Bay of Sighs

Nora Roberts is one of those authors whose work I will automatically purchase. I love her characters, her dialogue, her suspense, her romance. I particularly love when she dives into the paranormal world, and her Three Sisters’ Island trilogy as well as her Circle trilogy are among my all-time favorites. Her stories always end up being comfort reads for me, so it was with great anticipation I opened the second book of the Guardians trilogy, Bay of Sighs

Sadly, it fell flat for me. There are all of the usual hallmarks of her novels, but none of them seem to click together. There is less witty banter and too much hand-wringing. The connection between Annika and Sawyer seems stilted with too much time spent worrying about their future show more together. Meanwhile, the action and adventure are less suspenseful and more predictable. There is almost more time spent discussing the food the group eats than the actual mission of finding the second star. The whole thing is missing that spark which makes her stories so good.

Some of the issue lies with Annika. As a mermaid experiencing life as a human for the first time, it is understandable that her view on things and her grasp of the English language is not on par with an adult. However, an entire book surrounding Annika and her pidgen English is a bit too much. Her speech reads like a toddler, and it is too easy to see her as a toddler given her overall innocence and complete faith in the mission and her teammates. Even the way the others treat her support this idea that she is innocent and child-like. Therefore, when the action dips into the sexier side, those scenes and the dialogue that ensues become more than a bit uncomfortable with a hint of a pedophilia vibe to it. Then there is the case of mermaid sex, which I simultaneously trying to forget and to understand.

To be fair, this may be a case of having too high expectations. However, there is a general lack of urgency to the group’s search that indicates to me as if Ms. Roberts’ focus was not quite there while writing this one. In fact, the search for and subsequent finding of the star are so rushed and such a small portion of the novel, one wonders if we could have skipped this novel altogether. One can only hope this was indeed a filler novel, and the trilogy finale ends up being as stellar as the rest of the novels we have come to love from Ms. Roberts. show less

The second book in the Guardians trilogy finds our group of six in Capri searching for the second falling star. The one concentrates of the romance between Sawyer and Annika. This is a romance that seemingly has a built-in ending date. Annika is a mermaid who was given legs so that she could take part in the quest to find the stars but will return to the sea in three months without them. Sawyer has a device that lets him travel in space and time.

Sawyer is reluctant to begin a relationship with Annika for a number of reasons. The primary one for him is that Annika is new to life on land and dealing with humans. He sees her as an innocent in need of protection. Despite her lack of familiarity with humans, Annika is a woman who knows what show more she wants.

Our villain, the dark goddess Nerezza, has found herself a human partner in Andre Malmon who is a bored killer who has had previous run-ins with Sawyer and with Riley. If he weren't so irredeemably evil, I could feel sorry for him because his relationship with Nerezza changes him for the worse. But Malmon makes his bargain eagerly and ends up changed and enslaved to her.

Since one of the main viewpoint characters in this one isn't human, we get a lot of Annika's joy and curiosity. We also get a lot of opportunities to see her struggling with idioms and customs of humans. For example, she has a very different way of dealing with nakedness and talking about sex. Luckily, her new sisters Riley and Sasha are there to clear up some of her confusion.

Again, this story is trademark Roberts in the relationships she builds between the characters and their acceptance of each others strengths and weaknesses. Friendships matter in a Roberts book. I can't wait to read the next one both to see the end to their quest and to see the relationship that is coming next. show less

Bay of Sighs suffers from a major case of middle book syndrome - it has neither the novelty of meeting the six main characters nor the satisfaction of the final battle. In fact, very little happens for the first 200 pages, and then a lot of action is packed into the last third. The romance just wasn't my cup of tea - Annika is almost literally a fish out of water, but she is so sweet and pure that she just isn't very interesting. Sawyer is okay but I enjoyed his sparring with Riley more than his pining after Anni. Well, now it's a six month wait until we get immortal Doyle and werewolf Riley's story, and presumably a final victory against The Big Bad. We haven't seen much of a spark between the final two characters, and I look forward show more to reading how Nora brings them together. show less

Bay of Sighs
3 Stars

Series note: The events continue immediately following those in the first book. Bay of Sighs cannot be read as a standalone.

The search for the Water Star takes the Guardians to the island of Capri off the coast of Italy where they await the goddess Nerezza's new assault. Little do they know the horrific weapon she plans to use against them. As the bonds between the six grow stronger, two in particular struggle with their feelings for each other - Annika, the mermaid, whose time on land is limited, and Sawyer, the traveler, who fears losing his heart to a woman who will soon be gone.

Unfortunately, this installment suffers from middle book syndrome. The first 2/3s are rather slow and very little happens except for show more training and some build-up toward the showdown with Nerezza's monstrous new pet. The final 1/3, however, is very exciting with some truly intense and suspenseful moments.

Annika and Sawyer's romance is sweet, and it is impossible not to care about them and the virtually insurmountable obstacle that they face. Nora's solution is quite inventive although it isn't all that realistic or believable. Then again, this is fantasy, so a healthy suspension of disbelief is required. Speaking of Annika, she is simply adorable, and her discussions with Sasha and Riley about men and sex are hilarious.

Overall, not one of Nora's better sequels, but I am eager to find out more about Doyle's past and to see what is in store for him and Riley. show less

Annika is my favourite character in this trilogy -- she is so full of joy and life and honesty. For once, a romance series that does not allow the "can't be honest with my feelings" trope. Really refreshing. Looking forward now to the conclusion on the mystery. Since there hasn't been the instantaneous chemistry between the last pair of characters that there was with the first two pairs, I'm not sure where Roberts is going to go with them.

This felt more like a bridge between books one and three than a novel in its own right. There was some vague plot stuff, that came to a rather quick and easy conclusion. And Annika, though a charming character, is written in such a way as to come across as not emotionally or mentally mature enough to enter into an adult sexual relationship, so the romance between her and Sawyer felt a little squcky. I expect, and usually get, more and better from Nora Roberts. this was just sort of disappointing and should probably be only two stars, but it was still a comfort-food read, so that earned it a little leeway.

Read: January 2018
Rating: 4.5/5 stars

I really enjoyed Bay of Sighs. Annika and Sawyer were a good couple, better than Sasha and Bran from book one, and the plot was stronger. I also liked the fact that a human villain was introduced here as a serious threat against the group. I was gripped by the story from beginning to end and am looking forward to reading the final book in the trilogy.