Status
Available
Series
Genres
Collection
Publication
Berkley (1998), Edition: Jove Edition, 352 pages
Description
Fiction. Literature. Romance. HTML:The first novel in #1 New York Times bestselling author Nora Roberts' stunning Chesapeake Bay Saga, where the Quinn brothers must return to their family home on the Maryland shore, to honor their father's last request... A champion boat racer, Cameron Quinn traveled the world spending his winnings on champagne and women. But when his dying father calls him home to care for Seth, a troubled young boy not unlike Cameron once was, his life changes overnight. After years of independence, Cameron has to learn to live with his brothers again, while he struggles with cooking, cleaning, and caring for a difficult boy. Old rivalries and new resentments flare between Cameron and his brothers, but they try to put aside their differences for Sethâ??s sake. In the end, a social worker will decide Sethâ??s fate, and as tough as she is beautiful, she has the power to bring the Quinns togetherâ??or tear them apart... Don't miss the other books in the Chesapeake Bay Saga Rising Tides Inner Harbor Chesapeake Blue… (more)
User reviews
LibraryThing member CyndiTefft
This book has such a high rating that I was expecting spectacular, so I was more disappointed than I would normally be, I think. Roberts did a great job with the relationship between Cam and Seth, which I think was her true motivation in writing this story. The romance with Anna was a secondary
Show More
plot at best, and I never really felt their connection leap off the page. I also prefer a hero who is more mature and dignified, where Cam was stuck at the maturity level of a 13 year old boy. And when Anna started throwing stuff at him, I had to wonder what kind of social worker would resort to that kind of physical violence. Just not what I expected, sadly. Show Less
LibraryThing member countrylife
For the Fifty States Fiction challenge, I’ve been reading books from my tiny local library. However, they had very little with Maryland settings. Sea Swept was on the shelf, so I took that. And it did have a good sense-of-place for the purposes of the reading challenge.
This was my first Nora
This was my first Nora
Show More
Roberts and will be my last. I found that I don’t care for her ‘steamy’ writing. I did like the underlying story involving abused and neglected children and those who step in to help. This book’s focus was on one of the brothers in the family. The following books in the series apparently focus on two of the other brothers and continue the family story. Although I was interested in the story, I’m not going to force myself to endure this kind of writing in order to see its conclusion. I’m done with Nora Roberts. All the sex scenes strewn throughout what otherwise would have been a good story cause me to give this one a personally-didn’t-like-it rating of 2-1/2 stars. If you are not bothered by all the steam that’s not remotely necessary to the plot, you may enjoy this more than I did. Show Less
LibraryThing member Darla
I'm not sure how many times I've read this. Four, maybe? It's been a while since the last time I read it (December, 2002, to be exact, so maybe this is only the 3rd time I've read it), but I remembered the plot and characters pretty well and figured I might have exaggerated how much I liked it.
Cameron Quinn races boats, drives fast cars, and prefers fast women. Until one day when he's just won doing the first and is preparing to entertain one of the third, he gets a fax ripping his world apart.
His father has been in a car accident and isn't expected to survive.
As if Ray Quinn's death wasn't enough, he left his three sons (all adopted as young teens after troubled childhoods) with the responsibility for another boy, Seth.
As if that weren't enough, Ray's adoption of Seth wasn't yet final, and it's going to be an uphill climb to fulfill their promise to their father and keep him.
So after years of excitement, traveling the world, Cam finds himself back home, trying to parent a surly 10-year-old, and faced with the grim prospects of both housework and having to get a job. The only bright spot is the sexy social worker he has to impress.
Sea Swept is a romance novel. It's in the minority of romances, however, in that it's very much the hero's story rather than the heroine's. Anna's a great character, but she's already overcome the tragedy in her past, and her only problem is resolving the conflict between her personal and professional lives.
Cam, however, completely changes his life, and it's an extremely well-written, affecting story of how he goes from planning to stick it out for just six months to falling in love, both with Anna and his new brother, and finding a new purpose in life.
