208 of 221 people found the following review helpful:
5.0 out of 5 stars
A great book for fans of cozy, relaxed and lovely romances, November 1, 2011
This review is from: The Next Always: Book One of the Inn BoonsBoro Trilogy (Paperback)
Beckett Montgomery leads a pretty happy and satisfied life. He enjoys his job as a architect and loves that he, his brothers Ryder & Owen and their mom run a successful construction firm. There's one thing that's missing from his life and that's a chance to get to know Clare Brewster closer. He has had a crush on her since high school but never acted on his feelings.
Clare came book to Boonsboro after her husband was killed and runs her own bookstore in town. Her three sons and she are happy with the life they built and Clare doesn't have the time to date. And she never realized that Beckett is interested in her.
But suddenly things change and the two are no longer just good friends. Will they be able to get their own happy ever after?
Like always I was super excited to read the new books by Nora Roberts and like (nearly) always I loved my reading experience. I enjoyed the relaxed pace, the cozy and lovely setting and the lovely characters. The pace and how the book is built was similar to the books in the bride quartet series which I adore. The pace might be a bit too slow for readers that enjoy fast-paced books, but for me it was just perfect.
Boonsboro is a great place to set the book and thanks to all the little details Nora Roberts added to the story I was able to imagine the town and it's buildings very easily. And of course it's pretty cool that Boonsboro and the buildings described in the book really exist. Hopefully I will one day get the chance to visit the town.
The love story was very sweet and I loved the way it progressed. Especially the way Beckett handled Clare's boys was amazing and so sweet. Both main characters were strong and I'm excited to see more of them in the next two books of the trilogy.
There are two more plot elements in the story and both made it even more interesting. I want to tell you a bit about one of them, but will let you get surprised by the other one. One of them is a ghost, but don't worry, you don't have to be a big fan of paranormal stories to enjoy the ghost. The ghost lives in the Inn and I think her presence fit to the old building and it's history. The ghost is only a small part of the story so don't worry, the book is still a contemporary romance.
I loved reading about the relationships between Beckett, his brothers and his mom. Their scenes together made me laugh and smile a lot. I liked all three brothers and I'm excited to read Owen and Ryder's story. Owen's will be next and it's already clear with whom he will get together. I definitely can't wait to go on with the series and read more of the three brothers, the women they love and Boonsboro.
cover
Beautiful!
final appraisal
Loved the book! The cozy, relaxed pace, the lovely setting and the sweet romance worked perfectly for me and made me excited for more books in the series.
I would recommend this book to all fans of cozy and romantic books.
Inn Boonsboro series
1. The next always
2. The last boyfriend (May 2012)
3. The perfect hope (November 2012)
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115 of 134 people found the following review helpful:
2.0 out of 5 stars
I love Nora Roberts, but had a hard time with this book, November 5, 2011
This review is from: The Next Always: Book One of the Inn BoonsBoro Trilogy (Paperback)
I love Nora Roberts; I have read all her books and I enjoy the amount of detail and research in her stories. This book is typical Nora and it is decent if you are a fan. I agree that her research is what changes from book to book and that it feels like she pulls character descriptions out of her archives. My biggest gripe is how this novel reads like a 300+ page travel brochure for her real-life hometown and businesses. I am sure I would enjoy staying at the Inn Boonsboro, but the constant cross-promotion buries the romance. I like travel books, but do not package one as a romance novel and try to fool me. The Inn was the main character; the hero and heroine felt like the supporting cast. I think Nora does much better without a financial stake in the novel's setting.
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72 of 83 people found the following review helpful:
1.0 out of 5 stars
Derivative, November 5, 2011
This review is from: The Next Always: Book One of the Inn BoonsBoro Trilogy (Paperback)
This reads almost exactly like the McCade brothers books, down to the inn renovation and ghost. The only real difference is the shameless self-promotion of her various businesses in the real town of Boonsboro. I love Nora, but this really isn't worth buying.
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