I have to admit it is really hard to summon my thoughts of this one. To be honest, I am not quite sure what the author actually wanted to say.. Contemporary fiction with a spark of fantasy - it does sound like a great idea, but unfortunately the execution of it wasn't really as good as it might have been. Some parts were amazing, some ok, and some really boring, I even skipped some parts of the fantasy world cause it was just too unreal. Kinda like reading women's version of Harry Potter, but not as good. I loved the beginning when Breena started to build her life, her friends and the whole trip to Ireland,. But somewhere around the middle things just started to fall apart. Maybe the rest of the series will make it better as a whole. I certainly hope so.

Big thanks to the publisher and NetGalley for providing me with an Advanced Reader Copy in exchange for a fair and honest review.

I adore Nora Roberts, and usually can't wait to devour everything she writes. Unfortunately, this wasn't up to the usual standard. It started promisingly - our heroine Breen discovers that her mother has been keeping an important secret that changes everything she thought she knew about her life. However, after the reveal the book started to drag painfully, with about a third of it taken up with next to nothing happening. Even when things started to pick up, there was a huge amount of plot that wasn't necessary, and I found myself bored with the story.

Going in, I thought The Awakening was a fantasy. However, it reads more like a Contemporary with a little bit of fantasy thrown in as an afterthought, and its hard work getting there. Don't get me wrong - it isn't a bad book, it just wasn't what I wanted. And by the time I reached the end (which, granted, was brilliant) I had lost interest and was only reading for the sake of finishing it.

I received a copy from the publisher in exchange for an honest review.

Breen Kelly is a young teacher in Philadelphia, trying to keep her head down and go about her life without drawing attention to herself. After all, that’s what she has been encouraged to do by her mother all her life – don’t have lofty aspirations; just work hard and blend in. So, Breen dyes her hair, wears ill-fitting clothes, and takes the bus around the city, trying to just be another person in the crowd while paying off her mountainous student debt. But one day, while house-sitting for her mother, Breen discovers that she has money, and a lot of it. Breen’s father, who left when she was young, has been contributing to an investment that is worth a couple of million dollars. An investment that Breen’s mother kept secret.

Free from her previous responsibilities and armed with a newfound sense of adventure and daring, Breen decides to throw caution to the wind and spend the summer in Ireland to track down her father. While exploring Ireland with her best friend, Marco, Breen discovers that strange things are happening: she holds full conversations with people who seem to not exist, and she starts to have strange dreams that feel as real as any day of her life. One day, Breen accidentally stumbles through a portal to a magical realm, and only then does she understand that perhaps her trip to Ireland was about more than just finding her father; it was about finding and confronting her own destiny.

When I picked up this book, I felt relatively comfortable going in: I like books by Nora Roberts – they’re always engaging and enjoyable and I don’t feel that they’re overly taxing to read. But something went wrong with this book. Some may dislike it because it’s a fantasy novel rather than the standard romantic suspense novels that Roberts writes, but I read her “Chronicles of The One” trilogy and enjoyed that. Personally, I think the problems with this book are two-fold: the pacing and plot is jarringly off in this book, and the story feels stale.

On the first point regarding the pacing and the plot: This book felt like it was stuffed with a lot of filler, and I felt that there was very little actual conflict in the book. The ending fizzled out without much of a resolution, leaving a small cliffhanger at the end of the book to set us up for the next book in the series. All of this could be forgiven if not for the fact that the book is so long. A hardcover copy of this book is approximately 460 pages long, for reference, and I feel like the story could have been told in a third of that. There was so much filler – page after page (or screen after screen, in my case on my Kindle) were filled with stories about how Breen woke up early, wrote her blog, wrote some more, had some coffee, walked the dog, etc. This wasn’t necessary, and I would think a good editor would pick this out and scrap it as being redundant and unnecessary. I personally felt that it was, at any rate.

Secondly, as far as the plot goes, I felt disappointed in the story arc this book followed. There was little to no high-stakes drama in this book. Everything was set up to build towards conflict in later novels in the series, but to my mind, there was nothing that actually took place in this book. This lack of plot is likely what contributed to the extreme amount of filler material in the book, and ultimately made me feel like the book had stagnated. Then suddenly, in the last 10% of the book, the plot of the book takes a dramatic change, which feels like it should have been the start of Book 2, rather than the end of Book 1. Again, something that an editor could have picked up and fixed.