Show More
After all, 4 years ago I was much less critical than I am now. I certainly didn't think it would make me cry. Sheesh.Cameron Quinn races boats, drives fast cars, and prefers fast women. Until one day when he's just won doing the first and is preparing to entertain one of the third, he gets a fax ripping his world apart.
His father has been in a car accident and isn't expected to survive.
As if Ray Quinn's death wasn't enough, he left his three sons (all adopted as young teens after troubled childhoods) with the responsibility for another boy, Seth.
As if that weren't enough, Ray's adoption of Seth wasn't yet final, and it's going to be an uphill climb to fulfill their promise to their father and keep him.
So after years of excitement, traveling the world, Cam finds himself back home, trying to parent a surly 10-year-old, and faced with the grim prospects of both housework and having to get a job. The only bright spot is the sexy social worker he has to impress.
Sea Swept is a romance novel. It's in the minority of romances, however, in that it's very much the hero's story rather than the heroine's. Anna's a great character, but she's already overcome the tragedy in her past, and her only problem is resolving the conflict between her personal and professional lives.
Cam, however, completely changes his life, and it's an extremely well-written, affecting story of how he goes from planning to stick it out for just six months to falling in love, both with Anna and his new brother, and finding a new purpose in life.
Show Less
LibraryThing member Lost_Lenore
This is the first book of the Chesapeake Bay series by Nora Roberts.
Focused on Cameron Quinn, the story is about a family, not of blood but of the heart, that needs to come together when a tragedy occurs in their lives.
By the hand of Nora Roberts we can see the family dynamics, the sense of
Focused on Cameron Quinn, the story is about a family, not of blood but of the heart, that needs to come together when a tragedy occurs in their lives.
By the hand of Nora Roberts we can see the family dynamics, the sense of
Show More
belonging, of friendship and true love that comes only in the form of a true family. A nice and cozy romance about hope and trust that weaves you into the middle of this wonderful family and makes you want to belong. Show Less
LibraryThing member gogglemiss
The first of the Quinn Bros. Cameron. Oh, how I wish I was in that family. I've read this so many times. Strong characters, A winner
LibraryThing member kayceel
If you get squeamish or are uncomfortable with abuse, rape, and abandoned children in your fluff-fiction, avoid this series.
Cam has triumphed over an abusive childhood with the help of wonderful and saintly adoptive parents, and now travels all over the globe racing and bedding beautiful women.
There in the hospital room, as their father dies, each brother swears to protect and care for the newest addition to the Quinn family: ten-year-old Seth DeLouter, who, much to the gossips' delight, has Ray Quinn's eyes.
The brother must fight a beautiful social worker, Anna Spinelli, for the right to guardianship over Seth while they fight for the right to adopt, and soon Cam is more interested in wooing her than anything else.
While I did like many of the characters, and Cam and Anna's relationship is pretty steamy, I guess I prefer my fluff reading a bit lighter all around. I'll probably continue listening to the series, though, as Roberts writes some steamy scenes!
Cam has triumphed over an abusive childhood with the help of wonderful and saintly adoptive parents, and now travels all over the globe racing and bedding beautiful women.
Show More
When he gets a message from one of his brothers (also adopted) that their father, Ray Quinn, has been in a very serious car accident and doesn't have much time, he rushes home.There in the hospital room, as their father dies, each brother swears to protect and care for the newest addition to the Quinn family: ten-year-old Seth DeLouter, who, much to the gossips' delight, has Ray Quinn's eyes.
The brother must fight a beautiful social worker, Anna Spinelli, for the right to guardianship over Seth while they fight for the right to adopt, and soon Cam is more interested in wooing her than anything else.
While I did like many of the characters, and Cam and Anna's relationship is pretty steamy, I guess I prefer my fluff reading a bit lighter all around. I'll probably continue listening to the series, though, as Roberts writes some steamy scenes!
