Key of Light

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 show more 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. show less

Key of Light
3.5 Stars

Fate brings three women together for a chance to unlock their deepest desires. On the first of three dangerous quests, Malory Price, who has the soul of an artist and an eye for beauty, must find the Key of Light that could fulfill her destiny...or forever destroy her life.

The intriguing mythology and quest atmosphere almost compensate for the lackluster romance.

The paranormal elements are more low-key as compared to Roberts’ other series in this genre: The Sign of Seven and Circle trilogies. There is enough detail in the mythology to whet the appetite but it is not sufficiently developed. The connection between the main female characters and the magical sisters whose souls are ensnared remains unclear by the end show more of the book, but will hopefully be explained by the end of the series.

While Flynn and Malory are likeable characters, their relationship lacks chemistry. It also seems to undergo a confusing role reversal halfway through with Flynn becoming quite hesitant after being the initial instigator and aggressor, as opposed to Malory, who was uninterested at first, becoming the pursuer. Moreover, Flynn’s contribution to the quest is virtually non-existent other than the fact that he is friends with the men who will feature in the sequels.

The secondary characters and the dialogue are the strong points of the book. The other two couples have more sizzle in their relationships and the witty banter, especially between Malory and her gay friend from the art gallery, make this a worthwhile read.

Key of Light is a decent beginning to the overall story arc, which is interesting enough to entice me to continue reading. show less

Read: January 2016
Rating: 4/5 stars

The plot: Key of Light is the first in a paranormal romance trilogy. Malory Price is a practical, independent young woman who is on the verge of being fired from her dream job at an art gallery when she receives a mysterious invitation. Along with two other young women; Dana and Zoe, Malory heads to Warrior's Peak - a grand old house on the outskirts of town. There the three women meet the unusual residents of the house and are given the chance to take part in a mythological quest. Malory agrees and is chosen to go first in the quest - she must find a hidden key to unlock one of three magical locks which will break a spell thousands of years old. If she fails to find the key within twenty-eight days show more one year of her life will be forfeit. If she succeeds she will be given one million dollars.

What I liked:
- The plot is fast paced and interesting.
- Roberts always writes really strong female characters, as well as strong, realistic friendships. In Key of Light, there is no competition between Malory, Dana and Zoe, they all bond really well and work together to help Malory with her challenge.
- Despite the mythological side of the story, Roberts manages to ground the story in reality; all the women, plus Dana's step-brother Flynn, are very sceptical of the quest but freely admit that the promise of the money makes it worth pursuing.
- The dream-like sequence where Malory wakes up and finds she is living her perfect dream life only to slowly come to the realisation that it is not real was very well written, tense and slightly creepy at the same time.
- The location of the key and the way Malory finds it is really inventive and magical.

What I didn't like:
- The instant dislike that Zoe took to Brad seemed overly contrived and like a cheap way to generate chemistry between the pair for their story in the trilogy.
- The quick change in Malory's attitude towards Flynn. One minute she is a planner and wants to proceed cautiously, the next minute she has decided she is in love with him and tells him she is going to marry him (despite the fact that he seemed uncomfortable with her even saying that she loved him.) show less

I didn’t know I’d enjoy Nora Roberts as much as I did. Her female characters come up off the page and sound like real people. Or perhaps I might credit the audio version reader – Susan Ericksen. Some of the dialogue was predictable, but because that’s the way people really talk.

Three women have never met yet are all invited to a mysterious mansion to attend a dinner. They are the only guests of the “otherworldly” couple occupying the mansion. By the end of the evening they have been given a quest to find a key. Surprisingly (especially to themselves) they accept the seemingly impossible quest of finding three missing keys to unlock the three boxes holding the souls of three other young women. This is book one of the trilogy … Mallory’s quest.

I do not read a lot of Nora Roberts, although I am a huge fan of her alter-ego J.D. Robb. Yet every time I pick up one of Ms. Robert’s tales based on legends and magic I find myself quite captured by the book. Production-wise Ms. Roberts rivals James Patterson so show more it amazes me that she can come up with the story lines and keep them interesting. I’m a lot jealous of the ability. Romance, legends, magic and mystery … always the perfect mix for a little much needed escapism. And there’s definitely nothing wrong with that! show less

Key of Light
3.5 Stars

Synopsis:
Fate brings three women together for a chance to unlock their deepest desires. On the first of three dangerous quests, Malory Price, who has the soul of an artist and an eye for beauty, must find the Key of Light that could fulfill her destiny...or forever destroy her life.

Review:
The intriguing mythology and quest atmosphere almost compensate for the lackluster romance.

The paranormal elements are more low-key as compared to Roberts’ other series in this genre: The Sign of Seven and Circle trilogies. There is enough detail in the mythology to whet the appetite but it is not sufficiently developed. The connection between the main female characters and the magical sisters whose souls are ensnared remains show more unclear by the end of the book, but will hopefully be explained by the end of the series.

While Flynn and Malory are likeable characters, their relationship lacks chemistry. It also seems to undergo a confusing role reversal halfway through with Flynn becoming quite hesitant after being the initial instigator and aggressor, as opposed to Malory, who was uninterested at first, becoming the pursuer. Moreover, Flynn’s contribution to the quest is virtually non-existent other than the fact that he is friends with the men who will feature in the sequels.

The secondary characters and the dialogue are the strong points of the book. The other two couples have more sizzle in their relationships and the witty banter, especially between Malory her gay friend from the art gallery, make this a worthwhile read.

Key of Light is a decent beginning to the overall story arc, which is interesting enough to entice me to continue reading. show less

Interesting concept of 3 women quickly becoming friends as a result of the quest for finding keys. Predictable in knowing Mallory will succeed with her quest and the boyfriend and that the story ends but not completely. Liked the idea of appreciating art yet knowing you can not be an artist, the way the 3 paintings appear to bring the guys into the story along with learning about art, Flynn's sense of honor towards the family newspaper and for caring about stepsister, Dana, along with his friendship commitment. Good use of suspense with evil Kane. Nice knowing a bit about their personalities to make them believable characters.