Review: The Next Always by Nora Roberts

First line: The stone walls stood as they had for more than two centuries, simple, sturdy, and strong.

From the back cover: #1 New York Times bestselling author Nora Roberts introduces you to the Montgomery brothers – Beckett, Ryder, and Owen – as they bring an intimate bed-and-breakfast to life in their hometown.

The historic hotel in Boonsboro has endured war and peace, the changing of hands, and even rumored hauntings. Now it’s getting a major face-lift from the Montgomery 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 inn, 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 heart – and open the door to the extraordinary adventure of what comes next…

My thoughts: This is the first in Nora Roberts’ newest series, Inn Boonsboro Trilogy. In this installment, we are introduced to the three Montgomery brothers, but the main focus is on Beckett.

The Montgomery family is restoring an old inn in Boonsboro. The family consists of a widowed mother and three grown sons. You can easily see that they love and support each other even while the brothers pick at each other. This romance stars Beckett who is the architect in the family but who also doesn’t mind turning his hand to any carpentry tasks or other needed tasks in the inn restoration project. His other focus has turned onto Clare Brewster, the girl of his dreams since high school. Now that she’s back in town, he takes all the opportunities presented to him to see her. Having her help with the pamphlet about the inn means they will be crossing paths quite often.

I enjoyed getting to know the people in Boonsboro. There’s the definite small-town feel to the book, where the people in the town really care about each other, rejoicing in the good times and lending support in the difficult ones. I look forward to getting to know the other Montgomery brothers in each of the subsequent books in this trilogy.

(I borrowed this book from the library.)