Face the Fire (Three Sisters Island Trilogy) [Paperback]

Nora Roberts (Author)

Book Description

Publication Date: May 28, 2002

The final book in the New England-set trilogy that began with Dance Upon the Air and Heaven and Earth.

Editorial Reviews

Amazon.com Review

Setting: Three Sisters Island

Sensuality: 7

A stunningly beautiful, powerful witch who possesses the gift of Fire, Mia Devlin locked her heart away when Sam Logan rejected her youthful love and left Three Sisters Island. Eleven years later, Sam returns to the island to claim Mia and take over his family business, the Magick Inn. Passion still burns between them, but Mia refuses to trust the man who once tore her life apart, leaving her grieving and alone. It's imperative that they find a way to resolve their thorny, complicated relationship for time is running out and the deadline for breaking a centuries-old curse is near. Mia has the steadfast aid of her two sisters of the heart, powerful witches that rule Air and Earth, but without Sam's help, even Mia's powers may not be enough to keep her alive until the deadline. And unless Mia makes the right choice about her heart and Sam, evil may win in the final confrontation, destroying all their lives and Three Sisters Island as well.

Face the Fire is the third and last book in bestselling author Nora Roberts's trilogy of witches, magic, and an age-old curse that began with Dance upon the Air and Heaven and Earth. This novel boasts a vivid seaside setting, sympathetic characters, and enough details about the practice of magic to intrigue the most cynical of readers. This is Roberts at her best. Don't miss it. --Lois Faye Dyer

From Publishers Weekly

The final installment in Roberts's Three Sisters trilogy (after Heaven and Earth), which is set on a New England island called Three Sisters, lacks the compelling emotional drama that has won her such a loyal readership. After being abandoned by her lover 12 years before, white witch Mia Devlin has developed a charming bookstore and cafe, a spectacular garden and a close circle of friends, all of whom share her involvement in the Craft. Only an age-old curse mars Mia's idyllic existence and threatens the future of the island itself. Then her former flame, Sam Logan himself a witch returns to the island, determined to win Mia back. The paranormal elements that tastefully flavored a number of Roberts's earlier titles is a bland additive here, creating the book's only suspense and filling scene after scene with discussions and manifestations of magic. Those who don't believe in spells, charms or paranormal wolves may find it hard to enjoy this story and the hokey chanting that comes with it ( No one who passes now need fear. You can do no more harm here ). As always, Roberts's prose is gracefully styled, and her storytelling is deft despite the weak material. But with perfect jobs, perfect homes, perfect hair and the force of the Craft behind them, Mia and company are barely human enough to move the reader's heart.
Copyright 2002 Cahners Business Information, Inc.

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Product Details

• Paperback: 358 pages
• Publisher: Jove; First Edition edition (May 28, 2002)
• Language: English
• ISBN-10: 051513287X
• ISBN-13: 978-0515132878
• Product Dimensions: 6.8 x 4.3 x 1 inches
• Shipping Weight: 6.4 ounces (View shipping rates and policies)
• Average Customer Review: 3.9 out of 5 stars  See all reviews (188 customer reviews)
• Amazon Best Sellers Rank: #23,409 in Books (See Top 100 in Books)
  • #5 in Books > 4-for-3 Books > Literature & Fiction > Genre Fiction > Horror > Occult
  • #9 in Books > 4-for-3 Books > Romance > Authors, A-Z > ( R ) > Roberts, Nora
  • #20 in Books > 4-for-3 Books > Romance > Fantasy, Futuristic & Ghost

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Customer Reviews

Most Helpful Customer Reviews

16 of 16 people found the following review helpful:

4.0 out of 5 stars Face the Fire, February 25, 2008

By 

Kelly "Reviewer for The Sinfully Sensuous" (Littleton, Colorado) - See all my reviews
(VINE VOICE)    (REAL NAME)   

This review is from: Face the Fire (Three Sisters Island Trilogy) (Paperback)

Mia Devlin is a strong beautiful witch that owns a bookstore/café on Three Sisters. She keeps buried a deep hurt from her childhood when the love of her life, Sam Logan, left her broken just out of high school.

Sam is back, and he is determined to win Mia back. He knows what a mistake he made leaving. He was so young, and the powerful emotions she brought out in him scared him, so he ran. Sam is also a witch, and he is willing to use whatever it takes to gain Mia's trust.

Mia and Sam must find their way back to each other, or they will not have the strength for the upcoming fight of their lives.

A great finish to the series. I liked that Mia was fire and Sam was water - fire & ice!

