Product Description

Virginia’s Shenandoah Valley is a long way from Hollywood. And that’s exactly how Cilla McGowan wants it. Cilla, a former child star who has found more satisfying work as a restorer of old houses, has come to her grandmother’s farmhouse, tools at her side, to rescue it from ruin. Sadly, no one was able to save her grandmother, the legendary Janet Hardy. An actress with a tumultuous life, Janet entertained glamorous guests and engaged in decadent affairs—but died of an overdose in this very house more than thirty years earlier. To this day, Janet haunts Cilla’s dreams. And during waking hours, Cilla is haunted by her melodramatic, five-times-married mother, who carried on in the public spotlight and never gave her a chance at a normal childhood. By coming east, rolling up her sleeves, and rehabbing this wreck of a house, Cilla intends to find some kind of normalcy for herself.
Plunging into the project with gusto, she’s almost too busy to notice her neighbor, graphic novelist Ford Sawyer—but his lanky form, green eyes, and easy, unflappable humor (not to mention his delightfully ugly dog, Spock) are hard to ignore. Determined not to perpetuate the family tradition of ill-fated romances, Cilla steels herself against Ford’s quirky charm, but she can’t help indulging in a little fantasy.
But love and a peaceful life may not be in the cards for Cilla. In the attic, she has found a cache of unsigned letters suggesting that Janet Hardy was pregnant when she died—and that the father was a local married man. Cilla can’t help but wonder what really happened all those years ago. The mystery only deepens with a series of intimidating acts and a frightening, violent assault. And if Cilla and Ford are unable to sort out who is targeting her and why, she may—like her world-famous grandmother— be cut down in the prime of her life.

Product Details

• Amazon Sales Rank: #459 in Books
• Published on: 2008-07-08
• Original language: English
• Number of items: 1
• Binding: Hardcover
• 464 pages

From Publishers Weekly
Roberts sets her underwhelming latest in Virginia's Shenandoah Valley, where former child star Cilla McGowan rehabs her famous grandmother's long-neglected farm. Cilla's movie-star grandmother, the Marilyn Monroe–like Janet Hardy, who died mysteriously on the farm at age 39, haunts Cilla as she transforms the former hideaway of the rich and famous into habitable living space and tries to resolve whether Janet committed suicide or was murdered. While cleaning out the attic, Cilla unearths a collection of unsigned love letters to Janet from a local suitor, which adds spice to the puzzle of Janet's death. Meanwhile, Cilla's hunky graphic novelist neighbor, Ford Sawyer, provides the requisite sizzle and encourages Cilla to follow her dream of becoming a top-notch building contractor—much to the dismay of Cilla's headline-hungry diva mother. Amid the demolition and sheet rocking, Cilla comes up against a disgruntled local, and a series of unnerving threats and occurrences (vandalism, torched Cilla dolls) almost unhinges Cilla. The terror tactics (and the revelation of who is behind them) are half-baked and distract from what's ostensibly a girl meets boy, boy wants girl, girl finally wants boy story. (July)
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From AudioFile
Cilla McGowan, former child star and granddaughter of the legendary actress Janet Hardy, moves to her late grandmother's Virginia farm to make a new start and to bring the once famous house back to life. Little does she know that someone in her grandmother's past doesn't want her there to solve old mysteries, and that person will go to any length to drive her out. Jennifer Van Dyck brings all the Southern characters to life: Cilla's handsome love interest, Ford Sawyer, her petulant mother, her latest stepfather, and her hippie ex-husband. The dialogue is witty, the characters interesting, and the story a thriller filled with the unexpected. Most worthwhile. A.C.P. © AudioFile 2008, Portland, Maine-- Copyright © AudioFile, Portland, Maine

Review
“Nora Roberts is amazing.”
--Janet Evanovich

Customer Reviews

You folks were great.
As usual, you were great. 100 stars. Oh wait, I forgot. Only 5. Well, store the other 95 for use when needed.

Tribute
Nora Roberts can truly keep a page turning! I was engaged from start to finish!

Disappointed
I have been a Nora Roberts fan since the beginning of her career, and it really pains me to say that "Tribute" is just plain blah. I kept thinking it would get better, but it didn't. It's readable, but I really didn't care if I finished it or not. I thought the ex-husband character was much more interesting than the "hero". Cilla, the heroine, just never became real to me at all. I like to care about at least one character in a book, but the characters were just not interesting to me. I was amazed that the book rated 4 stars.