THE AWAKENING is the first part of Nora Roberts' newest fantasy trilogy, Dragon Heart Legacy. And what a beginning it is! As an introduction, it is magickal.

THE AWAKENING is filled with diverse and intriguing characters that only the imagination of Nora Roberts can conjure up.

Reviewed by Annetta Sweetko for Fresh Fiction

Complete review may be found at: https://freshfiction.com/review.php?id=72208

I read a few of Nora Roberts’s more traditional romances back in the day (way, way back in the day, now that I think about it). But I know that she’s written a lot of books in other genres, too, most notably, perhaps, mysteries. I’ve also seen that she’s released more fantasy novels recently, and having missed the “Year One” trilogy when it was coming out, I thought I’d jump on the first book in a new fantasy series she started up this fall. And so, I nabbed an e-ARC of ‘The Awakening.” Sadly, it wasn’t all that I was hoping it would be.

Breen has lived a simple life full of doing what is expected of her and not expecting much in return. But when she discovers that her mother has been keeping a massive secret from her, a massive 4 million dollars worth secret, Breen decides that enough is enough and it’s time to take control of her life. And the first thing she decides to do is to travel to Ireland, the homeland of the father who left home never to return when she was a child. But she discovers much more than a new country, instead finding herself in a completely new land and one that comes with a destiny for her even greater than she had ever imagined.

To start with the pros for this book, there’s simply no denying that Roberts has a very appealing and approachable style of writing. She’s able to deftly paint a picture of all kinds of locations and peoples and immediately create connections between the reader and her story. These strengths were particularly on display in the opening chapter of this book that is set in the fantasy world. I was quickly drawn in and curious to know more about Keegan and the history of his people and land.

Unfortunately, the strengths of this opening chapter made the switch to Breen’s story land with quite a thud. For one thing, Breen simply isn’t the most exciting character. Yes, that is part of her story, her learning to come more into her own. But it’s still a long slog through the thoughts and actions of a character who is bland to the extreme. It got to the point where I was even beginning to be frustrated by the friends around her who were all described as being great people. It’s almost a constant stream of support and encouragement from everyone around her to the point that A.) the friends are almost unbelievable in their goodness and B.) Breen’s complete inability to expect better for herself and have confidence without all of this validation becomes strange.

I also felt that some of these friendships fell into pretty stereotypical patterns. Her friend, Marco, read as the “gay best friend” straight out of the early 2000s. He’s right there telling her to update her wardrobe and reclaim her natural hair color, etc etc. It felt a little shallow and dated, to be honest. And then she starts a blog, which of course immediately takes off and she has a bunch of followers and has found a natural ability in writing. Which…don’t even get me started on that. Obviously, being a writer and blogger myself, this raised some serious eyebrows on my part. I mean, I have an easier time believing in a magical land of dragons and fairies than that someone started a random travel blog and somehow immediately has thousands of followers reading and commenting.

The story got better when she finally makes her way to the new land, but it was a bit too late for me. It took a long, long time for her to even get there, and by the time she does, I was already struggling too much with Breen herself to really redeem the book for me. I did like the romance and fantasy elements when we go there, though. This is the first book in a trilogy, but I’m still unsure whether I’ll keep on with it. Fans of Nora Roberts will probably like this, but it could have been better, in my opinion.

Rating 6: A decent fantasy story, but the main character dragged it down.

(Link will go live Nov. 4)

I have my list of tried and true authors whose books I always look for because they never disappoint - Nora Roberts is one such author, and I absolutely enjoyed The Awakening.

Readers familiar with her fantasy trilogies know she has a certain formula, generally speaking. It usually starts with a strong female protagonist with two equally strong female sidekicks (or a trio of strong female protagonists). One is usually tough, one is creative, and one is likely an amazing cook. There's some powerful magick, and a bad guy they have to defeat. In each book of the trilogy, each woman ends up with her soulmate, but the bad guy isn't defeated until the final book.

The Awakening doesn't quite follow her usual format. Breen is not your hero material. She's unhappy, lacks confidence, and does what she can to blend in. Her clothes are drab, and she tones down her red hair to a mousey brown, and she's anxious - mostly because her mother has gaslit her her into believing she is barely adequate, less than average.

