Nora Roberts is one of the best known romance authors of today. Time and time again, she releases amazing books that touch the very soul of those that read them. Something that Roberts releases quite often are trilogies. Usually, I find myself straying from trilogies to read just the single novels she releases. I don’t like not getting the full story in just one book.
Her latest trilogy is The Key Trilogy. The first book released is the last one that I’m writing a review on, Key of Light. The second is Key of Knowledge. The third and final book is Key of Valor. This review, as you can see, is on Key of Knowledge. I don’t know why I wrote the reviews out of order, considering I read the books in order.
The Plot of the Trilogy
Malory, Dana and Zoe are three women that live lives that have never crossed in the same small Pennsylvania town. Malory is the head of an art gallery, Dana is a librarian, and Zoe is a hairdresser that is also a single mother. The three women are brought together by Rowena and Pitte, two mysterious figures that live at Warrior’s Peak. They are told that they are linked to three demi-goddesses whose souls are locked in a box by the evil sorcerer, Kane. Only Malory, Dana and Zoe can free the souls of The Daughters of Glass by each completing a quest for a specific key to unlock a lock on the box. If each of the three women completed their individual quest, the Daughters would be freed and each woman would receive $1 million each.
The Plot of this Book
Key of Light is the first book in The Key Trilogy, so a lot of it is spent setting up the next two books. Malory Price is the head of the art gallery in Pleasant Valley. Unfortunately, the gallery owner allows his bubbleheaded trophy wife to take over, and Malory is pushed out of the picture. (Um, no pun intended.)
Malory receives a strange and mysterious invitation to a dinner party at Warrior’s Peak. She shows up and meets Dana and Zoe. The two other women are dealing with similar problems at their jobs. The three women make a connection immediately.
Rowena and Pitte tell the three women about the quest that they are destined to complete. Each woman must find a key that will unlock the Box of Souls. Malory is chosen to complete the first leg of the quest. With the help of her new friends, Malory tackles her quest.
Oh, don’t think that is all. Since this is a Nora Roberts book, there has to be some romance thrown in there. Malory is head-over-heels in love with Dana’s step-brother, Flynn. Flynn feels the same way but, being the macho man that he is, plays a little hard to get. Malory uses a variety of tactics to attempt to win Flynn over. Their relationship goes through many highs and lows in this book.
As this book ends, a new one begins. Key of Knowledge picks up right where Key of Light leaves off. Malory’s ending is only the beginning. The reader is aware that there are two more sections of the quest to complete, which will come as the form of two more books. (This is a serial trilogy. You MUST read them in order.) Roberts makes a seamless transition between the two books, which makes the reader very happy.
The Characters
Roberts introduces all of the characters that will be present in thr trilogy in this book. Since Malory and Flynn are the two main characters in Key of Light, she spends more time describing them. After all, she will have more time to describe Zoe and Dana in their sections of the quest.
In Key of Light, Roberts gives us a brief summary of the lives of each character, but really delves into the lives of Malory and Flynn. We know that both have a lot of regrets with their lives, but find what they are looking for in each other.
The different personalities of the female characters are fantastic. The men, however, are a different story. They all seem to “look” alike, taken out of the dreams of the women that read romance novels. It seems as though all of Roberts’ heros are from the same cookie-cutter mold. We could definitely use some variety in this department. The fatal flaws of the men seem to be that they have too much money, let their tempers get the best of them, or don’t express their feelings. They need a little more “deep”, in my humble opinion.
Writing Style
Nora Roberts certainly knows how to tell a story. In this book, there is a “real” world and a “fairy” world. The writing style is very realistic, and makes the readers believe that such a world (meaning the fairy world) exists. There is nothing that seems out of the ordinary anywhere in this book.
Readers will get quite the visual as Roberts’ words really paint a perfect picture. You feel as though you not only know the characters personally, but are with them in Pleasant Valley. The pages of the book seemingly disappear as you lose yourself in this story.
Overall
Key of Light is a good introduction to the Key Trilogy by Nora Roberts. It is light, fluffy and an easy read. If you’ve never read a Nora Roberts book before, this is a good starter. It’s a very fast read, which you can get through on a long flight or over a weekend. Be forewarned, however, that you will be hooked and want to finish the rest of the trilogy.
This book receives four out of five stars from me because it was shallow in many places. Roberts covers a little too much ground in one short book, and only leaves enough to reiterate in the following two books. While she spends a lot of time with Malory and Flynn, she spends too much time developing the other characters. I found myself glossing over a lot of the descriptions.
On the other hand, Roberts introduces us to her whimsical writing style. The “fairy world” she builds is absolutely fascinating, and leaves readers wanting more. But, don’t worry– You’ll get more with the final two books!
