Wooow, just wooow! I have always been a fan of Nora Roberts but this is definitely my new favorite book of here. “Identity” has become my new favorite thriller with a side of romance and found family. I loved every second of it, I don’t read many thrillers often but this one is the reason why I keep reading them.

The characters are so well written, I really liked the whole story and character development. I think we all wish we could be a little bit like Morgan. This had me at the edge of my seat, wanting more and more, so incredibly well written. The romance aspect was perfect and I fell in love with the town, the found family, everything was just pure perfection.

I highly recommend it!!

Nora Robert's books tend to be hit or miss for me. And this one was a miss. While I always love Nora's writing style and storytelling. I don't always love her heroines. And in this one I didn't love her she was suppose to be a former army brat. And quite frankly she didn't read like a military brat. Or at least any military brats I know. Most I know are proud of the title and proud of the way the life shaped them.

I’ve never read a bad Nora Roberts book. She has so many styles she writes in that her work is always fresh. In Identity, Morgan suffers a major tragedy in her life from a serial killer who takes the victims identity and all their money including their credit. But, instead of him killing Morgan, he kills her roommate. With her life destroyed, she returns to her Mom and Grandmas house long enough to get her life back. She never planned on falling in love or having a dream job there. She also never planned on the serial killer coming back for her. But all of these and more happened.

I like Nora Roberts, I love Romantic Suspenseful style books, so this looked right up my alley. I didn't have any commonality with Morgan, her genius as a bartender as the aspect we are to admire about her was too much for me, I worked hard to put myself through school, but I would never have been a bartender, sorry if I sound like a snob, but I just couldn't understand why I was supposed to find her handling drunks, or obnoxious people while mixing unusual cocktails as something to admire never drew me in. Her acceptance of someone she met, and didn't check out the veracity of their story seemed foolish to me in the age we live in, for twenty dollars, you can look up anybody online, especially the ability to check if they have any type of record, and if they are who they say they are. I think if the two women had behaved like two mature, smart women who were stalked, it would have been more suspenseful for me, which is why I read this Genre.
I was disappointed, but remain a Nora Roberts fan.
Thank you #Netgalley #BoldwoodBooks
carolintallahassee

Labeled "romantic suspense", I felt that the romance was lacking and there wasn't a lot of suspense. Instead, the book read more as women’s fiction. While there is absolutely nothing wrong with women’s fiction, which I often enjoy, I was surprised when IDENTITY was not what I expected. Roberts provided a lot of day-to-day detail, and even though I didn't mind it in this case, I am curious if I would have felt the same way without the audiobook. January LaVoy did an incredible job.

Things I struggled with:
- Miles as the romantic interest. I felt that he was not a portrayal of what "healthy" looks like, but rather, demanding and disrespectful. The man was a walking red flag.
- The main characters were supposed to be in their late twenties/early thirties, but the dialogue did not always come off that way.
- The way the Jameson family overstepped their boundaries with Morgan when it came to her employment.
- The seemingly rushed ending to the conflict.

All said, I found myself looking forward to listening to the audiobook, but I felt that there were pieces that could have been edited to better align with the genre and the age group. For now, I'll plan on sticking with Roberts's fantasy novels, like YEAR ONE, which I absolutely loved.

*Many thanks to the publisher and NetGalley for the complimentary copy in exchange for an honest review

I received an ARC for Identity by Nora Roberts from NetGalley in exchange for a honest review. I am a big Nora Roberts fan, especially of her romantic suspense. Identity is trademark Nora - tough resilient heroine, stoic/grumpy hero, a truly psychotic villain. Morgan is our protagonist. She works two jobs, has a best friend/roommate, and not much of a social life. When she takes a chance and dates a patron of the bar where she bartends, her life spirals into terror and financial ruin. My favorite part of the story is Morgan, you can not help rooting for her. Her eventual love interest is fine, but not my favorite Nora hero. I really did enjoy this book, though it dragged in the middle. I think with some slight edits it would be a top Nora suspense romance. 4⭐️

Many thanks to the publisher and NetGalley for the advanced copy!

This fell short for me. I didn’t love the writing style and the pacing in the middle was very off. I found myself losing interest. Overall, it was just OK but for such a long book, I found myself regretting spending the time to push through it.