THe bulk of the story plays out in Talamh, the mystical, magickal world where her father was from. This world has all the elements needed for a fantasy - elves, pixies, witches, weres, trolls, flying dragons, and more.

What I love about THIS story is that Breen did not grow up in this world so her response feels relatable. We get to see her work through the full range of disbelief, acceptance, and learning to use her magic. Through all of it, her character feels real. She's not perfect; in fact, she's terrible at fighting. She still struggles with self-confidence, and she's not sure if she's the one for the task.

Roberts' voice in whatever she writes is very strong and very much her own. Her writing is very visual and immersive, and she just tells a good story. You want to settle into the worlds she creates, real or imagined, in part because of the goodness of her characters who always believe in good over evil.

This really feels like a really big prologue, as it sets the stage for the real battles to happen. And that's ok by me, becasue I enjoyed the ride to the very last page, and she left me impatient for the next book.

I cannot rave about this first book in a new series enough. Nora Roberts has created a story that is full of wonder, magicks, relationships, and duty. The world building is phenomenal. The descriptions so vivid I became completely immersed in the story.
The characters are complex and intriguing. Breen grows so much over this book. Keegan is compelling and I can't wait to see how he develops. Marco, Sally, and the rest of the normal world crew are fabulous and quickly feel like friends. Those in Talamh are every bit as charming. Even the characters I loved to hate were intriguing. I'm positive we haven't seen the last of Shana and I'm anxious to see what havoc she wields.
This series promises to be epic in so many ways. That ending was a jaw dropper and I can't wait for the next book!

I don't remember ever reading anything by Nora Roberts before this book even though she is very popular. I am grateful to Netgalley and St. Martin's Press for the opportunity to discover a new-to-me author who is amazing.

This book is longer than most; when you pick it, you are getting an amazing 400 + pages full of substance. The story starts in the United States, moves to Ireland and then almost like the Twilight Zone enters a carefully crafted world created in Nora's imagination. The world building, right down to the powers and intriguing characters that make up the land of Talamh are so well done that I felt as if I had actually wandered there too.

The main character, Breen, is a strong female. Told she was only average, or less, by her mother all her life, she finds within herself the ability to transcend the negativity. There is a mix of good and evil within the book which adds to an element of suspense.

I thoroughly enjoyed this book.

The Awakening by Nora Roberts is the 1st book in her new Dragon Heart Legacy trilogy. I am a huge fan of Nora Roberts books, especially her faboulous trilogies; I absolutely love each and everyone of them. I was thrilled to find out about the first book in this new trilogy and am happy to say I loved it…another winner for Nora Roberts.

Breen Kelly, our heroine, is 26 years old and lives in Philadelphia; she hates her job, and is deep in debt. Breen has strange dreams that keep her up many nights, with one message “Come Home, Breen Siobhan”. With her mother away, she is cleaning up and discovers some papers that has an account with her name and a balance of close to 4 million dollars. Breen decides she wants to learn more about her father, and travels to Ireland with her friend Marco. For two weeks they travel and enjoy Ireland, and when Marco goes home, Breen is determined to stay for a few months. She comes across a cute puppy (Bollocks), who leads her through a portal where she meets her grandmother, and learns her father is dead.

Breen will learn everything about the realm of Talamh, filled with magic, fairies, witches, dragons, elves, weres, falcons, as well as the beautiful incredible land and family/friends she knew when she was a young child, only to be taken away by her mother. Roberts not only created a wonderful heroine, but I loved those family and friends in Talameh; Keegan (the young leader and love interest), Marg, Morena, Aisling, Mahon, Harken, Sedric, and her friend Marco, etc. In the midst of all these wonderful people, there is of course an evil villain, Odran, her grandfather, who is determined to kidnap her and take away her powers, which needs to be awakened.
I do not want to give spoilers, as you need to read this from start to finish.

What follows is a wonderful story that kept my attention throughout, unable to put the book down. I loved watching Breen learn how to use her powers from her grandmother, as well as Keegan training her on how to fight with a sword or her own abilities such as fire. I also loved how Breen wrote a children’s book about her puppy, and also starts to write a novel.

