Hidden Star (The Stars of Mithra)

Hidden Star - Nora Roberts This is the 2nd amnesia story from Nora Roberts I've read in two days. So, I kinda expected to find similarities and not really enjoy it. But alas, there were few similarities. Mainly because the character from the other book (Brie from Affaire Royale) wasn't a pussy and Bailey certainly was.She hires Cade, a private investigator, to figure out who she is and why she has a 100 carat diamond, 1 million dollars, and a gun. But at every turn - every time she makes a little headway in remembering - she wimps out, shuts down, and then gets mad at Cade for trying to get her to remember. Bailey shows a little backbone quite randomly, but eventually gives in... every single time.But what really pissed me off was how Nora Roberts kept telling the reader the Bailey was so smart, but I swear that girl had not one lick of good common sense. Every time they got another clue about what happened to her or who she was, she immediately jumped to the worst conclusion possible. I can't figure out what the fuck made her think she had kidnapped a child... I just don't get it. She was constantly thinking the worst of herself while admitting she had no knowledge of herself. And Cade was pointing out to her numerous times that she probably wasn't a bad person if she was so worried about being one. Did she accept that sound logic? No. She must be a murderer! A thief! A basilisk!At this point, I'm going to hide what I have to say behind a spoiler tag because I'm going to refer to specific events. Continue at your own risk.Ok, so Cade tells Bailey he's in love with her. But even though she feels that she loves him, too, she won't admit it until she overcomes her amnesia. Because uhh... apparently having amnesia makes your current feelings invalid? That makes no fucking sense. If you FEEL that you love somebody now, what does it matter that you don't know everything about yourself? Like knowing her last name and where she works is going to validate those emotions? No. No. No. That was a cowardly response and I wish Cade had called her out on it more than he did.What else... Oh yes. Bailey's brothers were going to steal three priceless diamonds. Bailey finds this out and proceeds to send two of the diamonds to her two best friends. Did it never occur to her that 3 100 carat blue diamonds are worth killing for? How god damn stupid is this girl?! Those diamonds were sent to her to be appraised for the Smithsonian. THE MOTHER FUCKING SMITHSONIAN. And she thinks mailing them off to her buddies is the best choice? Why not, oh I dunno... send the diamonds back to the Smithsonian with a letter explaining that they needed to be kept safe and away from her step-brothers? If anyone has the knowledge and resources to protect priceless artifacts, it's the god damn Smithsonian. "Oh, once they know I've foiled their plans, they'll give up and we'll go back to being a big, happy family!" Riiight. And I'm Betty Boop. Seriously, this girl is careless and stupid - horrible combination, really.Cade and Bailey eventually find the murder scene. The dead body is still on the freaking floor. Time to call the cops? NOPE! Time to go home and get the money & diamond, then go to the cops. Wrong. So wrong. You call the freaking the cops, let them see the dead body, tell them your story, and then have them escort you home to get the money & diamond. A private investigator should know this. A woman that graduated with top honors and numerous awards from an Ivy League school should know this, regardless of her amnesia since that amnesia mainly focused on the events related to the crime and herself. Common sense shouldn't have gone out the window with the rest of it.Now, I really like Nora Roberts. I love her In Death series and have gone all gushing fangirl over numerous other novels of hers. But I don't understand why she keeps writing these weak female characters. Bailey flies off the handle numerous times for no valid reason and it seems like the excuse is that "she's a female and that's what they do"... She's not actually mad about anything specific, she's just frustrated and frustrated women act unreasonable and turn into banshees. Nora has written some wonderfully strong female leads, but the way she wrote Bailey really annoys me.Brie, from Affaire Royale, dealt with her amnesia with "I'm strong, I can do this, I need to do this, I want to do this. I want to remember."Bailey, in comparison, dealt with her amnesia with "I must be a bad person. I can't do this, I don't want to do this, please don't make me."Cade was a decent character. I didn't feel like we really got to know him other than his introduction which basically explained who he was. He didn't seem to develop at all throughout the story, but maybe he was supposed to be that way - a solid, steady anchor for Bailey. I dunno. I liked the way he pushed her to remember and didn't fight his attraction to her. He seemed like a decent guy... that's really all I can say about him.In conclusion (that always sounds so formal), I can't say I'm a fan of this book. The plot itself was good, the concept, the story, whatever. But the characters were either underdeveloped or weak. I'm having a hard time figuring out why I continued reading this, but I guess the mystery was decent enough to make me want to find out the end. I'm just not happy with the fact that I had to put up with Bailey to do it.