I've been reading NR for 20+ years, and part of me keeps waiting to be disappointed by one of her books. How can she keep the streak going for so long? Of course, there are some I like more than others, but I don't believe I've read one where I thought, "Whew, that one was a dud."

Identity follows NR's "formula" of weaving romance with thriller, and always tossing in a multi-generational family, a strong heroine with an interesting job (this one is a bartender), and an adorable dog who manages to steal the show. Morgan moves in with her mother and grandmother after a bad date steals all her personal and financial information to drain her accounts, leaving her with mountains of debt (and in the process, killed her roommate when he couldn't get his hands on her). A new job at a classy resort, some self-defense lessons, reconnecting with her family and finding an interesting man all have her feeling like she might be getting her life back. But the killer is still out there, biding his time until he gets another shot at the one who got away.

My only issue with this book was that the timeline on a lot of it felt veeery stretched out at the beginning and then rushed at the end. Morgan and Miles are seeing each other for barely a blink before insta-love strikes, and NR usually paces that more smoothly. This felt forced. And the finale where the killer finally shows back up was over before it barely even began. It didn't need to be drawn-out unnecessarily, but it was a lot of lead-up for not much payoff.

Having said that, despite my initial skepticism over a NR book about identity theft, I ended up enjoying it! Not my favorite of hers and I'll probably forget the plot by next week, but I was absolutely sucked into the read.

**Thanks to NetGalley and St. Martin's Press for the ARC in exchange for my honest review!**

3.5 ⭐️

This was okay!

I loved Morgan's journey. Her character growth and watching her go from victim to "ill show you" was amazing. Gavin's POVs were a nice insight into the psyche, but something was lacking for me. I found myself wanting to skim some parts just to see what happens and I kind of wish there was a but more mystery in what Gavin was doing. The story didn't allow us to guess, it just told us.

Morgan and Miles... while I loved them together, it also felt like they were just put together to add some romance to the story. I think I would've preferred this with less romance. However, I did love his understanding of her and his subtly protective nature.

Overall, this was a decent read but I've definitely read better Nora books.

Morgan’s world is shattered when she is targeted by a con artist who steals her identity and leaves her roommate dead in their home. According to the FBI, Morgan should have been the one killed but her roommate was there at the wrong time. Morgan moves back home to Vermont with her mom and tries to rebuild her life but the man that hurt her is still out there and he’s not done yet.

Nora Robert’s latest romantic suspense novel, IDENTITY, started off catching my attention and really creeping me out but then fizzled out and ultimately fell flat. I’ve read enough of her other books to rate this book as “so-so” comparatively. The characters felt like they lacked good development. Some of the dialogue was awkward. The main character’s love interest had a lot of red flags for being a toxic relationship, though it seemed that he was being written as a fantastic guy so it just felt icky at times. The plot was interesting but pacing slowed down a lot after the beginning so it felt like a slog in the middle. One thing this book definitely drives home is to think about who you let into your home and how much personal information you disclose to others. What made this scary is that this situation can and does happen in real life.

IDENTITY wasn’t my favorite Nora Robert’s book but still a decent romantic suspense read. It won’t stop me from continuing to be a fan.

Thank you to St. Martin’s Press and NetGalley for the DRC.

I love Nora Roberts. I have since the mid 1990s. Huge fan. So no surprise that I liked Identity, her newest novel.

Morgan is an Army brat looking to put down roots. She thinks she’s found her place, but what she finds is serial killer Gavin, who changes the course of her life after a brutal act of violence. She heads home to her mom and grandma, her “ladies.”

Miles Jameson offers Morgan the stability she’s seeking. His family owns the resort where she starts working, and they are a tight knit family who take care of each other, and those they love. Gavin doesn’t stand a chance, neither does Morgan, who falls for Miles and his sweet dog, Howl.

I really liked this story. As an Army brat myself, I identified with Morgan’s need for stability. I loved Miles, Howl and the rest of the Jameson clan. I also loved Morgan’s mom and grandma.

This book was long, though, and the chapters were long. I found myself losing interest around the middle. I also wished that we saw more of Gavin in the middle of the book. Gavin is reckless and savage at the end as he struggles to maintain control of his evil ways. This felt a little abrupt to me and more of a cat and mouse throughout would have made this story more interesting. It could have also been shorted by about 5 chapters.

