Perennial bestseller Roberts draws extensively on her experiences of renovating and operating Inn BoonsBoro for this trilogy launch not so much set in as advertising the bed-and-breakfast and its adorable neighboring town. Architect Beckett Montgomery has had a crush on Clare Brewster since high school, and sparks finally fly between them when Clare gets involved in the work of restoring the historic Maryland hotel. The widowed Clare has a bookstore to run and three small boys to take care of, but Beckett reminds her how to lean on others for help and fall in love again. Roberts paints a charming picture of smalltown life with likable characters, but supernatural thriller elements feel out of place in the bucolic contemporary setting, and too much detail about the nuts and bolts of the inn's restoration slows down the story. (Nov.) (c) Copyright PWxyz, LLC. All rights reserved.

Copyright Kirkus Reviews, used with permission.

*Starred Review* Beckett has no trouble whatsoever talking to women. It's just Claire who has him at a loss for words. It all began when Beckett fell hard and fast for Claire in high school, but Claire wound up marrying Beckett's best friend, Clint. Now, more than a decade later, Claire, a war widow, is back in Boonsboro, building a new life for herself and her sons as the owner of the town's bookstore. Even though renovating the local inn keeps Beckett busy, he still manages to bump into Claire at least once a day, and he still finds himself surprisingly tongue-tied. Finally, when Beckett offers Claire an early tour of the inn, it leads to an unexpected kiss. With the first impeccably written and richly emotional installment in her new contemporary romantic trilogy, Roberts delivers all the elements her readers enjoy, including a perfectly matched pair of protagonists and a plot spiced with danger, a touch of the paranormal, and deliciously tart humor. Readers will also relish the autobiographical dimension. The novel is set in Roberts' hometown, Boonsboro, Maryland, in which she owns a restored inn and is the proprietor of Turn the Page bookstore.--Charles, John Copyright 2010 Booklist

Up to his eyeballs in the details of working with his family's contracting company to restore Boonsboro's dilapidated historic hotel and turn it into an elegant, boutique bed-and-breakfast, architect/carpenter Beckett Montgomery has had little time for a social life. But when a brief, slightly enchanted moment in the shadowy hotel results in a near kiss between him and Clare Brewster, the woman he has been attracted to since high school, the stage is set for romance and a relationship neither had expected. A young war widow with three scrappy young sons; a hunky, caring, kid-friendly hero; two rambunctious trios of brothers; and the inn's resident ghost trailing honeysuckle and silvery laughter make this another winner for Roberts. VERDICT Incorporating zingy humor, spot-on dialog, and a bone-deep understanding of brotherly relationships, Roberts has taken a page from her own life as the owner and restorer of the Inn BoonsBoro to launch what promises to be another winning trilogy-touching, funny, sweetly sexy, slightly paranormal, and just plain satisfying. Roberts (Chasing Fire) lives in Keedysville, MD (just a stone's throw from Boonsboro). (c) Copyright 2011. Library Journals LLC, a wholly owned subsidiary of Media Source, Inc. No redistribution permitted.