contemporary

"Face The Fire" is the final book in Nora Roberts' Three Sisters Trilogy, and unfortunately provides a whimper of a finale instead of the expected bang. Her first book, "Dance Upon The Air" is excellent. The second, "Heaven And Earth" is slightly weaker, but well worth reading. This novel, which should have been her strongest, as Mia, her protagonist is the most powerful and interesting of the sister witches, falls into cliche and repetition. It is just plain boring and a big disappointment.

Three Sisters is a small, rocky island off the coast of Massachusetts. Legend has it that the island was once a part of the mainland. Back in the late 1600s, during the Salem witch trials, three sisters, good witches all, known as Fire, Earth and Air, conjured the island and made it a haven against persecution. Unfortunately, the sisters did not fare as well as their island. All three were doomed by unfortunate relationships and a misuse of power. Before the last sister died she cast a spell to keep the island safe for 300 years. At that time she prophesied a reunion of three sisters, descendants of the original three, who would join together to redeem their ancestors, right the wrongs of the past and save their home from destruction.

Mia Devlin, owner of the successful bookstore-cafe on Three Sisters Island, is a strong sorceress, of the white witch variety. She lost the love of her life, Sam Logan, when he left her without warning or explanation ten years before. Mia has closed herself off from intimacy to avoid the fate that destroyed her ancestress 300 years earlier. Sam returns to the island looking to renew his relationship with Mia and runs into a brick wall. Although the chemistry between the two sizzles, Mia is determined not to let Sam back into her heart. As with her sister witches, Nell and Ripley, Mia must face the dangers of the curse that holds the island hostage. It is up to her to meet and challenge the evil that threatens to destroy her home and loved ones, and to triumph over it if she is to save them all.

Unfortunately, Ms. Roberts brings back the same old, now exhausted threads & villains of books one and two, which do nothing to spruce up book three. What a disappointment! Mia and Sam have the potential to be her most interesting characters, but their story gives new meaning to the word "hackneyed." I read the novel to see how everything ends up, having an interest in the characters from books one & two. I should have read an Amazon customer review instead and saved myself the time and money. My advice is to save yours.
JANA

"Face the Fire" by Nora Roberts is the final instalment in the enchanting Three Sisters Island trilogy, which has captivated me from book one. Staying true to its predecessors, this final book does not disappoint. Full of vivid and insightful characterizations, steamy romance, and just the right dose of fantasy, "Face the Fire" will leave you believing in magic.

Mia Devlin is a strong, determined, and savvy businesswoman and an immensely powerful witch. She has great friends, especially Nell and Ripley, her sisters of the heart and fellow witches, a beautiful home and garden, and a wonderful bookstore that does great business, but Mia isn't truly happy. Ever since Sam Logan walked out of her life eleven years ago, leaving her young heart in pieces on the ground, she has closed off a part of herself that she never plans to open again.

Everything is going fine with her plan to keep her heart blocked off from ever being broken again, until the day that Sam Logan strolls into her bookstore and back into her life. But Mia greets Sam, who has returned to Three Sisters to reclaim her, with painfully polite icy indifference. For though the energy still snaps and sparks in the air between them, Mia knows she just won't survive having her heart torn out a second time.

But Sam is here to stay, and he won't give Mia up without a fight. The interplay between Mia and Sam is expertly rendered by Roberts, as we watch Mia's range of reactions to Sam's persistence. When they are together, Mia and Sam all but send sparks from the pages, sometimes in passion and sometimes in pure frustration and anger.

But no matter what Mia decides is in her heart, she had better do it fast, because the deadline for breaking a centuries old curse is mere months away. Mia can feel the evil forces hovering around the edges of her world, and if she doesn't win the fight against that evil, the people she loves will be in great danger, and the Island she so loves will fall into the sea.

"Face the Fire" is a fantastic read and I will most definitely read it again. It was wonderful to see lots of Nell & Zack and Ripley & Mac in this novel (the main characters from the two previous books in the trilogy). Mia is a wonderfully strong and courageous heroine who readers will become very attached to. And though it's fun watching Sam squirm when he first arrives on Three Sisters, he will win readers over with his sincere devotion to Mia and keeping her safe. This book is full of magic and romance, and contains a lovely tale of true love and destiny that I found irresistible. "Face the Fire" comes highly recommended, so buy it today!

Okay, I'll preface this by saying that I found this book to be entertaining enough and the writing was good. But, when compared with Roberts' other work and the other two books in the series, it didn't hold up her normal level of quality.

My biggest problem is that Mia was the strongest and most compelling woman of the three from the series but her story was the least compelling of the trilogy. That was disappointing.

I liked that Mia and Sam were Fire and Water and had the complimentary and yet fire and ice sort of relationship. Thing is, I didn't find the whole idea of him leaving the way he did and yet coming back and expecting her to fall at his feet very enticing. The way he left was cruel and I couldn't understand why she should take him back or even why we're supposed to believe he had this deep love for her. The Sam of the present was not the Sam that left Mia, but you're supposed to think he is except for this glaring mistake. Yes, people change but I didn't buy it.

So much happens in the story that you don't understand or seems to come from nowhere, big and important parts of the story seem to have been added at the last minute. I thought the end was totally confusing and even though I read it a few times it still seemed to come out of left field. Usually Roberts does this sort of thing exceptionally well, and she did in the other two books, but this one left me feeling unsatisfied.

All in all, it was interesting enough to hold my attention and it was nice to see the character progression for Nell and Ripley but it left me feeling flat.