Island of Glass by Nora Roberts
Series: The Guardians #3
Rating: ★★★☆☆
As the hunt for the Star of Ice leads the six guardians to Ireland, Doyle, the immortal, must face his tragic past. Three centuries ago, he closed off his heart, yet his warrior spirit is still drawn to the wild. And there’s no one more familiar with the wild than Riley—and the wolf within her…
An archaeologist, Riley is no stranger to the coast of Clare, but now she finds herself on unsure footing, targeted by the dark goddess who wants more than the stars, more than the blood of the guardians. While searching through Irish history for clues that will lead them to the final star and the mysterious Island of Glass, Riley must fight her practical nature and admit her sudden attraction to Doyle is more than just a fling. For it is his strength that will sustain her and give her the power to run towards love—and save them all…
I admit, this is the one I was waiting for the most. Riley intrigued me – being an archaeologist, my own passion, probably helped with that. And Doyle. Well, he had that gruff, kind-of-asshole-but-not-really thing going on. I like that, especially when it ends in a true romance. So I was eager to read their story.
And I was right. I enjoyed the romance the most. Probably, at least in part, because Riley and Doyle had two whole books to get to know one another, to interact with each other, and to learn about themselves both separately and together. So when they come together in this book, in a clash of need and desire, it’s eminently satisfying. Though I wonder a little that it didn’t happen sooner with the obvious desire on both their parts.
I love that they start their relationship with no strings. There’s just need, mutual appreciation, care, and enjoying each other. I love, too, that Riley tells Doyle when that changes for her – with, again, no strings or expectations attached to it. She takes responsibility for her feelings, and doesn’t expect anyone else to have to accommodate them. That’s hard to do in real life, and pretty rare in the Romance genre.
For the relationship, I probably would give this book 4 stars. What brought it back down to a 3-star read for me was the resolution and the entire Island of Glass thing. It felt abrupt. Here they’ve been fighting, winning by the skin of their teeth, for nearly three months. But suddenly it’s all over in a matter of a couple of thrusts of the sword. It was the quickest climactic fight I think I’ve ever read. And the Malmon thing? Just weird and seemed extraneous.
Then there was the entirety of the deus-ex-machina that solved all their problems at the end. I mean, don’t get me wrong, I wanted them all together and happy. But if you’re just going to wipe aside the problems, like that, then why present them as problems in the first place?
This isn’t likely to be a series I’ll re-read, but I don’t count it as time wasted either. I enjoyed reading the adventures of Bran, Sasha, Annika, Sawyer, Riley, and Doyle.
Leave a Reply