This story is told in third person by multiple characters. I listened to the audiobook narrated by January LaVoy. She did a fantastic job. I enjoyed her characters’ voices immensely as well as the the compelling tone used to describe the various aspects of the story and settings. The story follows Thea and her brother as they navigate growing up on their grandmother’s farm in Kentucky after the brutal murder of their parents and subsequent withdrawal of other family members.

The vivid characters really make this story shine. Thea has a special gift that is passed down to the women in her family that allows her to see into others minds and through their eyes. But the murderer of her parents also possesses this gift and he uses it for his own evil ends. Reading about Thea grow up while juggling the immense responsibilities of this gift was so emotional and rewarding. I genuinely enjoyed every moment of her journey to finding a fulfilling life filled with love and acceptance. She often uses her gift to help others whether through the detectives who helped her as a child or just through personal connection.

The story is filled with love of family, friends and community as well as suspense and character growth sometimes overshadowed by grief over their lost ones and the threat of their killer. There’s even a small romance in the end that I enjoyed. I love a romance trope with an adult meeting of a teenage crush. Though I will point out that the romance is a very small part of the story.

I’ve read many books by this author since I was a teenager, though this is my first in recent years and it may be my favorite. If you haven’t read Nora Roberts in a while or if you have never read a Nora Roberts book, I recommend that you start with this one.

Thank you to Netgalley and Macmillan Audio for a copy provided for an honest review. #MacAudio2024

Amazing Suspense! keeps you intrigued , great cast of characters. Mind games explores the psychic ability between two people connected by tragedy over a span of 16 years , the games they each play until one day one will win once and for all. The narration was amazing!

"He'd fight to kill while she fought to live...that gave her the advantage."

There's no way to do justice to the brilliance of the all encompassing family drama mystery Mind Games by the queen of romance suspense Nora Roberts but just know this audiobook is worth your entertainment time.

Like all the women in her family, Thea has the gift of sight, and like most, she keeps it quiet. Alas, at 12 years old, spending 2 weeks, with her younger brother Rem, at her Grammie's farm, she "sees" the purely evil man enter her parents' home and brutally murder them. What neither she nor the killer expect is seeing each other. He has the same gift, knows she knows who he is, and so the mind games begin.

Knowing the best revenge is living a great life, Thea makes a life in Grammie's hometown with found family and the best farm animals. She becomes a successful video game developer. One of the most poetic beautifully written scenes is when Tyler, our romantic lead, first sees Thea in the fields practicing her sword play. With the sun glistening on her like a halo he knows she is special, just how special will shock him.

Every voice acting award should be reserved for voice actress January Lavoy. Her performances between the killer and Thea, between goodness and evil, especially their final mind boggling battle, was pure artistic genius.

The characters are richly layered, even Tyler's adorable 5 year old son Bray. I didn't want it to end. I have been reading Nora Roberts since the 1980s and this may be my favorite book from her. The audiobook Mind Games is worth playing over and over because you will win every time.

I received a free copy of this audiobook from #macmillanaudio via #NetGalley for a fair and honest review. All opinions are my own.

Huge thank you to @stmartinspress @macmillan.audio and @netgalley for an advanced copy in exchange for an honest review.

Nora Roberts is forever my comfort read and this didn’t disappoint! Bonus points for the family last name being Lannigan. While it’s spelled different it’s pronounced the same. It was fun hearing it in the audiobook!
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Every June Thea and her brother travel to Kentucky to stay with their grandmother. When one night Thea and her grandma Lucy woke up with the same nightmare and they soon realize their “gift” showed them the murders of Thea’s parents and Lucy’s daughter and son in law. Thanks to Thea’s “gift” she was able to see the killer and he is behind bars but he also has a “gift” and the two are in a mental fight.
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I really loved the characters of Lucy and Thea. Roberts books always fleshes out an entire world and characters to root for!