Show Less
LibraryThing member CCaughell
Over the course of her career, Nora Roberts has proven repeatedly that she has the ability to craft unique, dynamic and engaging fictional characters and stories that immediately draw the reader in and make them want to invest their emotions in the novel’s outcome. She particularly shines in this
The Chesapeake Bay Saga (of which Sea Swept is the first) introduces readers to Cameron, Ethan, Phillip and Seth Quinn, brothers not by blood, but by circumstance and choice. It also introduces us to Ray and Stella Quinn, their adoptive parents, Anna, Grace, Sybill, and Dru, their respective leading ladies, Aubrey, Grace’s spunky daughter, and Gloria DeLauter, the villain of the piece. In Sea Swept, Roberts gives us the story of Cameron Quinn, daredevil playboy called home to forge a stable familial environment for his youngest sibling and feisty Anna Spinelli, Seth’s passionate social worker. Roberts succeeds in creating a charming and surprisingly vulnerable leading man to root for and a heroine with grit and determination, both of which leaves the reader wishing more authors created characters even half as multi-dimensional and relatable.
Although there are a number of steamy scenes, the story is less light-hearted and fluffy than one typically expects to find in a romance novel. With themes of abuse, rape, and neglect, this saga is definitely not for all audiences.
An avid Roberts fan, I have read all but a small handful of her books. I’ve enjoyed them all, but the Chesapeake Bay Saga and its host of warm, wonderful and emotionally-scarred characters is, in my opinion, her best work to date. Indeed, the stories in the saga resonate with me in a way that few in the genre have been able to. Having read the series start to finish a number of times, I can also say that this is one group of characters that I like enough to revisit.
Show More
area when she is able to use the same characters or families over the entire story arc of a trilogy or longer series. The Chesapeake Bay Saga (of which Sea Swept is the first) introduces readers to Cameron, Ethan, Phillip and Seth Quinn, brothers not by blood, but by circumstance and choice. It also introduces us to Ray and Stella Quinn, their adoptive parents, Anna, Grace, Sybill, and Dru, their respective leading ladies, Aubrey, Grace’s spunky daughter, and Gloria DeLauter, the villain of the piece. In Sea Swept, Roberts gives us the story of Cameron Quinn, daredevil playboy called home to forge a stable familial environment for his youngest sibling and feisty Anna Spinelli, Seth’s passionate social worker. Roberts succeeds in creating a charming and surprisingly vulnerable leading man to root for and a heroine with grit and determination, both of which leaves the reader wishing more authors created characters even half as multi-dimensional and relatable.
Although there are a number of steamy scenes, the story is less light-hearted and fluffy than one typically expects to find in a romance novel. With themes of abuse, rape, and neglect, this saga is definitely not for all audiences.
An avid Roberts fan, I have read all but a small handful of her books. I’ve enjoyed them all, but the Chesapeake Bay Saga and its host of warm, wonderful and emotionally-scarred characters is, in my opinion, her best work to date. Indeed, the stories in the saga resonate with me in a way that few in the genre have been able to. Having read the series start to finish a number of times, I can also say that this is one group of characters that I like enough to revisit.
Show Less
LibraryThing member Vlambert
SEA SWEPT Audio
Price: $0.00
Quantity in Basket: none
1998 The first novel in a stunning trilogy of three young men bound by the love of the extraordinary couple who took them in and raised them as brothers. Now grown and living in their own, the Quinn brothers must return to the family home on the
Formats available cassettes, compact disc & MP3. Listening time 10 hours unabridged, 3 abridged
Price: $0.00
Quantity in Basket: none
1998 The first novel in a stunning trilogy of three young men bound by the love of the extraordinary couple who took them in and raised them as brothers. Now grown and living in their own, the Quinn brothers must return to the family home on the
Show More
shores of the Chesapeake Bay, to honor their father's last request.Formats available cassettes, compact disc & MP3. Listening time 10 hours unabridged, 3 abridged
Show Less
LibraryThing member saucecav
Loved listening to all four brothers.
LibraryThing member SunnySD
Ray and Stella Quinn took a chance on three abused boys - and built a family. Now that family is tested - with one more young boy's future on the line, Ray is dying and Cameron Quinn's life in the fast lane is about to take an abrupt turn. Summoned home, Cam finds a tangled mess of rumor, scandal,
Vividly told, if a bit grittier than Roberts usually gets.