What also struck me about this book is how stale the story felt. Nora Roberts has written a couple of other fantasy series in the past – “Chronicles of The One” being the most recent of these – and honestly, they have all felt unique and interesting enough to grab my attention and feel fresh. This book, though, feels very same-y: the same magical creatures seem to inhabit the world; the spells are cast in the same ways; the big bad guy seems extremely “cookie-cutter” … everything just feels like it’s been done before, and that made it hard to be invested in the story, especially given that the premise sounds so interesting and engaging. Ultimately, though, it felt a bit like Roberts was following a checklist of “things to include in a fantasy series” and just rattled through them to create this book.

Although I have harped on about the negatives, there are good things in this book too: I found that the characters were interesting and well-developed. There were a lot of rich, textured interactions between people in this book, and I enjoyed this aspect of it. I felt that there were dynamics at play between characters that were interesting to read about, which is what ultimately kept me reading.

It’s hard to say this, but I think this will be the last of Nora Roberts’ fantasy novels I read. It was a trudging read that I felt was let down by poor pacing and an unengaging plot. Granted this is only my opinion, but I feel Roberts’ strength lies in her romantic suspense, and where her books are concerned, I’ll be sticking to those from here on out.

Thanks to NetGalley and Piatkus for the Advance Reader Copy in exchange for a review.

This book is a masterpiece! I'm in awe of how many times I had to reread whole chapters because I wanted to savour every single action and moment.
It's magical and beautiful written, the characters are so interesting and let's not forget about the settings, whimsical lands with so much history that helps to let your imagination go wild.
It's The Awakening of a woman that has lived her life in a cocoon, so sheltered from the authentic life and her inheritance.
Her journey to discover her meaning and powers in this new life she discovered, it's full of magical moments and unbelievable stories but they all become her reality as soon she accepted it and I’m so looking forward to the next books in this trilogy because NR has opened a can of out of this world story.
I’m not even going to say how much I'm looking forward to the romance story, that's going to be an interesting ride.
One of my favourite authors in the world is back and this book will be a favourite for every reader.

Very grateful to the publisher @littlebrownbookgroup_uk / Piatkus for my review copy through @netgalley

The Awakening is the first instalment in The Dragon Heart Legacy trilogy, where parallel worlds clash over the struggle between good and evil. Breen Kelly, a high school English teacher from Philadelphia, has been studying hard for a title and a career she's not even sure she wanted. She never made a choice herself for many things in her life; they were the wish of her cold and dominant mother, who seemingly wanted to live vicariously through her. The warmest childhood memories are of her Irish father, even though he left them a long time ago never to be heard from again. Breen is lucky to have Marco in her life, her best friend since kindergarten and a constant source of love and support. But even Marco can't make Breen make the change in her life that she so desperately longs for. One day Breen is alone in her mother's house when a sudden gust of wind blows apart the papers on her mother's desk. As Breen picks them up, she discovers that all the documents are about her - they are bank statements showing that her father has sent her money over the years. Now she knows for sure: her father never really left her. She and Marco take the first plane to Ireland to find her family and origins. Here a secret awaits Breen she could never have dreamed...

This is an enchanting, emotive and richly-imagined fantasy epic and a story I got lost in from the very beginning. It's refreshingly original and moving with a liberal dose of the wonderful tenderness and humanity Roberts's characters overflow with; Breen is a superb protagonist who is relatable and flawed and all too human because of it. She's been through a lot in life and Roberts captures both her gentle and anxious sides perfectly in this captivating character-driven coming of age tale. Her awakening was as stirring and profound as I could've wished as she ventures on a journey of self-discovery taking her across continents after some surprising revelations. The mix of both the real-world setting and that of fantasy blended much better than I'd imagined making for a story that has a whole lot of heart, soul and powerful omens alongside the authors rich and intricate building of both worlds. The characterisation is so exceptional that the characters come alive on the page and jump out of the book and into your heart with ease; Breen's friendship with Marco was so touching and even accompanies her on her adventure to Ireland. This is a story of identity, of belonging and of never settling or accepting you're simply not good enough, and I think that's a strong and courageous message we could all learn to live by. Highly recommended.

Wonderful, fantastical, and marvellous.

Nora Roberts at her consummate best!

Thank you to the author, Netgalley and publisher for a copy of this book

Classic Nora Roberts. Sucks you in then leaves you hanging for the next in the series. Can't wait to find out what happens next.

I loved this book so well written I was hooked from the first few words to the last o did not want it to end a good strong plot great character I recommend to you all loved it

"The Awakening" was a fun read for me. Nora Roberts is the author, so you know the quality of the writing will be very good and easy to read. The main part of the story is set in Ireland (or is it? Read it to see what I mean!) and centres around a young woman called "Breen". There are some genuinely adorable characters, and one in particular that I hated right from the start. Pure escapism.

