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Book Review-The Next Always by Nora Roberts

by | Jul 23, 2020 | Book Reviews | 0 comments

Book Review-The Next Always by Nora Roberts

Book Review-The Next Always by Nora RobertsThe Next Always by Nora Roberts
Series: Inn BoonsBoro Trilogy #1
Published by Berkley on November 1, 2011
Genres: Contemporary Romance, Ghosts, Small Town
Pages: 353
Format: eBook
Source: Library
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four-stars

The historic hotel in Boonsboro 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. Beckett is the architect of the family, and his 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.
After losing her husband and returning to her hometown, Clare Brewster soon settles into her life as the mother of three young sons while running the town’s bookstore. Busy, with little time for romance, Clare is drawn across the street by Beckett’s transformation of the old inn, wanting to take a closer look . . . at the building and the man behind it.
With the grand opening inching closer, Beckett’s happy to give Clare a private tour - one room at a time. It’s no first date, but these stolen moments are the beginning of something new - and open the door to the extraordinary adventure of what comes next . . .

This review may contain spoilers, so fair warning, upon reading the review.

The Next Always is the first book in the Innsboro Trilogy and this is a trilogy that I have been meaning to get to for quite a long while. First off, these covers are GORGEOUS….I so wish my home looked just like this…maybe one day 🙂 Berkley has always done such an incredible job with covers, but these are a whole another element and I wish I had gotten around to these books earlier because this one definitely one my heart in many ways. I wasn’t sure what to expect, but Nora Roberts has a certain style which is probably is what has kept her so renown in the world. The Next Always is a story that takes us to a small town to a widow single mother raising three boys and a sexy blue collar man who has interactions with a ghost and a second chance love….

The Next Always begins with the Montgomery brothers who along with their mother are doing a renovation of a infamous inn which survived wars and era’s of peace. And now they want to do it the justice that it deserves. But then a new woman is settling in town, a single mother who lost her husband in the war and has three little boys to take care of. Beckett has always wanted Clare ever since high school and even though they have known each other a long time, they have never pursued anything …until now. Beckett is determined not to let Clare get away from him a second time, and he charms her and her boys and Clare starts to believe in second chances and fresh beginnings. But a stalker and a ghost may put their relationship to the test…

The Next Always is a story that I adored in every way, and it just kept me up all night reading mostly due to its sweet and enthralling nature of the setting and these characters that just warm your heart. I was so drawn into this world that Nora Roberts creates here and she has a GHOST in this book. You really don’t see too many “hauntings” in contemporary romance but Roberts tends to mix in unique elements and she definitely succeeded with this one here. I just fell in love with Clare and Beckett and their families. Clare is such a devoted mother, she adores her sons so much, and just seeing her made me want to be a momma. You see they are her world and that was simply beautiful to see. Then we see the bond that Beckett and his brothers have together. I love how loyal they are, and dedicated to working on this project together and uniting against their mother who is loving but kinda crazy at times and knows how to manipulate her boys lol I was really drawn into the connection that Beckett has with Clare’s boys. He charms them and connects with them that almost brought me to tears, so many poignant moments this book is packed with.

Overall I found The Next Always to be a story of charm, sweet love and endearing characters which opens your heart to new possibilities….HEAD OVER HEELS!!

About Nora Roberts

Eleanor Marie Robertson was born on October 10, 1950 in Silver Spring, Maryland, USA. She was the youngest of five children, also the only girl, of a marriage with Irish ancestors. Her family were avid readers, so books were always important in her life. She attended a Catholic school and credits the nuns with instilling in her a sense of discipline. During her sophomore year in high school, she transferred to a local public school, where she met Ronald Aufdem-Brinke, her future first husband.

In August 17, 1968, as soon as she had graduated from high school, Eleanor married, against her parents' wishes; the couple settled in Keedysville, Maryland. Her husband worked at his father's sheet-metal business before joining Nora's parents in their lighting company, while she worked briefly as a legal secretary. "I could type fast but couldn't spell; I was the worst legal secretary ever," she says now. After their sons, Dan and Jason, were born, she stayed home. Calling this her "Earth Mother" years, she spent much of her time doing crafts, including ceramics and sewing her children's clothes. The couple ended up separating; they divorced in January 1985.

In February 1979, a blizzard forced her hand to try another creative outlet. She was snowed in with a three- and a six-year-old with no kindergarten respite in sight and a dwindling supply of chocolate. During the now famous blizzard, she pulled out a pencil and notebook and began to write down one of her stories. It was then that a career was born. Several manuscripts and rejections later, her first book, Irish Thoroughbred, was published by Silhouette in 1981 under the authorship of Nora Roberts, a shortened form of her birth name Eleanor Marie Robertson, because she assumed that all authors had pen names.

Eleanor wrote, under another pseudonym (Jill March), a story titled "Melodies of Love" for a magazine.

Eleanor met her second husband, Bruce Wilder, when she hired him to build bookshelves. They were married in July 1985. Bruce owns and operates a bookstore in Boonsboro, Maryland called "Turn the Page Books". Since getting married, Eleanor and Bruce have expanded their home and traveled the world.

In 1992, she adopted another pseudonym so as to publish a futuristic-suspense novel series. She first decided to use the pseudonym D.J. MacGregor, but discovered that this pseudonym was used by another author. In 1995, her first "In Death" serial novel was published under the pseudonym J.D. Robb. The initials "J.D." were taken from her sons, Jason and Dan, while "Robb" is a shortened form of Roberts.

Eleanor has also been known as Sara Hardesty, because when the "Born In" series was released in U.K. it carried that name instead of Nora Roberts. She has since changed publishers.

Eleanor has been plagiarized by another best-selling romance writer, Janet Dailey. The practice came to light after a reader read Nora Roberts' Sweet Revenge and Janet Dailey's Notorious back-to-back; the reader noticed several similarities and posted the comparable passages on the Internet. Calling the plagiarism "mind rape," Eleanor sued Janet Daily. In 1997, Janet admitted to repeatedly plagiarizing from Nora Roberts' work and that both Aspen Gold and Notorious lifted heavily from Roberts' work. Both of those novels were pulled from print after Janet's admission. She acknowledged the plagiarism and blamed it on a psychological disorder. In a settlement, Janet paid Eleanor an undisclosed sum, which Eleanor donated to the Literacy Volunteers of America.

A founding member of the Romance Writers of America (R.W.A.), Eleanor was the first inductee in the organization's Hall of Fame. She also is a member of several writers' groups and has won countless awards.

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