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Book Review of Black Rose (In the Garden, Bk 2)

Black Rose (In the Garden, Bk 2)
Black Rose (In the Garden, Bk 2)
Author: Nora Roberts
Genre: Romance
Book Type: Hardcover
MsJell avatar reviewed on + 142 more book reviews
Helpful Score: 1


Book Two of the In the Garden Trilogy. EXCELLENT - READ THE SERIES!


"Nora Roberts at her best"
In Memphis, forty-five year old Rosalind "Roz" Harper for the most part feels good about life mostly because of the young that has brought her family home Harper House back to life. Her "son" David takes good care of the estate. Her In the Garden's nursery manager Stella Rothchild does likewise although the mother of two young sons will probably leave once she weds her beloved Logan. Finally her beloved employee Hayley Philips has a delightful newborn who makes Roz feel like an indulgent grandmother.

The two flaws in Roz optimistic outlook are the return of her sponge of an ex husband Bryce Clerk doing what he does best trying to live off someone else with Roz his target and the mystery of the Harper Bride ghost. The former is a question of ignoring him though Bryce keeps pushing; the latter is to much a presence to pretend she is not there so Roz hires genealogist Dr. Mitch Carnegie to look into her past. Mitch quickly becomes a ghost believer even as he falls in love with his reluctant client, who ponders a second chance after the failure of her first attempt at marriage.

This paranormal family drama is a Nora that can stand alone but reading the previous novel, BLUE DAHLIA, enhances the experience as the audience will have a taste how far the Harper "extended" family including ghosts has come. The ensemble cast seems genuine and clues to the mystery of the ghost augment the novel. Nora Roberts is at her best with the first two novels of the Garden trilogy leaving readers to anticipate quite a finish to the miniseries.