This is another great start to a Nora Roberts series! I'm enjoying the characters and looking forward to seeing where the plot goes. Be forewarned, this one does end on quite the cliffhanger... I'm hoping the next books get released fairly quickly!

Thanks to Net Galley and the publisher for the complimentary digital review copy of this title.

Inheritance is the first book in the Lost Bride Trilogy by Nora Roberts, and it begins by dramatically describing how the first lost bride is murdered on her wedding day by a jealous woman who takes her wedding ring “as she licks the blood off her finger.”

A consummate storyteller, Ms. Roberts once again takes readers on an absorbing adventure that combines ghosts sharing a haunted mansion with the last heir to the family home. And apparently, a curse exists as more than one bride died on her wedding day over the last 200 years.

The author’s imagination creates a riveting tale of Sonya, the heiress, establishing relationships with various ghosts as she is exposed to the history of the lost brides and takes up residence in the haunted mansion.

The Inheritance is an impeccable introduction to the Lost Bride Trilogy, with eager readers waiting for volumes 2 and 3.

I really enjoyed this book. It reminded me of her earlier works like the key trilogy and the three sisters island trilogy. I like how even though the main character falls in LUST. She's not having insta love. I don't know if I could live in a home that is haunted, even if having a maid put away and cleaning up after me.

I truly enjoyed the book after I was able to get into it. It started a little slow. Loved the cliffhanger ending.
I did notice several areas the needed better proofreading and edits. These things drive my brain over the edge, especially for a quality author like Nora.

Put this on your TBR! I binged this book in a weekend, turned the last page and immediately started googling when the next book would be coming out and was thinking who I could talk to about what I just read! I wish this was coming out in October as this is the perfect spooky romance.

This was sooo good and grabbed me from the beginning. Featuring a beautiful old mansion with some ghostly inhabitants, Roberts always does such a good job weaving together well plotted storylines with such realistic characters that have great camaraderie you are absolutely rooting for.

While the story revolves around a haunted house(not creepy or scary as I don’t do either) it is the mystery around who is haunting the house and why that kept me turning the pages.

I flipped between the physical copy and audiobook and once again Brittany Pressley does not disappoint!

AAAAAAHHHHHHH! I need the next book right now!!!!! This first book was totally enjoyable and a fun read. I love Sonya who is so strong, resilient, and not to mention talented as she kicks her ex fiancé to the curb for being an awful cheater and then getting the inheritance of a really cool (although there are a few ghosts) mansion. Sonya has the best friend in Cleo and a really strong support system to make it through the semi rough patch of moving to the new mansion and getting over the jerk, just in time to meet Trey who is totally superior.

Sonya spends most of this book finding out about the lost brides and settling in which is a blast to read, especially with the dogs (love Yoda and Mookie!) and getting used to to haunted part. I tell you, I would not mind being haunted by a ghost that cleans up after me! And my dog certainly would love someone else to play with when I have to leave him behind and go to work!

So I loved it all, except for that humdinger of a cliffhanger! I cannot wait to see if Sonya and Owen can kick Hester's butt!

Thank you to NetGalley for an advance copy of this book to read and review.

It’s hard to characterize this novel - it’s part gothic horror, mystery, romance, historical, small town… lots of vibes. It definitely took me surprise at a few turns.

Sonya inherits a haunted mansion in Maine — the house is occupied by friendly and unfriendly ghosts, due to a curse a witch put on the family long ago where one bride/newly wed/new mother who lives in the mansion loses her life once a generation.

It’s up to Sonya, her best friend Cleo, small town lawyer Trey and Sonya’s cousin Owen to figure out how to break the curse. The side characters definitely were well rounded and some of the best (I love Cleo), and there are a couple pup characters that were also awesome.

This is definitely an atmospheric read perfect for fall. I would say the cover signaled that this would be a little more romance and a little less gothic horror, so be prepared for more Jane Eyre vibes. The pacing is also a little slower than I would like for paranormal.

