Reviews with content warning for Murder - Inheritance

By god I feel like I've been sleeping on Nora Roberts now. I've read J.D. Robb before but never a 'Para-nora" as they're called. If they're all like this I'm going to drown in amazing reads.

The cliffhanger ending on this one has me absolutely electrified for book two!

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readers_hideaway1's review against another edition

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dark emotional mysterious tense fast-paced

Plot- or character-driven? A mix
Strong character development? It's complicated
Loveable characters? Yes
Diverse cast of characters? Yes
Flaws of characters a main focus? No

4.75

She knew now what her mermaid held cupped in her hands. Not a gem, not a shell. She’d hold a clear glass ball. Inside the ball, another mermaid sat on the rock, looking out at sea, a whale sounding, with a glass ball in her hand. And in that, yet another.

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lauraontheprairie's review against another edition

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adventurous mysterious medium-paced

Plot- or character-driven? A mix
Strong character development? It's complicated
Loveable characters? Yes
Diverse cast of characters? Yes
Flaws of characters a main focus? No

5.0

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akbailey's review against another edition

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adventurous emotional mysterious medium-paced

Plot- or character-driven? A mix
Strong character development? Yes
Loveable characters? Yes
Diverse cast of characters? N/A
Flaws of characters a main focus? N/A

5.0

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srivalli's review against another edition

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lighthearted mysterious slow-paced

4.0

4 Stars

One Liner: It's Nora Roberts!

1806

Astrid Poole, a happy bride in love with Collin Poole, was excited about her future. However, before her marriage was consummated, she was murdered and the ring torn from her finger. Astrid promised never to leave Collin and kept it for centuries.

Sonya MacTavish is a graphic designer who ended up without a fiancé and her wedding in a few minutes. However, a bigger shock to her is finding out that her late father was adopted and had a twin brother. Sonya has inherited a Victorian mansion on the Maine Coast.

Reaching the mansion, Sonya is excited and nervous. Despite her self-assurances, she has to soon admit that the mansion is indeed haunted by the Lost Brides. She needs to break the centuries-old curse to free the ghosts as well as herself and the future generations from brutal deaths.

The story comes in Sonya’s third-person POV with snippets from others’ POVs.

My Thoughts:

I’m always excited to read a book by Nora Roberts. It’s been a while since I enjoyed her works, so this seemed like a good opportunity (I’d have been happier if all three books of the trilogy were out but two are better than one).

The book takes its time to get to the gothic mansion. The beginning establishes Sonya’s character and gives us an idea about her family, career, etc. Though we are made to wait, this initial setup makes it easy to understand how she settles in Poole Manor once she gets there.

I absolutely love how the author writes friendships. I’ve seen this in most of her books and enjoy it every time. They could be cousins, best friends, childhood buddies, new friends, or anything basically, the interactions are usually positive, cheeky, and fun with many feel-good vibes. No gender bias either.

Another aspect I noticed is how at least one main character is an artist (professionally). The characters are not only talented but love their craft and are passionate about it. I enjoy the scenes detailing their artwork.

Naturally, I loved Cleo. She is not just a perfect balance to Sonya but also a very lovable character. The men (Trey and Owen) are just as good and complement the ladies well.

Descriptions are another favorite. It was her books that made me fall in love with magical Ireland. While this one doesn’t reach that level of awesomeness, I could picturize the mansion and the surroundings. Who wouldn’t want to live there (never mind the haunted part)?

One thing I didn’t expect was the slower pace throughout. I usually used to breeze through her books (to be fair, most of them were physical copies from the library) but this one took some time. I wasn’t bored but I wondered why the % moved so slowly.

The romance between the lead couple could have been a little slower. While they don’t jump into the act right away, the slow burn is missing. I wouldn’t have minded a bit more teasing.

Thank god I had the next book ready. That was one heck of a cliffhanger. Most of her trilogies tend to have moderate cliffhangers. Of course, this one deviated from the template of three couples (which got repetitive), so maybe that’s the reason.

Oh, there are a lot of characters to remember. That’s bound to happen when you need to cover seven generations. A family tree would be a spoiler, so we can’t ask for it. Just go with the flow. You’ll figure them out soon.

To summarize, Inheritance is a slow-paced yet entertaining contemporary gothic romance with enough lighthearted moments to make you smile. The dogs are adorable!

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juanat77's review against another edition

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adventurous dark emotional informative mysterious tense medium-paced

Plot- or character-driven? A mix
Strong character development? It's complicated
Loveable characters? Yes
Diverse cast of characters? Yes
Flaws of characters a main focus? No

3.75

I haven’t read a Nora Roberts novel in years but I was told her latest was pretty good. Inheritance is Book one in The Lost Bride Trilogy. It has paranormal elements which intrigued me. The FMC, Sonya, inherits a haunted gothic mansion from an uncle she never knew she had. She, her BFF and two male love interests are trying to figure out the multiple mysteries that lay within the mansion.

There were many repetitive writing throughout the book: taking the dog out, exercising, cooking and work projects over and over. It ended on a legit cliffhanger and I found myself wanting more. Book one seemed to the set up to the rest of the trilogy. All in all, it’s a solid read. I will continue the series.

3.75 stars ⭐️ ⭐️⭐️💫

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jcgirl1032's review against another edition

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adventurous emotional mysterious sad tense medium-paced

Plot- or character-driven? A mix
Strong character development? N/A
Loveable characters? Yes
Diverse cast of characters? No
Flaws of characters a main focus? It's complicated

4.5

Nora Roberts is one of my favorite authors. If you’ve read any of her books, this one is basically the same, though since it is a trilogy, some characters have not yet been introduced. Sonya inherits a house and all the history that goes with it, including the ghosts. Most of the ghosts are benign, some even helpful, but the ghost of a woman scorned keeps all the other ghosts trapped with a curse. Apparently, Sonya must figure out what the mean ghost wants in order to free everyone else.

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cupidslibrary's review against another edition

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adventurous emotional mysterious reflective tense slow-paced

Plot- or character-driven? A mix
Strong character development? No
Loveable characters? Yes
Diverse cast of characters? No
Flaws of characters a main focus? No

3.75

everything about this book storywise was PERFECT. from a multigenerational curse, the history of the family, and a big bad witch to defeat, to a haunted manor with a plethora of endearing ghosts, to the mystery of the brides, and why they were cursed, and the spooky but enchanting way it draws you in. All of this was perfect, and I even like the main characters, Sonya and Cleo - 2 bad ass women in the creative field who don’t take ish from anyone. now.. what I could do without is the pages upon pages of long winded dialogue about things that didn’t even pertain to the story, and we focused so much on Sonya’s work and going into detail about her projects, we want to hear about the spooky mansion!! Not her graphic design! this book was SO LONG because of that, and I also don’t really care for the half baked romance. Other than that, I of course will be reading the next one, because FINALLY we have a cliffhanger with the turning point!

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