Dance of the Gods, by Nora Roberts

The circle of six has only three months to prepare for the epic battle for this world and all of the others, a war that will be waged against Lilith and her army of vampires. If they lose the battle, the worlds will be forever changed or destroyed. There is no choice but to win, charged by the goddess Morrigan to fight and to win.

With only two months left to prepare, the Circle travels through time and space to Geall to complete their preparations. This is the world of Moira and her cousin Larkin (the scholar and the shapeshifter), a world that has already been rocked by changes. It is here that the circle will prepare and do battle against the forces of Lilith's army.

The romantic story line here is between Blair, the demon hunter (the warrior of the circle) and Larkin. As a tough, modern-day woman, Blair finds Geall difficult to get used to, and she finds her attraction to Larkin annoying. She is (overly) sarcastic most of the time and a very cynical woman compared to Larkin's general good humor. They will have to overcome their differences in order to accomplish their common goals. But can they?

I thought that Hoyt and Glenna were... dull. Blair is just flat-out unlikeable. Now granted, I find that often with Nora Roberts' series, there is often one heroine who I just flat out do not like. In this case, it is obviously Blair. Unfortunately, the fact that she is sandwiched in the middle of a series that had a rough start doesn't make me want to continue reading the story.

Unfortunately this book just compounds what is already a problem; the series just isn't very appealing. Nora Roberts still comes across as trying out a new style of writing (in this case, seemingly the paranormal genre of Anne Rice or Stephenie Meyer) and it comes across as trite and rather boring. This style doesn't suit her, and fans of Nora Roberts have been very disappointed by this series as a whole. My attitude is that she shouldn't have fixed what wasn't broken.

I don't think that Nora Roberts fans are likely to particularly enjoy this novel, and I can almost guarantee that if you didn't enjoy Morrigan's Cross that you won't enjoy Dance of the Gods. At this point, the series isn't getting any better. I believe that the higher ratings on Amazon for Dance of the Gods is due to the number of people who gave up after reading the first book in the series, rated it low, and then never returned to the second novel.

As I said in my review of Morrigan's Cross, I am currently re-reading this series. Given the fact that I'm telling you that it's bloody awful, why would I read it again? And how am I here... recommending it? If you view the first two books of this series as a means to an end, I think that you will understand why. Keep your attention focused firmly on Moira and Cian, try to enjoy the first two novels, and then allow yourself to be thrilled with the concluding novel, which features the best couple of the three. I am almost certain you won't be disappointed.

Larkin is the Gaellian shapeshifter, cousin of Queen Moira. He can take on many forms, but he is often seen in the form of a horse or a dragon.

A fun hero, Larkin is a traditional men in a lot of ways, but he loves a challenge!

His land of Geall has been ripped to shreds by the murder of the previous queen by the vampire queen Lilith. Now Larkin must join together with the circle of six so that he can defeat her and save Geall and the worlds beyond it.

In the modern twenty-first century, there are all sorts of things that hide just below the surface of our recognition and understanding. Blair Murphy, demon huntress, is one of those such things.

Blair is wholly modern and a very tough woman. She has her own ideas and she is stubborn, but she is a trained warrior and she will fight to the death with any demon or vampire who gets in her way. Driven and motivated, Blair is at the center of training the forces to go up against the army of vampires they face.

With Larkin by her side in either his dragon or his horse form, she is a force to be reckoned with, but even with Blair there are doubts that the circle of six can pull off the army they need in order to win this epic battle at the Valley of Silence!