The Perfect Hope: Book Three of the Inn BoonsBoro Trilogy (The Inn Trilogy)
“. . . leaves the reader feeling blissfully satisfied yet wishing this romantically paranormal story would go on indefinitely.”
The Perfect Hope by bestselling author Nora Roberts concludes her masterfully written series, The Inn Boonsboro Trilogy, set in Ms. Roberts’ own hometown at the base of the Blue Ridge Mountains. The author brings extra sentiment to her work by fictionalizing the original Inn that she and her husband renovated with the Turn the Page Bookstore as well as a new fitness center. Her love for her quaint home and its people spills over throughout the entire trilogy.
The third installment is as" hauntingly" enchanting as the first two, The Next Always and The Last Boyfriend, and stands alone as its own story. Hope Beaumont, friend of Claire and Avery moves to Boonsboro and accepts the offer as Innkeeper of the bed and breakfast Inn. It seems the resident ghost, Lizzy, a friendly spirit when not throwing tantrums, is an ancestor of Hope’s, resulting in bonding in a special way.
The Montgomery brothers, Becket, Owen, and Ryder, along with their mother Justine turn the old, rundown Inn into a thing of beauty; and their new Innkeeper Hope, with her own flair for design and beauty, enhances it even more. She falls in love with country living, and at this time in her life, cherishes the bond forming with Claire, Avery, and Justine.
Claire, who runs the Turn the Page Bookstore, is married to Becket, the architect, and pregnant with their twin boys. Avery plans to marry Owen, a financial wizard. Hope feels like something is missing in her life, but it certainly isn’t the exasperating, often cranky contractor Ryder, who so often gets under her skin . . . until she remembers the sparks flashing throughout her body after that New Year’s Eve kiss.
Living in Boonsboro in her apartment in the Inn takes away some of the sting of betrayal by her past love, Jonathan, son of the owner of the hotel she had managed. Jonathan calmly tells her that he’ll be announcing his engagement . . . to someone of a higher social caste. He assumes their relationship will continue, but he obviously doesn’t know Hope.
In the midst of her newfound family, Hope finds twinges of loneliness pricking her shattered heart. Little does she realize that as much as Ryder is annoying and often obnoxious, she’s getting under his skin, too—and not in such a bad way. Lizzy has her own supernatural ways of bringing the two together for their sakes and in the hope they help her find her own lost love, Billy.
Trapping the two of them in one of the bedrooms by making the lights malfunction and the door lock, Lizzy manages to keep them there until they figure out she wants a little romance from them. Both balk, but it’s either a quick, meaningless kiss or long day locked in the room. Hope tries to ignore Rider’s longish shaggy hair and green eyes dusted with flakes of gold. He may be gruff and sarcastic, but sexy? No doubt about that. Their quick kiss to placate the heartsick ghost stirs Ryder more than he wants.
Enter Jonathan, a surprise Hope could live without. The confrontation with the man who dumped her causes a memorable scene involving Ryder, whose heart begins to melt watching Hope’s distress. And being Ryder, he takes control.
Nora Roberts uses less of the clipped dialogue, minus pronouns, than in the other two books, making it easier to know who’s speaking. In this book the offensive “man talk” is not so apparent.
Fans of Nora Roberts, as well as readers new to her works, will drink up The Perfect Hope like a kitten lapping a bowl of cream. It’s just that delightful. This books leaves the reader feeling blissfully satisfied yet wishing this romantically paranormal story would go on indefinitely.
Nora Roberts never lets her readers down, and in The Perfect Hope she outdoes herself.