Jove, $7.99, ISBN 0-515-13287-X
Paranormal Romance, 2002
The conclusion to the Three Sisters Island trilogy, the first book being Dance Upon the Air and the second Heaven and Earth. You want the back story about the stupid witches who martyr themselves for love and then, pissed off when they predictably meet bad ends as a result of their stupidity, lay a spell on the Three Sisters Island, etc, go read the two previous reviews. The more I repeat this back story, the more stupid it seems to be.
Mia Devlin, the descendant of the witch called Fire, once had a thing with Mr Water himself, Sam Logan. (Air and Earth had their own books – see the other two titles in this trilogy). Now Sam is back, and Mia is trying very hard to keep to her Gloria Gaynor karaoke anthem. But they have a bond! Destiny! Magic! Et cetera. That’s it, basically, for Face the Fire. The lovely cover is the most exciting thing ever in this book.
The second most exciting thing is, of course, the scenery. Ah, the island. Supposedly idyllic and only a little bit modern yet our heroines have no problem building extensions as if they are creating the new mall strip, this place is one lovely utopia. They probably have money growing in bags on trees. The fae back story is well-done too, although I still think Air is a spineless moron, Earth is unnecessarily melodramatic, and Fire is just as bad as Earth.
Third most exciting thing is the hero. Sam Logan isn’t that exciting, if truth be told: he is a stock Nora Roberts hero at heart, with very little apart from his magick skills to distinguish him from the rest of the author’s previous heroes. But he does have his moments, and when he gives lilacs to Mia, I melt and wonder why so few heroes in romance novels ever bother with tiny little gestures of appreciations for their SOs.
The pain in the butt is of course Mia. I think the author wants her to be kick-ass strong, but her no-no-no antics get old really fast. Long after it is more tedious than spiteful fun to show the finger to the ex who ran away, Mia keeps going on in her Energizer sourpuss act that I wish lightning will really come and strike her batteries dead. Is that what the cover is about?
There’s no reason why this story should be as long as it is. Mia is just being an unnecessary killjoy and spoilsport. While there is lovely scenery and occasional scenes to sigh and get misty-eyed over, Mia just spoils everything. Face the Fire isn’t bad, but it’s not the best this author can offer either.
