Nora Roberts has written a few trilogies. I have read and enjoyed them. A new trilogy, The Key trilogy, has started and I’m hooked on it. Key of Knowledge was very entertaining and continued the story.

I’m going to provide a little bit of background for the trilogy before I get into what happened in Key of Knowledge. A few things will be spoilers for the first book, Key of Light.

Many years ago, a young God that was well liked by the other Gods spent time in the mortal world. He was the future King. He fell in love with a mortal woman before he returned to his world. He wasn’t himself once he was back. His parents decided to bend their laws. She was allowed to choose, and she wanted to be with him. She joined him in the world of the Gods, which angered some of the Gods because no mortal was supposed to enter their world. The God became King and the mortal woman his Queen. They had three daughters that were demigoddesses with mortal souls. The daughters were in danger from the King’s enemies. The daughters had protection in the form of a warrior and a teacher.

The dark forces against the daughters grew. The warrior and teacher fell in love and were distracted from watching the sisters. A God was able to cast a spell that took the souls of the sisters. The souls were locked in a box that required three keys to open. Only three mortal women could use the keys to open the box. In each generation, there would be three women who would be able to find and use the keys. The teacher and warrior must find the women and offer them the chance to search for the keys. Each woman would have one month to search. If one failed, they all failed. They would be given a clue.

Mallory, Dana, and Zoe all lived in Pleasant Valley, but they never knew each other until they were all invited to Warrior’s Peak, a huge house outside of town. All three women were having job and money troubles at the time. Rowena and Pitte, the teacher and the warrior, invited the three women there because they were the ones who could break the spell. The three women decided to look for the keys. Mallory was chosen to look first. During the search, Flynn, Dana’s brother, got involved in the search. He and Mallory fell in love. His two friends, Jordan and Brad, returned to Pleasant Valley and also became involved in the search. Mallory discovered that Kane, the God behind the spell, didn’t want the women to succeed. He could be dangerous.

Dana was nervous on the way to Warrior’s Peak. Either she or Zoe would be the next to search for a key. They were all meeting Pitte and Rowena again. Dana wasn’t happy that Jordan was there. She didn’t want him involved. She was still very upset about how their relationship ended several years before. Dana was picked to search next. She was sure a book would be important to finding her key. She threw herself into looking for it.

Jordan knew he messed up before with how he ended things with Dana. He wanted to be with her again. He was determined to help her look for the key and kept turning up. They had more disagreements, but they also got along at times too. Jordan split his time between helping Dana search and working on his new book. He and Dana did become involved again, but they did have to work through some issues. Kane popped up again, and tried to stop Dana differently then he’d previously tried to stop Mallory. Kane even targeted Jordan.

The three women were working on the house where they were going to open their businesses. Flynn remodeled his kitchen to make Mallory happy. Jordan was still staying with Flynn. Brad kept trying to get closer to Zoe, and she kept jumping to conclusions about him and why he did things. She was very insulting to him at times. Brad spent time with Zoe’s son, Simon. Brad did things to help around the house as well.

Key of Knowledge was released at the end of November 2003. The book is available as a paperback. I found the book on a display at the front of my local bookstore. Other books by Nora Roberts are in the romance section of most book stores.

I really enjoyed Key of Knowledge. It was well written and descriptive, which is normal for a Nora Roberts book. I thought that the book was very interesting. The plot was unique and kept my interest. I didn’t think any part of the book was boring. Once I started reading it, I couldn’t put it down. I couldn’t wait to see what would happen next.

There was a little mystery and some suspense in Key of Knowledge. The mystery wasn’t as complex as has shown up in other Nora Roberts books. The mystery dealt with where the key was. This wasn’t one of Roberts more suspenseful books, but there were a few suspenseful moments in it. I did enjoy the book. There was some violence in the book. Those scenes weren’t that descriptive, so I don’t think the violence would be upsetting. There was some swearing, including a few appearances of the word that rhymes with luck. The swearing wasn’t offensive to me, but others may feel differently.

There was some romance in Key of Knowledge provided by the relationship between Dana and Jordan. They had been involved before, and things ended badly. Dana was still upset about that. Some things about their relationship reminded me of Mia and Sam from Face the Fire. There were sexual situations and acts between Dana and Jordan. The scenes were descriptive, but I thought they were tasteful. Other people may find them too explicit and be offended. People who don’t like to read those sort of scenes should avoid this book. There were hints of a developing relationship between Zoe and Brad throughout the book.

