Black Rose by Nora Roberts

I immediately recognized this as the second of the Garden Trilogy at the store, so I grabbed it. I needed something light after all that heavy history stuff and this fit the bill. As I predicted after reading Blue Dahlia (in Jan), Roz, the matriarch of the Harper House and owner of a garden center falls in love with Mitch, the historian/genealogist. Stella & Logan are getting ready for their wedding and Haley and daughter Lily are cementing their relationship with Harper (Roz’s son), though that relationship will develop in the third book – Red Lily. Again, I liked the gardening details – I wished I had Roz’s flair, my garden is fun at times, but a chore at others, and I hate digging up new beds or fighting the tree roots that try to claim all my good soil in flower beds. Back to the story. I like an older couple falling in love after their children are grown. I still like the mystical “ghost” which wreaks a lot more havoc this time around. I am starting to tire of Roberts’ one dimensional, very evil bad guys – this time it is Roz’s ex-husband – a brief mistake of a marriage. But all in all I again enjoyed reading about strong women and their complex relationships with children, lovers, society and each other.
(finished reading July 6)