The Born In trilogy is about the daughters of the Concannon family in Ireland. The backstory of the Concannon family is as poignant – or even more – than the romance of each novel. In addition, the romance is well written and satisfying. The first two books – Born in Fire and Born in Ice – are 5 star books, for everything: the backstory, the characters, the romance, the additional information on glass-blowing and writing.
The third book (Born in Shame) is less satisfying on many levels. The third daughter was illegitimate and they only discovered her existence in the second book. I found her character less developed and less likable. However, what really killed the third book for me was the romance. I don’t mind some paranormal activity (I loved the Three Sisters Island trilogy) but this was over the top, with reincarnation and “we were lovers in another life” blah blah. No more than three stars, and if the backstory wouldn’t have remained interesting as before, it would have been less.
Romance/Suspense: This is a pure romance series – no violence, no suspense. Some descriptions of abuse.
Note: It killed me that even though most of the story hinges on out of wedlock pregnancy, no contraceptives were mentioned (or at best, mentioned only afterwards). Especially after reading that teenagers are more likely to have unsafe sex because they watch movies with unsafe sex. However, I did Nora Roberts an injustice. These books are relatively old. At that time it wasn’t popular to mention birth control, and considered private. All her newer books explicitly mention safe sex, and some specifically mention condoms or the pill, as in “The Next Always” (2011):
“I’m back on the pill. Is that aggressive or proactive?”
“That’s just smart”
🙂
Overall: 4.5 stars.
Leftover Recipes 