I love this book and it just makes me want to keep reading. I am highly anticipating Cian and Moira's story. ( )

This is the 2nd book in the Circle trilogy, and I liked it both more and less than the first, Morrigan's Cross.

The focus this time is on Blair and Larkin. The Six are stepping up the pace, and preparing to go to Geall, and Lilith, the evil vampire, is targeting demon hunter Blair.

Actually, this is just Blair's story. Everyone assured me when I expressed doubts after reading Morrigan's Cross that Moira and Larkin would grow on me, and that they'd be more developed in the next two books. Well, Moira did grow on me once I saw her in her element as Queen-to-be of Geall, but Larkin never did.

First, why does he sound Irish? Isn't Ireland a foreign place to him? He comes from Geall. (I'm also pretty confused about why Moira ended up speaking Gaelic when she was disoriented. Maybe it was a typo, and it was supposed to be Geallic?) Worse, though, is that the entire extent of his character is that he's always hungry, he doesn't take anything seriously, and he's very naive and impetuous. In other words, he has the personality of a stereotypical teenage boy. I live with two (okay, one and an almost-teen) teenage boys. This is not a romantic fantasy.

Oooh, he can turn into any sort of animal he wants... but that skill/gift is curiously underplayed. We're told that all he has to do is envision the animal in his mind, and that if he turns too frequently, he'll get tired. But that's really never a problem. At one point, the other characters are concerned that he won't be able to make it back to the house and sanctuary, but there's a distinct lack of tension there.

Ironically, we get told over and over again what Larkin sees in Blair, which was unnecessary--it's obvious that she's admirable and desirable, etc. In fact, there's a little aside where Cian says that he sees his sister in her, which is supposed to explain why Cian doesn't go for her, because otherwise, they'd have been a much better match. Plenty of conflict, etc. What we don't get told, and I couldn't see, is what Blair sees in Larkin, other than that he accepts her because the one boyfriend she had before couldn't accept what she was. That's a really flimsy foundation on which to build a relationship, and unless he grows up soon, I picture the novelty of acceptance wearing off really fast. Same with the lightheartedness. I can accept that she could use some light in her life, but Larkin's all surface and no substance.

But Blair, that's good story. Trained from a very young age to be a demon hunter by her cold father, who was disappointed that she'd inherited the ability instead of her brother, and then left on her own at the age of 18, she's got some issues. She grows and develops through the course of the book and confronts her demons, both real and emotional. Maybe that's my real objection to Larkin--that he doesn't grow at all.

Anyway, my sense from these first two books is that it would have been vastly better as a duo than a trilogy. Larkin and Moira, even though I'm warming up to Moira just a tad, are less well-developed than the other four, and putting Cian and Blair together would have made much more sense. ( )

At first I thought this was going to be better than the first, but it's not. Everything as far as love goes is just a bit too easy for the characters. None of the drama comes from the romance. A good romance novel gets its drama from both the external circumstances and the blooming love between the characters, but Roberts does not pull that off in this book. Additionally, there's a distinct homophobia in the novel (in the form of the vampire queen having a female lover and the two of them "threatening" to not only vamp characters, but turn them into lesbians). This left a bit of a bad taste in my mouth. ( )

After all of the background of the first book, this second book in the series was even better. The love scenes were much more in depth and believable. Both pairings thus far have been right on. I'm looking forward to reading the last book in the trilogy. ( )

Booklist Review: Another enticing paranormal trilogy from the ever-versatile, prolific, and much-loved queen of romance. Irish sorcerer Hoyt Mac Cionaoith tried but failed to destroy Demon Queen Lilith after she ruthlessly turned his twin brother, Cian, into a vampire. Lilith gradually recovered and immediately set about amassing an army of vampires with the intention of destroying all humans so that she could rule the world. The goddess Morrigan chooses Hoyt and five others to stop Lilith, sending Hoyt 1,000 years into the future. In twenty-first-century New York, he starts to build his team, enlisting Glenna Ward; his brother, Cian; and Cians employee, King. Traveling back to Ireland, the three pick up new recruits Moira and her cousin Larkin, both of whom have traveled through space and time from the Kingdom of Geall. Demon-hunter Blair Murphy is the last to sign on to the circle of six. Now a sorcerer, a witch, a warrior, a scholar, a shape-shifter, and a lost soul must find some way of working together as a team if they are to have any hope of stopping darkness from overcoming all that is good and light in the world. Best-seller Roberts Celtic-flavored Circle trilogy features superbly crafted characters, three passionate romances, and a bewitching blend of magic and myth. -- John Charles (Reviewed 10-01-2006) ( )