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Romance and Horror don’t mix well for Nora Roberts

I had avoided the Sign of Seven trilogy due to the mediocre reviews and also because horror is not my genre. However, the book I wanted was checked out of the library so I decided to try this one instead.

The series started out well in Blood Brothers, a book that she dedicates to her sons. You can tell that she made a real effort to incorporate the viewpoint and voices of the male characters. Caleb is the serious, responsible boy scout. Fox is laid back and easy going. Gage is dark, intense and combative.

The Hollow, second in the series, meanders. The final book, The Pagan Stone, is more interesting but still rather anti-climatic. I think this is because Nora Roberts couldn’t quite get a feel for writing scary material. For me, this was a relief as I’m not a fan of horror but it resulted in some rather long tedious passages. The group has basically the same encounter again and again with the evil creature but little progress is made against him until the very end.

I've been putting this trilogy off and it looks like I'll just pass on it. It's a shame because I love Nora Roberts.

I do too so it is disappointing when she misses the mark. If you haven't read Obsession, I would suggest it as the best of her recent stuff. The first third is some of her best writing. It sags a bit in middle but then ends well.

I'm actually sad to hear you didn't like this series. It's one of my favorites and I've reread it several times.

I really enjoyed the characters. The three men, close childhood friends, have grown to led three very different lives, yet their bond remains unbroken. The three women, equally diverse, create a bond of their own, just as strong. It was really interesting to me to see the six of then work together, personalities clashing and working off each other towards a common purpose. I enjoyed watching each of the three couples fall in love, overcoming both typical relationship issues and atypical issues related to the curse.

I loved Robert's imagination in this novel. I found the whole premise of the seven year curse to be unique and very creative. My heart raced whenever the evil showed up to mess with them. But I always read Robert's books with the understanding that Romance is her main genre. The back story and any other genre that she dabbles in is secondary, used to aplify the conflict surrounding the romantic couple or couples.

I do agree with the long tedious passages, though. So much of their battle against the evil wasn't phiscal but involved research and discovering the history behind this creature. Learning and understanding all that definitely led to block paragraphs of info. And yet all that background information led to another love story that I really enjoyed.

Despite the mixed reviews and the negatives in this series, overall, I really enjoyed reading about the people that live in this town and these three couples that manage to fall in love and start their lives together even with the dark cloud hanging over their futures. They stay positive and aren't willing to give up until the evil is defeated.

Glad to hear that you enjoyed this series. Thanks for reading the review and replying.