"The story of the Harper Bride begins..."

Stella Rothchild has just lost her husband and moves to Tennessee to start fresh with her young children. She immediately happens across a management position at the In the Garden nursery and becomes fast friends with the owner, Roz Harper. Stella quickly falls in to the routine of the business, but her strict management techniques put her at odds with landscape designer Logan Kitridge.

In spite of their differences, Stella and Logan slowly develop a new relationship. Just as things are reaching the point of being serious, the resident ghost at Harper House, where Stella and her children live with Roz, takes exception to the growing romance, trying to circumvent Logan and Stella's blooming love. Who is the ghost and why does she hate their new relationship so much?

This first book in the new trilogy will appeal to die hard fans of Nora Roberts. All of her trademark writing skills are found in abundance. The relationship between Logan and Stella develops slowly but steadily, drawing readers in and making them hope for the requisite happy ending. Readers will like the hint of romance to come for other characters in the novel as well.

The addition of an unidentified, unhappy ghost, known only as "the Harper bride," lends another facet to the story, making one eager to find out who she is, why she haunts Harper House, and why she hates the budding romance of Stella and Logan. Many questions are left unanswered, expected to be explained in more depth in the second and final books of the series.

© Kelley A. Hartsell, November 2005. All rights reserved.

Reviewed by Kelley Hartsell
Courtesy CK2S Kwips and Kritiqes
Posted April 25, 2006

Summary

A 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...