Full review at Smart Bitches, Trashy Books 
 The Obsession by Nora Roberts is some creepy suspense, followed by a chunk of contemporary small-town romance, followed up by a dash more suspense. It's a strange book in that the suspense plot isn't very evenly distributed, but Roberts' writing is so excellent that I didn't care. Roberts' books are filled with fabulous detail-from competence pr0n to home remodeling pr0n to descriptions of old barns-that my brain just goes into vacation mode. Her novels, even the spooky ones, are wonderfully restful. 
 TW for kidnapping, abuse, rape, and scary shit happening to young people. 
 There's a lot of world-building in this book. We spend a lot of time with Naomi as a young girl, which was an interesting choice on Roberts' part. I understood the first few chapters devoted to Naomi discovering her father's crime and the aftermath-but Roberts takes all this development a step further and allows the reader to see Naomi grow up. It wasn't what I expected in a romance novel, but the story was so fascinating that I found myself immersed in it. 
 I will warn readers that the suspense portions are creepy, and we do read about a woman being raped. It's not described in detail, but it's not something everyone will want to read. Compared it a lot of thrillers though, it wasn't especially graphic. 
 That said, I loved The Obsession. The suspense worked for me (most of the time) and, as usual, Roberts' writing transported me to my happy place. The detailed descriptions blended in seamlessly with the dialogue and action, and it let me shut my brain down for awhile and just enjoy the story. 
 - Elyse