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Blood Magick
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Blood Magick (November 2014 Book of the Month)
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Forgot I pre-ordered this!!! Yeah, can't wait tostart!!
I just bought it. Have to finish my current book then I'm diving in. Can't wait!!
Just waiting for my library to get in their copies, can't wait for them to come in, and find out what happens.
After a lovely trip to the Nora Roberts book signing in Boonsboro Saturday, I FINALLY started the book on my flight home last night! Flew through the first half and can't wait to get home from work tonight to finish it off.
Just finished it. I'll wait for everyone to catch up.
Just finished reading! I want to know what everyone thinks.
I finished the book last night. I enjoyed the series, the characters, and even the similarities with her other trilogies. However, I was a little disappointed throughout this book. It lacked...something. There wasn't as much depth to the story, emotion between the two main characters, or evolution of the romance. I still liked it, of course. (I can't help but like just about everything she writes.) It's just not as good as she can do.
Serena wrote: "I finished the book last night. I enjoyed the series, the characters, and even the similarities with her other trilogies. However, I was a little disappointed throughout this book. It lacked...some..."I completely agree with everything you just said. It fell a little flat for me too.
I finished this up this morning and was a little disappointed. I still enjoyed the book and flew through it but I just didn't feel the connection to the characters like I usually do.Admittedly, the magical books are not generally my favorite, but I am always a sucker for the Ireland setting.
Ultimately, I had a really had time with the similarities with the Three Sisters Island trilogy. I am sure that coming up with something new and fresh after over 200 publications is hard to do, but this was extremely blatant.
Overall, a fun read but I am not sorry to say good-bye to the Cousins O'Dwyer. I hope her next trilogy leaves the magic aspects behind!
My full spoiler-free review is below:
Blood Magick (Cousins O'Dwyer Trilogy #3) by Nora Roberts
3 stars
Nora is always a fun, quick read, but this trilogy wasn't my favorite. Not by a long shot.
The Cousins O'Dwyer are in the final stages of defeating Cabhan, the evil sorcerer that has plagued the descendants of Sorcha, Dark Witch of Mayo, for generations. Branna knows that this is their last opportunity and if they fail, the consequences are deadly. But, they have something no one else has had: Finbar of Cabhan's line and the original three children of Sorcha who will travel through time to join forces. Branna and Fin once thought they had a future together, but his dark past and her commitment to light ended any dreams they once had, but could they have a future again?
I am not the biggest fan of Nora's trilogies that involve magic. They are always entertaining, but improbable romance plus magic has be rolling my eyes more often. I also cannot get past how similar this book is to the Three Sisters Island Trilogy. I realize that it is probably hard to not reuse some of the same ideas when you have published over 200 novels, but these two were blatantly similar. It diminished the enjoyment a bit.
But, I love her books set in Ireland, I always enjoy the friendships among the characters almost as much as the romance, and Nora is still the absolute best :)
Nicole, that's a great review. I love NR books that involve magic but I can't disagree with what you wrote.
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However, I am really liking Branna and Fin, I guess I relate to them cause I love my friends and family but more times than not, I really appreciate my alone time with my own thoughts. I am not the biggest fan of paranormal, because it's not so easy to visualize those kinds of elements in a book (conjuring things out of air, transporting from one place to another, flashing balls of power, etc.), but I think Nora does a very fine job with those elements while combining them with the every day and ordinary.
It's going to be later in the month before I can get the book. I hope to join in the discussion then. With this being a romance between past lovers and all the magic stuff on top of it, I'm sure NR has a unique sin on all of it.
I just started... so excited!!!!
I thought after a 3 book build up, the final part would have had more. I also wanted a little more after the battle but it ended.Generally it was good but a little flat for me.
I finished this book last night. It's unusual for it take me three weeks to get thru a new NR book. This has been a very, very busy three weeks in our house, but it still says something about the book, that it was not a complete page turner for me. I'm usually done within days, if not hours of beginning a NR book. Still good, but not my favorite. I'll come back later to add more.
I'm kind of a pain in the rear when it comes to the trilogies/ quartets, etc. I like to wait until they are all released before I read them- so I will be starting in the beginning, as soon as my reading list from the library is diminished.
