AUTHOR: Nora Roberts
SERIES: The Lost Bride Trilogy #1
GENRE: Romance
AGE: Adult
BLURB:
1806: Astrid Poole sits in her bridal clothes, overwhelmed with happiness. But before her marriage can be consummated, she is murdered, and the circle of gold torn from her finger. Her last words are a promise to Collin never to leave him…
Graphic designer Sonya MacTavish is stunned to learn that her late father had a twin he never knew about―and that her newly discovered uncle, Collin Poole, has left her almost everything he owned, including a majestic Victorian house on the Maine coast, which the will stipulates she must live in it for at least three years. Her engagement recently broken, she sets off to find out why the boys were separated at birth―and why it was all kept secret until a genealogy website brought it to light.
Trey, the young lawyer who greets her at the sprawling clifftop manor, notes Sonya’s unease―and acknowledges that yes, the place is haunted…but just a little. Sure enough, Sonya finds objects moved and music playing out of nowhere. She sees a painting by her father inexplicably hanging in her deceased uncle’s office, and a portrait of a woman named Astrid, whom the lawyer refers to as “the first lost bride.” It’s becoming clear that Sonya has inherited far more than a house. She has inherited a centuries-old curse, and a puzzle to be solved if there is any hope of breaking it…
Thank you to the publisher and NetGalley for an e-ARC of this book!
Nora Roberts books are so easy to fall in love with — her writing is so easy to read. I love the ghostly aspect of this book. I love a good old curse and ghost story and this book gave me that.
I enjoyed Sonya’s character very much, it was amusing to see how she was dealing with a haunted house. Much like some of the other books, this is about a generational story and friendship, but romance also plays a huge part in this book. While I did feel that the relationship wasn’t full fleshed out, I did think it was nice.
It was all very sweet; there were parts towards the end in which I was like, oh, this isn’t a standalone and I realized that there was going to be another book.
This book definitely toes modern gothic horror, ghost story and romance all in one package. I definitely enjoyed this book and I’m looking forward to the next book in the series!