BOOK ONE: THE NANTUCKET BRIDES TRILOGY. Just as Alix Madsen is finishing up architecture school, Adelaide Kingsley dies and wills her, for one year, the use of a charming nineteenth-century Nantucket house. The elderly woman's relationship to the Madsen family is a mystery to the spirited Alix-fresh from a romantic breakup-but for reasons of her own Alix accepts the quirky bequest, in part because it gives her time to plan her best friends' storybook wedding.
But unseen forces move behind the scenes, creaking Kingsley House's ancient floorboards. It seems that Adelaide Kingsley had a rather specific task for Alix: to solve the strange disappearance of one of the Kingsley women, Valentina, more than two hundred years ago. If that wasn't troubling enough, Alix must deal with the arrogant (and extremely good-looking) architect Jared Montgomery, who is living in the property's guesthouse.
With a glorious Nantucket wedding on the horizon, sparks fly, and the ghosts of the past begin to reveal themselves-some literally. Finding their lives inextricably entwined with the turbulent fortunes of their ancestors, Alix and Jared discover that only by righting the wrongs of the past can they hope to be together.
I grabbed this book eagerly off the New Arrivals shelf of the Elmvale Library because it was big, promised a good mystery, and hey - who doesn't want to inherit a house in an idyllic setting? Yes, it's the stuff of fiction, but that's exactly why we read it!
Initially, this book plays like a genre romance. Boy is disgruntled at girl before he even meets her, girl is unsuspecting and thus understandably ticked off by a cool reception upon arrival at her inherited home. It's a classic cat and dog fight which is always entertaining to read. But after our boy and girl work out their differences and fall for each other they are woven into a mystery.
Jude is a romance writer but I have to say not such a great mystery writer. The mystery component felt weak, played out weak and sadly, ended weak. It is the mystery itself that brings my rating down from a good candidate 4 to a ho hum 3.
Mud slinging out of the way, there is a silver lining to the cloud that hangs over this book. Jude is planning a three book series and needed to boost up her minor characters in the spotlight of this first book to set up their storylines in further novels. She does a good job of this - each girl has her nemesis all lined up and primed to go (and one of them is a prince - sigh, swoon, sign me up!). If Jude can leave the mysteries by the wayside and focus solely on the romance writing, I can easily see a 4 in her future ratings. For sure, my fingers are crossed!
- Miss Gevious
- Wed, 09/25/2013 - 08:59
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