The Next Always: Book One of the Inn BoonsBoro Trilogy [Perfect Paperback]

Nora Roberts (Author)

Book Description

Release date: November 1, 2011 | Series: The Inn Boonsboro Trilogy (Book 1)

"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...

Editorial Reviews

Review

With heaping spoonfuls of warmth, romance and even a dash of a ghostly presence, this is a patented Roberts gem! Romantic Times --This text refers to an out of print or unavailable edition of this title.

About the Author

Nora Roberts is the #1 New York Times bestselling author of more than 190 novels. She is also the author of the #1 New York Times bestselling futuristic suspense series written under the pen name J.D. Robb. She lives in Maryland.

Product Details

• Perfect Paperback: 352 pages
• Publisher: Berkley Trade; Original edition (November 1, 2011)
• Language: English
• ISBN-10: 0425243214
• ISBN-13: 978-0425243213
• Product Dimensions: 8.2 x 5.6 x 1 inches
• Shipping Weight: 1 pounds (View shipping rates and policies)
• Average Customer Review: 4.1 out of 5 stars  See all reviews (778 customer reviews)
• Amazon Best Sellers Rank: #6,911 in Books (See Top 100 in Books)

More About the Author

Discover books, learn about writers, read author blogs, and more.

Amazon Author Rankbeta 

(What's this?)

#10 Overall (See top 100 authors)

#3 in Kindle eBooks > Literature & Fiction > Romance

#3 in Books > Romance > Romantic Suspense

#4 in Books > Romance

#5 in Books > Romance > Contemporary

#8 in Kindle eBooks > Literature & Fiction

#3 in Kindle eBooks > Literature & Fiction > Romance

#3 in Books > Romance > Romantic Suspense

#4 in Books > Romance

#5 in Books > Romance > Contemporary

#8 in Kindle eBooks > Literature & Fiction

Most Helpful Customer Reviews

335 of 351 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

By S.K.K.

Format:Perfect 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) Read more ›

118 of 126 people found the following review helpful

1.0 out of 5 stars If you want to learn to rehab an old hotel and decorate it to the most minute detail, this is the book for you! November 16, 2011

By Jaime

Format:Perfect Paperback

I am a HUGE NR fan and own every one of her books (including the In Death series) and I've never contemplated not finishing a book of hers until now. I love how she usually finds an area of interest to focus on in books... I've learned so much about ballet, fire jumping, flowers, wedding planning and so much more. However, the detail that she goes into with this book is just ridiculous. I'm about a third of the way through and it feels like I've spent about 5 minutes with the characters and hours reading about fence pickets, color schemes and copper tubs. I'm so disappointed. I agree with some of the other reviews that I feel like I'm reading a travel brochure rather than a romance novel and resent that it's a brochure for her real life town and businesses. It's like she's using her fan base for free advertising but it's only free to her... we've paid for it. As I've told so many people throughout the years, Nora's strength as a writer is how she can make you fall in love with not just a single character but entire groups of characters and you can't wait to know their story. The hotel is the character in this book and I could care less about it's story.

184 of 213 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

By csps7510

Format:Perfect Paperback|Amazon Verified Purchase

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.

40 of 43 people found the following review helpful

1.0 out of 5 stars Recycle November 7, 2011

By Nora Howard

Format:Perfect Paperback

Please do not buy this book. It is a re-mix of various Nora Roberts books and it is deadly boring. You have met all the characters before, twice! You have read this plot before and even the dialogue is stale. This is not a new book; it is almost a cut-and-paste of some old ones.

91 of 105 people found the following review helpful

1.0 out of 5 stars Derivative November 5, 2011

By Babsy

Format:Perfect 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.

25 of 26 people found the following review helpful

1.0 out of 5 stars So boring, skip it and reread an older novel November 28, 2011

By smandw

Format:Perfect Paperback

I don't know why I keep buying Nora Robert's latest books. The last series was slightly boring, the Search put me to sleep, but for some reason I bought this book anyway. I agree with all the reviews that say it's been played before. Not only is this boring, I have to wonder if someone started writing books for her because it doesn't even seem to be her style. As a comparison, when I was finished I picked up Tears of the Moon and the prose is so much richer in that book that's so many years old. I would have hoped she'd get better, but it's just getting worse and worse.

If you must read this book, borrow it from your library. I wish I could return mine. I won't be reading the rest of this boring series.

Nora, please stop putting out books like a factory puts out cars. Spend some time with them and start coming up with fresh ideas and go back to the rich prose. You've gone stale and you're so much better than that.