Blue Dahlia

Blue Dahlia
3 Stars

Following the death of her husband, Stella Rothschild returns to her roots in Tennessee with her two young sons. She accepts the position of manager at the local nursery, In the Garden, and agrees to live in the centuries-old mansion belonging to its owner, Roz Harper. Stella and her boys quickly adapt to their new circumstances, and Stella also begins a relationship with local landscaper, Logan Kitridge. But all is not well at Harper House as the resident ghost becomes increasingly angry at the developments in Stella's love life. Who is the unnamed Harper Bride and why has she been haunting the Harpers for so long?

Series note: This is the first book in the trilogy and while some details are revealed about the Harper show more Bride, the overarching mystery remains unresolved in this installment.

After trying to read this book several times and not being able to get past the first 3 chapters, I decided to give the audiobook a chance and do not regret it. Susie Breck's engaging narration made it easier to become immersed in the story.

This is one of Nora's earlier attempts at contemporary romance with paranormal elements, and although her later works, such as the Sign of Seven and Circle Trilogy, are better developed, there are still some compelling elements. The most significant is the mystery surrounding the identity of the Harper Bride, whose background is established in a very intriguing fashion in the prologue.

The weakest aspect of the book is the romance, which is rather tepid. While the opposites attract attraction between Stella and Logan has potential in the beginning, it loses momentum along the way and the transitions from dislike to lust to love are unclear. None of this is helped by Stella's pushy and abrasive personality, which makes it difficult to relate to her.

Finally, there are far too many descriptions and discussions of plants and gardening. While lovers of this field will probably enjoy them, they were rather tedious and boring for me. I prefer more action in my romance.

All in all, not the best example of Nora's work, but the hints at stories to come for Roz and her distant cousin, Hayley, are compelling enough to continue with the series. show less

This book has such high ratings on Amazon and Goodreads, and I dove eagerly into it, only to have it fizzle out on me. And as I’ve been saying to romance novels for quite a while now, “It’s not you; it’s me.” And I’m convinced it’s definitely me. Romance tropes no longer hold my interest. Roberts is undoubtedly the mistress of the genre. She writes beautifully, her characters are engaging and realistic, and when I’m reading I’m happy to be flipping pages. But when I put the book down, I realize I have no intention of picking it up again, and I have to force myself to do so, which is what ended up happening with this novel the entire time I was reading it. I’m sure it didn’t help that I don’t enjoy gardening at show more all, and the side plot with the ghost felt tacked on. Too bad… I had such high hopes that Nora Roberts would be able to drag me out of my romance reading slump. But if she can’t do it, I’m starting to doubt that anyone can. show less

Nothing really to say except that I love this series. After trying to start the inn series by Nora Roberts, I ended up seeing so many similarities to "In the Garden" that I happily DNFed the first book in the inn series and decided to re-read this one.

I love gardening and the outdoors so this series was always fun to me. We have some romance and some characters that I actually enjoyed enough to revisit through three books.

"Blue Dahlia" is the first book in the series and follows single mother and widow Stella. I actually enjoyed how Roberts sets this book up. When the book begins we have Stella enjoying her life with her husband Kevin and their two boys who she loves, but who drive her up the wall at times. When an accident occurs show more leaving Stella widowed she honestly doesn't know what she's going to do. The book moves on a few years later, and Stella has relocated to Tennessee to be near her father and her stepmother. She wants to settle down in a new place that doesn't remind her of her former live and give her boys something strong to latch onto. She goes and works for Roz Harper in her home and takes over as manager running her "In the Garden" nursery that is onsite. Throw in a ghost and a romance she was not looking for, and "Blue Dahlia" may satisfy your need for a romance with a light mystery.

Stella's love interest in this, Logan, is a bit much. I honestly at first found him annoying. Him finding Stella rigid because she likes things organized and wants items inputted into a spreadsheet (oh the horror! The horror!) made me want to brain him. But, he does grow on me. I think I liked it because you get to see Stella not change the way she's made up to fit Logan, but you do see Logan adjust more for her. Which I loved. Most romances this days seem to be about uptight women who just need a man to remind her to let her hair down. I liked that Stella thought first and foremost about her sons and how any changes she makes in her romantic life would impact them. And I loved that there were honest conversations about her first marriage (Stella was happy and her husband loved her and vice versa). Thank goodness where was no third hour retconning of their marrirage to make any love she had with Logan be the best thing ever. And thank goodness that Logan gets it (about Stella's marriage) and being an adult about that (looking your way Virgin River book #1).

Due to the first book having to lay a lot of ground work we do move around to other perspectives. We get Roz's, her son Harper's and Roz's cousin Hayley included in this first book. It is pretty easy to see who the other couples will be in this series. And besides Hayley, I enjoyed everyone. I always found Hayley's whole backstory to be a bit much and I actually kind of loathed what she did and why. I probably will skip re-reading "Red Lily" this time through cause I recall going eh okay when I read it years ago.