Show More
and potential disaster. Ray's latest rescue, a ten-year-old boy named Seth stirs of memories Cam would rather not face - and Seth's social worker, the curvy Anna Spinelli, stirs something else entirely.Vividly told, if a bit grittier than Roberts usually gets.
Show Less
LibraryThing member rocalisa
Oh, I loved this. It was just the perfect combination of everything for me at just the right time.
Sure, this is a romance, but it is more about family, loyalty and love that just boy meets girl. I love this family and I want to know how things turn out for them next.
Cameron's progression from
Yes, they had a misunderstanding, but it happened fairly reasonably at the end and was quickly resolved instead ofhappening for no good reason on page 10 and taking to page 300 to resolve.
I'm looking forward to the next book now and finding out more about the Quinn family.
Sure, this is a romance, but it is more about family, loyalty and love that just boy meets girl. I love this family and I want to know how things turn out for them next.
Cameron's progression from
Show More
worldly playboy to a man with a sense of roots and place and family was nicely done - even if it took him a while to realise it, which Anna was a nice balance of passion and practicality to counter him.Yes, they had a misunderstanding, but it happened fairly reasonably at the end and was quickly resolved instead ofhappening for no good reason on page 10 and taking to page 300 to resolve.
I'm looking forward to the next book now and finding out more about the Quinn family.
Show Less
LibraryThing member Dawn772
What a great heart tugging story. It had my complete attention from the beginning attention grabber. The heroine seemed so perceptive and I liked how the hero evolved. Cameron returns home for his fathers funeral and has to care for a lost boy when he meets social worker Anna.
LibraryThing member mchwest
There's not a lot left to say about Nora Roberts many trilogies and series, except that they are all truly enjoyable reads. Even though the plots don't differ a lot the descriptive scenery and writing takes you away from wherever you are. That's what fiction is all about.
LibraryThing member mom2lnb
Until now, I had never read a Nora Robert's book. Yeah, I know, how can I, a self-proclaimed romance junkie, not have read any books from the queen of the romance genre? Honestly, I don't know, but now, I've rectified that with Sea Swept, the first in her Chesapeake Bay Saga. I'd heard wonderful
Cameron is one of three boys who were adopted as troubled youths by a loving older couple who had no children. Cam grew up to be a reckless charmer, who loves fast cars, fast boats, and fast women. He's used to living life at a breakneck pace, living on the edge, going wherever he wants, and doing whatever he pleases. He's made a career out of traveling the world, racing just about anything he can. He's unexpectedly called home to the bedside of his severely injured father who makes a deathbed request of him and his brothers that they take care of another young boy he recently took in but had not yet legally adopted. I had to admire Cam's devotion to the only family he'd ever known, and his immediate willingness to accept Seth as his little brother and to fight for his well-being. Despite making that commitment though, staying at home with a kid is a foreign concept to Cam, and he has no real idea what he's doing. At first, he's only taking care of Seth to keep his promise to his dad, but deep down, he relates to Seth and sees a lot of himself in the boy. Slowly but surely, he comes to care for Seth, as well as his social services case worker. He and his brothers also pull together to make a go of living in the same house to share the responsibilities of raising Seth, while starting a boat building business. Even though Cam begins to create ties to his hometown, the thrill and freedom of racing is in his blood, still calling to him, so he has a hard time accepting that he might want to stay permanently. Romance readers who enjoy reckless, hot-headed, bad boys who fight their feelings tooth and nail will probably appreciate Cam more than I did, but usually I prefer my heroes to show a little more gentleness and vulnerability. His personality type is also very far removed from my own, which made it difficult for me to relate to him. Because of that, he's not going to end up on my favorite heroes list, but I think that deep down, his heart was in the right place, and in the end, he did right by both Anna and Seth.