The slow build romance between Breen and Keegan was nicely done, as they belong together, which I expect to see more in the next book. I loved loved Bollocks, who was such an adorable puppy. Breen needs to make a choice; does she go back home, or does she stay and help Talameh fight the oncoming evil. What will Breen do? I loved everything about this book, as I devoured it from start to finish, and look forward to the next book.

Nora Roberts is able to bring readers into her new world of supernatural discovery. Breen is the female lead which the story revolves around and her new found discovery. Readers struggle along with her in her journey that she isn't sure is real at times.

Keegan the male lead is a little hard to like due to his strong desire to protect everyone pushing the unknown Breen away.

There are many different side characters that will bring readers into this amazing story and world demanding the next book in the series from this author.

If readers have never been interested in the supernatural/Paranormal this series will change their minds.

Thank you to Netgalley and the publisher for the advance copy of Nora Roberts The Awakening.

Oh my! It started out kinda slow for me but talking about finishing with a bang! Breen has always felt inadequate. She hates her job. Only the love of her friends keeps her going. When she finds out she is a millionaire, not by her mother, She sets out to do things she’s always wanted to do, like find her father! Keegan is a man in charge of keeping his world safe. Can Breen and Keegan keep a world from a dark evil?


I received a complimentary copy of this book from NetGalley. The opinions expressed in this review are completely my own

2.5 stars -- I am a huge fan of La Nora, but I had a very mixed experience with this first entry in a new paranormal series from her. The things I liked were the actual magic system and world the fantasy elements are based on. They are all coorelated to the Fey and set in an alternate fey realm in Ireland, which was really fun. But this book feels so messy in terms of structure. It is nearly 500 pages, and honestly, I think it would have been a far stronger book had it been cut down to half that. Better still, cut to 250 pages of this book & then have the next entry start at that point for the last 250 pages. That said, I am intrigued about where this story may go, so if you go into this knowing there's a lot of lag, you may find a new series to invest in.

It's been a long time since I have read a book by Nora Roberts. She is actually one of my favorite authors, I started reading contemporary romance novels because of her. I am also a fan of her in death series. I couldn't finish this book though, It talks a lot about witch craft and I wasn't into it.

I did like how she described Ireland, I can actually picture my self there. Since It's part of my nationality, I ordered brochures so I can go there some day. I mean who doesn't want to see the hotel that U2 owns?

Anyways, I liked the book, but not enough to finish it, it made me miss the romance novels that she usually writes. I am grateful that Netgalley let me read this in exchange for an honest review.

Taking up a sword and its attendant duty at a young age, Keegan, who dwells in an alternate universe connected to Ireland, must learn to lead and fight for his people. Several years later, he will encounter a woman destined to help him defeat an evil who would tear his and the human world apart.

Breen Kelly grew up on the other side of the pond. After her parents divorced when she was young, Breen kept up a relationship with her Irish father until one day he seemingly abandoned his beloved daughter. Eain Kelly told his daughter fantastical tales of enchanted places and those stories always stuck with her. Now, as an adult trapped in loathsome job, and saddled with a mother who has always made her feel less than, Breen is stunned to learn that an account provided by her father contains enough money to give a new freedom. Apparently, Breen’s mother has been keeping more than just the knowledge of the money from her as well because Breen is not a normal everyday human.

Added to Breen’s astonishment at finding out about this treasure, a man seems to be following her and can speak telepathically with a message: come home, Breen. She has had dreams and visions her whole life of fantastical places and beasts. Breen feels keenly compelled to go Ireland in order to search for her missing father and learn about his purported homeland. Once in Ireland, Breen comes to learn that fantasy is reality and that she is part of a whole world of fairies, witches, plus all manner of mythical beasts with family she never knew existed and, unfortunately, one seriously evil relation who desires all Breen’s considerable power.

This a new trilogy from the prolific writer Nora Roberts will appeal to readers of Fantasy. Since this is the first one in the series, there is quite a bit of world building to set up all Breen has to learn about her new reality. Her relationship with Keegan is a slow burn one with quite a few clashes as he teaches Breen to maneuver in magical, mystical world she has been transported to through the mists of Ireland. This story reads like one of Ms. Roberts travel blog posts as she has spent considerable time in the Emerald Isle so it is imbued with a lot of description of the country. And like Ms. Roberts, Breen has it in her to be a writer as well so that adds a meta level to the story where she is able to tell the fantastical events as fiction. Fans of fantasy and Ms. Robert’s writing style should enjoy this tale.

