There are a couple good and very descriptive in depth reviews written already, so this is just my opinion:

Ever After by Nora Roberts
It's Nora. Excellent as usual.

Catch A Falling Star by Jill Gregory
An historical. Not my genre, but this story is very good. I liked the female lead.

The Curse of Castle Clough by Ruth Ryan Langan
My favorite and an introduction to Ms. Langan. Since reading this book, I have read other novels by her. I wasn't disappointed.

Starry, Starry Night by Marianne Willman
Passionate love story. Beautifully written.

All in all you will read these stories again.

Having read ONCE UPON A CASTLE, I couldn't wait to read ONCE UPON A STAR. I can honestly say, each author has her own magic and each story has it's own enchanting gift of entertainment.

Ever After by Nora Roberts You know Nora Roberts; she's yet to write one that isn't a winner. The woman can paint a picture with her words--it's amazing! Allena buys a magical necklace and finds herself on a magical trip. When Conal meets Allena, he realizes his fight with the past is going to be even more difficult than he ever imagined. A fanciful, entertaining read.

Catch A Falling Star by Jill Gregory Jill Gregory's historical short story is light on magic and heavy on romance. I love historical reads and found this one enjoyable. Princess Lianna is being forced into a marriage with Ambrose the Barbarian. She hates the thought of being married to a barbarian and resents that he will not let her use her special gift. While Ambrose fights for the right to keep his inherited property, Lianna finds her self fighting for the right to keep her heart. They will teach you a lesson in love and loyalty.

The Curse of Castle Clough by Ruth Ryan Langan A ghostly read. This is one of two that I enjoyed the most. Warming up to the characters (especially Jamie) was no problem at all! When dropped off at her next assignment, the driver warns Estelle that the castle is cursed. Her job is to estimate and sell some family antiques for Lord Cameron, who is being forced to liquidate his precious family heirlooms. A delightful read!

Starry, Starry Night by Marianne Willman This is the second of the two that I enjoyed the most. It's a Time Travel that will captivate you, and a romance that will move you. After coming to Cornwall, Lily finds her self lost and in danger. A stranger appears to save her, yet disappears again. Rees finds himself haunted by the site of a woman in a white dress, and each time he reaches for her, she disappears. A wonderful experience of love reaching through time.

A great read.

"Once Upon a Star" is a delightful anthology filled with four fantastic tales of magic and true love. Every story is well-written and utterly enthralling, making it nearly impossible for me to pick a favourite. Each of these four talented authors shines in the original and intriguing stories they have created.

"Ever After" by Nora Roberts tells the story of Allena Kennedy, who just can't find her place in the world. While in Ireland helping her stepsister Margaret run her tour company, Allena buys a beautiful star pendant. The next thing Allena knows, she has missed the ferry she was supposed to be taking, but then finds a boy with a boat to take her where she needs to go. But Allena ends up on Dolman Island, miles from where she should be, in the midst of a wild storm.
Reclusive Conal O'Neil finds Allena out in the storm and reluctantly brings her back to his home. Though at first he is rude and standoffish, Conal can't resist Allena's charms, as she makes his house feel like a home for the first time in years. But Conal knows from the star pendant around Allena's neck that she is the woman the fates have chosen for him. Determined to make his own destiny, and not allow his life to be dictated by fate, Conal tries to push Allena away, and may just be throwing away his one chance at happiness and true love!
Being a Nora Roberts story, "Ever After" is undeniably a fabulous read.

"Catch A Falling Star" by Jill Gregory is a wonderful historical romance with just a dash of magic thrown in. Princess Lianna of Penmarren has promised to marry Ambrose the Barbarian to keep peace in her father's land. But Lianna is terrified by the prospect, as Ambrose is a ruthless warrior who supposedly murdered his first wife. The day before the wedding is planned, Ambrose arrives in the middle of the night demanding Lianna marry him at once and return to his home at Crow's Keep. Ambrose's homeland of Blackenstar is once again under attack, and he must go at once to defend it. So Lianna marries Ambrose, counting on her father's promise that a great army will come to rescue her soon.
But as Lianna gets to know Ambrose, she finds he is not the heartless monster she has heard about. Lianna discovers the real Ambrose, a fair and compassionate man who his people regard with affection and respect, forced to defend his lands against a never-ending onslaught of invaders. Lianna finds incredible passion and tenderness in Ambrose's arms, and falls deeply in love with him. But soon the day Lianna has dreaded comes, when she learns the attack on Crow's Keep is imminent. Will Lianna find a way to save Ambrose's home? And will Ambrose believe that Lianna truly loves him, or will he be too shattered by her apparent betrayal to see the love she feels in her heart?
This was an excellent tale, that had me really caring about Ambrose and Lianna, and praying for a happy ending.

