The O'Hurleys Series

The O'Hurley Series is made up of four books. They follow the story of three sister (triplets) and their older brother. All led by the talented and strong Frank O'Hurley.

The Last Honest Woman- Abby O'Hurley
Dance to the Piper- Maddy O'Hurley
Skin Deep- Chantel O'Hurley
Without a Trace- Trace O'Hurley

The parents Molly and Frank are entertainers and live like gypsies forever on the road looking for their next show. Trace being the eldest plays the piano and is part of the acts but the triplets are the stars. Abby's beautiful voice and gentle nature, Maddy's super dancing feet and her hunger for the outragious and beautiful then Chantel the dramatic and most beautiful of all (and probably the vainest!).

The Last Honest Woman

Abby Rockwell is the middle sisiter and a beautiful and talented woman, she lives with her two sons on a farm in virginia. She tends to the farm and breeds horses to earn money. She loves her life and her boys yet her husband who died years before still haunts her.
Dylan Crosby is a writer and journalist and very good one at that. He is employed to write a story, an official biography about Abby's husband t he great and notorious Chuck Rockwell the racing driver.
Abby has never spoken about her time with Chuck and has tried to forget about it however she needs the money and it would pay well so she agrees.
Dylan comes to stay with them and of course he is goegeous as well. They are immediately attracted however Dylan believes she is some rich widow who is living off the inheritance and hiding the truth.

She is hiding hte truth but not hte one he thinks and believes. He finds this hardworking honest woman who appears to not be rich. Chuck had been very wealthy not just from racing but from family as well.
Abby had nothing and got nothing when he died thanks to his mother who hated her. Abby didnt mind really but for the boys she wished she had more.
Dylan uneashes many of the memories Abby is still running from and forces her to face up to it all the while they are falling in love.
Abby's two boys are fun and Dylan falls in love with them too.

It all comes good in the end and lovely cosy happy ending.
I enjoyed this story and enjoyed the back story of the family performing and how Abby full of romance and love ran off with Chuck and got married at 18.
A heart warming story of heart ache and freedom. Nora doesnt fail to entice you with a little mystery and violence. She is true to herself when giving all of her main characters in the books a little back story and history.

Dance to the Piper

Maddy O'Hurley is the youngest sister and a dancer and performer on the theatre circuit in New York. She is a broadway star but doesnt have the ego of one. She works hard and enjoys her job.
She has the lead in a new play about a stripper adn is very excited to play this very sexual and strong female. The routines are gruelling and she is exhausted most of the time. The funding for the play is being given by a owner of Valentine records, a record producing company that is one of the most successful. Reed Valentine is the new owner after his father stepped down to retire.

Reed visits the studio and bumps into Maddy they immediately have a moment and as you have probably guessed it a romance ensues although they are completly different from each other and she is a gypsy and he a very tailored and successfull business man in suits and no stubble.
Lots of heart ache and worry on her part, lots of anger and distrust on his side. Proves for a wonderfully emotionally charged few chapters and a happy happy ending.
You catch up a little with Abby and Dylan in this story and they are married and she is pregnant. Its wonderful to see the previous characters which Nora does well with the trilogoes and series.

I enjoyed this book and it was a good read.

Skin Deep

Chantel O'Hurley is the eldest sister and a world successsful actress of movies. Sh elights up the screen and is very good at what she does. It helps that she si absolutely stunning and has a great personality to boot. Although she is a little materialistic, why not she is rich and never had that as a child so shse deserved the best.
Chantel starts to get harrassed by who she thinks is a crazed fan. He sends her roses and follows her and even phones her house nad trailor on set.

She eventuall tells  her manager who enlists the help of his friend and security expert Quinn Doran. He has a history that is kept quiet and not until the last book do you get it! Excellent!
He is strong and a little rude which irritates Chantel. He thinks she is a silly actress who deserves what hse gets after all she chose to be an actress.
He takes the job and after living in her house for a few weeks realises that she is not what she appears to be and immediately satrts to fall in love with her.
She has been burned before and is reluctant to get into another relationship but Quinn is very persuasive and he is always there for her witht the stalker.

They rub each other the wrong way and right way i suppose!! Its actually quite fun to read and when they go to New York for Maddy and Reed's wedding the stalker strikes again and there is a lot of stress and worry.
The story really keeps you guessing who the stalker is beacause it is clearly someone close to her.
They both cant figure it out and when the stalker strikes for the last time its already a little late.
She is trapped in the pool house and it is on fire, Quinn is on his way back from a meeting with her manager and sees the fire.
An exciting scene and a happy ending of course.

Without a Trace

Trace O'Hurley is the older brother and hasnt seen his family in about 8 years. He lives around the world and his family have no idea what he does for a living.
Turns out he is an agent as in James Bond without all of the fancy gadgets and glamour!
He is on holiday and decides that it his time to quit and get his life back together. In walks Gillian a doctor and desperately searching for her brother and neice.
Dr Gillian is a scientist as are all the members of her family. On the verge of developing some vaccine her brother is kidnapped by rebels and extremists. Her father too ill to help directs her to a friend who can help who then sends her to Trace.
He is reluctant to help but for some reason he feels compelled to, the friend she saw is dead and he owes it to him to see this one through and with the money she was paying him he could retire easily.
He didnt expect or want to fall in love but inevitably he did as did she.
This book is more dangerous and gives the reader a littel bit of the fantasy life. All of the other stories are a littel more believable and you can see your self as the person your reading baout however this book doesnt draw you in like that it maeks you think of a gangster movie or a spy film and you are watching all of the scenes with excitement and on the edge of your seat.
I really enjoyed Trace and he was rough and tough and a little bit mean with his bad boy persona however deep down he missed his sisters and wanted so babdly to see them.

