Blue Dahlia by Nora Roberts (thoughts)

Blue Dahlia is the story of Stella Rothchild, a recently widowed mother of two, as she begins her new life at Harper House.  The newly hired manager at In the Garden Nursery, Stella is ready to start over and begin anew.  Roz, her new boss, asks Stella and her boys to move into Harper house with her as she adjust to her new job and new life. But rumor has it that Harper house is haunted and Stella is about to find out how true that rumor may be. 

I should start off by saying that I went into reading this book with moderately high expectations.  I've read plenty of books by Nora Roberts and never have been disappointed.  I especially enjoy her trilogies which is why I decided to give this one a shot.  Whatever my expectations on this book, I just never connected with the characters in this story which led to a mediocre reading experience for me.  I went into this book thinking that I was going to love it but instead found myself detached from it.  Everything about the storyline kept my interest but only to a certain extent.  I don't know how to explain it any other way other than to say I found myself disinterested at times.  I found the history and mystery of Harper house interesting but I wanted more.  I'm hoping that the next two books have more details in regards to this but I'm not sure if I'll end up taking the time to read them or not.  I did also enjoy the romance that developed between Logan and Stella.  It came across in a way that was not only realistic but hopeful.  I really liked that aspect of the book especially as there was an instant attraction between the two of them.  While I didn't love everything about the book, I ended up finding it to be an overall okay read.  Everything except the ending which felt too rushed for me.  I'm guessing that this is because it is a trilogy and the beginning of one at that.

Overall, an okay read but one that didn't live up to my expectations at all.  Does that even make sense?  I didn't hate it and felt mainly "meh" about it although it had some good parts.  Not really sure if I'll pick up the second book or not.  Part of me wants to just to see what happens next and because I want more history in regards to Harper house.  And part of me thinks that there are just too many other books out there that I really want to read.  So I'm undecided.  I'm only going to recommend this book if you are a HUGE Nora Roberts fan or fan of contemporary romance with slight paranormal aspects.  I'm sure that there are a lot of other readers that will enjoy this book way more than I did.  But there you have it...to each their own :)

Bottom Line:  An okay read that left me with mixed feelings.

Disclosure:  Checked out from my local library!