I love Nora Roberts. I've been reading her books for decades. Something I'm going to say about authors that have been writing for as long as Ms. Roberts has been and as many books as she has written, sometimes they start sounding alike. And yes, some of Nora Roberts books have started doing that for me. A female goes off on an adventure, meets the man of her dreams, falls in love, etc. The second in the series is usually a friend or relative, with someone they know and they fall in love, etc. The third in the series, the couple has a history, etc. That is not the case with The Awakening. Breen has her romance, but that was such a slow burn I was questioning if she would. The fact this doesn't end with the HEA means that there will be more Keegan goodness coming up.

This book was so well written, the world building for both the world that only Nora can write and ours, are just amazing. I love Breen. I love Marco. I love Keegan. I love the fact that Breen found family after her mother tore her down. Ms. Roberts is a magician. I started this book and I couldn't put it down. Sadly I had to, if I was able to stay up all night like I could when I first started reading her books, I would've. It's been awhile since I've found a book that I've wanted to sit down and just devour.

Thank you again for giving me the opportunity to read this book and review it. I can't wait to see what happens.

I really tried but couldn't get into this. I skimmed through so I could know what happened, but it seemed like two different stories were smashed together and not in a way that worked for me. One story is about a woman who never met her father and her mother was hiding the fact he left her a bunch of money. She finds out she's a millionaire now, quits her job, visits Ireland to try to find him and pursues her dream of writing books and writes a blog - all of which achieve notoriety completely overnight and she gets the first agent she contacts and gets two book contracts immediately and is going to be a bestseller because sure. The other story is about a woman who discovers she is of Fae blood, well actually Fae and some sort of dark God blood, and her evil dark God grandfather kidnapped her in the past and wants her back now for something dastardly. And there's a hot guy from this world trying to romance her. Now smash the two stories together so the same person has all of this happen to her. It's...alot.

A new Trilogy by Nora Roberts. It's a no brainer to pick up this 1st installment to the Dragon Heart Legacy. Breen Kelly grew up on her Dad's stories of magical realms and far away places. Now alone she is struggling with student loans and sadness. When she discovers a bank account set up by her mother she decides on a trip to Ireland. Now forces beyond her knowledge are awakening and her long missing mysterious father may have engineered this whole trip. A man named Keegan seems to be expecting her and is guiding her through this new life. A great book 1 and looking forward to the rest of the series. I received a copy of this ARC in exchange for a fair and honest review.

Really loved this one! I've not ready any of her previous paranormal/supernatural stories, but this one really appealed to me and I was not disappointed. Lots of interesting characters and setting. Can't wait to see what the next installment brings.

What an incredible journey! The Awakening brilliantly captured the storyline as it took the reader into a new world and the adventures discovered there. Strong characters, a beautifully built backstory, and a creatively woven beginning to what will surely be an epic new trilogy.

Nora Roberts writes a fantastic book. The beginning of a new series, The Awakening, brings contemporary city life and a secret magical life together the way no one else can. There are choices to be made that will affect everyone's lives. Highly recommended. P.S. There are dragons!

I have been a HUGE Nora Roberts fan for probably over 30 years! I just love her writing and how versatile she is. She could write any and every genre.

This was a great start to a new series! The Dragon Heart Legacy is definitely going to be a hit! I am just bummed that we have to wait so long for the next book in this series because this left us off in a serious cliffhanger!

I can't wait to read more from her though!

Nora does it again!! She always delivers an unforgettable experience. I will always be a fan. Well done

WOW!! I loved every minute reading this! I am a huge Nora Roberts fan, especially her trilogies. This is a bit different. Where before we had 3 books with 3 couples, The Awakening is just the beginning for Breen. We see her eyes truly open to the world around her and how she manages the many changes in her life. Roberts description made me feel like I was smack dab in the middle of Ireland....and beyond. The ending has me anxious for the rest; one of the draw backs of getting an advance copy!