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Please note the pages on this book have been produced with bevelled or rough edge to create an old style look. The publisher has deliberately chosen to produce the book this way.
"America's favorite writer" (The New Yorker) begins an all-new trilogy-inspired by the inn she owns and the town she loves.
The historic hotel in BoonsBoro, Maryland, has endured war and peace, changing hands, even rumored hauntings. Now it's getting a major facelift from the Montgomery brothers and their eccentric mother. As the architect of the family, Beckett's social life consists mostly of talking shop over pizza and beer. But there's another project he's got his eye on: the girl he's been waiting to kiss since he was fifteen...
About the Author
One of the most prolific and popular writers in the world, Nora Roberts (who also writes as her edgier alter-ego J. D. Robb) publishes multiple books a year. Not that it s enough for her fans, who tear through her unconventional romances. With her trademark mix of fantasy, mystery, and romance, Roberts has created her own genre -- and romance fans are grateful for it!
Kirkus Reviews
In Roberts' new series launch, the conversion of a tumbledown Maryland hotel into a boutique country inn fails to expel an extremely shy resident ghost. The first half of the novel, essentially an extended prologue, is painstakingly slow. As Roberts demonstrates a newfound passion for construction minutia (perhaps because she renovated and owns Inn Boonsboro in real life), the activities of architect Beckett Montgomery and his two builder brothers as they retrofit a historic building in Boonsboro (near the Antietam battlefield) unfold almost in real time. Working under the supervision of their benevolent tyrant of a mother, the brothers exchange good-natured macho gibes as they appoint the Inn-to-be with the most opulent tile, woodwork and fixtures. Amid all the bromance, Beckett watches longingly as his crush since grade school, Clare, goes about running her amazingly profitable independent bookstore while raising three unruly boys alone. (Her soldier husband died in Iraq.) Does she or doesn't she notice him, Beckett muses ad infinitum. Meanwhile, Clare tells herself that Beckett is not really interested, just being kind to a war widow. Once this minor miscommunication is cleared up, the two begin a tentative relationship, however, the necessity of introducing obstacles to true love has Roberts stretching for things for them to squabble about, including the sighting by Clare's youngest son of a ghostly lady dressed in an old-timey long gown, staring from an upper story window of the Inn. (The ghost, nicknamed "Lizzy," has betrayed her presence to Beckett and a few others only with a scent of honeysuckle and a penchant for opening doors.) Cartoonish villain Sam, the spoiled, indolent son of the area's wealthiest family, stalks Clare and tries to take indecent liberties, but his belated appearance, and his failure to pose a believable threat, do little to propel the plot. The fictional doppelganger of Boonsboro is an anachronistic bubble, seemingly untouched by the blight besetting so many American small towns. An effective infomercial--and guest-room sleep-aid--for Inn BoonsBoro.
Publishers Weekly
Perennial bestseller Roberts draws extensively on her experiences of renovating and operating Inn BoonsBoro for this trilogy launch not so much set in as advertising the bed-and-breakfast and its adorable neighboring town. Architect Beckett Montgomery has had a crush on Clare Brewster since high school, and sparks finally fly between them when Clare gets involved in the work of restoring the historic Maryland hotel. The widowed Clare has a bookstore to run and three small boys to take care of, but Beckett reminds her how to lean on others for help and fall in love again. Roberts paints a charming picture of smalltown life with likable characters, but supernatural thriller elements feel out of place in the bucolic contemporary setting, and too much detail about the nuts and bolts of the inn’s restoration slows down the story. (Nov.)
ISBN: 9780425243213
ISBN-10: 0425243214
Series: Inn Boonsboro Trilogy
Audience:
General
For Ages: 18+ years old
Format:
Paperback
Language:
English
Number Of Pages: 341
Published: 1st November 2011
Publisher: BERKLEY PUB
Dimensions (cm): 20.828 x 14.224
x 2.54
Weight (kg): 0.363
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