The O'Hurley (The O'Hurleys Book 4) - Without a Trace

This novel, together with the others in the series, kept me turning the pages. I loved the characters throughout and although the story lines are predictable, I enjoyed them. I do recommend them if you are looking for a light read.

Trace & Gillians story is a departure from the previous Hurley stories. While all are contemporary romances, Without A Trace adds an element of mystery and suspense. I never would have imagined that Trace was involved with such a thing while away from the family. An excellent addition to the series and as a stand alone story.

One of Nora Roberts' most dynamic family creations is the O'Hurley family. Frank and Mary O'Hurley are the parents of very talented children and the stage is their home - they are traveling musicians/singers/dancers and go from performance to performance. Frank and Mary's first born is Trace, who plays the piano for the family act while his sisters, mother, and father dance and sing. IN the family chronology, after Trace came a set of triplets: Chantel, Abigail and Maddy. Chantel's story was told in Skin Deep, Abigail's story was narrated in The Last Honest Woman and Maddy's story was recounted in Dance to the Piper. In Without a Trace we finally get to learn about the brother of this group - the quiet one who left the family act and seemed to disappear off the face of the earth.

Trace and his father had always been at odds with each other and as Trace got older, it was more difficult for him to understand why his father pushed the family the way he did. During one of these heated arguments, Trace walked away from his family only to be heard from infrequently since. Trace struck out on his own and didn't want commitments or responsibilities - he was basically a talented drifter using his musical abilities to provide food and shelter. At a seedy bar in a foreign country, Trace was approached and became a modern day mercenary/spy. Without a Trace picks up at the end of this secret agent type career with Trace trying to figure out where he wants his life to travel next. As fate would have it, into his life walks Gillian Fitzpatrick. Gillian's brother had disappeared under mysterious circumstances and she needs Trace to help her find him. Of course the sexual chemistry is there to add spice to this tale of intrigue.

Nora Roberts deviates from the standard romance genre in Without a Trace and throws a little mystery and suspense into the mix. It's enough to keep the reader interested and results in the book being a "page turner". Some of the plot lines are a little far-fetched but somehow Roberts takes them from a "no way would that happen" to a "well, maybe" type of thinking.

Once again Nora Roberts shows her devoted readers why they should remain diehard fans - the story is one that has wit, humor, romance and excitement. While I was reading the books about the O'Hurley triplets, I often wondered what had happened to Trace, as his sisters were always wistfully thinking about him. And it seemed like he never showed up for the important things in their lives (weddings, births of babies, etc.) but sent word to them instead. If he was able to show up, it was a very special occasion and resulted in much celebration. You could always feel the love this family had for each other, and Trace was always the quiet, mysterious one that the reader never heard much about. Nora Roberts built up the suspense through three previous books before we finally get to learn all about Trace. After reading Without a Trace I can tell you that it was definitely worth the wait! Now maybe Nora Roberts will continue with this family like she has with the MacGregor Clan and tell the tales of the offspring of the O'Hurley siblings. I can always hope...

The final book in the O'Hurley saga features Trace, elder brother to the triplets, and prodigal son. Trace has not been seen since he escaped the musical touring lifestyle after a showdown with his father about what each wanted from Trace's life. Turns out he's been working for the ISS as an intelligence agent. He's tracked down while on vacation in Mexico by Dr Gillian Fitzpatrick who wants Trace to rescue her brother and his daughter from a terrorist group. Trace reluctantly agrees to take this job and the pair go trotting around the globe in order to locate and rescue her family.
Roberts proves early in her career that she can write more than just amazingly tender and poignant love stories, and she doesn't let the love story suffer in favor of action and espionage. An impressive work with a beautiful ending.

Trace O'Hurley, the first of the O'Hurley children but last in the line of books, finally gets his story told in this very satisfying book. Not a straight romance by any means, there is plenty of intrigue and excitement to entertain the most distractable of readers.
Trace, at odds with his family for a dozen years now and tired of his world-travels and work as a spy, is ready to throw in the towel when he is sought out by Dr. Gillian Fitzpatrick, a scientist whose brother and niece have been kidnapped by a radical terrorist group. He agrees (for a large sum of money) to help Gillian recover her family, but underestimates the bond that he quickly forms with her. Believing for so long that he is not meant to love or be loved, Trace is reluctant to give his heart to someone and even more reluctant to let anyone love him, lest he hurt them the way he did his family.
The terrorist kidnapping plot certainly moves this story along, although some of the details were a bit too easily resolved once the final confrontation is in place. The romance was extremely well-written and believable, and things did not just neatly "fall into place" there -- you knew they would wind up together but it wasn't overly convenient for them to get there, just like real life! The reunion of the O'Hurley's after all is said and done really provides a satisfying end to the "quadrilogy".