My thanks to the author, publisher, and NetGalley. This review was written voluntarily and is entirely my own, unbiased, opinion.

Breen isn't happy with her life, she suffers with anxiety, she is brow beaten by her mother, is in a job she cannot stand and does 2 jobs to payback her debt.

When Breen finds an account in her name in her mums house Breen's life changes for the better, why did her mum lie?? Why did her mum let her struggle?? Breen is left with many questions about her mum, her dad and also herself.

This is a story about Breen discovering herself and her family secrets (which are many) but also leads to another realm which is mystical and explains why Breen never saw her dad after he left.

This is the start of a new series by Nora Roberts and I really look forward to reading the next instalment in this series.

This was a really cute book with great characters, magical creatures and a dog called Bollocks that literally made the entire story.

Breen grew up with her mother in Philadelphia, her father leaving when she was young. She lives an ordinary life - teaching (not very well), wishing she could be a writer, and putting up with her mother (Jennifer) who really doesn't think much of Breen. Jennifer is harsh, traveling for work and leaving Breen so sort her life out. But one day when sorting her mother's papers, Breen finds out Jennifer has kept almost 4 million dollars in Breen's name for her. It changes her life - taking off for Ireland with her best friend Marco, Breen sets out to discover her roots.

Surprise! Breen is not entirely human. Once Marco has returned home, Breen finds her way to an other world full of magical creatures and her long lost family. The world building is cool, and the magic is great. She meets Keegan, a guy who starts training her.

For me, the best thing about this book was how sweet it was. Bollocks, the dog, is adorable. I feel like this book was definitely only a beginning though - not tooooo much happens in terms of action but it sets up future books nicely.

Breen Kelly is a young woman with low self-esteem who has let her mother dictate most of her life. She works at a job she doesn’t love, wearing clothes that don’t suit her, and dying her hair to make herself stand out less–all at the advice of her mother. The discovery of a fortune left for her by her father triggers a change in Breen. Angry at her mother for hiding it, and determined to change her life for the better, she ditches the hair dye, buys a new wardrobe, and books herself and her friend on a first class ticket to Ireland, with the hopes of finding not only a new life for herself, but the father who abandoned her and her mother when she was little.

But strange dreams haunt her in the night, strange occurrences happen in the day, and she keeps seeing and talking to people who don’t exist. It all soon starts to make sense however when she finds herself in a new fantastical world, one habited by elves, fae creatures and even dragons. A world where magic exists, and Breen’s destiny is a lot larger, and a whole lot more special than she ever believed.

Okay, honestly that summary above is long and it only briefly outlines the first 40% of the book. There is a lot that happens here, even before Breen makes it to the other world, and I actually wish most of it had been cut out because it’s boring.

Yes Ireland is beautiful. I’ve been there myself, it’s a wonderful country. But I don’t want to read chapter after chapter of Breen sightseeing with her friend and being all heart-eyes over everything. The pacing in this book is so off that it really is almost a chore to get through the beginning to get towards the middle where things finally start to get more exciting.

I did enjoy this book. It was at times magical, the world-building was fantastic. You can tell Roberts is an experienced and wonderful writer because her descriptions are amazing. Once you got out of Philadelphia where everything starts, and passed most of the stuff in Ireland, things start to pick up but to me it honestly felt too late at times. There’s so much build up in this one that it makes this book feel like a long prologue, and you need to pick up book 2 to get to the actual story.

There also wasn’t much romance in this one, for a Nora Roberts novel. I used to be a huge fan of hers when I was younger so I was a disappointed by how light on the romance this one was. I would definitely consider it more a fantasy as compared to a fantasy romance.

For all that I’m complaining I do see potential here and I am interested in seeing how things happen in book two (especially with that cliffhanger of an ending!) I also LOVED the inclusion of LGBT characters, I adored Marco and Sally. Marco is seriously the best friend ever and Sally was just fab-u-lous!

So overall I think I recommend this one? Like I said I definitely see the potential in it and the world building was fantastic. Hopefully now all the introductions are over and we’ve had some much needed character development we can get straight into the action in book two!

