Book Review: Bay of Sighs by Nora Roberts

Bay of Sighs
Author: Nora Roberts
Series: Guardians Trilogy, Book 2
Publication: Berkley (June 14, 2016)

Description: To celebrate the rise of their new queen, three goddesses of the moon created three stars, one of fire, one of ice, one of water. But then they fell from the sky, putting the fate of all worlds in danger. And now three women and three men join forces to pick up the pieces…

Mermaid Annika is from the sea, and it is there she must return after her quest to find the stars. New to this world, her purity and beauty are nothing less than breathtaking, along with her graceful athleticism, as her five new friends discovered when they retrieved the fire star.

Now, through space and time, traveler Sawyer King has brought the guardians to the island of Capri, where the water star is hidden. And as he watches Annika in her element, he finds himself drawn to her joyful spirit. But Sawyer knows that if he allows her into his heart, no compass could ever guide him back to solid ground...

And in the darkness, their enemy broods. She lost one star to the guardians, but there is still time for blood to be spilled—the mermaid’s in the water and the traveler’s on the land. For she has forged a dangerous new weapon. Something deadly and unpredictable. Something human.

My Thoughts: The second book in the Guardians trilogy finds our group of six in Capri searching for the second falling star. The one concentrates of the romance between Sawyer and Annika. This is a romance that seemingly has a built-in ending date. Annika is a mermaid who was given legs so that she could take part in the quest to find the stars but will return to the sea in three months without them. Sawyer has a device that lets him travel in space and time.

Sawyer is reluctant to begin a relationship with Annika for a number of reasons. The primary one for him is that Annika is new to life on land and dealing with humans. He sees her as an innocent in need of protection. Despite her lack of familiarity with humans, Annika is a woman who knows what she wants.

Our villain, the dark goddess Nerezza, has found herself a human partner in Andre Malmon who is a bored killer who has had previous run-ins with Sawyer and with Riley. If he weren't so irredeemably evil, I could feel sorry for him because his relationship with Nerezza changes him for the worse. But Malmon makes his bargain eagerly and ends up changed and enslaved to her.

Since one of the main viewpoint characters in this one isn't human, we get a lot of Annika's joy and curiosity. We also get a lot of opportunities to see her struggling with idioms and customs of humans. For example, she has a very different way of dealing with nakedness and talking about sex. Luckily, her new sisters Riley and Sasha are there to clear up some of her confusion.

Again, this story is trademark Roberts in the relationships she builds between the characters and their acceptance of each others strengths and weaknesses. Friendships matter in a Roberts book. I can't wait to read the next one both to see the end to their quest and to see the relationship that is coming next.

Favorite Quote:

"The man with the gun didn't have a red shirt. It was brown."

Now Sawyer smiled. "Star Trek. We have to catch you up."

"It means expendable," Riley explained. "The crewman in the red shirt going on a mission isn't going to make it back."

"Why doesn't he change his shirt?"

I bought this one. You can buy your copy here.