Anna is a very practical woman with a no-nonsense approach to life. She knows pretty much from the moment she meets Cam that she's eventually going to end up in bed with him and doesn't try to fight it in the least, instead accepting it for what it is. After suffering through tragedy and trauma in her own childhood, she was inspired to become a social worker to advocate for innocent children who can't stand up for themselves. As such, she cares about Seth as more than just another case. In fact, she has a tendency to become somewhat personally involved in all her cases, but none more so than Seth's. Anna's relationship with Cam did give me pause. I couldn't help wondering about the rules on a case worker becoming romantically involved with the guardian of a boy under her supervision when she was supposed to be evaluating their situation objectively. I think her practicality helped her to maintain impartiality, but in real life, I'd guess it would be difficult for most social workers to do so if they were in the same situation. Anna is a caring woman who falls hard and fast for Cam and his whole family, but as with Cam, I didn't develop a deep connection to her.
Most of the time, I felt like Cam and Anna's romance was secondary to other events in the story. I think it was this combined with the fact that I didn't relate well to Cam and Anna as individual characters that prevented their romance from really sparking for me. Cam is very overtly sexual, while Anna has a matter-of-fact attitude about sex. I felt their personalities and perceptions of their relationship didn't leave a lot of room for tender feelings or true passion. In my opinion, they didn't really share any deeply romantic moments either. They end up in bed together with little fanfare leading up to it. I tend to prefer both characters feeling something more serious about one another before falling into bed, but that wasn't the case here. I think both of them begin the relationship resigned to the fact that it's a no-strings affair. Anna starts realizing she's falling in love with Cam, and Cam realizes he's feeling "something" for Anna without much build up to those emotions either, which made it difficult to understand why they were feeling those things in the first place. I truly hate to have to say it about this well-loved grand dame of romance, but when Ms. Roberts does delve into some deeper introspection and begin to explain these emotions, she's really telling about how they arrived at that place rather than showing the development of their feelings in a more organic way. This definitely left some distance between me as the reader and her characters. I was also bothered by the physicality (Anna starts throwing things at Cam) that ensues when their relationship conflict hits the fan. To me, that's not acceptable behavior, especially for a social worker, or romantic at all, even though Cam seemed amused by it.
What Sea Swept lacked in romance, it certainly made up for in family drama. I loved the relationships between Cam and his two brothers, Ethan and Phillip. They all have very different personalities. Perhaps because of this, they tend to argue a lot and occasionally get into a fist-fight, but they always come out the other side as friends. It's very obvious in spite of their bickering that they truly love and would do anything for one another and that goes for their new brother, Seth, too. I love the way they all pull together to fulfill their father's dying wish by ensuring that Seth stays with them and isn't put back into foster care. In many ways, I related to Phillip and Ethan better than I did Cam, especially Ethan, because he seems more quiet and thoughtful. Ethan obviously has a crush on Grace, a young single mother who is a friend of theirs and who helps out around the house. These two become the main hero and heroine of the next book, Rising Tide. I also loved the backstory of how these three men became brothers and the wonderful couple who took them in. Although their mother passed on quite a while before the story opens, their father, Ray, is an inspiration to Cam from beyond the grave, when he appears a few times as a ghost, adding that touch of paranormal that I mentioned earlier. The boys also have a bit of a mystery on their hands when rumors surface that Ray may have been Seth's biological father and that the car accident that killed him may have been a deliberate attempt at suicide. This mystery is not solved in this first book, so I have a feeling it will develop and play out throughout the entire series or at least the first three books. It is also implied that Ray's ghost will be appearing in turn to all of his sons.
Even though I had a hard time connecting with the main characters and even though the romantic relationship didn't quite do it for me either, I did generally enjoy Sea Swept overall. The intense and complex familial relationships are where the story really excelled and my favorite part about it. This first foray into Nora Roberts' work was reasonably satisfying, but I'm not entirely sure her writing in general will work for me long-term. I was rather surprised to see a seasoned author like her engaging in an extreme amount of head-hopping which is a writing style I'm not fond of. I've always felt that rapidly changing perspectives distract from the building emotion of the characters and story, which likely contributed to me not connecting with them as well as I would have hoped. Ms. Roberts may end up being one of those authors I pick up occasionally rather than reading obsessively, but in any case, Sea Swept was sufficiently good enough to draw me into the Quinn family's lives and make me want to continue with the series to see how the story plays out, especially since Ethan's book is next.
