Nora Roberts – Book Journey

“The Second Book in the Trilogy, while not my favorite of the three, you definitely need this story to get from the beginning – to the end… ~Sheila

Ripley loves to keep her life simple. She has her morning run, coffee stop, and job as a Deputy of Three Sisters Island. With a glass of wine at night (or two…) life was all bundled up neatly and that was the way you like it.

Toss in that a geeky – yet hot – guy is staying on the island looking for the magical history and secrets that the island holds… Ripley is putting her off her lunch.

Yet fight as she may, some facts are just that and they cannot be changed. While Ripley is strongly against all the magical hoopty-do (my word) and her so-called part in – she will never turn her back on family – or a friend… and in there, lies the rub.

Out of the three books in this trilogy, Heaven and Earth is my least favorite. While Nel, book one, comes in to the story all destroyed from life and looking for a quiet existence, and I enjoy reading of her rebound and strength as she finds who she really is and where she is meant to be; Mia (book three) is all strong and assure of who she is and what she wants (honestly one of my all time favorite non fictions characters), Ripley falls somewhere in the middle. For me, I think it is the EXTRA romance in this particular book – I have never been a romance reader. Its also a bit more technical when Mac enters the series, looking to discover the magic of the island with his gadgets and reading and spreadsheets.

While I may grumble….. you still very much need this book as it links the sisters in ways that they need to for what is to come. As the three sisters learn how their posers work – and more importantly how they work together.

For a January re-read, this series is a comfort reading. The characters are like old friends and if Three Sisters did exist – with that book store and upstairs cafe with a magical twist…in another life I may have very well called such a place…. home.

Nora Roberts was an author I once read much of. Two particular trilogies that I still think of are her Three Sisters Trilogy (Dance Upon The Air) and her Three Keys Trilogy. Although I have followed her incredible production of books, I have not picked one up in quite a few years. This one though – this one… intrigued me. ~Sheila

The sickness came on quickly. People everywhere were getting sick, yet this was much worse than a flu epidemic… people by the thousands were dying. Then hundreds of thousands. Many panicked, stores were looted; cleared of food and pharmaceuticals. The world became every man and woman for themselves. Survival was of the utmost importance ..

if you could.

Some such as Lana and Max, discovered they had powers… abilities that they were unsure where they had come from but they tried to learn how to use. Unfortunately, not all those who gained powers were using them for good. As New York becomes more and more frightening, and each person you meet could be either friend or foe, survival becomes the front most thought.

Nora Roberts never ceases to amaze me. Her books can be so diverse from her writing as Nora, to her writing as JD Robb. Dystopian fiction though? I did not see that coming.

I enjoyed this start to a new trilogy, and felt that Nora Roberts rolled into this genre impressively so. While an outbreak of a disease that wipes out most of the population feels like it could be scary real – the magic not so much, which levels this book from feeling to realistic to more of a fantasy sway to it that I enjoyed. Remember those two trilogies I mentioned previously? Both have magical elements to them. Cant help it.. I am a girl who likes powers. 🙂

This book to me is a “yes try it” to any lovers of fantasy. While there are elements of Nora Roberts trilogies that seem to sprinkle through all of her trilogies – this is one where I say forget what you know about this author and jump in with an open mind. This is one that if you did not know who the author was – you would not guess by reading it.

I am looking forward to the next book!