Rating: 
Summary: Great 2nd Book in a Trilogy
Review: Nora Roberts is to romance what Stephen King is to horror. Now of course, some of her books are better written than others, but she always has a good story to tell -- and Key of Knowledge is both well written and a good story. I'm not going to re-hash the plot of this book, it's already been done and done well. But I wanted to say that it is a great 2nd book in a trilogy. So often authors will suck you in with great concepts in the first book of a trilogy and then fail to deliver in the 2nd and 3rd books. (Most notably for Ms. Roberts is her Three Sisters Trilogy). But this second book rocks! It keeps up the energy of the first and even though it is a love story and we know how it's going to end -- she keeps up a level of suspense in the story itself. I can't wait to read the third book.
Rating:
Summary: keeps getting better!!
Review: Book #2 in the new "Key" series.The story is said that a Celtic God fell in love with a mortal woman and brought her into his world. They were married and had three daughters. But an evil Celtic God didn't like this and cast a spell against the daughters and locked their souls away in a glass box. The box can only be opened by three keys by the hands of three mortal women. Three woman come together and are asked if they want to take on this quest and are each given twenty-five thousand dollars, but if they succeed they will each get a million dollars. Each woman must find her key within 28 days. Malory has found the first key, the key of light and has also found love. Now it's Dana's turn. She will have the help of her friends and the help of an old love Jordan Hawke that broke her heart. She doesn't want to give him the time of day. Jordan knows what the evil God Kane will do to stop Dana from finding the second key and Jordan will do everything in his power to keep her safe. This book was a little sad...Although Jordan left Dana on a whim, he was trying to escape this past and make the present a better one...it was very hard losing his mother the way she died and it tore at him inside and out....You can really feel the pain and heartache... It's a supernatural story of legends and magic and love. Very exciting and intense....can't wait from #3!!
Rating:
Summary: excellent
Review: In Pleasant valley, Pennsylvania, three women were invited to attend a cocktail party hosted at a castle by people they never met before. Intrigued each one shows up as well as three men. The women learn they are the chosen to rescue the stolen souls of the three "daughters of glass". Each one will seek a special key that will open the locks that imprison Ninkane, Venora, and Kyna. Others have tried and failed as the God Kane is powerful, tricky, and willing to kill his antagonists. Last month Malory Price was first up and successfully found the KEY OF LIGHT. She also fell in love with one of the trio of men accompanying the hunt. Now librarian Dana Steele draws the short straw and begins her quest for the KEY OF KNOWLEDGE. She has one month to succeed or the entire mission fails. Though she knows that at some point she will go it alone, her allies help her, but especially Jordan Hawke. She loved him once, but he left her without a look back. Jordan is willing die to keep his beloved safe. Kane is willing to accommodate Jordan, but killing Dana is an option. The key to a Nora Roberts novel is the believability of the characters who, regardless of the situation (even a fantasy setting), seem genuine. That is the case in KEY OF KNOWLEDGE as it was with its predecessor and guaranteed to occur with the conclusion (see KEY OF VALOR). The story line is exciting, but it is the prime players regardless of "species" that make this tale and the series a must delight for fans of romantic fantasy. Harriet Klausner
Rating:
Summary: Nora at her very best!
Review: It's not often the written word moves me to tears, but this book did. The emotion Nora Robert's poured into this book is simply amazing. The second in the Key Trilogy is as strong as the first one, maybe more so. I saw a few have not liked it as much as the first one. First anything is easy to write. First chapter ¯ How many people out there have that first chapter or two of a book you intend to finish. I know many people who want to be writers that have dozens of first chapters. The Muse is an adrenalin high when you first get inspiration. Sorry, having first chapters without the work that is required to sustain is are worth little and will simply gather dust. To have the prose and the power to carry through a book to the end involves an awful drain on a writer; it requires an intense commitment. To carry a second book of a trilogy and maintain the quality, power and vision is simply amazing. I see so many trilogies with a super first book and then two so so ones. The reader comes away thinking why do they bother with the second two ¯ other than to just part us from big bucks! Well, the Key Trilogy is NOT like that. I put off reading these because, while Nora Roberts is very prolific after reading 40 of her books, they all begin to blend together. The Key books are the freshest work Roberts had done this decade and I cannot wait to finish the third in the series. This is not really a stand-alone title. You really need to read all three books in order. This deals with three young women who accept a quest to release three half-goddesses frozen in time. These are paranormal tales, is it not, to accept the rules are made by the writer. That is the fun of paranormals. To be able to suspend believe and accept magic lives. That is that made Lord of the Rings such a hit with everyone. That aside, I have spent decades working with history and lore, have written essays on Pict-Celt goddess, so it's very thrilling to see someone take the interest in it - and not just repeat what it already there. I have seen some people questioning Roberts placing these tales in Pennsylvania. All I can say, then you are not current on archaeological discoveries. There are various sites undergoing archaeological excavation and review in the US at this moment, from New York down through Missouri that are reported to be Celtic in origin and could date back thousands of years. Celts have been found all the way to China, so history is constantly being "adjusted". It's exciting times, fertile ground writers imaginations. The bottom line the prose is what counts and Nora is in top form as she entered the second search of the quest, the key of knowledge. Dana (stepsister to Flynn) is the women accepting the challenge this time. It's not hard enough to handle losing a job, opening a business and finding out magic exists and needs you help, she must deal with the man she loved many years ago. Dana Steele loved Jordan Hawke, with the painful longing of a first love. Jordon shattered that innocence the day he turned his back on her and the small town she loves. Now a successful writer, Jordan and has been pulled back into the quest. But as we learn, this was always the plan ¯ Jordan had visited Warrior's Peak when he was sixteen and become obsessed with the house ¯ the place where the quest started. Like the warrior's of old, he went on his personal quest that carried him away, but the circle is now coming full turn, bringing him back to Dana. These characters are real. They are funny, they are stubborn, they steal your heart with emotions that so define them. Robert's own form of magic. Just does not get any better than this.
