Have you read . . .?: romance Archives

January 24, 2007

The Circle Trilogy by Nora Roberts

Since in earlier entries on the UGLi book blog I had seen positive reviews of Nora Robert’s novels, I decided to try one of her trilogies. I enjoyed “The Circle Trilogy” which consists of “Morrigan’s Cross,” “Dance of the Gods,” and “Valley of Silence.” The story starts in Ireland, nearly 1000 years ago, when the goddess Morrigan tells sorcerer Hoyt to bring together a circle of six – a sorcerer, a witch, a warrior, a scholar, a shape shifter, and a lost soul – to prepare for an epic battle of good against evil to save humankind. Thanks to time portals, magic, and the help of the gods, the story moves to modern day New York and Ireland to pick up the rest of the “circle.” The story finishes up in the ancient Celtic world of Geall where the six and an army of Geallians fight Lilith and her army of vampires, demons, and a sorcerer who specializes in black magic. The plot is pretty much as expected: the members derive strength and power from the friendship and love that develops as they train and bond, the six divide into three couples (so each volume has a love story), and there are smaller battles and setbacks along the way to the big battle in the end. This trilogy is good, escapist fare.

Morrigan’s Cross: ISBN: 0-515-14165-8
Dance of the Gods: ISBN: 0-515-14166-6
Valley of Silence: ISBN: 0-515-14167-4

Pam, reserves

Posted by jnardine at 11:11 AM | Comments (0)

October 02, 2006

"Undead and Unpopular" by Mary Janice Davidson

MJ Davidson's "Undead and ..." series is a nice, light read. After all, how can a newly minted vampire queen named Elizabeth Taylor - Betsy to her friends- with a shoe fetish be anything less than entertaining. This book, the 5th in the series, is readable in and unto itself but I recommend starting at the beginning of the series and taking it sequentially so that you'll get all the humor.

Betsy is turning 31, or she would be if she were still alive, and she's trying to plan her own surprise birthday party, give up drinking blood (because it's "icky"), and organize her upcoming wedding to her consort, the "yummy" Eric Sinclair. A delegation of European vampires arrive on the scene at about the same time that Betsy figures out that her best friend is seriously ill. Throw in a zombie in the attic and a local vamp who is hell-bent on killing the member of the European contingent who first turned her, and a lot of fun, chaos and confusion ensue.

As a stand-alone, this entry in the series isn't as action-packed as some of the previous novels. Instead it focuses more on relationships among the central group of characters. Unfortunately, deep, meaningful character development would go against the general grain of Anderson's humorous storytelling style and break up the feel of the series. Anderson does a great job of sticking with her strengths and keeping up snappy dialog, but the result is that not much happens. In short, it's not the strongest of the set, but still well worth reading.

ISBN: 0425210294

Jennifer, reference

Posted by jnardine at 04:07 PM | Comments (0)

September 08, 2006

"Definitely Dead" by Charlain Harris

Harris' 6th book in this series featuring Sookie Stackhouse, barmaid extraordinaire, is just as satisfying as its predecessors. If you've never read any of this series, I would highly recommend starting at the beginning with "Dead Until Dark." You can read this book as a stand-alone and still find it a good read, but the story is much richer and more amusing if you have all of the background from the previous books.

In this "episode" Sookie, a telepath, gets involved in a plot to throw over the vampire queen of Louisiana, starts dating the were-tiger Quinn, and manages to navigate kidnap plots, murder attempts and fancy dress balls with her usual mixture of down-home common sense, humor and style.

This series is a great read. It's definitely not your usual vampire novel; more a mix of mystery, romance and comedy that keeps you turning the pages. It's a great change of pace from academic or business reading - just plain fun.

ISBN: 0441014003