Amy, I wish I had the patience to wait until all parts of series is published before reading. If a new Nora is out, I have to have and read it. Thinking about Blood Magick and the series today, I remembered that I often don't like the last book, especially if we know from the first just who is going to be the main couple. I think it's a combination of knowing what is coming, picturing it in my head, then seeing what is really written. That and honestly, I never want a series to end, so the finish is bitter sweet: Yay, they ended the evil Cahban! Boo, no more story with these three couples I've come to feel I know and care about. I think this is why I still tune into my one remaining soap opera after all these years, the comfort of familiar characters, while the characters continually have some crisis or another to face. (Thank goodness Nora's stories aren't daytime drama ridiculous!)
I just finished this an hour ago, and I absolutely loved it. It's not my favorite as The Circle Trilogy would be in that spot. I also really loved The Sign of the Seven trilogy. Now, I've only read the first book of the Three Sisters Island trilogy,
, and I didn't enjoy it very much. It was too romancey, not enough action. But it seems everyone says that trilogy is by far, better than the Cousins O'Dwyer. I guess I'll pick up the second in the Three Sisters at some point, but I don't feel very compelled at this point. I look forward to more in depth discussion of the O'Dwyer trilogy as others finish the book.
Well, it appears that I have greatly upset the Blood Magick Circle because I finished my review and the page refused to let me save it. Went to another review of mine and had no problem saving it there. Lucky that I wrote it in Word and only pasted it to my review. It pastes here just fine. Very strange.I have always loved Nora Roberts because, although a prolific writer, none of her books felt formula driven. I am going to reconsider that opinion after reading Blood Magick. I've read several of Nora's trilogies this year and they all have similar elements and to me that is a formula. Change the local, vary the characters, but it all was just to similar for my taste. And, sadly, too predictable.
Branna and Fin have been in love since they were teenagers. On the occasion of the first time they made love the make of Cabhan came on Fin. That put an end to all their dreams of a future, because Fin was a descendent of the very evil Cabhan. Fin also is a witch, but a witch for good, not evil. Coming back and vowing to end the ages old fight with Cabhan, Fin and Branna find that their love may not be eternal, but it is for sure now and very hot. Branna faces that she has always loved Fin and always will, no matter what happens. Together with their circle, and their cousins from the past, they devise a way to do that and that may free Fin from the evil blood he carries in his veins.
Well, I have just now finished my first re-read of Blood Magic. I little unusual for me, as I often do a re-read of a NR immediately following the first read. Anyway, I'm happy to say that for me, the second time was the charm. I saw so much I didn't see on the first go round. I wondering if this a symptom of reading on the Kindle. I do not find myself flipping back and forth to check out little details, as I do with a real book. I think the details are important for me as the reader. Anyway, I caught so much more detail during this read, which makes a difference for me.
Randi, I'm not ready to call this trilogy or the Sister Island trilogy as the better, I enjoyed both and really don't see them as mirror images. But I'm very interested to see what others will say.
Kerri - I have found that on the first run through I am so eager to find out the storyline and how everything resolves...I almost always enjoy a book more the second time around because I pick up on all those details you mentioned. Janet
I love the cover. Now I´m looking forward to read it.
Synopsis:
County Mayo is rich in the traditions of Ireland, legends that Branna O’Dwyer fully embraces in her life and in her work as the proprietor of The Dark Witch shop, which carries soaps, lotions, and candles for tourists, made with Branna’s special touch.
Branna’s strength and selflessness hold together a close circle of friends and family—along with their horses and hawks and her beloved hound. But there’s a single missing link in the chain of her life: love…
She had it once—for a moment—with Finbar Burke, but a shared future is forbidden by history and blood. Which is why Fin has spent his life traveling the world to fill the abyss left in him by Branna, focusing on work rather than passion.
Branna and Fin’s relationship offers them both comfort and torment. And though they succumb to the heat between them, there can be no promises for tomorrow. A storm of shadows threatens everything that their circle holds dear. It will be Fin’s power, loyalty, and heart that will make all the difference in an age-old battle between the bonds that hold their friends together and the evil that has haunted their families for centuries.