He showed up at Arden Bowie’s debut author appearance with a copy of her novel and an eager smile. He showered her with compliments and got her autograph. Then he came to her next event. And the one after that.
Dustin was just an aspiring writer who wanted advice, Arden reassured herself. But after giving in to one of his incessant invitations and chatting with him over coffee, she discovered that ignoring her inner alarm bell had been a terrible mistake…
An introvert at heart, Arden had long craved solitude―but now, after a harrowing assault, she finds herself hiding behind locked doors and startling at every sound. And her relief at his imprisonment is tempered by anxiety when Dustin’s wealthy mother helps to get him a paltry five-year sentence at a psychiatric facility.
Arden decides to write a new story for herself, moving to a tiny Oregon town and befriending Gideon, an ex-LAPD detective. But while she learns to thrive, Dustin remains his delusional, twisted self, as fixated as ever and now seething with anger. He still believes Arden’s purpose on earth is to serve and please him. And his job is to protect her. But who will protect her from him?
I received a copy of this book via NetGalley. There was no compensation for this review. What follows is my opinion and mine alone.
There are only a few authors I remember seeing in my mom’s room, well before I picked up one of their books, and Nora Roberts was amongst them. For the longest time, she was the only romance author I would read. Her characters and stories felt so real to me that even today, if you told me she knew these people, I would believe you. For me, Nora Roberts is an ultimate comfort. Sure, I have my favorites, but I cannot say I’ve ever DNF’d a Nora Roberts book.
And if you’re expecting me to plot twist you here, bummer. The Final Target was not DNF’d. In fact, I dove into it.
The book is a romance, but it has a very strong thriller vibe. I haven’t read any books from Nora Roberts’ pseudonym, J.D. Robb, but I assume the vibe is fairly similar. J.D. Robb’s books, from my understanding, are thrillers. The Final Target is a thriller romance, but still very much a romance.
The points of view are divided mostly between our heroine, an author named Arden, and her stalker, Dustin. They are both third-person limited, and I feel Nora Roberts does a great job diving into both mindsets. I can’t help but wonder if she has had a similar experience to Arden’s. I found Dustin saying things or doing things that seemed an exaggerated version of my own toxic relationship experiences. And Arden’s own wavering self-confidence and imposter syndrome are something so relatable I couldn’t help but want to know more about how this story came to be.
It’s not often my writing brain invades my reading, but when it does, it’s hard to shut it up. I found myself asking who inspired the characters, or what religious background Nora Roberts had. Shoot, I was nearing the rabbit hole of finding out if she had any events near me so that I could ask her in person. Which, ironically, borders some of the scenes in the book.
And if Nora Roberts ever reads this, I am not a stalker. I would never want you to stop writing, and I fear the day when you do. May your fingers fly on the keyboard, and you always produce something that feels like home. I could flesh this out with more things about how much I admire Nora Roberts as an author and human being, but this is a book review, so let me get back to that.
Our male lead, Gideon, does have his own point of view when he appears in the book, but don’t expect him in the first half. He is a solid guy, very true to his role as an ex-LAPD detective, and I couldn’t help but love him. The way he and Arden worked together as characters was great. She encouraged him to follow his dreams, and he kept supporting her writing in the best way possible- let the girl talk, nod, and make her bookshelves. My husband has the first two figured out, but I know he’d be making me bookshelves if we had the space and time. So, he’s safe from me crushing too hard on Gideon.
There is one thing about the book that kind of confused me, but only because it didn’t follow the usual romance format. The meet-cute between Gideon and Arden is in the second half of the book. I understand why Nora Roberts did this, and it is why I wonder if there is a biographical element to this. Though it’s more of a thriller romance, the change in setup also makes sense.
The first half of the book is strictly about Arden. She is a new author and is going through the promo side of an author’s career. It is here we first meet Dustin and see his obsession unfold. We learn who Arden was before him, how she became an author, and what causes the main conflict in the second half.
The second half reads much like the typical romance format. The girl moves to a new town to be closer to family and to escape a place that has haunted her. She meets a hardworking guy with a history who is unsure of what he wants. They fall in love. But there is the constant looming shadow of Dustin because of his actions in the first half.
Really, dividing the book like this could make it feel like you’re reading two separate stories, but I don’t think I would say she should have done it differently. I like how you see everything and experience it with Arden. I like how you know why she is the way she is and can understand her on a level you wouldn’t necessarily have if that first half were written in flashbacks. It’s like, instead of being the voyeur to this story about a serious situation, you are now living it, a bit like the victim.
NOW A WARNING, BELOW IS A POSSIBLE SPOILER.
So, I should probably address that elephant I’ve been dancing around. If you’ve ever experienced a stalker situation that led to you being physically harmed or worse, you might want to skip a bit of the book or not read it. That said, as someone who hasn’t experienced it, I feel the scene was written as it should have been. The only person blamed for Dustin’s actions in this book is Dustin. No one tells Arden otherwise or blames Arden for her actions after the scene in the first book. Arden is seen as a victim only in the sense that she was victimized, but not living in that mindset. She does the appropriate things to find a sense of stability and strength.
I feel like I might have spoiled the book, but I felt it was important to address. I’m sorry if I said too much, but I truly think that if you grab this book, you’ll like it a lot. It definitely had me thinking, and I appreciate the care Nora Roberts put into her characters and the story itself.
Casia's Corner 