Nora Roberts is one of my favorite authors and this book reminded me of just why that is. She writes so fluidly and with intelligence and incredible wit. Despite this novel having a thriller vibe she still manages to include grief, family, tradition, children, and romance into the story leaving you feeling like you experienced and were part of the plotline. January LaVoy narrates this spectacular book and I love the way she creates a unique sound for each character so there isn't any doubt about who is speaking. She's one of the best as is Nora.

I enjoyed this book more than any I've read in the past year! In fact, it's now on my top ten favorite books of all time! If you like great fiction, check this out!

The book I'm referring to is "Mind Games" by Nora Roberts. It has great characters that are fully defined, great dialogue, a clear plot with scary thriller parts, a sweet romance, a unique climax, and a good ending!!

I enjoyed the psychic elements and how that was all handled. I loved the strong and intelligent female lead character, Thea! The family relationships with her brother, Rem, and her grandmother, Lucy, were great! The voice and dialogue of the little boy, Bray, was perfect. The dogs were a great addition to the story. Bunk was a terrific character!!

I'm in awe of the narration by January LaVoy! She did voices for young children, adults, men, women, kids over time as they age, a criminal, side characters, and she did it all so smoothly! All the voices fit their characters perfectly! January is one talented narrator!!

Characters - 5/5
Writing - 5/5
Plot - 5/5
Pacing - 5/5
Unputdownability - 5/5
Enjoyment - 5/5
Narration - 5/5
Cover - 4/5
Overall - 5 stars

I highly recommend this book, especially as an audiobook!!

Thank you to Netgalley, Macmillan Audio, and Nora Roberts for providing this audiobook in exchange for my honest review.

I definitely liked this book though it took me a while to get through. The reason is definitely the length, I'm so very used to 8 to 10 hour audiobooks. I will say that I loved January LaVoy's narration was wonderful. Right off the bat, I recommend this book but I recommend the audiobook. January uses different voices to differentiate between characters and what is really great about this book is her narration of characters as they are a child then as they are an adult. I believe she did a stellar job at this and made the listening experience seamless. The audiobook is a little less than 15 hours long, and all of it is needed in my opinion to tell the full story. If you like Nora Roberts audiobooks, I think you will like this book, and it will feel like a familiar friend. Just set some time aside, and enjoy!

Thea and her brother are dropped off with their grandma like they are every year when the unthinkable happens. As children they lose their parents to a killer, and Thea as well as her grandma can see what happened. Thea is even able to help authorities put away a killer. As Thea grows, and learns, and loves, she finds she's also intrinsically linked to her parents murderer through their psychic gift. Will Thea ever be free of the person who took her world away as a child?

I loved the book! I feel like it was well paced. It did trudge along in places, but not in too many, and not for long. There was one spot where we were listening and my son and I both was like, "What? Wait, what just happened?" and it took a minute for all of it to make sense, but that was funny more than anything. The characters are memorable, I love Thea and her grandma. Will this become a series maybe? One can only hope.

I usually gravitate toward the In Death series by Nora Roberts pen name for that series, JD Robb. But! I'm ever so grateful to NetGalley and the publishers for the audiobook arc of this novel. It was a great time, and I may just pick up the audiobook for my library! I will definitely be recommending this book too, it would be a great Book Club pick.

Mind Games was in true fashion of Nora Roberts as an author. It was filled with suspense, tragedy, romance, and twists. Nora Roberts has a captivating way of pulling you into her stories that will not let you go until the very end.

Mind Games was of particular interest to me because it was set in Appalachia, where I also grew up. I connected with the family values between the Foxes, Rhem, and Grammie and the closeness of community when living in a hollow. The harrowing experience this family encountered was a little far-fetched, but so are many Appalachia stories. This particular story may be more plausible to those who believe that some individuals have a gift/curse of reading people’s minds or seeing into their souls. Regardless, it was a great read with wonderful narration!

January LaVoy is one of my favorite narrators and Mind Games is another winner. I really liked the story, but I thought LaVoy hit it out of the park with all of the different voice variations, accents, and emoting. One of the best audiobooks I have listened to this year.

Thank you Macmillan Audio for the gifted ALC.

