Stars of Fortune is my first (as Sara Wendell calls it) Para-Nora, which is a paranormal novel by Nora Roberts. I picked it up because I saw it on Scribd and I figure why not? The cover is so sparkly and pretty and I was hoping for some light reading because 2016 has been no joke.
This trilogy follows six strangers who are inexplicably drawn to one another on the Greek resort island of Carfou. It is their destiny to find and protect three magical stars from an impending evil. No one in this group is what meets the eye and the price of keeping secrets could break our heroes part.
Sasha is the main heroine in this book, she’s, an artist trying to hold down her vivid dreams and strange psychic abilities. She takes an unplanned vacation to Greece where fate draws her and a group of strangers with magical abilities together. Out of everyone she can’t keep her eyes off of Bram, a mysterious Irish magician who she has literally dreamed about for years. Sasha is the introvert of the group and Roberts had a good grasp on how to write this type of character. She doesn’t make Sasha shy instead Sasha is just very observant, she does a lot of thinking before interjecting.
I didn’t know what to expect going into this book, because it’s not your straight-up romance or paranormal. The story revolves around paranormal elements with some light action but the plot is also punctuated with the daily struggles that come with putting your trust in strangers.
Everyone has to learn to contribute from teaching magic spells to making dinner. The focus on teamwork and trust mixed with paranormal elements and action reminded me of the ABC TV show Once Upon A Time. Also Like OUAT The series is female-focused as the three heroines have the main POV in each of the books.
Now, it’s pretty obvious who each person is going to couple-up with, but because they are working as a group everyone is allowed to take care of and protect people who aren’t their hero or heroine. This is my second Roberts series and so far I haven’t been super impressed with her romances. She tends to want to focus on relationships instead of meet-cutes which totally works in this book.
This was my first Saskia Maarleveld audiobook and she nailed the very tough job of having to create a unique voice for each of our six main characters.
Overall it’s a story designed around paranormal elements but is ultimately about friendships, trust, and figuring out whose job it is to cook dinner tonight anyway?
Side Note
This book ended with a semi “thanks for what you did back there”, which is one of my favorite things ever. Roberts also manages to sneak in some elements I don’t like in my paranormal and made them work.