Key of Knowledge (2003)

Nora Robert’s Key of Knowledge is a fascinating tale of a quest to find a key hidden in one woman’s past. Full of magic, mystery, and love; this book examines the importance of life and how the past has a way of affecting us both in good and bad ways. ( )

Review for all three books in the trilogy.

The thing about these books isn't the vaguely supernatural plot or the romance, it's the found-family.

There is a vaguely supernatural plot. Strangers, Malory, Dana, and Zoe, are all invited to a mysterious gathering hosted by the even more mysterious Rowena and Pitte. They're told a story about a god, soon to be king, who traveled into the mortal world, fell in love with a human woman. He brought her back to his world and they had three beautiful daughters. When those daughters were grown an evil sorcerer, rival for the king's power, cast a spell on them, trapping their souls in a glass box, leaving their bodies lifeless. The only way the spell could be broken is if three mortal women found the keys to the glass box. Malory, Dana, and Zoe are those three mortal women.

There is romance. The first book centers on Malory, and deals with her romance with Finn. The second on Dana and her romance with Jordan. The third on Zoe and Brad. But the wonderful thing about these books is how little time they spend on romance and how much they spend on the friendship growing between Malory, Dana, and Zoe, the pre-existing friendsihp between Flynn, Jordan, and Brad, and the way these six people become family to each other. Not only do the three women fulfill their quests and find their loves, they also start a business together and spend a great deal of time discussing how wonderful, helpful, and supportive the friendship they're developing is. Sure, there's a great deal of discussion about each other's love lives, but there's also a great deal of discussion about the business, each other's talents, and what each wants from life. To a lesser degree--because this is the women's story, after all--the men have similar discussions.

Found-family is my thing. It gets me every time. And these six people, plus Rowena, Pitte, Zoe's son Simon, and Flynn's goofy dog Moe, make a great family. ( )

I don’t particularly like the continuous replay of previously read material, but I felt the need to read Dana’s story because she is a part of this series. I will definitely read Zoe’s. But I was not disappointed. Each character and their relationships with each other deserve a story and not to be judged on the first book of the series. But I will say that so far, that I still like Malory’s and Flynn’s book better. You are a uniquely, gifted writer NORA ROBERTS! ❤️❤️❤️ ( )

V životě jsou chvíle, kdy je i realista za určitých okolností ochoten uvěřit v nadpřirozené síly. Tři mladé ženy, Malory, Dany a Zoe, mají postupně najít tři magické klíče. Dana přebírá štafetu od Malory. S pomocí bratra Flynna a jeho kamarádů z dětství, Brada a Jordana, hledají ženy vodítko k tajemství druhého klíče. Dana pátrá v knihách a netuší, že se musí podívat především do vlastní minulosti. Tu představuje právě Jordan, který ji před lety opustil. Co spojuje Jordana a zázračný klíč? ( )

Now that Malory has discovered the first key (Key of Light, Book 1) Dana must take on the task of locating the second key to unlock the “Daughters of Glass”. Limited by a one-month time crunch, her rekindled feelings for ex-lover Jordan Hawke and, her distraction in trying to get her new business started she is concerned that she will not be successful, thereby causing her new friends to lose the ultimate prize of one millions dollars … and the release of the three maidens.

As was the first book, this was an easy and fun read for a long winter’s evening. I enjoy the characters despite the fact that they and the action are a little predictable. The first and second book could be interchangeable by switching character names. Despite that, I am interested enough to continue on to Zoe’s quest in the third book of the trilogy. Like sorbet between courses of a meal, these books are great for in-between the non-fiction I have on my TBR list.
( )