"The Curse of Castle Clough" by Ruth Ryan Langan tells the story of Lord Robert Cameron. Rob's heartless and incredibly wealthy ex-brother-in-law, Griffin Mackenzie, lent his late father fifteen million pounds for his many debts. Knowing Rob will never be able to come up with that much money, Griffin gives him one month before Castle Clough becomes his. Desperate to keep his beloved home from Griffin, Rob hires a highly regarded auction house in the U.S. to sell his precious family heirlooms in hopes of raising the money that way.
When Professor Estelle Sinclair arrives, she is in awe of Castle Clough's beautiful antiques. But when she finds out about Rob's plight from a helpful spirit, she joins him in his fight, and falls head over heels in love. As Estelle and Rob search for a way to save Castle Clough, they get a glimmer of hope from their spirit helper, the ghost of a young boy named Jamie. If Jamie can just lead them to the "Star of Scotland", a priceless diamond lost hundreds of years ago; their problems would be solved. But does the Star of Scotland really exist? And if so, will they be able to find it before Castle Clough is lost to the Cameron family forever?
This was a heart-warming tale containing a truly lovely romance and just the right dose of fantasy. I loved everything about it!

"Starry, Starry Night" by Marianne Willman is an excellent tale that rounds out the book perfectly. Lily Kendall is on a much-needed vacation in St. Dunstan's village in Cornwall. When she takes a nighttime walk along the beach, she gets caught by the rising tide, and narrowly escapes a watery grave because of a star-shaped window and the help of a handsome and mysterious man. The man, Rees Tregarrick, takes Lily home, leaves her with his housekeeper then rudely disappears. But when Lily awakes the next morning, she is no longer in Rees' home, but instead in a museum where Rees Tregarrick lived over a hundred years ago. Confused and off-balance, Lily is convinced it was all a dream.
Several more encounters with Rees, however, convince Lily that she has somehow found a doorway into the past. But Lily has fallen deeply in love with Rees, and wants to spend her life with him. Are Rees and Lily destined to spend separate, lonely lives yearning for what can never be? Or is their love strong enough to overcome time itself?
This is beautifully written and captivating tale that left me sighing over the magic of true love.

"Once Upon a Star" is a superior romance anthology that doesn't contain even one poor story. I loved all the tales in this book, and I highly recommend it. This is a terrific read and one you definitely don't want to miss!

This book explores the relationship between Ruth Bannion (you may remember her from the story of Seth Bannion and Lindsey) and Nick Davidov (who also appeared in the previous story as Lindsey's dance partner). Ruth gets her dream of dancing on stage in New York and for years both Ruth and Nick have longed for each other. In this story they finally come together. It's short, sweet, and lots of fun!

Gwen thinks her ditszy,widowed mother may be having an affair with the young,handsome writer boarding at their historic Louisiana home. Worried that he's taking advantage, she comes home from NY to check him out. Then, she falls for him herself! Several red herrings in plot lead to a surprise ending.
Excerpt from the back of the book:
"Her mother needed her, Gwen had decided. So she took a vacation from her demanding NY job at prestigious Style magazine to go home to Louisiana. She was sure her mother was being duped by author Luke Powers. How could anyone fall for such a man?
When Gwen met Luke, she discovered the answer to her question:
Luke was the most attractive man she had ever met. Gwen knew she should persuade him to return to his native California, but how could she, when she knew that he would take her heart with him?"

but it had nothing other than a relationship developing with two characters who are so basic. really shows a collector of NR how far she has come ::smile

Very enjoyable early Nora Roberts about a famous pastry chef and the hotel owner who hires her to revamp the tired menu in his restaurant. Great book for cooking fans too! There is also a sequel to this book called "Lessons Learned", which continues the story of Summer's sexy Italian chef friend, Carlo.
Excerpt from the back of the book:
"Chef Summer Lyndon had quite a sweet tooth, though she knew that giving in to her craving for her deliciously handsome boss would be a hazard to her peace of mind. How could she stick to a "no Blake Cocharan" diet when she found him simply too tempting to resist?
Hotel owner Blake Cocharan had always prided himself on his good taste, which was why he hired lovely chef Summer Lyndon. But never had a tough cookie been such a tasty-looking morsel..."