Show More
things about this series, so I thought it would be a great one to start my foray into Ms. Robert's almost overwhelming backlist. It was a very good story that worked exceptionally well as a family drama. I could easily see this novel transformed into a Lifetime movie. It also contained an intriguing touch of the paranormal and a light mystery that kept me engaged and wanting to know more. At the same time though, I felt somewhat let down by the romance. It just wasn't as spectacular as I was expecting given the author's millions of enthusiastic fans, but overall, it was a reasonably satisfying read.Cameron is one of three boys who were adopted as troubled youths by a loving older couple who had no children. Cam grew up to be a reckless charmer, who loves fast cars, fast boats, and fast women. He's used to living life at a breakneck pace, living on the edge, going wherever he wants, and doing whatever he pleases. He's made a career out of traveling the world, racing just about anything he can. He's unexpectedly called home to the bedside of his severely injured father who makes a deathbed request of him and his brothers that they take care of another young boy he recently took in but had not yet legally adopted. I had to admire Cam's devotion to the only family he'd ever known, and his immediate willingness to accept Seth as his little brother and to fight for his well-being. Despite making that commitment though, staying at home with a kid is a foreign concept to Cam, and he has no real idea what he's doing. At first, he's only taking care of Seth to keep his promise to his dad, but deep down, he relates to Seth and sees a lot of himself in the boy. Slowly but surely, he comes to care for Seth, as well as his social services case worker. He and his brothers also pull together to make a go of living in the same house to share the responsibilities of raising Seth, while starting a boat building business. Even though Cam begins to create ties to his hometown, the thrill and freedom of racing is in his blood, still calling to him, so he has a hard time accepting that he might want to stay permanently. Romance readers who enjoy reckless, hot-headed, bad boys who fight their feelings tooth and nail will probably appreciate Cam more than I did, but usually I prefer my heroes to show a little more gentleness and vulnerability. His personality type is also very far removed from my own, which made it difficult for me to relate to him. Because of that, he's not going to end up on my favorite heroes list, but I think that deep down, his heart was in the right place, and in the end, he did right by both Anna and Seth.
Anna is a very practical woman with a no-nonsense approach to life. She knows pretty much from the moment she meets Cam that she's eventually going to end up in bed with him and doesn't try to fight it in the least, instead accepting it for what it is. After suffering through tragedy and trauma in her own childhood, she was inspired to become a social worker to advocate for innocent children who can't stand up for themselves. As such, she cares about Seth as more than just another case. In fact, she has a tendency to become somewhat personally involved in all her cases, but none more so than Seth's. Anna's relationship with Cam did give me pause. I couldn't help wondering about the rules on a case worker becoming romantically involved with the guardian of a boy under her supervision when she was supposed to be evaluating their situation objectively. I think her practicality helped her to maintain impartiality, but in real life, I'd guess it would be difficult for most social workers to do so if they were in the same situation. Anna is a caring woman who falls hard and fast for Cam and his whole family, but as with Cam, I didn't develop a deep connection to her.
Most of the time, I felt like Cam and Anna's romance was secondary to other events in the story. I think it was this combined with the fact that I didn't relate well to Cam and Anna as individual characters that prevented their romance from really sparking for me. Cam is very overtly sexual, while Anna has a matter-of-fact attitude about sex. I felt their personalities and perceptions of their relationship didn't leave a lot of room for tender feelings or true passion. In my opinion, they didn't really share any deeply romantic moments either. They end up in bed together with little fanfare leading up to it. I tend to prefer both characters feeling something more serious about one another before falling into bed, but that wasn't the case here. I think both of them begin the relationship resigned to the fact that it's a no-strings affair. Anna starts realizing she's falling in love with Cam, and Cam realizes he's feeling "something" for Anna without much build up to those emotions either, which made it difficult to understand why they were feeling those things in the first place. I truly hate to have to say it about this well-loved grand dame of romance, but when Ms. Roberts does delve into some deeper introspection and begin to explain these emotions, she's really telling about how they arrived at that place rather than showing the development of their feelings in a more organic way. This definitely left some distance between me as the reader and her characters. I was also bothered by the physicality (Anna starts throwing things at Cam) that ensues when their relationship conflict hits the fan. To me, that's not acceptable behavior, especially for a social worker, or romantic at all, even though Cam seemed amused by it.
