to help Seth come to terms with his own ordeal.
Along with all of that and a very unwilling and violent young boy to deal with a social worker becomes involved.
Anna is a beautiful wild young woman with italian roots, she is a very good social worker and took an interest in the case due to hearing so much about mr and mrs Quinn who take in these kids with so much baggage.

The realtionship between Cam and Anna is firery at first and with a lot of passion, i love the Anna character and think she is perfect for Cam. She comes into the house and bosses the men around from the beginning and becomes a mother figure for Seth. She fits right in and the way she tells them all off is hilarious and really funny to read.

But when Nora gets into the nitty gritty of the abuse and violence in childhood scenes the whole mood of the book changes and you feel what the characters feel and the seriousness of the subject.
Like is said before i do appreciate the way Nora has touched this subject and feel that she dealth with it so well. Its easy to see Cam makes an impact on Seth as does Anna and when you read the following the two books you see how the other brothers experiences in childhood effect and help deal with Seth in the present.

Nora also adds a touch of the supernatural in this book as well and i am starting to get the impression she likes the supernatural. Ray Quinn presents himself to each of the three men in the attempt to help and guide them with Seth.

Its touching and emotional and as the series goes on so does Seths story and the truth and the connection between the three men, Ray and Seth. As the men begin the journey of dealing with Seth and their own emotional state, their love life and starting a new venture of making boats, a dream they all had as kids and something Ray Quinn would be very proud of.

Rising Tides by Nora Roberts 

In the second book we meet Ethan more in depth, he still lives in Chesapeake Bay and has a life on the sea and loves it. He is a seaman at heart and nothing will take it away.
He has been in love with Grace for a long time but she is younger than him and he never felt it was right, then she got married had a baby and then got divorced. He still loved her and loved her beautiful girl Aubrey.

Grace is very much part of the family and the first female that Seth ever trusted. He loves her and would protect her with his life. Something Ethan finds out.
Because Ethan is so slow and does everything at a snails pace things between him and Grace may never take off.
She has loved him forever and doesnt know if she should tell him.

A freak incident at the bar where Grace works ends in her and Ethan kissing, it passionate and sexy and leading but he stops it.
Ethan and Seth have a lot in common and his extremely violent and abusive childhood is so much like Seths and he has a connection to him. His experiences help Seth to deal with the particular aspect of his time living with his mother and Ethan feels like he makes progress.
Dealing with Seth helps him with Grace and admittting how he really feels about her and what he wants in life.

This book is a little more difficult to read due to the subject of sexual abuse and yet Nora writes it in a way where the reader can understand feel the emotion but not be freaked out or turned off by it.
Its a lovely book to read and i enjoyed it very much.

Inner Harbour by Nora Roberts

Being the third book in the saga and the last of the three men dealing ans coping with a young Seth it gives a nice ending to this initial trouble.
Cam and Ethan are married and happy and Phillip being the 'sensible' one still living between the bay and his place in the city is still single and feelign very worn out.
He is commuting and workign a full time job on top of helping in the boat yard. He hasnt got time to deal with a love life, so of course in comes the beautiful and sensible Sybill. She pops up in the bay and takes an interest in the Quinn brothers and especially their newest edition.

Is she all that she seems???

I like this book and it gives you the whole back story of Seth living with his mother and what his mother is like and where she came from and ended up the way she did. Sybill is a massive part in this story and as she falls in love with Phillip and Seth her priorities change a little.
Again Ray makes his appearance to help guide Phillip and his care of Seth.

This book gives a kind of ending to the current saga that has played out over the first three books and you believe that is the end of it and that the final book is just a nice story about Seth growing up, however there is always a twist......

Chespeake Blue by Nora Roberts

This is the final book to the saga and is a very good ending i think.
It is set some years later to the third book where Seth is now nearly 30 and living abroad creating wonderful art. he is very sucessful and has a wonderful ife.
Thanks to the Quinns.
He decides to come home and that is when the madness begins!

I did find this a little odd at first becasue for three books i have read Seth as a firery boy of 12 who is going through a horrific ordeal then to this book of a man 30 years old having sex etc. I had to make the leap.
I fall in love with the male leads as i supose most women do when they read books like this becasue they want to be taken away from thier lives however i couldnt do that with this book. i haad to look at his character a step back and not get too emotionally involved in the relationship between him and Dru.
I still had my connection to him as a boy and transformed that with the new story.

He is still dealing with his mother who is blackmailing him and he doesnt tell the brothers because he doesnt want ot upset their lives. This causes many problems and issues and eventually and big blow up in the end.
Its exciting and fun and the supporting characters are great. Gloria (seths mother) is a fabulous character we get to see a bit more of this time around and you can tell how she is dispised and hated by the Quinns and her own family.

In this book however its not Ray that comes to Seth, its Stella, Rays wife who died before Seth came to the family and one person he always wanted to meet. Its lovely to see how he just loves her no questions or pretenses and she gives hi the support and guidance any parent would give.

I loved this series so much and now i recomend this to everyone i meet, you have to read this one first!!!

I get excited when people ask about what book i am reading and i get so passionate about books, i always have but i believe i have found a writer that i can connect with and see why and how she writes what she does.

I give this saga a 9/10.