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Review: Island of Glass

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Review: Island of GlassIsland of Glass (The Guardians Trilogy, #3) by Nora Roberts
Series: The Guardians Trilogy #3
Published by Berkley on December 6th 2016
Genres: Paranormal
Pages: 352
Goodreads
three-half-stars

FINAL DECISION: The trilogy ends on a decent but unexceptional book. Focused more on the plot than the romance (which feels like an afterthought), the “big bad” is just not compelling enough to compete with the first book in the trilogy.

THE STORY: This book continues the story of the six guardians who are searching for the three stars that will help them defeat the evil goddess. The final romance is between Doyle, a man cursed with immortality over three hundred years ago, and Riley, an archaeologist who also happens to be a shapeshifting wolf.

OPINION: I waited almost a year to read this book. Unfortunately after book two I didn’t have any real compulsion to finish up the trilogy. This book ended the series better than book 2 left me, but the romance was flat in this story.

The highlight of this series was book one and I still loved seeing Sasha and Bran. They were the best fleshed out couple in the series and they still seem the most interesting. While the pairing of Doyle and Riley was expected, this book didn’t really develop their characters any further. Doyle has some backstory dealing with his past with people dying, but Riley is not developed at all which was disappointing. These two seem to fall together more from being the only ones in the house not having sex rather than any real connection. The romance here felt like an afterthought that the story could have done without.

The strength of this story was the formed family connection between all six characters. Their pursuit of their quest felt purposeful and interesting. Even though the final confrontation with the “big bad” was lacking somewhat, I enjoyed the journey these characters went on.

What I really did not like was the epilogue which magically solved all the problems. As a spoiler, I can say that Sasha and Bran didn’t need anything — which just goes to demonstrate what a great couple they are.

I liked this book more than book 2 (although the “fixing” of the problems in book 2 done here mitigates many of my complaints), but this trilogy isn’t one that I’m putting on my keeper shelf.

WORTH MENTIONING: This book fixes the serious problem with the ending for the couple in book 2.

CONNECTED BOOKS: ISLAND OF GLASS is the third and final book in the Guardians Trilogy. The series has a continuing storyline and characters with relationships which overlap. A reader should start with book one and read the series in order.

STAR RATING: I give this book 3.5 stars.

three-half-stars

Review: Bay of Sighs

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Review: Bay of SighsBay of Sighs (The Guardians Trilogy, #2) by Nora Roberts
Series: The Guardians Trilogy #2
Published by Berkley on June 14th 2016
Genres: Contemporary, Paranormal
Pages: 319
Goodreads
three-stars

FINAL DECISION:  I enjoyed this book but it felt like the middle book it is. It is dependent upon knowing what happened in the first book including the relationships which developed there and in the end the story feels incomplete because there is another book left to go.

THE STORY:  This book begins right after the events of Book 1 of the Trilogy.  After acquiring the first star in their quest, the band of six have moved on to the search for the second star.  Annika, the mermaid, has a special role to play here in the search for the water star.  Granted legs for only a few months, Annika enjoys her life on land and her flirtation with Sawyer King.  Sawyer is the traveler with control of a compass which can take one through space and time.  Sawyer is attracted to Annika but worries about getting involved with the lovely mermaid who will only be on land for such a short time.  As Sawyer and Annika along with their friends search for the star, danger lurks with the reappearance of their enemy. She has a new minion to threaten the six as the danger increases.

OPINION:  I really wanted to like this book.  I had been looking forward to the story of the mermaid because it had ready made angst involved since she was only given legs for a limited amount of time.  What disappointed me most in this book was the resolution or lack thereof of that impediment.  I have hopes that the issues might yet be resolved in the final book, but as a story, I was disappointed in the poor version of a happy ending that Annika and Sawyer have to endure.

I also thought that their romance was given short shrift here.  The romance seemed expected and neither fought too hard. The drama in the story came from the plot regarding the stars.

On the other hand, I thought that this was a good continuation of the first book in the series and set up the final book in a way that made me highly anticipate it.  The story was action packed and I love the relationship that has developed between the six.  The book would have been more highly rated by me except for my disappointment with the resolution of Annika and Sawyer’s story.

WORTH MENTIONING:  I want to read the final book about the immortal and the werewolf more than I wanted to read this one.

CONNECTED BOOKS:  BAY OF SIGHS is the second book in the Guardians Trilogy.  This book relies heavily on having read the first book in the series.

STAR RATING:  I give this book 3 stars.

three-stars