Next Always by Nora Roberts (2011)

This is the first of the Inn BoonsBoro trilogy. I liked hearing the details of renovating an old inn, which Beckett is doing with his brothers and mother. The audio version was narrated by a man, so the story is told more from Beckett's point of view than Claire's, though we get her side too. Roberts seems to be capable of doing this, though this guy seemed to be too good to be true, as also happens with Roberts.

I always like the different professions Roberts chooses for her characters and I always feel like I learn something about the profession, though I am never sure how right she gets it. Well, this time I can critique Claire's profession - bookstore owner in a small town. I, of course, love books and bookstores, and am glad the author chose this setting and profession, but since I had a bookstore in a town of 7000, I know the reality of it. Books have a very low mark-up, so you have to sell a lot of them, like Barnes & Noble, to make any money. Small towns usually have a handful of avid readers, and it sounded like Boonsboro, MD was a small town. (I just looked it up - 2010 population 3336 - definitely not big enough to support a bookstore.) And I had my bookstore before Amazon and the big chain bookstores took over. All the independent bookstores in my area of 250,000 have folded except those dealing in used books. You can possibly make it, if you get a deal with the local school system or college to provide them with books, but from customers in town, and even tourists, it is hard. I related to Claire's joy the moment when a customer that usually buys books walks in. She had reading hours, author readings and also sold coffee - but again, you have to sell a lot of coffee to make a solid income. So I did not see how Claire could not only maintain a family of three boys, but also have two other employees. The story still worked, I just had this little quibble.

I liked that Claire already had three boys - always a game changer in romantic relationships, as the woman comes as a team with the kids. Beckett had grown up with two brothers, so he really got the three boys and knew how to play with them, how to talk to them. Roberts even gave us the personalities of the boys - as each child is different. Claire's husband had died in Iraq - good current reference. Most of us in America forget we are in a war, but for some families it is always on their minds. I am glad this was brought out. and is relevant as I write this on Memorial Day.

This was also a romance where there was a rich set of characters - the townspeople, old college friends, parents and grandparents. And the creepy Sam. Sometimes romances seem to be set in a vacuum, but this definitely was not. Of course it is obvious that the two brothers and Claire's girlfriends will get matched up in future books, but I like these trilogies.

Then there is the inn itself. I like the idea that they named each room for a historic couple. I used to fantasize about decorating rooms by themes, or I would drive by a broken down old house and think it would be fun to restore it - loved This Old House, but in reality, I can barely maintain my 60 year old house and I do not do decorating. But it was fun to read about it. I loved that the mother was responsible for ordering all the furniture, and that brother Owen was the organized one that kept everyone on track.

I don't care for the books where the story centers around some magical, mystical theme, but I like it when Roberts throws in just a bit of other worldly. So the inn has a ghost. They have named her Liz, but we don't know much about her yet, except she smells like honeysuckle when she is happy about something the live humans are doing.