Nora Roberts, the prolific romance author first began her writing career in 1981 with the title Irish Thoroughbred, a book that I refer to as a pure romance book. Continuing to write for publishing houses specializing in romances like Silhouette and a series called Language of Love, Ms. Roberts wasn't content to just write romances. Today she is well for writing a futuristic mystery series under the pseudonym JD Robb and also publishes titles from the romantic suspense genre. I was therefore really quite unawares when I finally picked up the 4th book in the O'Hurley series to find out this book dealt with the O'Hurley son Trace, a man who runs from the family and their world to become a spy who works against terrorists.

Trace O'Hurley never enjoyed being in the family business. With a bit of the wanderlust in him and at odds with his father he takes off at 20 and never looks back. Saving a man from being killed during a barroom brawl, Trace is persuaded by the saved man to join an agency similar to the CIA where he will be employed as an undercover agent. But now at 32, trace's friend is dead and though Trace has had his share of adventures to last him a lifetime, he is tired of running and is taking a vacation after a failed assignment. Into his midst walks a physicist, Dr. Gillian Fitzpatrick, a fiery Irish redhead who offers him a great sum of money to find her kidnapped brother and niece. And it didn't take long before I felt I was between the pages of a Robert Ludlum novel with the couple in Casablanca walking down narrow and winding streets filled with danger everywhere. And if this is a Nora Roberts novel, it also doesn't take long before the young couple, first at odds with one another, are falling in love.

While I prefer to read books without a terrorist plot since the news is enough these days, I found this book to be a fast and interesting read and quite a departure from those books I most enjoy by Ms. Roberts. It was also a nice to finally meet up the fourth O'Hurley child even if he was the oldest. But if Nora threw me a curve ball with part of the theme of this book, she more than made up for it with the wonderful ending where there was a poignant reconciliation between Trace, his sisters and his parents. One thing Nora Roberts does so well is family stories and this series is no exception. And then you might ask yourself what becomes of Gillian, and her family?
I guess you'll have to read the book to find out.

Several years ago I finally read my first Nora Roberts book, Born in Fire. Since that time I am slowly making my way through all of her books. While I have a preference for her pure romance books and family sagas like the McGregor series, I often read her romantic suspense books as well. As I often say, a so so romance book by Nora Roberts is usually much better than titles by other romance authors.

While I relished every chapter and word about the triplets' romances, I seriously wished that Trace had remained the lost prodigal son/ brother. This was painful to read and too long. The editing was flawless. But the plot just meandered and was unbelievable at times, and the characters seemed so superficial and inane, that I was left wondering how they all survived in the cut throat world of espionage, especially Desiree. Not a fan of "Without a Trace" !! Sorry, Nora.

This book originally was book two in the O'Hurley's family saga. The family consists of an Irish song and dance couple, who are the parents of Trace, their son, and the triplet daughters. This book is about the mysterious Trace and is an anomaly somewhat in Nora Roberts' style of writing. It is more of a spy, mystery, adventure. Of course it also has the element of romance.
This story/book has been combined with other volumes of the O'Hurley family series, so that is something readers need to be aware of, both now and in the future. But you will find yourself engrossed with the family and their lives and especially their love for each other.

A family drift, a little show business, and some action, and lots of love. So different yet the same. A family with troubles but so tight it is unbreakable, that is what the O'Hurley's are. The reason i say that is so different yet the same is because even do the triplets somewhat the same they are different in there own way, same goes with Trace.

In this book Trace has more fight for then to fight against. Yet he decided to fight against what he has. He has to learn how to deal with the emotions he hasn't been able deal with. And in that journey he has to fight the bad guys to save the brother and niece of the women who is little by little stealing his heart, to deal with the drift that has form stronger over the years with his father. But in the end he has to decided weather or not his done fighting against what he has.

I feel that she has written an enjoyable romance that is very true to life. The suspence keeps this story moving. I couldn't put it down. This is a suspenseful romance in the true Nora Roberts fashion.