Rating:
Summary: One of Nora Robert's best.
Review: In this second book in The Key Trilogy one of the most brilliant characterizations of a fictional character exists. Dana, having accepted the task of taking on a brutally angry, greedy Celtic God, must face her past in order to solve the puzzle, do her part in free the imprisoned soles of three innocent demigoddesses and grab on to a love that will last a lifetime. Through all of this, she is starting a business with Mallory and Zoe, her compatriots in this fantastical journey. The range of every human emotion, danger, suspense, humor and a wonderful love story emerge in swirling pool of carefully constructed magic, love and courage. It is wonderful and I cannot recommend this book strongly enough, along with Key of Light and Key of Valor, the first and third in the series. This series is the very best of Nora Roberts.
Rating: 
Summary: My favorite of the trilogy
Review: Maybe I just connected with Dana and Jordan because of their love for books, but I found their romance very realistic with mutual interests, a past history, and having to work through pain and misunderstanding to re-establish trust. Yes, Dana is very angry and that was sometimes off-putting, but anger often masks hurt, and Jordan had hurt her very deeply. Over the long haul, their banter worked for me.
Although Dana sometimes seemed less intelligent or intuitive than one would think, it could easily have been the pressure that made things hard to see--that and her early antipathy for Jordan, whom I liked a great deal. I found her to be a more complex character than Mallory (Light) -- same for Jordan compared to Flynn.
Although the dog got annoying (even in the first book) and the girl bonding was a bit overdone, the guys being guys made up for it. They were such fun to read about. This entry had the most humor to me. The finding of the key was, I thought, a unique take...much more a couple's thing than Mallory and Flynn.
Rating:
Summary: A great series just gets better!
Review: Three women whose souls are locked, waiting for release. Three women who can find the keys, if only they have the courage to search.
Dana has a month to find the second key. But first she has to face her past, acknowledge her present and discover her future--a future that might include an old love, if only she has the courage to let him back in.
Nora Roberts never fails to captivate me!
Rating:
Summary: Wonderful series!
Review: This is series is wonderful! I thoroughly enjoyed reading it. By the way the third book ended, it leaves an opening for future (hopefully) stories of these three women. I highly recommend them all!
Rating: 
Summary: The middle is always the hardest
Review: This was a so so book sofar as a middle book goes. I can't say I felt anything for Dana and Jordan...I felt that Dana was too angry to like, but other times she seemed weak. Dana especially showed this regarding Jordan. I have to say I like Flynn and Mal better than Jordan and Dana. Dana was to pessimistic to like....I am just reading the beginning of Key of Valor and Zoe so far has made up for Dana.
Rating: 
Summary: An Average Read...
Review: Nora Roberts reuses some of her classic character archetypes in the second `key' novel, Key of Knowledge. This time, Nora pits the brainy jilted Librarian (Dana) character against Prodigal Son character (Jordan Hawke) with mixed results in my opinion. On one hand, these two characters have more chemistry than the previous couple (Malory and Flynn), but on the other hand I felt the romance between these two was subsumed by a rather boring conflict from their past that I cared nothing about. This conflict made Dana go around acting like an angry hen, and had Jordan wallowing in self pity and condemnation for most of the book; I quickly grew bored with this, and wished the author had chosen another way to provide conflict between the protagonist and her love interest.
The plot? Find a silly mystic key, have plenty of girl chat, and find your `true' love, all in four weeks or pay the price... Lose 1 year of your life. (It's funny to me that none of the girls seem at all concerned about that little catch).
Several things rankled about "Knowledge." 1. Too much chatty `girl talk.' (Frankly, so much time in this book was filled with female bonding I felt like I was listening to Fried Green Tomatoes). 2. An uninspiring hero. (Jordan Hawke was a big blank in my book). 3. Jordan's really really annoying nickname for the heroine. What's up with that? The hero calls Dana "Stretch", and every time this nickname is uttered, it pulled me COMPLETELY out of the romance. `Stretch' is just /not/ a flattering nickname for a heroine and seems more fitting to call a male cowboy character or an undertaker than a heroine, (however tall). Perhaps this annoyance was worse because I listened to it in Audio format 3. And finally the dog... Moe... Man... Enough with the dog... I felt like I was reading a Koontz book. :Sighs:.
This book would've been better if Nora pushed the envelope a little, and made the villain Cain really really bad, instead of just annoying, and over the top. Overall, I found Key of knowledge to be a rather weak romantic novel, with an interesting premise and occasional elements of brilliance. I like Nora's trilogy's but I prefer her Chesapeake Bay series, and her Three Sister's Island series. For some reason the fantasy elements and the characters failed to grab me in this one.
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