Heaven and Earth: Three Sisters Island Trilogy #2

Deputy Ripley Todd was a little irritated. Outsider MacAllister Booke had just rented Mia Devlin's yellow cottage for the duration of his stay on Three Sisters Island, off the coast of Massachusetts. Bad enough that Ripley wanted to rent the cottage to escape her home and newlywed brother, Zack, and his likeable wife, Nell. But Mac is visiting to conduct research on witchcraft and its history on the island. As legend would have it, three witches who separated it from the mainland created Three Sisters Island. Nell, Ripley, and Mia are descendants of the original three, only Ripley shows great disdain for the power she was born with.

In a crafty mix of the paranormal complete with visions and dreams of the past, Ripley comes face to face with her ancestor and senses a dark force that could destroy all that she holds dear. As the romance between the bookish Mac and Ripley builds, she is forced to let down some of her tough gal defenses and learns to trust him and their love. And the steamy love scenes will melt the pages as Ripley's supernatural powers take her attraction to Mac to a whole new level. Only time will tell if Ripley will join forces with her fellow sisters, Mia and Nell, to bind together and repel the evil that threatens to destroy them as it did their predecessors.

Fascinating characters, a picturesque seaside town, and paranormal events form the foundation in this riveting read. Even the romance reader not enamored of the supernatural will find the allure in this latest from Ms. Roberts, who just keeps getting better and better.


More than I Expected   December 2, 2001
paula_k_98 (Muskogee, OK USA)
7 out of 7 found this review helpful

I'm one of those readers who was a little disappointed by the first book, Dance Upon the Air, in this trilogy. You have noticed it didn't keep me from buying the second installment of the series and I'm so glad I did. Heaven and Earth is a great story with romance, suspense, and the supernatural. The story flows as we are pulled into Ripley's story, catch up on Nell, and are given hints on Mia's past and things to come.

Ripley Todd is the deputy on Three Sister Island where her brother Zack is the sheriff. She doesn't embrace her heritage of witchcraft like Nell, her brother's wife, or Mia, her childhood friend. In fact, Ripley goes to extreme lengths to pretend it doesn't exist. Now she's feeling like something of a third wheel. Zack and Nell survived a near death attack by Nell's former husband and have married. While Ripley is close to both, she doesn't feel she needs to be living in the same house with the newlyweds. There aren't many places to rent on the small island. Against her better judgement, Ripley goes to Mia to see about renting a small cottage she owns. To her shock, Mia has rented the cottage out to Dr. MacAllister Brooke, a paranormal researcher.

While Nell and Mia have consented to helping Dr. "Mac" Brooke with his research, Ripley wants nothing to do with him. However, we don't always get what we want out of life and Ripley finds the one person who can reach her soul. The story revolves around Ripley coming to terms with herself and how evil can strike when we least expect it.

I really like the way Nora Roberts developed the characters in this story. Ripley is a strong woman who is not afraid to confront any physical danger that she can see and touch. She will do anything to protect those that she loves. However, Ripley's weak point is not being able to accept what she is and having to confront the fact she can be emotionally dependent on another and still be strong.

Mac is one of my all time favorite Roberts' heroes. First off, he's a geek pure and simple. He can't remember where he puts things and is always losing something, goes into a daze and forgets time when he is researching, and can't remember where simple places are like the local pizza place. Don't get me wrong, he's all man and the perfect hero. He's gorgeous and falls head over heels for Ripley. Nothing she does will make him back off. He knows what he has found with Ripley and fights to keep it.

Nora Roberts has a winner with Heaven and Earth. It has all the elements of a hit and will keep you glued to the story. A short glimpse is given to Mia's story out next called Face the Fire the last book in this trilogy. Just like the rest of you "Noraholics" in the world, I'll be eagerly be waiting for the next one.


Had Me Spellbound...   December 8, 2001
W. Carol
6 out of 6 found this review helpful

Nora Roberts, in my opinion, is always at her best when she gives in to pure fantasy and indulges herself in a tale as warm and satisfying as a cup of hot chocolate.

"Heaven and Earth," the second in her Three Sisters trilogy, is just such a book. It's about witchcraft, an ancient spell, a mysterious stranger, and the age-old struggle of good against evil. But being Nora, storyteller extraordinaire, she doesn't make it quite that simple. "Good" in this book is represented by thorny, difficult Ripley Todd, deputy sheriff of the small island, and an unwilling witch. Her struggles to deny her own powers lead her to frequent rudeness and sometimes downright nastiness. Even her growing feelings for MacAllister Booke, a newcomer to the island with a scholarly interest in the paranormal, must be ruthlessly held at bay. It is Ripley who is chosen by forces she cannot control to face and conquer the evil.

But "evil," in this case, is a poor shnook of a middle-aged man, a wanna-be superstar author--in reality a third-rate journalist. Just as it is impossible to see Ripley as all good, since her flaws are so apparent, so it is impossible to see this guy as all bad. It is this contradiction in the expected that makes Nora Roberts the best-selling author she is.

All of the characters from the first book, "Dancing on Air," are here, and the reader greets them like old friends. The witchcraft is fascinating, entirely fantastical, and not to be taken too seriously by those who are offended by wiccan dogma. This is just a story. And one that will leave you with a sigh, a big smile, and the need to hug somebody.

Read it!


Great Follow Up   October 22, 2005
Mouser (United States)
5 out of 5 found this review helpful

This book is #2 in the series and deals with many themes; chick-lit style female friendships, romance, and paranormal.

Ripley Todd, sister of the hero of book one (Dance Upon the Air) is a hard cop, exercise nut, witch, and prickly woman. She is working to repair her long lost friendship with Mia Devlin, a childhood friend, at the insistence of their mutual best friend Nell, heroine of book one, as well as learning to embrace the magic she's denied for so long.

Enter the bookishly sexy Dr. Mac, on the island to study Mia and the paranormal. Though his, um, neither regions are attracted to Mia his heart and mind are really into Ripley, his polar opposite. He studies her and finds she has massive power. But Ripley worries that that is what gets him hot under the collar, doubting her own charms.

In this one the romantic clashes and sexual tension between characters are crisp, the dialogue is well paced, and the action is well thought out. The enemy is dealt with in some hokey conventional witch scenes (lightning and circle forming) but those scenes are used more as devices to show the growing bond between the three women.

Mac was far more intelligent annd funny than most heroes, and still all yummy tall darkness. Ripley is the best heroine I've ever seen, amazingly fleshed out and real. She's a little too blunt and prickly, and well in touch with her emotional baggage but never expects anyone else to carry it. Seeing her and Mac fall in love is really sweet and touching.

This is the best of the three and could easily be read on its own. Do not miss this!


A Little Confused Nora Roberts fan in Georgia   December 24, 2001
4 out of 4 found this review helpful

I would love to get into this new triology and thought I was pretty careful in keeping track on her new books. I actually jump when I see that a new episode of Lt. Eve Dallas and Roarke has been published. But cannot seem to link up to the FIRST book in this trilogy.
Could someone clue me into the name of the first book on the Three Sisters Island trilogy? ...