24 | January | 2013

The Next Always

My take: The Next Always is the first book in the Inn BoonsBoro trilogy. Nora Roberts’ descriptions of the inn left me wanting to make a reservation asap! The three Montgomery brothers are making their mother’s dream a reality – turning the vacant old hotel on the town square into a beautiful inn. Beckett is the architect, Owen is the accountant/expediter (I think), and Ryder is in charge of construction.

This is Beckett’s story. He’s a great character. Growing up he had a huge crush on Clare. She ended up marrying one of his good friends and they moved away because he was in the military. Years later, after her husband was killed in war, she moved back home with her young sons. A single mother, Clare has her hands full with parenting as well as running the bookstore. She barely has time to breathe much less date and Beckett has his hands full with overseeing the inn project. Timing and circumstances eventually present Clare and Beckett with a chance to get reacquainted and for Beckett to get to know her boys. That’s enough for one book but there’s some drama too (no spoilers here). Oh, the inn appears to be haunted!

I liked The Next Always. It’s a romance filled with good characters, humor, and I loved the setting of the small town inn. I’m sure I’ll read the second book at some point.

Narrator: MacLeod Andrews did a great job voicing the male characters. I thought he did ok with the female voices but I wasn’t a fan of the little boys’ voices. It must be hard for men to do children’s voices. I’ve listened to a couple of books with child characters but they were narrated by women – and I wasn’t bothered by those performances. But, since the main characters of the series are the Montgomery brothers, I can see why the Inn BoonsBoro books are narrated by a man.