That being said, this was a solid story by a beloved (to me) storyteller. Ms. Roberts knows how to tell a story and I would recommend her any day.

Thank you to #netgalley and @stmartinspress fir the advanced e-copy of #identity.

This book published May 23, 2023 and is available where books are sold.

Wow this book was great!! It had so many twists and turns I didn’t know what was going to next. Nora Roberts is one of my favorite authors!! I can’t wait to read another one!! This is a must read!! Pick this up today!!

Morgan has moved around so much, perfected the art of casual dating. On the surface it may look easy breezy but it’s all about damage control and not letting anyone get too close. She finally settles down, buys a fixer-upper, and after years finds a guy who seems like a decent man. Her best friend loves him, things are moving forward. When he ghosts her she assumes she just read him wrong. But she had no idea the truth was so much darker, so very dark.
This is a story about trying to find your way forward when your confidence has been shattered and your worst fears look like a cakewalk. This is about finding a new start, trusting yourself and others when your gut instinct betrayed you and cost you and others everything. How do you reclaim your story, your power, when the nightmare isn’t over?
This was a harder book for me to read than I thought and has everything to do with where I am, and what I need from a book right now. Without giving spoilers, sensitive or vulnerable readers should exercise due diligence and perhaps dig into reviews on this one. I’m a big fan of Nora Roberts (I LOVE The Villa!) however the nature of suspense is you’re surprised if it’s done well. It it, and I was…leaving me unprepared for some content. For most readers this is going to work great. It wasn’t a match for me right now. Based on other reviews I’m the extreme outlier so please judge for yourself!
Many thanks to St Martin’s Press for the advanced copy via Netgalley.

Identity is a beautiful multi-layered book about murder, relationships, trust and life coming a full circle that might bring us back to a different place than we expected.  I absolutely loved the wonderful three-dimensional characters and how the story played out.
Morgan has a contentious relationship with her parents and is content to create her own life far from them.  She has a lot of ambitions and is not afraid to work hard to achieve her goals.  Having experienced a dysfunctional relationship with her family she has no time for men in her life until she lets the wrong man in the door.  It's enough to give you nightmares since the man is a serial killer and con artist in a totally different class of con artists.  When her best friend falls victim, a chain of events is triggered that will have repercussions for both parties.
Drowning in debt from the identify theft perpetrated by her erstwhile wannabe boyfriend/con artist, Morgan finally gives in and returns to her hometown where her mother and grandmother now run a business and live together.  She finds herself welcomed warmly and finds that her mother has grown, and they might actually be able to forge a lasting relationship.
She finds a job that she loves and finds herself healing and growing and lo and behold also opening her heart to a new relationship.  I love Morgan's story as she finds her creative side and develops new friendships and finds love. In the meantime, the identity thief, serial killer is not faring so well.  It's almost as though his failure with Morgan threw him off his game and nothing seems to go right for him even though he does not stop killing.
I found the story so inspirational as Morgan wrests control of her life and finds happiness and new strong relationships. I loved the secondary characters and wonder if the author will give us more stories that are waiting to be told for these characters.

A former Army brat, Morgan had always longed to put down roots. After college, she settled in a Baltimore neighborhood, and Morgan realized her dream of putting down roots. Next on her list is saving enough money to buy a bar and successfully run it. Then she meets Luke one night at her bartending job, and her life gets turned upside down. Luke is a serial killer named Gavin, and Gavin has just killed Morgan’s best friend/roommate, stolen her car, and stolen her identity. The FBI tells Morgan that her best friend wasn’t Gavin’s type; Gavin killed Nina because she was there. His type? Morgan. On the verge of losing her house and debts racking up in her name, Morgan leaves Maryland and moves back in with her mother and grandmother in Vermont. She hopes to start over. But Gavin hasn’t forgotten Morgan. With Gavin making his way to Vermont to tie up his loose end, Morgan must be ready. Will she be able to take Gavin on? Can she protect her mother and grandmother from the evil that has infiltrated her life?

I am a huge Nora Roberts fan, and I try to read her books as they are published. So I was surprised when St. Martin’s Press invited me to review. I was planning on waiting for Identity to publish before picking it up. It wasn’t even a thought for me to download the book. I am glad that I did because this book was fantastic.