Key of Knowledge is the second book in the Key trilogy by Nora Roberts. The trilogy deals with the search for three special keys by three women. Each book focuses in on the search for one of the keys. The first two books did have their own plots, but they were connected. Key of Light laid the foundation for the next two books. Things that happened in the first book were brought up again in Key of Knowledge. I think that the plot of the third book, Key of Valor, will be connected to the first two as well. Things may not make sense if the books aren’t read in order. The same group of characters has returned in the first two books, but there were different main characters for each one. Mallory and Flynn were the main characters in the first book. They were still around and important in the second book, but they slipped more towards the background and Dana and Jordan became the main characters. In the next book, they will move into the background again and Zoe and Brad will become the main characters.

Nora Roberts also writes books as J.D. Robb. Those books are all part of a series set about fifty years in the future. The same group of main characters returns in each new book. The main character, Eve Dallas, is a homicide detective. Each book is about a different case she is working on. Her husband Roarke turns up in every book as well, and usually is involved in the investigation in some way. Other characters that Eve works with and a few friends also return throughout the series. There is romance in the books, but the focus of them is the mystery. People who like the J.D. Robb books may also like the books she has written as Nora Roberts. I have seen the J.D. Robb books in the romance section of some book stores, and in the mystery section of other book stores.

CHARACTERS

Dana - She is picked to look for the second key. She works in the library of Pleasant Valley. She got a new boss that drastically cut her hours. Dana and her new boss didn’t get along. Dana had been more skeptical about the search to begin with, but she was determined to find the key. She could be stubborn and seemed to be nasty to others at times. She loved books and was always reading. He had books all over her apartment, including in her kitchen. She knew where every book was. Dana planned to open her own bookstore.

Jordan - A successful author. He grew up in Pleasant Valley. He’d been best friends with Flynn and he and Dana dated before he left town. He hurt her when he left. He was older now and regretted how he handled things then. He still had feelings for Dana and he wanted her back in his life. He wouldn’t let her shut him out. He wanted to help her in the search for the key. One of his books ended up being very important to the search. He was protective of Dana.

Mallory - She searched for and found the first key. She had worked in a gallery in town before her boss’s wife caused her to be fired. Mallory was good at decorating and was picking out colors for the business with Zoe. Mallory could be stubborn as well. She was happy in her new relationship with Flynn. She was going to open her own gallery in the house where Dana’s bookshop and Zoe’s salon would be.

Flynn - Dana’s brother and friend of Jordan and Brad. Flynn was a reporter who was running the local newspaper. His mother put him in charge before she moved south with her second husband. Flynn had heard about the story of the three sisters before and worked to help Mallory with her search. He continued to do what he could to help Dana.

Zoe - She was a hair dresser. She planned to open her own salon. She was a single mother and very protective of her son Simon. She was defensive at times. She was insulting to Brad at times. She continued to jump to conclusions about him because he had money.

Brad - Flynn and Jordan’s friend. Brad’s family was very rich. They owned a chain of home improvement stores. Brad recently moved back to Pleasant Valley and became involved in the search for the keys. He was drawn to Zoe. He liked Simon and spent time with him as well, even after Zoe accused him of only doing that to get to her. Brad was very interested in Zoe even though she continued to jump to conclusions about him and insult him. He wanted to help with the search for the keys.

I really enjoyed Key of Knowledge. The book was interesting and entertaining to me. It wasn’t as suspenseful as some other Nora Roberts books, but I still enjoyed it a lot. I can’t wait to get Key of Valor.

Nora Roberts Book Reviews
Key of Light ~
Dance Upon the Air ~ Heaven & Earth ~ Face the Fire ~ Reflections ~ Dance of Dreams ~ Hidden Star ~ Captive Star ~ Secret Star ~ Night Shift ~ Night Shadow ~ Night Smoke ~ Night Shield ~ Cordina's Crown Jewel ~ Cordina's Royal Family ~ Once More With Feeling ~ Midnight Bayou ~ Three Fates ~ The Villa ~ Sweet Revenge ~ Genuine Lies ~ Chesapeake Blue ~ Birthright ~ Engaging the Enemy ~ Remember When ~

J.D. Robb Book Reviews
Seduction in Death ~ Reunion in Death ~ Purity in Death ~ Portrait in Death ~ Imitation in Death ~




Recommended: Yes