The Inn BoonsBoro Trilogy

The Next Always
The Last Boyfriend
The Perfect Hope

Nora Roberts

   

Genre:  Romance

Summary (from Goodreads): 
The Next Always: 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 ...  

The Last Boyfriend: Owen is the organizer of the Montgomery clan, running the family’s construction business with an iron fist—and an even less flexible spreadsheet. And though his brothers bust on his compulsive list-making, the Inn BoonsBoro is about to open right on schedule. The only thing Owen didn’t plan for was Avery McTavish...

Avery’s popular pizza place is right across the street from the inn, giving her a first-hand look at its amazing renovation—and a newfound appreciation for Owen. Since he was her first boyfriend when they were kids, Owen has never been far from Avery’s thoughts. But the attraction she’s feeling for him now is far from innocent. As Avery and Owen cautiously take their relationship to another level, the opening of the inn gives the whole town of Boonsboro a reason to celebrate. But Owen’s hard work has only begun. Getting Avery to let down her guard is going to take longer than he expected—and so will getting her to realize that her first boyfriend is going to be her last…

The Perfect Hope:  The Montgomery brothers and their eccentric mother are breathing new life into the town of Boonsboro, Maryland, by restoring its historic hotel. And they’re finding their own lives revamped by love. This is Ryder’s story... Ryder is the hardest Montgomery brother to figure out — with a tough-as-nails outside and possibly nothing too soft underneath. He’s surly and unsociable, but when he straps on a tool belt, no woman can resist his sexy swagger. Except apparently Hope Beaumont, the innkeeper of his own Inn BoonsBoro. And though the Inn is running smoothly, thanks to Hope’s experience and unerring instincts, her big-city past is about to make an unwelcome — and embarrassing — appearance. Seeing Hope vulnerable stirs up Ryder’s emotions and makes him realize that while Hope may not be perfect, she just might be perfect for him...

Review: This is not my favorite Nora Roberts' romance series; I much prefer the Chesapeake Bay
or the Garden trilogies.  I enjoyed the story of the B&B construction, and the other building improvements, and I liked seeing the relationships between all the characters develop throughout the books.  But the idea of researching a ghost was completely copied from the Garden Trilogy, and both the ghost and her story were less interesting in this trilogy than in the previous one.  Also, and more importantly, there was too much emphasis on the secondary characters in these novels.  While I liked learning about how Clare and Beckett were getting along in the second story, I felt like this story should have focused much more strongly on Avery and Owen, and only referenced Clare and Beckett in small ways.  It definitely took away from the romance between the main characters.  This also happened in the third story, and I found myself much more interested in Clare than in the main characters.  A quick and entertaining beach read, but only ok.

Rating: 3 stars (4 stars for book #1, 2 stars for book #2, and 3 stars for book #3)