Could a cordon blue chef be a junk-food addict? The more Blake Cocharan learned about Summer Lyndon, dessert chef extradinaire, the more intrigued he became-and the more determined he was to hire her.Blake wanted the best, and Summer looked extremly good to him. Her superb credentials were the icing on the cake. Summeer was accustomed to traveling around the world, creating the pefect ending to perfect meals. But Blake had a unique appeal. Summer found herself responding to the challenge, both professionally.. and personally. For the first time, Summer was creating a meal from start to finish-and creating a perfect ending all her own.

Ryan Swan (the book's lovely heroine), is a television producer hoping to sign the mysterious magician Pierce Atkins to do a live magic show. He agrees, but only if she handles the details herself, meaning lots of quality time together. The character of Pierce reminds me strongly of Roarke in Nora's other series, the J.D. Robb books. Like Roarke, Pierce has had a hard knock life and he has a very mysterious quality too. Pierce and Ryan's relationship is troubled because of the dangerous stunts he performs in his act, but Pierce refuses to give them up.
Excerpt from the back of the book:
"Abracadabra! For this one moment, Ryan Swan, you will believe in magic... If only she could. But how was Ryan ever to know if the love of mysterious magician Pierce Atkins was real enough to last a lifetime or just an illusion she'd conjured up herself? She'd just have to read the message in his eyes...
Pierce had a lot of tricks up his sleeve-and he needed all his skill in magic to get his message across to skeptical Ryan. But a message of love has a powerful magic all its own..."

Excerpt from the back of the book says:
It was worse than winning the lottery. This bequest might mean more money, but the strings attached to Uncle Jolley's will had Pandora McVie tied up in knots. She had to spend six months isolated in the Catskills with Michael Donahue, her least favorite-though best looking-distant relative and co-beneficiary.
Living with a carrot-topped termagant wasn't Michael's idea of a good time either, but he realized they were stuck. Uncle Jolley was a matchmaker to the end-and beyond. What could happen in six months? "Almost anything", Michael answered himself.

This is one of Nora Roberts earlier books. If you have some time to kill and are a fan of Nora Roberts, this an OK book to read. The story line is good, but I felt that the characters were developed only half way. I also felt like this book was rushed and a little on the predictable side. I've read all of her more recent book and am a big fan, but with this book, Ms. Roberts didn't deliever some of that emotional attachment you feel for some of her characters and stories. Now a little clue on what this book is about: Laura Malone has been on the run for several months and is pregnant and alone. She ends up getting snow bound with Gabriel Bradley. Gabriel wants to be left alone so that he can get his life together and heal.

Laura Malone, widowed and eight months pregnant, is on the run from her disapproving former in-laws, who want to raise the baby themselves in their blue-blooded lifestyle. A car accident in the snow brings her to cranky artist Gabriel Bradley. Laura is snowbound with Gabe in his cabin and he offers to marry her to help defeat the in-laws. This was the first Nora Roberts book I have ever read which continued the story after the hero and heroine got married. Laura and Gabe learn to build a new family together and foil the evil in-laws plans.
Excerpt from the back of the book:
"No one was going to take her child away from her! Pregnant and alone, Laura Malone had been on the move for months. Finding herself snowbound with an angry, impatient Gabriel Bradley was not part of her plans.
Gabe wanted to be alone. He'd come to the isolated cabin to think, to work, and to heal. But when a woman crashed into his life-literally-he's felt obliged to help. Laura was everything a man could ever want and all that he desired. She trusted him, but Gabe was hard put to be an angel when Laura felt like heaven in his arms."

All three stories were obvious, with cliche dialogues and simply BORING. I am a Nora Roberts fan and for the first time in my life I couldn't go past page 20 on each story. Nothing against the characters or the plots themselves... they simply didn't catch me at all.

I am glad I got checked out this book from the library and didn't waste money on it.

I was a bit surprised at the not-so-great reviews this collection of Nora Robert's old romance novels got. I borrowed this book from a friend a couple of years ago even though I don't usually read Nora Roberts as I'm not really into the romance/suspense genre. But when I found a copy at a used bookstore recently, I bought it because I remembered how much I loved the first story, "Tonight and Always" and the third one, "Endings and Begininngs". I can't even decide which of these stories I like better than the other but I have to say they're one of the best stories I've read so far. The only reason I'm not giving this book a 5-star rating is because I seriously did not enjoy the second story, "A Matter of Choice". The plotline, dialogue and characters are predictable, overused and just plain boring.

