Customer Reviews

Birthright

5 star:		(40)
4 star:		(19)
3 star:		(10)
2 star:		(6)
1 star:		(6)

 

 

I thoroughly enjoyed this book. I felt the story line was very believeable. I have many friends that are adopted and often wonder "what if" this kind of story were to "happen" to them as they get older. We live in a very, very large world but sometimes the world is indeed very small. Nora Roberts obviously researched adoption on the black market very carefully. Only if you understand how a couple of any social standing could want a baby so bad to go to any length to get one, can you sympathize with the main characters' parents. I really enjoyed Callie and Jacob's characters. The way Jacob felt about his wife was very touching. It was like two separate souls looking for each other but somehow missing the point. I would love to read about their future together. Jacob's background would be a great book to explore also. As always, when Nora Roberts really researches a subject and brings her wonderful insights into the story, you can't help but enjoy every page of her books.

Also recommended: BARK OF THE DOGWOOD and RAFE AND JARED

Birthright started out in a very exciting way - a spirited, independent, unique heroine, an archaeological find in a construction site, a discovery and a dig, and a handsome ex-husband - wow! Then it went downhill. There were too many plots, subplots and characters - it was hard to keep it all straight. Lana and Doug were interesting, but I could not sense any chemistry between them - their romance seemed contrived and fake. Callie and Jake fared better, and their dialogue was really sharp and fun (and I liked it that Callie had her faults - it made her more human), but Suzanne was just plain weird, and the mystery was a disappointment - there was no clue about the murderer until the last pages. Also, it was tiring to wade through the clutter of characters and plots - I found myself skimming parts of the book. I think cutting out the Lana/Doug romance (keeping the characters - I liked them, and maybe hitching Lana with someone totally unlikely, like Digger, for comic relief), and cutting out some of the extraneous characters and plots, and strengthening the mystery, would have made it a much stronger book.

This is probably one of Nora Robert's best books! This book was also the first of the Nora Robert series I've read and this is the book that got me totally hook to Nora Robert's series.

Callie Dunbrook is an argeologist and one that is stubborn. But when a man that's trying to build a building discovers a thousands of years old site. So, with some difficulities, Callie was forced to work with he ex, Jake, again. First it was bumpy but as time goes on, Callie discovers something that shakes that hot head of hers. It seem to be that she was adopted in an illegal adoption. Through hard times, Callie along with her Jake finds the answer to the questions. And meanwhile doing so...falls back into the one person's arm so never knew she would. Jake

There's that old cliche about not being able to put a book down. This book was truly that. I read it from beginning to end in one long day, and I loved it. From just reading the description I expected a mystery, but this book was so much more. It was about finding out who you truly are, and what you have to go through to find that out. Callie was an awesome kick butt no holds barred woman who was portrayed as a woman who didn't need a man to complete her, which was definitely refreshing. Hats off to Nora for another incredible book!

Well, quite opposite of the other reviews of this book, I liked it. I was excited to see that archaeology was the medium used to anchor the story. As someone who's been on archaeological digs before, the portrayal of the site, events, and all characters was quite realistic (if a little fantastic at times). Callie fit the bill perfectly. Women who get involved in and make it in the world of archaeology are tough and sometimes they're mean. I liked that she never stood still, stood up for herself, and really did care for the other characters around her. Jake was also great, even though he could have been a little more developed. I thought the story was good. Was it realistic? I don't know that for sure but why read a romance novel if what you're after is realism? Taken at face value for what it is, Birthright was an entertaining story and a great escape from reality.

This is the best Nora Roberts book I have read so far. I read the "Jared Brothers" which was ok. I enjoyed the book from the start but once I got into it I couldn't put it down. It was very fascinating. A wonderful book to transform yourself away. Yes, I have read better book this so far is HER best.