What Sea Swept lacked in romance, it certainly made up for in family drama. I loved the relationships between Cam and his two brothers, Ethan and Phillip. They all have very different personalities. Perhaps because of this, they tend to argue a lot and occasionally get into a fist-fight, but they always come out the other side as friends. It's very obvious in spite of their bickering that they truly love and would do anything for one another and that goes for their new brother, Seth, too. I love the way they all pull together to fulfill their father's dying wish by ensuring that Seth stays with them and isn't put back into foster care. In many ways, I related to Phillip and Ethan better than I did Cam, especially Ethan, because he seems more quiet and thoughtful. Ethan obviously has a crush on Grace, a young single mother who is a friend of theirs and who helps out around the house. These two become the main hero and heroine of the next book, Rising Tide. I also loved the backstory of how these three men became brothers and the wonderful couple who took them in. Although their mother passed on quite a while before the story opens, their father, Ray, is an inspiration to Cam from beyond the grave, when he appears a few times as a ghost, adding that touch of paranormal that I mentioned earlier. The boys also have a bit of a mystery on their hands when rumors surface that Ray may have been Seth's biological father and that the car accident that killed him may have been a deliberate attempt at suicide. This mystery is not solved in this first book, so I have a feeling it will develop and play out throughout the entire series or at least the first three books. It is also implied that Ray's ghost will be appearing in turn to all of his sons.
Even though I had a hard time connecting with the main characters and even though the romantic relationship didn't quite do it for me either, I did generally enjoy Sea Swept overall. The intense and complex familial relationships are where the story really excelled and my favorite part about it. This first foray into Nora Roberts' work was reasonably satisfying, but I'm not entirely sure her writing in general will work for me long-term. I was rather surprised to see a seasoned author like her engaging in an extreme amount of head-hopping which is a writing style I'm not fond of. I've always felt that rapidly changing perspectives distract from the building emotion of the characters and story, which likely contributed to me not connecting with them as well as I would have hoped. Ms. Roberts may end up being one of those authors I pick up occasionally rather than reading obsessively, but in any case, Sea Swept was sufficiently good enough to draw me into the Quinn family's lives and make me want to continue with the series to see how the story plays out, especially since Ethan's book is next.
Show Less
LibraryThing member WhiskeyintheJar
Way too slow moving for me. The setting up of the story arc (three men taking over custody of a younger boy) for the series vastly overpowered this book; to the point I would call this romance by the very skin of its teeth.
Reading the next in the series because silent, suffering longing are balms
Reading the next in the series because silent, suffering longing are balms
Show More
to my sadistic nature. Show Less
LibraryThing member Sarah_Hearts_Books
5 STARS
Cam is living the life in Monte Carlo when he receives an urgent message from his brother, Phillip. He rushes home to find his father on his death bed and a new, ten year old brother that is now his and his two brothers' responsibility. His life is put on hold to make sure Seth gets to stay
Nora Roberts has written over 200 books. How does she create so many unique stories and not repeat herself?! I know I would. There are so many facets to a Nora Roberts book. She can write a sizzling sex scene, and turn out one of the greatest thrillers I've ever read in one book. I love a good NR thriller, but this series is more of a family saga and I can honestly say it's the best saga/drama I've ever had the pleasure of reading.
For most of this book I thought Cam was an ass. The book starts off with Cam attempting to seduce a Sports Illustrated bikini model, and then once he gets the letter from Phillip, he tosses her out of his room NAKED! Towards the end of the book, when he's wooing Anna, falling in love, than making an ass of himself, I just thought he was an idiot. But he is a strong and caring family man, so at least he's got that going for him. I will admit he's very charming and has loads of sex appeal, so I understand why woman tend to fall into his lap—er, bed.
Anna is a strong female character at her finest. She overcomes her past and uses it to help troubled kids find loving homes. She prides herself on being objective when it comes to who would be suitable to care for foster kids. That is, until she's assigned Seth, a young boy that was in the process of being adopted by Cam's father before he died and left Cam and his brothers in charge of the new Quinn.