After a very violent and exciting escape plan where Gillian shoots Trace (only a scratch) and the saving of Gillians family they go home to see his family. Making a brilliant entrance at Chantels Wedding. The littel twist i mentioned earlier with Quinn was that he was also a secret agent and had met Trace years before but didnt realise who he was (undercover names).
I enjoyed this book and the rest of them. I liked how like with most of her books there is a central parent of adult figure that pulls the families together. Frank and Molly are those people in these books and they were a pleasure to read.
My score 7/10

The Cordina's

This series consists of four stories. It follows the lives of the very royal family of Cordina, Princess Gabriella, Prince Alexander and Prince Bennett.
Affaire Royal which follows Princess Gabriella
Command Performance follows Prince Alexander
The Playboy Prince follows Prince Bennett

The fourth book is a bit of an odd one for me, it follows Camilla the daughter of Gabriella and for me doesnt really fit. I didnt see the need for this book the three would have been just as good without this one although it was still a great read.

Affaire Royal

Princess Gabriella is a young vibrant woman who after her mother passed away became the female of the house and the one to hold all of the responsibilities that go along with that.
She is however kidnapped and escapes but left with temporary amnesia.
The amnesia story is great and I really enjoy reading these type of stories, it reminded me of the book Sophie Kinsella wrote called Remember me?
Her father Prince Armand enlists the help of Reeve MacGee an ex cop in America with a strong history of solving the most difficult and dangerous cases.
Reeve has been in love with Gabriella for a long time but at the moment she has no idea who anyone is including herself.
The book looks at her struggle with her memory and trying to find who she really is deep down all while falling head over heels in love with Reeve.
As the story evolves the identity of those involved in her kidnap become evident and the biggest enemy of Prince Armand and his family.
I enjoyed this book even though i was a little unsure at first. The characters are loveable and the whole mystery aspect adds a certain excitement to the usual sex adn romance.

Command Performance

This book follows Prince Alexander, he is the air to the throne and next in line to rule being the eldest son. He has been bred and was born for the time he was to take over from his father.
He knows this and acepts it with ease however he needs to settle down and have a family, not just needs but wants to.
Eve is a friend of Gabriella and the very best friend of Bennett. She is wild and carefree with the social upbringing to be accustomed to the lifestyle of the royal family.
She is beautiful and a successful director of theatre. She comes to Cordina at the request of Alexander to put on a series of plays for charity.
There has always been a connection with Alexander and he believes that her and Bennett have been an item. He however still persues her and wins oout her heart.
The deadly enemy from the first book strikes again in this one and decides to start setting off bombs to kill the near and dear of Prince Armand.
Eve is almost killed a couple of times and in the end is shot, jumping infront of a bullet to save Alexander.
This book had a little more violence and excitement than the first and i enjoyed reading it very much. I didnt feel massively connected to any of the characters in the book like i sometimes do and this was the same across all of them.
Overall a good read.

The Playboy Prince

The book follows Bennett the youngest of the Cordina royal family and he has lived up to the name of Playboy. Known for his sexy ways and sleeping around but he really isnt as bad as they make out.
Hannah is a very plain woman or so he thinks. She comes to stay in Cordina to help Eve and her baby and unborn baby.
Bennett is immediately attracted and interested in Hannah and starts to seduce her.
She is tough and a lot more than anyone realises, well apart from Armand and Reeve that is.
Hannah is a secret agent a kind of undercover spy you might say. She has infiltrated the enemy and they believe she is working for them. She is actually working for Reeve.
She completely opens the case and she captures the bad guy in the end, Bennetts heart is bruised that all the while they were sleeping together and falling in love she had lied about who she was.
There is a bit rough fighting in this book and Hannah is a true female power attitude kind of character and taking care of the family she now loved.
I enjoyed this book the most and the unknown whats going to happen next makes the book hard to put down.

Cordina's Crown Jewel

This book for me wasnt really necessary. It is 20+ years after the last book and focuses on Camilla, the daughter of Reeve and Gabriella. She has the life her mother had and feels trapped and shut in. She decides after almost having a nervous breakdown to flee the family for an extended holiday under her fathers name MacGee rather than Princess Cordina etc etc!
She has a car accident and ends up staying with the rude and mean Delany Caine.
He is a Indiana Jones type of archeologist and really really mean.
Of course they fall in love and have a wonderful affaire however he is unaware that she is the Princess so when it eventually comes out he shuts her own and quite literally throws her out of his house.

The parents become involved and get the two of them talking however its her time to feel decieved as he didnt tell her that he is really a Lord. She goes mad and they argue etc etc
I didnt get the reason for this book, it just kind of flaps seperate from the rest. It was of course good to read and i did it in about 10 hours.

Nora explores more mystery and excitement in these books and i really enjoyed reading them however not my favourite. I give them a 4/10