Customer Reviews

The Carriage House

5 star:		(11)
4 star:		(3)
3 star:		(3)
2 star:		(4)
1 star:		(1)

 

 

What more could a woman ask for? Actually, when Tess Haviland is handed a deed instead of a check for payment of design work she does for a rich, arrogant, disliked client in the form of a run-down, lakeshore home, she's unprepared for more then fixing up an old carriage house. What she gets is a historical house with an interesting background and next door neighbors that consist of a Adam, a handsome widower with a 6 year old enchanting daughter, and Harl, the Vietnam vet and former police officer with a crusty exterior that hides a marshmellow heart. Those are the pluses. On the minus side, she has rumors of ghost in her house and a skeleton that is here one minute and gone the next in her cellar.

Ms. Neggers weaves a story of mystery and suspense around the compelling characters she writes about. The outcome was fairly predictable, but an interesting read from start to finish. I loved this book!

Carla Neggers is one of my favorite authors. She makes you feel like you belong with her characters, in their lives, loves and mysteries. This one reminds me alot of Finding You. The leading characters, Tess & Andrew develop quickly, are attached to the supporting members of their families, and have to solve a mystery. I like it best because you concentrate on the people involved, not worrying about "who done it" because you usually figure it out early on in the book. And, of course, I love the happy endings... I highly recommend all of her books, but love the New England one's (which most of them are) the best.

I love a fast-paced, well-written romance with believable, engaging characters, humor and an engrossing plot, and Carla Neggers' latest kept me reading way past my bedtime. The emphasis here isn't on guess-who-dunnit nail-biting suspense, but compelling characters who draw you into their world. Graphic artist Tess Haviland is a strong-willed heroine more than a match for sexy, independent Andrew Thorne. His daughter, six-year old Princess Dolly, is a scene-stealer, and her unconventional babysitter, Harl, kept me chuckling. Even the charismatic, narcissistic Ike, who's disappeared and is seen only through others' eyes, is vivid and well-drawn. Every character also suffers a loss. Tess lost her mother to cancer, and Andrew his wife--and Dolly's mother--to an avalanche. Harl lost his innocence in Vietnam. This adds depth and poignancy to the story. Carla Neggers scores again.

All her life Tess Haviland wanted to live in the North Shore Yankee community of Beacon-by-the Sea, but knew it was an impossible dream to attain. However, her fervent wish becomes true when rich, devilish Ike Grantham hires her Boston-based graphic design company to work on a restoration project. However, instead of receiving cash from her client, he gives her the deed to a cottage on the Thorne estate located at Beacon-by- the Sea.

For the next year, Tess fails to do anything with her new property because she expects Ike to demand its return to him. When Tess receives her property tax bill, she realizes she must decide what to do with her cottage. Her first night in her new home, Tess stumbles over a skeleton in her basement that simply disappears a few days later. Tess tries to persuade herself that she imagined the remains, but her neighbor Andrew Thorne refuses to allow her to lie even to herself. While they struggle with their attraction for one another, a killer will do anything, including murder again. to keep the truth buried.

Carla Neggers is renowned for her romance novels that capture the essence of New England living. The author does that quite well in her newest romantic suspense, THE CARRIAGE HOUSE. Although the suspense seems tepid because the culprits appear obvious early in the plot, the romance is quite heated, as the audience will adore the lead characters.

Harriet Klausner

This is my first Carla Neggers book and I had higher hopes for it. It is listed as a romantic suspense, however, the romance was ordinary and there was little suspense. I don't care for books where it is obvious who the killer is early on and you have to wait for all the other players to figure it out. That is what this book does. I think the idea for the story was good but somewhere along the way the plot fizzled out.

Ms. Neggers books keep getting better and better. The Carriage House is a wonderful. Its packed with suspense,humor and romance. Ms. Neggers writing style brings the characters vividly to life.

Tess Haviland, is an independent woman looking for answers. Andrew, is her neighbor, with a 6,going on 20,year old daughter, who knows it all. Throw in a few shady(?)characters and you're hooked.

If you're looking for a good read, you can't do any better than The Carriage House.

I am an avid mystery and thrillers reader who enjoys a little bit of romance in the read. This was not very "romantic" and the mystery was completely unreal. The descriptions were good, but the characters were definitely not believable. It was an ok book, but I probably won't buy another by her. This is the first book I have read by Carla, and I am not too impressed. Most romantic supense books have ROMANCE AND SUSPENSE in them, this one had barely any of either.

I enjoyed this book - it had solid characters and it was nice to revisit people from prior books. This book was superior to The Cabin, in my opinion, and thank goodness she cut down on the "texas ranger" phrase. Perhaps I'm missing something, but Neggers seems obsessed with overusing phrases in her writing, and if there is one downfall in this book, that would be it.. using one phrase over and over again. Tess was a strong female character, and Sam was a good match for her, and the murder plot was interesting too, although some parts (like the kids running amuck) were hard to believe. Overall, an improvement from The Cabin.

This was an average book - it kept me interested, but barely. I've been enjoying Neggers' books for a few months now, but this was my least favorite. The romance was barely in the book at all - the two main characters hardly even interacted and we're supposed to believe they're in love after two kisses? Yeah. Anyway, the suspense wasn't all that captivating either, and the main character (Tess) was rather cold towards her family, I thought. I think Neggers is a good writer though and would suggest starting with some of her other material first.

I had such high hopes for this book. Thank heaven, someone gave it to me for it is not worth the money to buy it. I liked neither the heroine nor especially the hero. Dead characters, no charisma. I plugged thru to the end and was relieved to finish it. Get it from the library.