Identity is a fast-paced book that takes place in Baltimore and Vermont. The pacing of this book fits the storyline. If the author had let up on the fast pace but even a little, it would have ruined the book for me. I also liked that the book was set in Maryland and Vermont. I rarely see those states get some rep in books.

The main storyline of Identity is centered around Morgan. This storyline was believable to me. I could see this happening in real life (actually, I am sure it has happened). I was horrified for Morgan when she found Nina dead and discovered that Luke/Gavin was a serial killer. I felt awful for her when her savings was drained, her car stolen, and a loan shark sent his minions to her house. That was the point where she hit rock bottom and moved to Vermont. Her healing didn’t begin until she moved to Vermont. There she acquired a phenomenal support system, which included her employers. Her growth during this storyline was terrific.

The storyline with Gavin was creepy. He was a true psychopath. He got off on killing the women and stealing their money and identities. I enjoyed that the author showed him spiraling. He couldn’t get over that he didn’t kill Morgan, which affected him for the rest of the book. He got sloppy and made mistakes that had the Feds on him. I did feel that his storyline got a bit repetitive towards the end, and I was pleased when the author decided to have the final confrontation between him and Morgan.

There was a romance angle to Identity involving Morgan and Miles. I was a little iffy, at first, when they first hooked up. I felt that she had too much baggage for him. Plus, she was his employee, raising all sorts of red flags. The author did address this, and I liked that she did. She had Morgan and Miles talk their relationship out between themselves.

Morgan and Miles’s sexual relationship did come on suddenly for me. It took one visit to deliver cookies, which led to a house tour (the turret comments had me dying laughing), which led to them having sex. The sex scenes were not graphic. They were more of a fade-to-black type of deal, which I enjoyed.

The end of Identity had me on a rollercoaster of emotions. I loved the girl power moment that Morgan had (thanks to Jen!!). But I was also terrified for her mother and grandmother. While Gavin’s fate was given, I wish the author had given some update on him. I also loved the last chapter. Talk about getting a tear in my eye and the book coming full circle.

I recommend Identity to anyone over 21. There is violence, sexual situations, and language.

Many thanks to St. Martin’s Press, NetGalley, and Nora Roberts for allowing me to read and review Identity. All opinions stated in this review are mine.

Once again, NR has knocked it out of the park. I have to admit, I had my doubts when I read the blurb. I mean, identity theft is such a downer. I couldn’t figure out how anyone could make that interesting or compelling. I should have known better. This is far from the first time Nora has taken an idea or topic that I thought I had no interest in and turned it into an utterly fascinating read/listen. As I recently commented to a friend of mine (who has very different reading tastes), Nora writes characters that you want to get to know, places that you want to visit. Her characters become friends you would like to be able to hang out with in real life. Identity was no different and definitely didn’t disappoint! Nora Roberts is an auto pre-order for me, these days primarily on audiobook, and I always jump on a chance to get an early peek at an ARC, knowing that I’ll also have the pleasure of listening to the story once the book comes out. As always, I highly recommend checking out this title by Nora Roberts.

This wonderful Woman's Fiction Romantic Thriller immerses readers in Morgan's story of survival, healing, growth, and discovery. After experiencing identity theft and losing everything, including her best friend, Morgan seeks shelter with her estranged family. As she navigates her temporary fix, she realizes the thief is a serial killer and she's on his list. The determined FBI team unravels his methods, while Morgan refuses to be a typical damsel in distress. She builds her career, mends family relationships, and finds love. The antagonist, a psychopath/sociopath serial killer, is terrifyingly well-written. The book highlights the power of family, friendships, and blooming where you're planted.

captivating and thrilling novel from the best. Keeps you on the edge of your seat right to the end. Great Read!!

Identity highlights that even an intelligent and cautious young woman, Morgan, can be the target of identity theft, and that she needed to reconsider every part of herself. She also learns that family, however one defines it, can provide unquestioning support and comfort, Identity is a great read. The characters and story are carefully developed.

This book was a thrill ride of twists and turns, romance, and suspense that was excellent (a true Nora Roberts standard) from start to finish.
The character development was top notch and I enjoyed the multiple POVs throughout the book. I usually exclusively enjoy Nora Roberts' fantasy work, but was pleasantly surprised by the contemporary story.