Thea Fox who is the oldest daughter of in a loving family that includes her parents and younger brother. Every summer they travel to the hills of Kentucky to spend time with her maternal grandmother. This time her parents are dropping off her and her brother so they can have some alone time back in their home in Virginia.

But this summer is different because Thea's parents are the victims of an act of shocking violence that is the result of chance and a petulant killer's jealousy. And Thea "sees" the whole thing. She and her grandmother share “the gift of sight” and are aware of what happened even before the police knock on their door.

Now Thea and her brother will live with their grandmother and forge a new life in the Appalachian mountains with Grammy Lucy. Regardless of the killer being convicted of her parents murder and he will spend the rest of his life behind bars thanks to Thea and what she “witnessed”…..unfortunately, he isn't quite done with Thea and finds a way to torment her. This is an exciting must read.

* Excellent narration by January LaVoy.

4.5 stars

Nora Roberts has never disappointed me - and Mind Games is a great example of her romantic suspense novels.

To set the scene - Thea and her younger brother, Rem, love to stay at their grandmother’s house in eastern Kentucky every summer. When Thea is 12, their parents leave them with Grammie and head back to their home in Virginia, where tragedy strikes. Thea’s parents have attracted the attention of someone really, really evil, who is jealous of their success and their “fancy” house and belongings.

Thea has inherited a “gift” from her grandmother’s line - she can “see” things, so she witnesses something terrible happen to her parents while she sleeps. Because of what she saw and felt, police are able to identify the culprit. But this guy also has a similar gift and Thea has attracted his attention. While he is in prison, Thea and Rem live a mostly good life with their grandmother. But as Thea grows, his presence in her mind also grows. It truly becomes a battle of their minds.

The relationship of the two kids with their grandmother was really beautiful. Roberts paints a pretty idyllic picture of life in the Kentucky mountains, with close-knit family and friends, and a home-based business that does very well. Eventually, we get a romance - and it’s a good one. I don’t want to spoil any surprises, so I won’t say much more than Thea and Ty turn out to be perfect for each other. To top it off, there’s an adorable little boy and an adorable huge dog!

I bounced between the audiobook and the ebook for this title, which was very convenient, and allowed me to continue with the story even when I could not sit down and read - or when I could not listen. The audiobook was beautifully narrated by one of my favorite narrators, January LaVoy. She does an amazing job with all the characters, both male and female and a bunch of different accents.

Thank you to St. Martin’s Press and NetGalley for the opportunity to read an advance reader copy of this book and to Macmillan Audio and NetGalley for the opportunity to listen to an advance copy of this audiobook. All opinions are my own.

This book touches on several genres - psychological thriller, coming of age, romance, and paranormal. And it does it well. Thea is 12 when she and her younger brother, Rem, are spending their annual two-week visit with their grandmother on her Kentucky farm when back at home, their parents are brutally murdered in their bed. Thea sees it happening in a dream because of her psychic ability to "see" what others are thinking/feeling. Problem is, the psychopath who killed her parents has a similar ability, and he knows that she saw him. She's able to help put him in prison for several murders, but because of their mutual psychic abilities, they're inextricably connected - and he's determined to destroy her life. Meanwhile, she grows up living with her grandmother (who shares her gift), goes away to college, returns to the farm when she's done, establishes a successful career as a video game designer, falls in love. Roberts paints a vivid picture of farm life in Appalachia, and made me hungry with talk of food and recipes (and had me searching for a few). I listened to the audio version, and as expected, January LaVoy's narration was brilliant, giving each character a distinct voice, no matter their gender or age or ethnicity. I've always been more of a fan of Robert's writing as J.D. Robb than the early books I'd read from her, but the writing here is a bit tighter than those early books I'd read, and I really enjoyed it.
Thanks to Netgalley, St. Martin's Press, and Macmillan Audio for providing copies for an unbiased review.

Wow. What a rollercoaster of a book. It's been a few years since I've read a new book by Nora Roberts and now I feel like I need to read her backlog. Please note, the romance in this doesn't appear until halfway through the book. The main relationship (non-romantical) is between Thea and her parent's killer. The book takes you on a wild ride with a few moments of calm in the middle. A perfect beach read for the summer.