The main part of the book is full of Stella getting used to Roz's business, but also the three women and some of the men trying to find out what they can about Roz's ghost, called the Harper Bride. I kind of shrugged about Stella and Hayley wanting to investigate the ghost more until you get towards the middle and end of the book and realize that the ghost is at times dangerous to be around and the whole family wants to put the spirit to rest.

Can I say that Roz is my favorite character though? She really is. I loved that this woman had a lot to deal with (she's also a widow and she raised three boys) and then when she gets older marries a POS man and manages to rebuild again.

The book makes for a relaxing day at the beach or sitting in your garden if you have time. show less

3.5 stars

A couple of years after Stella’s husband dies in a plane crash, she and her two sons move to Tennessee, where her father and stepmother live. Stella quickly finds a job (and a place to live) with Roz, who owns a gardening company. Roz also owns a huge old house, complete with a resident ghost, who seems to enjoy children. Logan, another employee of Roz’s, and Stella get off to a bad start; Stella is super-organized and is trying to organize Roz’s company, and Logan is not.

I enjoyed this. It wasn’t fast-moving or anything, but it was enjoyable. I liked the ghost story, in particular. This, being the first in the trilogy, didn’t come to a full conclusion and we can already figure out who will be paired up with whom in show more the next two books, but that’s ok. I’d like to continue and I certainly want to learn more about the ghost story! show less

BLUE DAHLIA begins the In the Garden trilogy by Nora Roberts. Stella Rothchild is a widowed mother of two young boys who transplants herself to Southern Tennessee to be nearer to her father and his wife. She takes a job as manager for Roz Harper who owns the In the Garden nursery.

Stella and her boys live with Roz as they begin their new lives. Stella finds the job challenging and just what she needs for her new start. One fly in the ointment is Logan Kitridge who is the landscape designer associated with the nursery. They butt heads immediately but fall in love too which comes a surprise for the organized, plan ahead Stella.

However, she loves working for Roz and with Hayley who is a young sort of relation of Roz's who has come looking show more for a job while pregnant. Hayley has recently lost her father and is also looking to build a new life.

Things would be great for all of them except for the existence of the Harper Bride who is a ghost. She is especially concerned with young children. It is Stella's boys who see her first as she sings to them in their bedroom. Roz has long been familiar with the ghost but is now eager to find out who she is.

This was an excellent story. All of the characters were well-defined. The romance fit in nicely and the ghost was an added bonus. show less

Nora Roberts never writes a bad or even a mediocre book. They are also well done and the characters are at least likable for the most part. I always like characters that become your friends that you look forward to seeing again in other books. I do have to admit that I like her suspense books more than the garden variety, (no pun indented), romance novels. Of course I like almost anyone's suspense novels more than anyone's romances. I thought the ending was cut a bit short but I guess that was to make room for the sequel. I'm not sure I will continue with books 2 and 3 but I eagerly await her In Death books that she writes as J.D. Robb.

I had the misfortune to buy this book rather than renting it, as I do for most of my reads. Don't get me wrong, I can see why many women enjoy her work. It's an oasis of sensible people and happy endings in a chaotic world filled with neither. But for me, it was less than enjoyable.

The first thing to bother me was the author's habit of cutting short common colloquialisms. Yu can always easily guess what the word (or words) left out should be, but they are essentially half finished sentences, which personally always drives me absolutely bonkers.

This personal pet peeve aside, each of the characters (including most of the men) is incredibly reasonable, lovely, smart, hard working, and usually says the absolute right thing at all times. show more How many people do yu know that are actually like that? Personally, I tend to enjoy characters, even villains, with a mixture of both flaws and virtues (and virtues disguised as flaws don't count)

This "Perfect People Syndrome" leaves very little in the way of actual conflict, except for the ghost (which seems almost incidental to the story), and an unwanted attraction between Stella and Logan that I find utterly incomprehensible and devoid of chemistry (since they both admit that the other person represents everything they can't stand, and don't explain how this translates to actual admiration).

Since it quickly becomes apparent that nothing really bad will ever be allowed to happen, the ghost has no "teeth", and there is no doubt about whether Logan and Stella will work out.

I can likely tell yu what will happen in the next books without even trying: The two other relationships set up in the first book will blossom and succeed. Stella and the younger girl will each have a baby. The ghost will come to peace, after they discover and understand her past. The end. : / And I didn't even have to read their descriptions.

I have heard that the formula used here is common for this author's work, so I will definitely not be reading anything else she has written.

Sorry if my little hypothetical ending is an actual spoiler, but it's really just a blind guess. show less