Hidden Star by Nora Roberts

She couldn't remember a thing, not even who she was. But it was clear Bailey James was in trouble. Big trouble. And she desperately needed private eye Cade Parris to help her find out just what kind. Surely she wasn't a criminal--but then what on earth was she doing with a bag full of cash and a stunning blue diamond as big as a baby's fist?

Series: Stars of Mithra, #1 | Publisher: Brilliance Audio | Narrator: Scott Merriman | Length: 6 hrs and 39 mins | Genre: Romantic Suspense | Source: Purchased  Ratings 3.5 Cups

 

Challenges Read For: Reading Through Nora Roberts

I hadn’t heard of the Stars of Mithra series until Quinn over @ Quinn’s Book Nook (if you haven’t checked out her blog, you should do so) reviewed the first book in the series. I was fascinated by the fact Bailey, the heroine, had amnesia so I decided to use up some of my Audible credits and picked up the first book in the series. Plus, it fits in perfectly with my Reading Through Nora Roberts Challenge. I have to say, I wasn’t disappointed, so a big thank you goes out to Quinn for bringing this series to my attention.

 

So, here’s what’s going on: When a woman stumbles into Cade’s office with a bag of cash, a loaded gun, a massive blue diamond, and amnesia Cade doesn’t hesitate before accepting her case. There’s something about Bailey that Cade’s drawn to and now they must work together to prove she’s not a criminal. As pieces of Bailey’s past start coming together, they soon find themselves falling for each other.

 

Cade is right up there with my top ten favorite heroes. He’s the black sheep of a wealthy family and rather than doing what his family wanted, he decided to become a private eye. He’s kind, caring, willing to go above and beyond to help Bailey out, and he’s just an overall nice guy.

 

I struggled with Bailey. Okay, so the cards are stacked against her given that she has the makings of a jewel thief (loaded gun, bag of cash, a massive blue diamond that’s priceless) and doesn’t remember who she is or how they came into her possession but did she really need to go all woe-is-me all the time? If she had three explanations put in front of her, two being reasonable and the third being the worst case scenario, she’s pick the worst one every single time. Throughout most of the book, she had the whole woman-in-jeopardy thing going on, but there were a few moments when she let her inner warrior out and I did enjoy seeing her get angry and confront Cade.

 

The romance, because it was so quick to develop, probably won’t work for everyone but it worked for this book and I found that it worked for me. Even though it started quickly, I was rooting for Cade and Bailey and really enjoyed watching them fall for each other.

 

So the mystery wasn’t as prevalent as I thought it would be—the plot focused more on the romance—but I didn’t really mind. I was provided with enough mystery and information that made it interesting and set up the next book.

 

While I liked the characters and enjoyed the plot, some of my favorite moments were the ones when they were talking about gemstones and equipment jewelers would use. Designing jewelry and playing around with gemstones is a hobby of mine so it’s always nice to see that come up in books.

 

This was my first time listening to Scott Merriman narrate and I found I really enjoyed him. His male narrations each had a personality of their own and his female narrations didn’t come off a whiney.

 

Overall, I really enjoyed one. It is some of her earlier work and it was a bit dated with talk of Bailey pretending to design jewelry for Princess Diana, but the writing was solid.  

 

Stars of Mithra Series 

1-Hidden Star

2- Captive Star

3- Secret Star