Alicia’s reviews of Nora Roberts’ Born In Trilogy, Irish contemporary romances all…

Born in Fire (Born In Trilogy #1)
Published 1 Oct 1994 by Jove

Maggie Concannon is a glassmaker whose exquisite works are more than mere objects of beauty: they are reflections of her own true nature. One man has seen the soul in her art, and vows to help this complex woman build a lucrative career.

When gallery owner Rogan Sweeney comes to Maggie’s isolated studio, her heart is enflamed by their fierce attraction – and her scarred past is slowly healed by a gentle and forgiving love.

I loved Born in Fire.  I loved Maggie and I loved Rogan.  Maggie is abrasive and opinionated.  Poor Rogan.  He doesn’t want to love her but he can’t help himself.  I’m getting to know Roberts’ writing and what to expect of it now.  I have learned to wait for it.  It builds slowly but the foundation is worth the waiting.  The side stories were beautiful as well.  The secondary characters are as deep and real as as the main characters.  

Grade: A- 

Born in Ice (Born In Trilogy #2)
Published 1 Nov 1996 by Jove

Brianna Concannon is a woman with a rare gift for creating a home, and she makes use of this talent by running a bed-and-breakfast in a picturesque corner of Ireland. Mystery writer Grayson Thane is an American who grew up in an orphanage and has spent his life alone. A restless wanderer with a painful past, Grayson arrives at Blackthorn Cottage intent only on soaking up the Irish atmosphere and writing his next novel, but he finds far more than he bargained for. The beautiful, calm Brianna soothes his disquiet soul, and in her Grayson finds the home he hadn’t realized he needed. Brianna knows that by falling for him, she risks her heart, already bruised and scarred by a young love who left her at the altar. But the yearning to let the American melt the ice around her cold exterior is irresistible. Unless Grayson can let go of his past to forge a future with her, Brianna may have gambled her heart in vain.

I liked Ice even better than Fire.   There wasn’t as long of a build-up at the beginning of this one.  Most likely because the stage was set already in the first book.  Brianna is so strong and so tortured that you just want to hug her and make everything ok.  Gray’s character could have turned out to seem selfish and shallow but he didn’t.  He came across as an equally tortured but wonderful man.  Even the tell-tale hints in his behavior toward the end were just right.  I almost wanted to give it an A+ since it kept me happy the whole book through and I cried my eyes out at the end.  But it just isn’t quite up to my other A+ books.

Grade: A

Born in Shame (Born In Trilogy #3)
Published 1 Jan 1996 by Jove

This third and final novel in Roberts’s Irish trilogy is the story of Shannon Bodine. Shannon’s life is rocked by an emotional earthquake when she learns the identity of her real father. Obeying her late mother’s last wish, American Shannon travels to County Clare, Ireland, to meet the sisters she never knew she had. Warmed and comforted by the bond that grows between her and her sisters, her heart is lured by the charm of the Irish countryside and tempted by the attraction of horseman Murphy Muldoon. Murphy takes one look at Shannon and knows that she is the woman he’s waited for all his life. But Shannon is a practical woman. Will she open her heart and mind to the timeless, magical bond that connects them? Or will she reject fate’s plan and leave Murphy to return to her life in America? 

Born in Shame by Nora Roberts was a satisfying end to the trilogy.  I loved Murphy.  I loved how she made Shannon a lot like Maggie but not the same person.  She’s firey but not as deliberately abrasive.  None of the other characters became stale or lost their individual personalities, which impresses me greatly.  I cried again at the end of this one. 

Grade: B+