Trying to escape the ghosts of the past, young widow Stella Rothchild, along with her two energetic little boys, has moved back to her roots in southern Tennessee - and into her new life at Harper House and In the Garden nursery. She isn't intimidated by the house - nor its mistress, local legend Roz Harper. Despite a reputation for being difficult, Roz has been nothing but kind to Stella, offering her a comfortable new place to live and a challenging new job as manager of the flourishing nursery.
As Stella settles comfortably into her new life, she finds a nurturing friendship with Roz and with expectant mother Hayley. And she discovers a fierce attraction with ruggedly handsome landscaper Logan Kitridge.
But someone isn't happy about the budding romance...the Harper Bride. As the women dig into the history of Harper House, they discover that grief and rage have kept the Bride's spirit alive long past her death. And now, she will do anything to destroy the passion that Logan and Stella share.
©2004 Nora Roberts; (P)2004 Brilliance Audio
"Roberts, the queen of romance, launches a new trilogy with a captivating tale in which her considerable talents at creating richly compelling characters and witty, spellbinding stories come into full bloom in a paranormal-tinged romance." (Booklist)
When I clean, drive or exercise I listen to romance. The steamier the better but it must have a great story as well!
"Wonderful!"
I've never read the printed version of Blue Dahlia. I did however love the audio version!
I liked Luke and the children. Luke is charming and has his own style.
She was fabulous! I thought she did a brilliant job with the different characters voices.
I listened to this book every chance I got for 2 days. Its Halloween and this book was a wonderful way to get into the spirit!
Loved it! I can't wait to listen to the next ones in the series. Usually Nora Roberts can be a little tame in the sex scenes but this book has some detail but not enough to be offensive. Wonderful!
"I want to grow a garden"
It grips you from the get go and gets you into the lives of the characters.
The Harper bride is a bit scary but you do get to feel for her and want to assist the characters to find her past!
good read, good listen - always the best.
Thank you Nora!
"Totally enjoyable"
It has been so lovely listening to this story. So much so I am downloading the second in this trilogy. Well spoken, lovely characters. Hope you enjoy it too.
"Very Enjoyable!"
Loved loved loved this audiobook - the story, the characters, the narration, all of it. The following two in the series are just as good, and I couldn't wait to get to them. A must!
"Great Story, Excellent Narrator"
This series is one of my favorites from Nora Roberts, and Susie Breck makes listening a major treat! Within the range of western Tennessee accents, she gives each character a distinctly different voice, and even the laughs and giggles stay true to the age and voice of the characters.
I read so I can write
"Nora Roberts And Susie Breck -- Winners!!"
First of all this is one of the best Nora Roberts books I've ever read and that says a great deal. If asked to pick a favorite character I couldn't do it. I loved them all. And the dialog between them had me laughing out loud more times than I can count.
Great story great finish!
Next Susie Breck shines as a narrator. She does a Yankee and a bunch of southerners and the accents are impeccable.
Over all a most enjoyable listen. Five stars all the way. I have to have the next books in this series
"predictable but still very good"
I really enjoyed Blue Dahlia. The story is about a woman who lost her husband at a young age and had to take care of her two children on her own. She moves to Tennessee where she was born to be closer to her dad and stepmom. The story is about her journey and the people she meets and learns to lean on. It took a little while to get going but it turned out to be really good. I enjoyed the narrator, since I am from Tennessee the accent is not perfect but close enough not to be annoying. This is only the third Nora Roberts series I have read/listened to the first two were the Key Trilogy and the Bride Quartet and I enjoyed both of those as well. I can see from these three series that Nora Roberts likes to write about strong independent women who have other strong independent women in their lives as support and family. The love parts are predictable but still very good and you don't seem to mind that you know what is going to happen because you get invested in the story and the people in the story. I have just downloaded the second book in this series Black Rose and cannot wait for my ride home from work to start it.
"Excellent"
Must read all 3 in this trilogy. Excellent, hard to stop listening to this book. Love it.
"Love it!"
Just love it. When I finished reading it I was so bummed there wasnt more but then I had this feeling it was part of a trilogy and it is! Cant wait to dig into Black Rose.
"Finished in one sitting"
The story and narration were very good and I look forward to book 2 of the series. This was my first Nora Roberts and I think I'm going to continue listeing. It was a little slow to start but eventually captured my attention through the end.