The historic hotel in Boonsboro has endued war and peace, the changing of hands, and even rumored hauntings. Now it's getting a major face-life from the Montgomery brother brothers and their eccentric mother. As the architect in 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 sixteen.
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. Though busy and with little time for romance, Clare is drawn across the street by Beckett's transformation of the old in, wanting to take a closer look...at both the building and the man behind it.
With the grand opening inching closer, Beckett is happy to give Clare a private tour- one room at a time, in between blueprint meetings and kindergarten pickups. It's no first date, but these stolen moments are the beginning of something that could arouse the secret yearning that resides in Clare's independent hear- and open the door to the extraordinary adventure of what comes next...
~~
1) I had to personally type up that whole d*mn description because I couldn't find it online. Boo.
2) I wish this book had been a little bit better.
Like the Wedding Quartet, I think (hope) this series will get better with time. The Next Always wasn't bad but I can't really say it was great either. The ghost was so-so, reminiscent of what's Roberts has done before, and Clare and Beckett were obviously a good match, but I detect a distinct lack of fire. Maybe that contributes to the overall 'blah' feeling.
The MacGregors were the first series by Roberts I read and that family is full of Scottish hot heads. They feel a lot and live life accordingly, and each book kept that up. This series is starting for me the way the Wedding Quartet did with an ok book but no big bang. I already know who's going to pair up with who and while that brings a sense of comfort it does make me a little concerned about whether later books are going to hold my attention.
I think I'm going to hold out hope for Ryder's story (the last book in the series) because he's being set up as the 'feisty bad boy'.
Overall Feeling - eh.
Series - 1) The Next Always 2) The Last Boyfriend (May 2012)
