"This author can't write a bad book"
In Southfield, Michigan Stella Rothchild is making dinner
when strangers arrived to tell her that her beloved
husband Kevin died in a freak accident. Stunned, not long
afterward, she leaves Michigan with her two young children
for Memphis to get away from the memories. Two and a half years later in Memphis, Stella has become
manager of a nursery on the grounds of the Harper
Mansion. Owner Rosalind Harper persuades Stella to move
into the large house with her two boys. The work is fine
and Stella enjoys her spirited battles with landscaper
Logan Kitridge, which slowly brings her back to life. As
they begin to fall in love, the angry lunatic ghost The
Harper Bride haunts the mansion as she has for over a
century seeking children especially infants. Stella wants
to know why in order to protect her offspring, but the
truth goes back to 1892 to one of Roz's ancestors and his
mistress. BLUE DAHLIA, the opening of Nora Roberts' paranormal
trilogy is an exhilarating ghost story that grips the
audience throughout the tale. Though Ms. Roberts writes
more novels than rabbits breed, somehow she always makes
her cast seem genuine regardless of the milieu she places
them in. This tale is no different as the audience will
appreciate the powerful secondary cast that for the most
part reside at the Mansion; accept the realistic changes
in Stella that keep the tale focused, and enable the
audience to believe in ghosts. Harriet Klausner
Reviewed by Harriet Klausner
Posted November 15, 2004
SummaryA Harper has always lived at Harper House, the centuries-
old mansion just outside of Memphis. And for as long as
anyone alive remembers, the ghostly Harper Bride has
walked the halls, singing lullabies at night...
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...
| 