This was so good and so different from most of the books I read. Well done and I couldn’t be more satisfied with the ending.

Mind Games by Nora Roberts is an intense and intriguing story. Thea is only 12 when her parents are murdered brutally in their beds. With an interesting gift, she is able to see the killer and put him in prison. However, he also has the same gift. And he can get into her head. The two will fight for control for years while she moves on and he rots in prison. Who will win? Quite good! I really enjoyed it. And the narrator was fabulous!

I've read a number of Nora Roberts' romance and fantasy romance series, but this is only the second thriller of hers I've read. I'd say this one reads much more like a fantasy romance with a few thriller elements than a true thriller, but I enjoyed it anyway. I liked the setup of the thriller elements and the way they were tied to her powers. I loved our FMC, that she was a video game designer, and how her video game work tied into the resolution of the thriller element. Like all of Roberts' books, I found the characters sounded more or less like all the rest of Roberts' characters but it didn't really detract from my enjoyment of the story.

A huge thank you to the author and the publisher for providing an e-ARC via Netgalley. This does not affect my opinion regarding the book.

⭐️ ⭐️⭐️⭐️⭐️

Mind Games by @norarobertsauthor was a fabulous book!! I had the pleasure of listening to this book as an ARC audiobook from @netgalley and @macmillan.audio

Mind Games is about a young girl and boy who heads to their grandmas house for a two week visit. While they are there their parents are brutally murder. The young girl, Thea and grandma have the gift of sight and witnessed the murder in their dreams. Thea’s detailed vision is what puts the murderer in super max prison. The book follows Thea’s life as she grows up trying to control her visions while also trying to live a normal life. The murderer also has the same abilities as Thea and she has to figure out how to permanently get him out of her head.

Mind Games is definitely an emotional read. It is worth a read and I highly recommend it!

5⭐+++
Mind Games by Nora Roberts
Publisher- Macmillan Audio
Genre ~ Women's Fiction
Publication date ~ May 21, 2024
Audio length ~ 14 hours 30 minutes
Narrator ~ January LaVoy

This might possibly be my FAVORITE Nora Roberts book ever! If I could add on stars, I would.... it's that good.

There was so much to love about this book, in fact, it felt like more than one book as there are so many inner stories involved.

Murder & suspense
Psychic abilities
Family bonds
Country life
Crime investigations
Prison life
Young crush
Mature love
and so much more!

Right out of the gate, I was sucked into the story and couldn't put it down. I found myself with tears in my eyes at times, cheering for characters at other times and missing my grandmother all along. It takes place over a couple decades and easily slides into character aging.
The author is also able to tie in gaming (which I knew nothing about and now find the development of games fascinating!) and rock bands in a beautiful way that help character development bloom.

And the narration? January LaVoy has done an incredible job with this story. Her range is simply mind-blowing in tackling genders and all ages. She can read the lines of a 5-year-old boy as well as an aging grandmother perfectly. In fact, I thought there was more than one narrator!

Many thanks to Macmillan Audio and Netgalley for this AAC. I wholeheartedly recommend Mind Games as a perfect audio pick. All opinions expressed are authentically my own.

I would like to thank Net Galley and the publisher for the ARC audiobook.

I am a fan of Nora Roberts writing. She is one of the cleanest writers out there when it comes to sentence structure. She has mastered the art of being descriptive without using a lot of superfluous language. But I'm sure you're here to learn about the book!

This book is definitely magical realism, which I enjoy immensely. There is murder, thrills, a good bit of romance, a strong family relationship, and psychic battles! Yet realistic enough that people who dislike mysticism in their books can still enjoy it.

4.5 stars. I am always pleasantly surprised by how much I enjoy a Nora Roberts novel. The mystery and intrigue balanced with romance. Mind games was no different, although it did bring in an unusual element of psychics.

I received an ARC from Netgalley in exchange for an honest review.