If you're wondering whether you should buy this book, I'd suggest you scour the used bookstores first to get a real worth for your money or I guess you can find the individual books. One way or another, "Tonight and Always" and "Endings and Beginnings" are MUST-READS for all romance fans.

I have noticed quite a few negative reviews for "From the Heart" and several complaints regarding the fact that it is re-issue. Well, I only discovered Nora Roberts about a year ago, and since then I have read every book of hers I can get my hands on. However, Nora's older works are incredibly tough to find, so I really appreciate it that they have re-issued some of her older works so that I can enjoy them all these years later.
Personally, I really enjoyed the three stories that make up "From the Heart".
The first story, "Tonight and Always" was probably my favorite of the three. Kasey, a renowned anthropologist, comes to work for Jordan, a successful author, in order to help him write his latest book. Kasey is a wonderful and lovable character. She is eccentric, energetic, and compassionate. Jordan is a dashingly handsome hero, who learns a whole lot about himself from the outgoing and outspoken Kasey. The romance between these two is fresh and fun. Jordan is also the guardian of his deceased brother's 11 year old daughter, and her incorporation into this story added a whole other element to it. I thought the storyline involving Jordan, his niece, and Kasey was touching and well-written.
The second story, "A Matter of Choice" introduces the reader to Slade and Jessica. Slade, a cop, has been assigned to protect Jessica from the smugglers who the police believe are operating out of her antique shop. Slade thinks Jessica is going to be just another spoiled rich girl, but it only takes one meeting to change Slade's view completely. This story is lots of fun and is full of murder and mayhem!
The final story "Endings and Beginnings" is about two reporters, T.C. Thorpe and Liv Carmichael. These two keep stepping on each others toes professionally, but they soon find it hard to deny their attraction to each other. The romance in this story does not develop as quickly as in the previous two stories because Liv has a painful past that she has still not gotten over. Thorpe, however, is a wonderful hero, and his patience and understanding with Liv show just how sweet he really is.

These aren't serious, heavy stories, but they are fun and entertaining and I think they are most definitely worth reading. So sit back, relax, and enjoy!

This is by far the most awful, horrible book I have ever read in my life... really. If you want to waste time and money to buy it and read it - go ahead, but it would be exactly that - a total waste. The writing was extremely poor and bordered on a second-grade vocabulary. There was less than zero chemistry between any of the characters - I mean, the lead male continually tells his wife/girlfriend to shutup, he calls her an idiot, and he tries to drown her in the bathtub a few weeks into the marriage - that's romantic???!!! There was no respect between any of the characters at all. I have no idea what the other reviewers were reading, but I think anything with the name Nora Roberts gets a high rating just because. This was one of her earlier works (perhaps the first? or very close to it), and I know she's improved. Just stay away from this book and I would assume anything of hers written pre-fame because it's likely to be just as awful. A terrible waste of printing money and materials. AWFUL!

Racing fans will especially enjoy this story of love at the track. Cynthia "Foxy" Fox, a noted photographer, accompanies her race car driver brother, Kirk, on the circuit to provide photos for a book. The sponsor of the car is studly Lance Matthews, whom Foxy has secretly loved for the past ten years. Foxy worries when her brother has a crash and is scared that Lance, a former driver himself, will go back in the car to replace him. An enjoyable read and an interesting look at why race car drivers get back in that car each day, despite the danger.

This is a well-rounded selection of common-sense conservative thought through the ages. It features a like of contemporary luminaries in the conservative movement as well as the venerable founding fathers. Though, it is must likely to resonate with contemporary neoconservatives than the more social conservatives and paleoconservatives. I also recommend, the Concise Conservative Encyclopedia.

This book is so boring that I read fifty pages and let it rest for a whole week, while I read a classical Fernad Braudel's essay. The girl, Serena, is a spoiled brat that, in order to know people different from her soccial class, goes to a pleasure cruise!!! And the man is one of those that thinks: `Your mouth says <> but your body says <>' which, in my country, means sexual harassment, because we think that when a woman says <> she means <>. The worst Nora Roberts I've ever read.

When fiary heiress Serena Macgregor ups the ante on cool Comanche gambler Justin Blade steamy doesn't begin to descibe the results.