I was looking forward to Birthright because the plot sounded really good. A thirty year old Callie Dunbrook finds out that she was adopted and learns she was kidnapped from her stroller at three months.
It was a major disappointment. There were too many plot lines going on that you got lost. I didn't like the main charactor Callie at all. She was raised in a loving home so why did she have a hard time accepting love and trust? Neither of her birth or adoptive parents had problems in that department. Even her reason for it didn't make any sense. She blamed it on her adoptive parents' relationship but not once during the whole book did you ever see an example of it.
Her language was bad and mouthing off to anyone and everyone got old really fast.
The real reason behind the murders was so farfetched it didn't make any sense neither did the end of the story. From the final climax you expect me to believe one person managed to knock out, drug and tie up four people?
Would of liked Callie's relationship with her birth parents to of been worked out more. More of Suzanne and Jay working out their problems and getting back together.
I did like the charactor Lana. Usually the dead husband is protrayed as evil or a jerk it was a nice (an realistic) change that she loved her late husband and realized she could move on with her life and Doug.
I did like that Suzanne and Jay were portrayed very realistically as parents who's child was kidnapped but I think they deserved a little bit more at the end.
The fact the person responsible for the kidnapping and black market ring will never have to pay for the crimes made the story fall flat. After all the suffering all those years Suzanne and Jay deserved to face the man who arranged their daughter's kidnapping.
I felt like they were playing down the crime. Sure Callie ended up having a great life but that doesn't change the fact she was kidnapped and sold on the black market. She spends more time whining then being angry about the whole crime. Her immature additude at Jake was annoying. Jake came across as a good guy but I couldn't imagine why he liked Callie especially since I didn't even like her.
Defently not the best Nora Roberts book. No where near True Betrayels, Public Secrets and all the other great books. Hopefully the next one will be much better

That this idiocy masquerading as a novel could be published is beyond me. This review won't earn me many positive ratings, but in the hopes of saving just one person from suffering through this tripe I'm going to give it to you straight. Can you handle the truth?

I was at the airport and had forgotten to bring a book and was forced to purchase something to read. I must have done something terribly wrong to annoy someone in a previous life for me to have chosen this insipid hokum and I must have been terribly bored to finish this garbage, but finish it I did. My time would have been spent far more productively cleaning out the johns on the airplane.

Ms Roberts characters are ridiculously contrived and shallow. They appear to have been cooked up in the fetid imagination of a high-school sophomore cheerleader who didn't bother to take any English or literature courses. Ms Roberts has NO insight into the human condition. Her characters are all androgynous hermaphrodites. Her men are simply oozing with sensitivity lurking just beneath the surface. And her female characters are constantly getting into bar fights when they aren't insisting on having sex with the hapless sensitive men in the book. I guess her total lack of insight into human nature could be forgiven if she'd managed to craft a good tale, but Nooo-o-o-o-o. I wasn't so lucky. This storyline was so silly and inane that I am still kicking myself for bothering to read it.

Do youself a favor. Pass on this travesty and find something (ANYTHING) else to read.

This is the first book I've read by Nora Roberts and probably the last. I picked up the book because the topics of archeology, Maryland and Robert's popularity were intriguing. After 50 pages, I just speed-read the book to get the plot (mostly about an adoption/kidnapping, which was not what I expected). I found I could skip page upon page and still get the story (which maybe could be witten in 10 or 15 pages). I know Roberts is popular, but this book was like a worn-out, unnecessary, mediocre, lukewarm "romance" with potenitally semi-serious plot (archeology, land disputes, legal-medical issues around adoption) which drown amidst the "need" for romance. Also Roberts tries to sound too "hip" citing rock groups, etc. I felt like this book was really pandering to the readers. So, guess what, I don't recommend it!

I stumbled upon my first Nora Roberts novel by accident, and became an instant fan. Her stories are fantastic and fun to read with never a dull moment, and Birthright was by far one of my favorites. The mystery surrounding Callie Dunbrook's past and her "quest" to uncover the secrets made this book a page turner, and the romance between Callie and Jake and Lana and Doug added just enough heat to make me burn through the pages. A definite must read for any Nora Roberts fan!