"Year One", The Book She Was Born To Write

Year One by Nora Roberts
My rating: 5 of 5 stars

Where to start? I have been reading Nora Roberts since I picked up an advanced reader's copy of Montana Skies. I fell in love with her prose and her ability to paint a picture with words. And, yes, I also enjoyed the brain candy provided with her romance and family relationships held between the covers of each of her books I have since read. But, with this new novel, I feel that Ms. Roberts is truly flexing her muscles and delving into new territory. I LOVE it!
In the opening chapter she begins setting the stage for a new world order. She builds the tension. She introduces characters. She weaves a spell. Then, as the book progresses, the battle lines begin to form.
I also feel that this book is a statement. It illustrates the lines between those that are "different" and those that "discriminate". It paints a picture of the trodden upon and those that trod upon them. It weaves a tapestry of a polarized world, in which there is more than one side - good and evil and everything in between.
Yes, this book did contain Ms. Roberts signature leanings toward all that is magical, both dark and light. However it didn't have the main character with the typical romantic struggle. The struggle contained was that of life and death; the struggle of light over dark.
I cannot go into much more without giving spoilers. But, it is well worth the read.
When is the 2nd in the series? I want it NOW!


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Life Is Crazy

It has been so long since I have posted.  It has been so long that I seem to have forgotten my voice.  Which person blogged here?  Is she still around?  Does she still think the same way?  View the world with the same eyes? Or has life thrown a few curve balls and caused her perspective to change?

Me. Yes. No. Only one of them. And Yes.

I haven't posted a thing here since 2012.  Holy Mackerel Andy!  That is a lifetime!  Since then, I have closed the yarn shop.  My dad passed peacefully, at home, surrounded by his children and grandchildren.  Hijo Primero graduated from college with a degree in Bio-Chemical Engineering (where in the hell those brains came from I will never know).  Hijo Segundo graduated from college with a BA in Political Science (Magna Cum Laude, again with the brains).  Hija Primera is living in New Hampshire with her husband and son. The BF has retired from the Air Force after reaching the rank of Chief Master Sergeant. And Hija Segunda is living with her dad and I in...and this is the Crazy part of the Life is Crazy...Ecuador!

Yes.  We have kicked everything we knew to the curb, packed a few belongings, bid farewell to our friends and family and left the country!  We bought a guesthouse, Casita Las Mareas on the Pacific coast, in the province of Manabi' in the village of San Jacinto.  It doesn't keep us very busy.  Life is simple. Life here is idyllic.  It is still so new. 

Casita Las Mareas

There are days that I feel as if I live in a movie.  The sun is shining, the waves are out there - in my front yard no less - doing what waves do and making the most peaceful background noise, the locals are playing their music that makes me want to dance and life is unbelievable.

I do miss my friends and my family that we left behind.  There are days that I miss them terribly.  But, the show must go on and life must be lived - even if it seems crazy at times.  

I hope I can keep coming back and put new life into this little corner of my world.  Maybe it can keep me sane.  Or maybe I can just get back to sharing the insanity as it happens.  Who knows.  Who really cares?