The Next Always

Inn BoonsBoro Trilogy, Book 1

By: Nora Roberts

Narrated by: MacLeod Andrews

Length: 11 hrs and 21 mins

Publisher's Summary

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....

©2011 Nora Roberts (P)2011 Brilliance Audio, Inc.

You need to Set your MP3 Playback to FASTER!

I really enjoyed this story. I just finished the second story, and I thought I would share my comments here also as they apply equally to both. The narration was driving me INSANE - he speaks so slowly and deliberately. Then I found the setting to speed up the audiobook playback to faster. WHAT a relief, I am actually enjoying the story now. His female voices are still poor and his kids' voices make me cringe. All the adult characters sound very similar except Ryder. Too bad this is Beckett's story. I like the family, I like the locale, and I like the pets, especially D.A. (Dumb Ass)!

The Inn Boonsboro Trilogy is also very unusual, in that Boonsboro is a real town and the businesses named really exist and are actually owned by Nora Roberts and/or her family. They rehabbed the historic inn, had a terrible fire while it was under construction and had to start over. You can actually go and stay in the rooms, which are all named after famous fictional couples, although I suspect the ghost in the Elizabeth & Darcy room is a literary device! I also thought it was great fun that they have an Eve & Roarke room, the husband and wife team that is featured in 40+ Eve Dallas stories by Nora Roberts writing as J.D. Robb (my all-time FAVORITE series, with fantastic narration by Susan Erickson; what a joy they are to listen to!)

Turn the Page Bookstore is owned by the Roberts and it is where all her book signings take place, in fact it is the only bookstore to offered books signed by the Nora. Vesta Pizza is real and really offers room service to the Inn, and Gifts Inn Boonsboro is real too. If you go to Nora's website there is a link to the bookstore and Inn.

I think it is fun that she used her actual experiences of going through the rehab, setting her fictional characters against a true setting. But I think I would like it better if Nora was open about her connection to these businesses. Without the open acknowledgement, it smacks a bit of a sneaky marketing ploy. I wouldn't mind if she was up front about the connection. Perhaps there will be an acknowledgement at the end of the third book when it comes out.

Still, I am enjoying the series very much and will probably listen again, now that I found out how to set my audiobook playback to FASTER! Sure wish we did not have to wait so long for the final installment!

A good beginning for a new trilogy.

I read Nora Roberts’ very first book. I haven’t read ALL the books she’s written since. That would almost be a full-time job. I don’t know how she manages to be so prolific while maintaining the quality level she does. But I have read and enjoyed many of her books (and even disliked a few of them). So now comes this newest book, the first of a new trilogy in a town called BoonsBoro.

BoonsBoro is very much like Mitford (without the religion). It is even in the same general region of the country. I think all of us yearn at times to live in a small town like this where everyone is your friend. Where there are plenty of people ready and willing to help out a neighbor. I can’t tell you what a pleasant change this is from a typical novel written by men in which the vast majority of people are jerks–incompetent, undependable, unhelpful, and stupid.

Yes, BoonsBoro and Mitford are fictional, utopian. But so very many towns written by men are just as fictional, dystopian. Sometimes I’m in the mood for a hard-bitten detective who’s seen too much of life fighting his way through all the unpleasant people to solve the brutal murder, yada, yada, yada. But sometimes my soul is feeling trampled, and I want something healing. This book really filled the bill. I will be listening to it again and again when I’m feeling in need of comfort.

One reviewer said this book was somewhat predictable. And so it is. Also predictable are murder mysteries with tough-as-nails private dicks. What matters within a given genre is not whether it is predictable but how well it carries out its tale within the parameters of that genre. I found that this book did an outstanding job. I loved the town, I loved the inn, and I loved the people (especially the children). Every novel needs some conflict to fuel the plot; even a novel as cozy as this one. I thought she did a good job with that too.

