I'm going to preface by saying that I am a huge Nora Roberts fan. I read all of her books. So with a heavy heart I must say that I did not enjoy this book. I bought Black Hills in July, the week it was released. I finished reading the book yesterday (December 6th). It took me 5 long months to finish reading Black Hills. That is not normal. I tear through every Nora Roberts book that I read.The book moved at a snail's pace. At 472 pages, the book was about 125 pages too long. This book is a suspense/romance. I never felt anxious while reading the book. Halfway through, the perpetrator's identity was revealed and the reader has to wait several chapters before the perp/stalker would make a move against Lil. The big showdown with the crazy stalker was anti-climatic as it happened so late into the book that by that time I was beyond caring.Lil and Coop had more chemistry at the beginning of the book (when they were kids and teenagers) than when they were adults. They are supposed to be each other's great loves and I felt no spark. The description of the lovemaking was lackluster and flowery; almost borderline corny. There were a couple of times where I rolled my eyes and said to myself, "Oh puh-leeze!" Lil, as the main character, was annoying and evoked no empathy or sympathy from me. She was annoying and bitchy and I wondered why Coop still wanted her. I know that Nora was trying to provide background information on farm life and how people live in the Black Hills but in my opinion, she went overboard. I could have cared less about mending fences and hauling hay. I thought it slowed down an already slow moving book. The most interesting sub-plot in the entire novel was the love story of Farley and Tansy. Nora didn't spend nearly enough time with their story. They were more interesting than Coop and Lil even though their lovemaking was given the same flowery, non-descript prose.I felt like the book ended too abruptly. The big climax happened and then five pages later the book was over. There was no more mention of Farley and Tansy and the resolution to their relationship. Or Coop and Lil. I felt like everything was still up in the air. It would have been nice if there'd been a prologue, providing a wrap up ofthe relationships.I'm really disappointed with Black Hills. It's very rare that I don't like a Nora Roberts book. Hopefully this was a fluke and her next one will be great.
