Four from Nora, Nora Roberts, that is.

Does it count as catching up on reviews if each review is a paragraph that more or less says, "Yep, read that!" ? It does? Great! So at the end of my dry spell this fall, I came up to the top of the wait list for several Nora Roberts/JD Robb books right in a row. Now, these are never ever on my top ten lists, but they are solidly predictable. They are comfortable like a pair of slippers and I can always count on them to hold my interest and break me out of a dry spell. Since all three came up within a few days, and I just was. not. feeling. anything in my review list, I gave myself permission to just read them all back to back.

Blood Magick is the conclusion to Robert's newest romantic trilogy, The Cousins O'Dwyer.  Having read all three, I can tell you that this is not Robert's strongest trilogy. The plot lines feel very recycled from Roberts's own books and I can't really recommend them on the strength of that. The romance in the first two were pretty typical Roberts. However, in Blood Magick, for the first time in a dozen, I really felt the connection between the hero and heroine. Branna and Fin are in love, and have been the entire series. Unfortunately, they were cursed by a vague curse (you just have to go with it) and can't ever have a future together. Their desire for each other is evident and while the reader is thinking about how vague the curse is, THEY clearly believe it. They've both dealt with it differently, Fin is determined to break the curse, and Branna just planned to repress her feeling forever. While I wouldn't suggest this one for the plot, I would recommend it completely for the romance.

The next two that I read were the last three full length novels in the In Death series written as JD Robb, Thankless in Death, Concealed in Death, and Festive in Death. I am particularly excited about these because it means that at least for a couple months I'm all caught up, for the first time in years. That said, I do not recommend reading more than two of these in a row. The little details that make the characters are completely, glaringly, repeats from the previous 39 books. (Little gray button, amber eyes that match her hair, misunderstanding cliches, Irish voice, pink cowboy boots, Summerset and her car. Shall I go on?)  I'm not quite ready to quit the series, 39 books is a hell of an investment, but there's really nothing new here.