Reading The Awakening was a diverting experience. And quite sour. It was enjoyable, and yet I was left unimpressed.
Some aspects were incredible. The setting was magical, as well as the world-building. You did not get to find that out until half of the book. That beginning, in Philadelphia, was slow and, at more times than not, boring. But after that it was great, and things moved at a faster pace.
Now, the romance was scarce in this instalment. What is the intention? When did those feeling develop? Are there even feeling between them? Does he only find her pretty? I'm confused, and that cliffhanger did not help.
I would say that it reads like a prologue, an exceedingly long prologue, where nothing significant happens. Its objective is to put the reader in the situation, to introduce us to this new world, through the eyes of the main character, who has only known the human realm. And I probably won't be able to say more about it until I read the sequel, which I will for sure be reading.

Somewhat reminiscent of the author’s early work, I adored the detailed and descriptive world building and the fantasy elements of this story. The heroine is easy to identify with and her tale fulfills a secret wish that I think most people have. It is something of a slow burner, but in my view that just means you can savour it for longer. It’s a great start to this new series and I can’t wait to read more.

If you enjoy books about people finding themselves and discovering their purpose and the ‘chosen one’ trope you will love this book. Especially as it has a fantasy twist!

Breen a young woman with no confidence and riddled with anxiety, who has been told her whole life by her mother that she is nothing more than average, worked her way through university to do a job she doesn’t love, and works jobs on the side to pay off student loans.
This all changes for Breen when she discovers her mother has been hiding money from her, money that was intended to be hers, sent by a father who left when she was a child and never came back. Breen knows her mother is hiding the truth from her and decides to quit her job and spend the summer finding out who she is and who she wants to be. She travels to Ireland taking her best friend Marco with her to try and find the answers she needs. Why did her father never come back and where is he now?
Strange things start to happen to Breen in Ireland and she soon finds herself tumbling into a world that she never knew existed, where fairy’s, elf’s, witches and dragons are the norm, where magic exists and she is the key to a bigger destiny.

Iv read some of Noras books in the past and found them to be really well paced, however I found this book to be a really slow burn, it felt like it took a while to really get to anything significant happening, it was a lot of character and world building and not much action, but then I got about 60% of the way through and I was hooked! The magic kicks in and then a romance, you start to see glimpses of the bigger picture.

I love Roberts inclusion of LGBTQ characters. Marco is the most supportive best friend and Sally is just fabulous.

This book felt like a long winded set up, however I do think this has a lot of potential, I can’t wait to see where the next instalment of Breen’s adventure will take me.

would like to thank netgalley and the publisher for letting me read this exceptional book

reading a nora roberts book is like coming home, where the characters will make you love them and their lives are so deeply entrenched into your mind that they become friends....

and this story is no different...with magic and dragons and baddies galore, you will be hooked from the first page...and what an adventure you will have....

breens life has been lonely, she has a job that she doesnt like and she lives with her best friend and a strained relationship with her mother....but life is about to change for breen....

oh i couldnt put this book down.. loved everything about it cant wait for the next book in this series

The first in a new series we first meet Breen Kelly in Philadelphia really struggling with everyday life. When she receives an unexpected inheritance she takes a journey to Ireland to find her missing father. While taking alone time to write about her experiences in Ireland Breen will find her life changed forever when she falls into a fantasy world with magic and light and dark Fey. This story is well set up with lovely descriptive scenes and characters but this leaves the pace of the story a bit slow to get going. You will be anticipating the continuation in the next book.
I voluntarily read and reviewed an Advance copy of this book. All thoughts and opinions are my own.

A wonderful read for lovers of fantasy. The descriptions of Ireland were so enticing it made me want to visit the area as soon as possible. The story flowed well with believable characters and enticing details. I can’t wait for the next in the series. Nora Roberts you have a new fan!

I was really looking forward to reading this advanced copy as Nora Roberts is one of my favourite authors. Any new releases by hers are highly anticipated. I always like the way she mixes really life with fantasy ;She seems to always be able to make the fantasy seem real. Her empathetic writing brought the characters to life and you really want the main character to succeed. I’m looking forward to continuing in this series

The Awakening

I was so excited to read this ARC of Nora Roberts first book in the Dragon Heart Legacy series- The Awakening.
I have been a fan of Nora Roberts for years and this book did not disappoint! The story features Breen Kelly, a young American woman who has spent her life trying to please her mother, even going as far as working as a teacher despite hating the job. When she discovers money left to her by her estranged father she decides to go to Ireland in search of him, while also trying to find her own sense of self. Little did she know just what she would find! While in Ireland she discovers a parallel world in which she actually a powerful heir to the Fey kingdom. The new world she discovers is full of magic, power and danger.
This book has everything I had hoped for and what I've come to expect from this author- an intriguing plotline, descriptive writing and the all important love story! My only negative is the fact that I now have to wait so long until I can continue to enjoy the story!