I see that several reviewers didn’t like the narrator. I liked him a lot. Where someone found his narration flat, I found it relaxed and laid back–completely congruent with the story. There have been a few occasions when I absolutely couldn’t listen to a romance novel narrated by a man. I pictured the actor reading this romance stuff and could only imagine him hating every moment of it and hating the fact that the need for money forced him to do this sort of distasteful work. Not with this narrator. I felt that he was enjoying the story too. I don’t imagine I really know the inner workings of the narrator’s mind, but I felt very comfortable with his narration. Also, someone hated the way he handled the kids’ voices. I thought the way he did them was a total hoot. I liked it.

So to sum up... If you just finished a hard-hitting political thriller by Clancy or Ludlum and want more of the same, keep looking; this isn’t it. However, if you just finished reading a hard-hitting political thriller and now want something calming and sweet to get all that evil out of your head, this is the book. I really enjoyed it. I hope you will too.

bad narration

Classic Nora Roberts story, as always, good, fun. Narration bad. Great for men's voice, but women's and children's voices horrible

really liked this book

Where does The Next Always rank among all the audiobooks you’ve listened to so far?

I love listening to Nora Roberts books. They are entertaining and keep me occupied for long drives. Story line is believable and sweet and real. Loved Lizzy.

Have you listened to any of MacLeod Andrews’s other performances before? How does this one compare?

I LIKED his narration. I like that he is slow and easy. Slower at THOSE parts just draws you in and before you know drivers are looking at you funny cause your mouth is hanging open!!!

A cozy romance

If you like Nora Robert's romance novels you will enjoy This first book in the Inn BoonsBoro trillogy. It is a sweet, romantic story. The town of BoonsBoro sounds amazing, as does the Inn.

Enjoyable romance

This was a good listen, a good romance. This is only my second Nora Roberts, and it appears her stories always seem to end happily, so the story was somewhat predictable. But that doesn't matter if you like Nora Roberts stories, which I do.

I had a little trouble with the narrator at first. He started out so slow! At first, I wasn't sure I'd be able to get through the entire book; but he got better. I found myself unable to stop listening! There were quite a few female characters and he wasn't the best with creating a separate voice for each. He was better at creating different voices for the men.

Luckily, the text included enough information so that it was easy to follow who was saying what.

Overall, this was a really good listen!

Did the narration ruin the book or is the book bad

First of all this narrarator was horrible. He's good with male voices but his women are whiny and when he did the yongest boys voice I cringed. (I have a five year old boy, they don't sound like that!) As far as the story goes, I wonder if I would have liked it more if I had read it. I get that it's the first in a trilogy so there is a lot of groundwork to lay for the rest of the books but it just seemed so flat. I'm not giving up on Nora, she has brought so many wonderful stories to life and I know she can bring her magic to books two and three.

Poor narration

Perfect example of how poor narrator came spoil a story. I love Nora Roberts, but the narrator spoils this book.

Insomnia cure meets cringe-worthy narration

I am no quitter. I intend to finish this book even though I'm writing the review early, what I have to say won't change. First, the story is a snooze fest. Worse, the narration... oh the horror! The narrator makes the female characters sound like vacuous, pouty bimbos and the little boys sound like South Park characters. I like South Park, so my observation would normally be a good thing, yet he manages to twist the voices into something highly aversive. With 5 hours left, I increased the narration speed to 1.25x, just to get it over with. If you're still considering listening to this tome, I highly recommend this action. Overall, thumbs down.

An advertisement for the Boonsboro Inn?

I played this audio on slightly faster speed. MacLeod Andrews is a fine narrator, but he reads slightly slowly. That's fine with complex text, but there's nothing convoluted or challenging about this text, nor is the prose lyrical enough to linger over.

The setting is a small historic town in Maryland. The BoonsBoro Inn is a real place, owned by Nora Roberts (author) and her husband(?) Bruce Wilder. That's the problem. The author needed to stand back from this book. It's too personal to her, so she spends too much time describing the details of her inn, undergoing reconstruction. We hear about the new picket railing, the details of the ceilings, the furniture, the window treatments, the naming of the guest rooms (named after famous lovers, including some of her own characters). It started to feel like one big advertisement. Boring. The bookstore where the heroine works, Turn the Page, is also owned by Bruce and possibly Nora.

Characters:

A ghost. The inn is haunted. The specter plays a bit part, but some readers don't like even a whiff of the paranormal. Fine with me, though.

