I’ve been a fan of Nora Roberts for years now, ever since my Mom introduced me to her books. I think I was lucky growing up, books were always a big deal and we always lived close to a library if I didn’t have the money to buy a book. These days it’s even easier with ebooks. Anyway.
The Next Always starts out with three brothers restoring a hotel, and a mother who has three boys, recently widowed. They live in a comfortable country town, and the hotel that is being restored is haunted by a ghost – but she plays a very minor role, which is a bit of a shame because I think the story could have been told better (maybe it will in future books). Anyway, the book follows down the usual romantic path. Mother falls in love with one of the brothers, is being harassed by a man in the town, brothers come to her aid, story ends up happily ever after.
I’m not saying it was a bad book, but it wasn’t as fleshed out as I would have liked. Maybe I just wasn’t interested in reading a romance, or maybe over the years I’ve just gotten bored of this style of writing. It feels like Nora Roberts books are all the same, and I can easily predict what will happen. For some people this isn’t much of an issue, but for me it just didn’t settle as well as I would have liked by the time I finished reading.
3/5 stars
The Nomadic Reader 