Valley of Silence by Nora Roberts

The last in the trilogy, we are reading about the virgin queen and the vampire. There is a lot more sturm and drang than I enjoy in a romance but I did like that Moira knew her own mind and took her future into her own hands and I actually did enjoy the battle scenes even though I don't usually enjoy books about vampires.

It is time for the final stand down. If Moira can't win this battle, she will lose for not only her people, but humanity in all the other worlds as well. She knows that she owes it to her people to fight, to be their queen but she wants to take a moment for herself. Or several.

Three and a half stars

This book came out November 1, 2006

Follows Dance of the Gods

Borrowed as ebook from Libby

Opinions are my own

Dance of the Gods by Nora Roberts

The second in a trilogy about <shudder> vampires, this book has the warrior (Blair) and the shapeshifter, Larkin, (two of the six destined to defeat Lilith) hooking up. Blair is a demon-hunter from modern day New York, trained to kill vampires. Larkin is part of the royal family of Geall, a not-as-mythical-as-thought realm that is to be the battleground between humans and vampires. An evil queen named Lilian is trying to take over the world and thought that Geall would be a grand place to start. The gods decided that they needed to put a team together to stop her and this book is the mid-point of their training, when they have to convince the people of Geall that vampires exist and that the people need to be prepared to fight. 

We also get Larkin, who grew up in a happy home and is still pretty heart-whole, falling for Blair, who was never loved by her father and then dumped by her fiancé because of her demon hunting. It will take some work to get the two of them together, especially while planning for war.

I remembered this as my least favorite book in the series but on re-read, actually came ahead of the third book (too much sturm and drang) whereas these two, for the most part, see what they want and take it.

Three and a half stars

This book came out October 3rd, 2006

Follows Morrigan's Cross

Followed by Valley of Silence

Borrowed as ebook from Libby

Opinions are my own

Morrigan's Cross by Nora Roberts

Vampires. This series has vampires. Not my favorite Roberts series but still by her so they're pretty good. In this trilogy, a circle of six, the one who is dead, the witch, the sorcerer, the shapeshifter, the scholar and the warrior, must form in order to stop the evil Lilian from turning the world into vampires. Of course, since this is a Nora Roberts book, the six start pairing up. This book highlights the love of modern day witch, Glenna, and twelfth-century sorcerer, Hoyt. We learn the beginning of the circle when Hoyt watches his twin brother Cian be "turned" by Lilith. He is then instructed by the goddess Morrigan to go to modern day New York to begin gathering the circle. Hoyt finds his brother immediately. Cian has used the past 900 years to build an empire including a nightclub where Glenna is drawn to Hoyt. Once Glenna and Hoyt convince Cian that he is a necessary part of the group, they, along with Cian's friend King, fly to Ireland where they are joined by two more people, these from the thought-to-be-mythical land of Geall. The six must learn to fight, even through heartache, in order to even begin to learn how they might be able to take down Lilith.

This book didn't get too dated because much of the action is in another realm. With being the first book and having a LOT of world building to do, Hoyt and Glenna's romance takes a bit of a back seat but this is overall a nice enough story to start a series.

Three and a half stars

This book came out August 29th, 2006

Followed by Dance of the Gods

Borrowed as ebook from Libby

Opinions are my own