Rising Tides (Quinn Brothers 2) (ISBN 074993350X)

Amazon.com Review:
Set on the windswept shores of the Chesapeake Bay, Nora Roberts's Rising Tides, the second book in the Quinn Brothers trilogy, continues the story of the lives and loves of adopted brothers Ethan, Cameron, and Philip Quinn. Eager to honor their father's dying wish that their other brother, Seth, be cared for, the three settle into life with a 10-year-old. Of all the brothers, it is Ethan who finds himself drawn to the young boy, because both suffered horrific abuse before being adopted by the Quinns. Time hasn't extinguished Ethan's pain, only buried it deep within his heart, a fact that may keep him from the only woman he has ever loved. A moving contemporary with universal appeal, Rising Tides is Nora Roberts at her best.

my least favorite of the series, but still good:
This is the 2nd book in the Quinn series, and my least favorite, though it was better this time through than I remembered. (The first book was Sea Swept.) Ethan is the strong, silent type, referred to as a "waterman," by which I assume is meant that he makes his living on the water. Grace is a single mother, extremely hard-working and devoted to her child. She's got a bit of estrangement from her father, but it's due to normal family stuff--they disappointed each other and were both too stubborn to be the first to forgive--rather than anything more dramatic than that. Ethan's character was better explained than I remembered--introverted because of his past before coming to the Quinns. And I suppose that explains his self-imposed martyrdom, though it doesn't make me like it any better for being explained. "I can never marry because I might have a child and I can never have a child because my birth mother was an evil whore and I might pass on her genes." That doesn't make me sympathetic. It just makes me want to smack some sense into him. Which Anna does, eventually, in one of my absolute favorite scenes in the book. I want to smack Grace, too. She married because she was pregnant, and divorced soon after. Her father was disappointed in her, which got her back up, and they've both stubbornly clung to what's often referred to as "pride"--more commonly known as stupidity, IMO. So she's preternaturally perfect, except for her "fatal flaw" of stubborn pride, which is seen as some sort of warped virtue. She cleans houses and waits tables until she's dead on her feet; she's The Perfect Mother, a genius at home decoration, the world's greatest cook, tall & slim & gorgeous of course, beloved by small children and animals, and can leap tall buildings in a single bound. Then there's the problem that nothing much happens in this book. In the first one, the whole problem is set up, and the brothers have to change their lives. The third book has the climactic showdown. This one... there's not much development in the ongoing trilogy plot except for a demand from Seth's mother for more money. And with Ethan and Grace having the fewest conflicts of the three couples, it makes for a less engaging book. And do I need to mention how much 22-year-old Ethan having the hots for 14-year-old Grace squicks me out? Do 22-year-old men (who aren't sickos) spend a lot of time pining after high school freshmen? Okay, those are my complaints. But you'll notice that I did give this book 4 stars anyway. Why? Because despite the fact that I didn't particularly like the characters, they were very real and very understandable. And despite the fact that it didn't move the trilogy plot along very much, there were some wonderful scenes.

Worth reading:
I enjoyed reading this complete Chesapeake Bay saga. Nora Roberts does a wonderful job keeping my interest when reading her books. Very worth reading!

My Favourite of ALL the brothers!!!:
I ABSOLUTELY LOVED THIS BOOK!!! this was the first i read in the trilogy about the Quinn brothers (i have since read them all) and i have to say it was my favourite! All are just terrific but this one was especially great for me. it was also the first nora roberts book i ever read and what a way to start! since Rising Tides i have read many of her books and love them all. but i think Rising tides with always have a special place! i just love the way that the romance is so... normal. It has none of the 'hero rescues damsel in distress' etc. it moved at a steady pace i thought (i read it in one day!) and i got everything that was happening even though i hadn't read 'seaswept' at the time (the first in the saga and which is also FANTASTIC!)... all in all one of my ALL TIME FAVOURITE BOOKS and i absolutely loved it! all four books in the saga are brilliant!

I think I'm in love...:
My favorite Quinn brother. I wonder if I could have him if I got rid of Grace. :) Grace is great. I love her too. I want to be friends with her. (Guess I couldn't get rid of her then. LOL) Being from Maryland, the setting was great for me. I understood all the local color and could practically taste the blue crabs when they were talking about picking them. Usually, I read paranormal romance, but this didn't let me down at all. I read it in one day. I didn't want to stop reading it at all. As soon as I was done, I jumped up to find the next book in the saga

Better than the first; couldn't put it down:
I plodded through the first book, but I could not put Ethan's story down! I had it in the car, inbetween chores...everywhere! Ethan was so likeable, and I thought he and Grace were so cute together. Can't wait to read the other two; just picked them up from the library yesterday.