Rising Tides

August 3, 1998
Roberts continues to celebrate the healing power of love and family in the second volume of her Quinn trilogy (one for each of the Strapping young Quinn lads). The three brothers, abused boys who were adopted by Ray and Stella Quinn have moved into the family's comfortable home on the eastern shore of Maryland to protect their newest brother, 12-year-old Seth, who was taken in by their father before his death in an automobile accident. Ethan's brothers--Cam the roguish racer and Phillip the debonair executive--have been around the world, while Ethan has stayed home working as a waterman in the Chesapeake. He is patient and kind, and has had his eyes on Grace Monroe, now the Quinn housekeeper, since high school. With some help from Anna, Cam's new wife (see Sea Swept), Grace finally seduces Ethan, who has always been afraid that his rough passion would hurt his lover. It's up to the other Quinns to see that Ethan and Grace get together and to provide the laughter, love and understanding (not to mention the cooked crab, fried chicken and pasta salad) that will sustain all of them. Roberts stops just short of cloying to create a heating pad of good feeling with lots of her signature clean-yet-dirty sex.

August 1, 1998
When the unexpected death of their adopted father and the need to care for a ten-year-old boy, Seth, bring the Quinn brothers together once again, it is Ethan, with his love for the water, who takes on the challenge of making their small boat-building business a success and ends up helping Seth as well. A troubled hero who must come to terms with his past, a stubborn, single-mother heroine determined to make it on her own, and a cast of compelling characters combine in typical Roberts fashion to create a warm, satisfying romance with a dash of mystery that will keep readers engrossed. Second in the Quinn Brothers trilogy, this book will be eagerly awaited by Roberts's many fans. (Look for the final volume, Inner Harbor, in December.) Roberts (Sea Swept, Jove, 1998) is a major romance writer and lives in Keedysville, MD.