Montgomery characters: Beckett Montgomery is the architect and hero of this tale. His brothers Ryder is the construction manager. His brother Owen is the general manager and master cabinetmaker. These three brothers, with their widowed mother, run the Montgomery family business.

Clare Brewster (née Murphy), a war widow with three sons under 10 years old: Murphy, Liam, Harry. (I love books with authentic-feeling kids playing solid roles, so I may come back to this.) Her best friend is Avery. Clare was a cheerleader in high school (ugh) and Beckett has loved her from afar since he was 16.

To quote from another review: "There was some foul language, which tends to turn me off anyway, but this felt sprinkled in kind of randomly, like she had to put it in to make her male characters seem masculine. And I guess I get it, because they "sounded" like men being written by a woman." (including token gratuitous religious profanity, which bugs me)

Enjoyed every minute was really sad when it ended

Would you recommend this audiobook to a friend? If so, why?

Yes I would. It was a really good story and I was left wanting more. I hope there are going to be sequels where the other friends get a good life too.

What other book might you compare The Next Always to, and why?

I wouldn't compare it to anything. I thought it was quite original in it's story especially a woman with three kids getting a love life!

What does MacLeod Andrews bring to the story that you wouldn’t experience if you had only read the book?

I enjoyed his reading very much as he brought the characters to life. The choice of narrator is extremely important to a story and I think whoever chose MacLeod Andrews got it spot on with this book.

If you made a film of this book, what would be the tag line be?

Widowed, business woman with three kids gets herself a love life....there's hope for the rest of us yet!!!

Any additional comments?

I thoroughly enjoyed listening to this book and could have listened for a whole lot longer. I really wanted her friends to end up with his brothers too....but, that could be a whole other book!

I'm hooked!

I have always enjoyed Nora Roberts books and going audible has been the best thing ever, as Macleod Andrews, has completely brought the book to life. Any chore which I used to dread, I couldn't wait to do, as it meant I could listen to this book as I cleaned, ironed and took the dog out (in the rain!). Nora Roberts is amazing at connecting you with real characters and I have so enjoyed getting to know Claire and Beckett. I feel connected and that is what a good book does. Brilliant!

I gave up at chapter 3

What would have made The Next Always better?

Sorry I found the readers accent too much for me to listen too - the story as far as chapter 3 was OK

How could the performance have been better?

not such a strong accent for the reader (it maybe because I'm a Brit that it's too much for me to listen too for long periods)

Narrator ruined the story

I'm afraid I really didn't enjoy the book and didn't finish it because the narrator was dreadfully dull. I found myself drifting off and not listening. really ruined a book that I'm sure i would have otherwise enjoyed.

Really good xx

Absolutely LOVED the character voices, especially the kids. The one "mom!!!" had me in tears laughing. Can't wait to hear the rest x

lovely

loved it. great story, plot, good pace and reader has great character. love a trilogy and this foes not disappoint.

Dont bother reading

didnt like it at all too ponderous and boring. liked the beginning then it got boring

I love Nora Roberts books, and this book was no exception. I loved reading about the different characters and found it very difficult to put down. I loved Beckett, who had loved Claire, a widow bringing up three boys since he was fifteen. It was great reading their story and with a stalker in the the mix it was a really good book. Loved the other characters too and cannot wait to see what happens next to them all.

I got this as a read and listen book and loved it, finding it came alive a bit more. Definitely a book that I would recommend xxx

Brilliant story line could wait for next book

What did you like most about The Next Always?

the possibility that ghosts can be friend and need help too

What other book might you compare The Next Always to, and why?

Inner harbour, just as good and kept me wanting more

What does MacLeod Andrews bring to the story that you wouldn’t experience if you had only read the book?

He brought the characters to life.

Did you have an emotional reaction to this book? Did it make you laugh or cry?

It made me laugh and cry and so much want to join in with the family

Any additional comments?

Another book please on Hope and Ryder's marriage and willie B proposing, along with some more mischief from Lizzie and Billy.

Love

Loved it great story to listen to while out walking the dog or doing house work