Maybe I've reached a time where Nora Roberts and I will part company. We've been companions for many years now but for me, especially with the PNR books, there's a staleness to the formula that I can't get past anymore. Perhaps I'd be in a more forgiving mood if I didn't feel like I paid for and read this story already as part of the Three Sisters trilogy Dance Upon the Air. This is very much a condensed version of that one.
Why bother with providing the MC with anymore than a cursory back story when you can skip all that and set things up in the 1200's. Then we can have your character in modern day be aware of ALL of that information (through oral history from her grandmother) and know she's a witch and come to her ancestor's home and have them all recognize that of course she's the one they've been waiting for all this time and of course we'll teach you how to control these powers that you've manifesting. So blasé, magic/shmagic.
There's no joy here, it's all very rote and checking ticks off in the boxes.
This is a fine story if you've never read any other Roberts PNR book. The shine is off for me though because I can see clearly how this trilogy will play out. I'd rather re-read the Three Sisters
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