Things become more personal than ever for Anna. She's closer to Seth and the Quinn family than she usually would be. It doesn't help that it was lust at first sight for her and Cam. The man gets under her skin like nobody else has, and the next thing she knows, the heated fling turns out to be more than just sex. It might just be the real deal, but she doesn't let her growing feelings for Cam get in the way of what is most important: making sure Seth stays with the Quinns.
This book—hell, this series-—is one of the best I've read, yet. It's very dramatic and emotional, but it works for this book. It kept my interest, so much so that I could have read it in one sitting if I hadn't been so busy last week. I'd recommend this book to those of you who like Nora Roberts, contemporary romance, or family sagas.
Read more reviews and other bookish posts on No Book Left Behind Book Blog
Cam is living the life in Monte Carlo when he receives an urgent message from his brother, Phillip. He rushes home to find his father on his death bed and a new, ten year old brother that is now his and his two brothers' responsibility. His life is put on hold to make sure Seth gets to stay
Show More
a Quinn, and finds himself in a new business. Nora Roberts has written over 200 books. How does she create so many unique stories and not repeat herself?! I know I would. There are so many facets to a Nora Roberts book. She can write a sizzling sex scene, and turn out one of the greatest thrillers I've ever read in one book. I love a good NR thriller, but this series is more of a family saga and I can honestly say it's the best saga/drama I've ever had the pleasure of reading.
For most of this book I thought Cam was an ass. The book starts off with Cam attempting to seduce a Sports Illustrated bikini model, and then once he gets the letter from Phillip, he tosses her out of his room NAKED! Towards the end of the book, when he's wooing Anna, falling in love, than making an ass of himself, I just thought he was an idiot. But he is a strong and caring family man, so at least he's got that going for him. I will admit he's very charming and has loads of sex appeal, so I understand why woman tend to fall into his lap—er, bed.
Anna is a strong female character at her finest. She overcomes her past and uses it to help troubled kids find loving homes. She prides herself on being objective when it comes to who would be suitable to care for foster kids. That is, until she's assigned Seth, a young boy that was in the process of being adopted by Cam's father before he died and left Cam and his brothers in charge of the new Quinn.
Things become more personal than ever for Anna. She's closer to Seth and the Quinn family than she usually would be. It doesn't help that it was lust at first sight for her and Cam. The man gets under her skin like nobody else has, and the next thing she knows, the heated fling turns out to be more than just sex. It might just be the real deal, but she doesn't let her growing feelings for Cam get in the way of what is most important: making sure Seth stays with the Quinns.
This book—hell, this series-—is one of the best I've read, yet. It's very dramatic and emotional, but it works for this book. It kept my interest, so much so that I could have read it in one sitting if I hadn't been so busy last week. I'd recommend this book to those of you who like Nora Roberts, contemporary romance, or family sagas.
Read more reviews and other bookish posts on No Book Left Behind Book Blog
Show Less
LibraryThing member Linyarai
The four books in this series are fantastically done, I love the strength and love between all the brothers and how they deal with their problems. I've read this series countless times and keep going back to it.
LibraryThing member soosthemoose
Nice, enjoyable book. Nice to read a book from a male point of view.
LibraryThing member MarthaJeanne
This isn't really a stand alone. It ends in the middle of things. Marked down a star because I can't get the rest of the trilogy.
LibraryThing member ADallasCat
The first in the Chesapeake Bay trilogy and definately my favorite of the three. Cam's character is the more rough and saucy brother and his match is just as rough and saucy. I loved watching their relationship evolve and complete.
LibraryThing member Linyarai
The four books in this series are fantastically done, I love the strength and love between all the brothers and how they deal with their problems. I've read this series countless times and keep going back to it.
Subjects
Awards
AAR Annual Reader Poll (1999)
AAR Top 100 Romances (41 — [Previously 1998-35 / 2000-55 / 2004-10] Most Recent Rank - 2007)
Language
Original language
English
Original publication date
1998-01-01
Physical description
6.75 inches
ISBN
0515121843 / 9780515121841