13 of 13 people found the following review helpful:

5.0 out of 5 stars A Magical Read! Enchanting!, June 3, 2002

By 

Sophie (Canada) - See all my reviews

This review is from: Face the Fire (Three Sisters Island Trilogy) (Paperback)

"Face the Fire" by Nora Roberts is the final instalment in the enchanting Three Sisters Island trilogy, which has captivated me from book one. Staying true to its predecessors, this final book does not disappoint. Full of vivid and insightful characterizations, steamy romance, and just the right dose of fantasy, "Face the Fire" will leave you believing in magic.

Mia Devlin is a strong, determined, and savvy businesswoman and an immensely powerful witch. She has great friends, especially Nell and Ripley, her sisters of the heart and fellow witches, a beautiful home and garden, and a wonderful bookstore that does great business, but Mia isn't truly happy. Ever since Sam Logan walked out of her life eleven years ago, leaving her young heart in pieces on the ground, she has closed off a part of herself that she never plans to open again.

Everything is going fine with her plan to keep her heart blocked off from ever being broken again, until the day that Sam Logan strolls into her bookstore and back into her life. But Mia greets Sam, who has returned to Three Sisters to reclaim her, with painfully polite icy indifference. For though the energy still snaps and sparks in the air between them, Mia knows she just won't survive having her heart torn out a second time.

But Sam is here to stay, and he won't give Mia up without a fight. The interplay between Mia and Sam is expertly rendered by Roberts, as we watch Mia's range of reactions to Sam's persistence. When they are together, Mia and Sam all but send sparks from the pages, sometimes in passion and sometimes in pure frustration and anger.

But no matter what Mia decides is in her heart, she had better do it fast, because the deadline for breaking a centuries old curse is mere months away. Mia can feel the evil forces hovering around the edges of her world, and if she doesn't win the fight against that evil, the people she loves will be in great danger, and the Island she so loves will fall into the sea.

"Face the Fire" is a fantastic read and I will most definitely read it again. It was wonderful to see lots of Nell & Zack and Ripley & Mac in this novel (the main characters from the two previous books in the trilogy). Mia is a wonderfully strong and courageous heroine who readers will become very attached to. And though it's fun watching Sam squirm when he first arrives on Three Sisters, he will win readers over with his sincere devotion to Mia and keeping her safe. This book is full of magic and romance, and contains a lovely tale of true love and destiny that I found irresistible. "Face the Fire" comes highly recommended, so buy it today!

23 of 28 people found the following review helpful:

2.0 out of 5 stars "Face The Fire" Is A Wash-Out!, November 17, 2003

By 

Jana L. Perskie "ceruleana" (New York, NY USA) - See all my reviews
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This review is from: Face the Fire (Three Sisters Island Trilogy) (Paperback)

"Face The Fire" is the final book in Nora Roberts' Three Sisters Trilogy, and unfortunately provides a whimper of a finale instead of the expected bang. Her first book, "Dance Upon The Air" is excellent. The second, "Heaven And Earth" is slightly weaker, but well worth reading. This novel, which should have been her strongest, as Mia, her protagonist is the most powerful and interesting of the sister witches, falls into cliche and repetition. It is just plain boring and a big disappointment.

Three Sisters is a small, rocky island off the coast of Massachusetts. Legend has it that the island was once a part of the mainland. Back in the late 1600s, during the Salem witch trials, three sisters, good witches all, known as Fire, Earth and Air, conjured the island and made it a haven against persecution. Unfortunately, the sisters did not fare as well as their island. All three were doomed by unfortunate relationships and a misuse of power. Before the last sister died she cast a spell to keep the island safe for 300 years. At that time she prophesied a reunion of three sisters, descendants of the original three, who would join together to redeem their ancestors, right the wrongs of the past and save their home from destruction.

Mia Devlin, owner of the successful bookstore-cafe on Three Sisters Island, is a strong sorceress, of the white witch variety. She lost the love of her life, Sam Logan, when he left her without warning or explanation ten years before. Mia has closed herself off from intimacy to avoid the fate that destroyed her ancestress 300 years earlier. Sam returns to the island looking to renew his relationship with Mia and runs into a brick wall. Although the chemistry between the two sizzles, Mia is determined not to let Sam back into her heart. As with her sister witches, Nell and Ripley, Mia must face the dangers of the curse that holds the island hostage. It is up to her to meet and challenge the evil that threatens to destroy her home and loved ones, and to triumph over it if she is to save them all.

Unfortunately, Ms. Roberts brings back the same old, now exhausted threads & villains of books one and two, which do nothing to spruce up book three. What a disappointment! Mia and Sam have the potential to be her most interesting characters, but their story gives new meaning to the word "hackneyed." I read the novel to see how everything ends up, having an interest in the characters from books one & two. I should have read an Amazon customer review instead and saved myself the time and money. My advice is to save yours.
JANA