The Quinn brothers are back in RISING TIDES, the second volume in Nora Roberts' Chesapeake Bay trilogy. In the first volume, SEA SWEPT, the stage was set for this story of the bonds that unite three brothers --- Cameron, Ethan, and Philip --- troubled and misfit kids adopted by Ray and Stella Quinn.
As SEA SWEPT opened Ray Quinn was in an Intensive Care hospital room, dying of injuries sustained in a car accident. The boys he rescued, loved, and made his own are grown now. As they gather around their father's hospital bed, he gives into their care his last "rescue," young Seth DeLauter. Seth's emotional wounds are still deep and his defenses are strong. Caring for him --- and having their right to care for him recognized by the authorities --- presents challenges that will sustain the three brothers through the trilogy, forcing them to change their lives radically in ways they can't begin to imagine.
Though the whole family is present in both books, SEA SWEPT concentrated on race-car driving playboy Cameron Quinn and the relationship that grew between him and the social worker in charge of Seth's case, Anna. RISING TIDES brings quiet, strong and steady Ethan Quinn center stage as the ten-year friendship between Ethan and Grace Monroe heats up and moves toward romance.
In a very real sense, RISING TIDES is about the redemptive power of love in many kinds of relationships.
Ethan and Grace both bring difficult pasts to their relationship. Ethan's birth mother was a prostitute and exposed him to sides of life no child should know. He has deep scars that the love of Ray and Stella Quinn helped begin to heal. He has a long way to go until he can accept his own worth as a lover and true partner. Grace eloped at 17 with a boy who left her in less than a year --- seven months pregnant and too proud to go home to her disapproving father for help. Both Ethan and Grace are strong people --- both have coped well with life --- but each is missing something. Love redeems Ethan's isolation and Grace's pride, allowing them to heal the wounds of their pasts and move into the vulnerability of truly intimate relationship.
Prickly, defensive Seth also begins to trust and heal as the Quinn brothers accept and love him. As he begins to feel safe with this family, more of his story begins to come out. Mystery continues to surround Seth as well, as rumors abound that he is Ray's biological and illegitimate child. The questions surrounding his birth --- and later adoption --- dovetail with questions surrounding the car accident that took Ray's life. Amid speculation that Ray might have run off the road intentionally, the Quinn brothers close ranks to dispel that gossip and arrive at the truth. This story line will run through all three books, and I must admit to my own impatience to see the next volume in the series, INNER HARBOR. Darn it, I want to know what happens!
Nora Roberts' real strength lies in the way she portrays human relationships. RISING TIDES explores many levels of relationship --- brothers, friends, lovers, spouses ---and shows the true power inherent in open, loving, caring rapport. RISING TIDES debuted at #1 on the New York Times Bestseller list, claiming Roberts' strong place in the hearts of her readers. It left me hungry for more.
--- Reviewed by Jeanny House
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