'Valley of Silence' by Nora Roberts

ISBN: 0515141674
Format: Mass Market Paperback, 352pp
Publisher: Penguin Group (USA)
Price: $7.99

The third book in the Circle Trilogy is by far the best. Finally everything the six have worked for is coming to be. Hoyt, Glenna, Larkin, Blair, Moira, and Cain have raised and trained an army in the legendary land of Geall and are ready for the battle against Lilith and the dark.

In Morrigon’s Cross Hoyt and Glenna fell in love and married, in Dance of the Gods Larkin and Blair admitted that they loved each other and became engaged. Through both of those books I kept wondering when it was going to be Cain’s turn.

Finally in Valley of Silence does Cain do something about the love for Moira that has been eating away at him from the first. Finally there is passion, fire, and yes — this being a vampire romance — a few bite marks as well.

Lilith has been testing the Circle’s strength, feeling out their weaknesses and trying to plant the seed of doubt in their hearts. She has captured and turned away friends and family, sending them back to the Circle to destroy in an attempt to sway them from their path. The Circle shoulders the burden and with the help of each other they move forward, pushing Lilith into retreat.

Cain struggles with his love for Moira, since he is a vampire and she a human. He knows that they have no future together, that he cannot give her the things she desires. Cain can’t help but be with her while he has the chance, knowing that when they finally part it will be like all light has left his world. Moira would do anything to have Cain stay with her in Geall, but she knows that their time is short.

Finally the battle is fought. Vampires crawl from the earth as darkness falls, a dark sorcerer fights the light, and the Circle battles to keep all worlds safe from the darkness that Lilith thirsts for. The battle is bloody and exacts a cost, but the Circle lives to see the run rise.

I read a review that said the book was predictable. Ok, so maybe a little. It’s a romance novel and there are only so many places one can be taken. You know when you pick up the book that it has a happy ending. So what? Keep reading and find out how you get there. The end does have bit of twist which is fantastic, by the way.

The Circle Trilogy is a great series, one I will read again and again. It‘s a comfort thing, a bath time read or a beach book; the kind of thing that is never a bad choice.