Since this is a trilogy, it’s not entirely a surprise that this first installment ends with a cliffhanger. I felt it coming, but I was definitely a little disappointed, since I thought it would at least tie off some loose ends introduced in the first book. This definitely feels like the first third to a longer installment. I’m curious enough to want to pick up the next one when it’s out!

Thanks to Netgalley, St. Martin’s Press and Nora Roberts for the ARC.

Nora Roberts brings us the first of the Lost Bride Trilogy. We meet Sonya who has gone through some trials in her life recently with breaking an engagement and then needing to quit her job as a result. What would you do if you were given an unexpected opportunity? Would you grab it with both hands, or would you reject it fearing the unknown? Sonya decides to take a chance and see what life has in store for her. She discovers an uncle she never new about has left her a majestic Victorian house where she must live for the next three years to fulfill the terms of his will. As she approaches her new home, she instantly falls in love with it. She is mesmerized by the town nearby and the people she meets. As she learns about the history of the house and her family, she realizes that there are things happening there that can't be explained. She finds a mystery and a curse about the lost brides attached to the house and must break it before she can move on and find the happiness and peace that are within her grasp.

Nora Roberts has brought us a new trilogy. Reading about the stories of the lost brides of the family, Sonya is determined to figure out the mystery with the help of her best friend Cleo, her mother, local lawyer Trey, and many other new friends and family members. You keep turning the page to see what happens and to find out more about the history of the house and all the objects in the house related to various family members. You get lost in her world and it abruptly ends when you run out of pages to read. I was so engrossed in the story that I did not notice that I was at the end of the story since I was wanting more. I am really looking forward to see what happens next as this first book ends with a cliffhanger.

I read and received an advanced copy of this book. All thoughts and opinions are my own. I would like to thank NetGalley and St. Martin's Press for this privilege.

WOW, Another hit for Nora Roberts. Fast, Fun, enjoyable. Ghost Brides, mystery, romances and lol characters and spooky vides. I read book and also heard audio. She did not disappoint!. No Spoiler here. A good mystery which leaves you wanting more. Only regret is that I have to wait for the next book to see what happens!!! I would recommend this book. It was good. I have read this author before and will continue to look forward to other and future books from her.

**I received this book from NetGalley and publisher for an honest review. All opinions expressed are my own.

Nora Roberts I am so mad at you! Write faster! This book was so good, but didn’t expect anything else. What happens when you inherit your dream house? Only one problem, some of its accessories wasn’t what you expected. Warning it is a cliff hanger but you won’t regret reading it

I received a complimentary copy of this book from NetGalley. The opinions expressed in this review are completely my own

I received this from Netgalley.com.

A strong beginning to a new trilogy. I look forward to reading this series but hated how this one ended on a cliffhanger.

3.5☆

Much thanks to Nora Roberts, St. Martin's Press, Macmillan Audio, and NetGalley for allowing me to both read and listen to free ARCs of the ebook and audiobook in exchange for an honest review.

The premise checked a lot of boxes for me, as it did for Nora when she was brainstorming her next trilogy. Old haunted mansion, ghosts, spooks, a family curse, a witch, magic--yeah, I was down. And I wanted to love it! A few things bothered me, so I planned to give it four stars--then we reached the end. And the end is a problem.

Those few things that bothered me:

The cover is pretty, but it's misleading. It looks like a woman standing on tiptoe in ballet flats like a ballerina. The story has nothing to do with ballet, though, so now I wonder if it's supposed to be a bride circa a few hundred years back wearing slippers, because that's what high born women wore for shoes back then. That makes more sense, but shoes don't have anything to do with the story. Rings do, however, as does an old haunted mansion. So why weren't those utilized for the cover? Why not give it an appropriate gothic vibe?

The only beverage called by name was Coke, and all the characters liked it. Propaganda, much?

For all the strength Nora wanted to give her female characters, she also didn't approve of them going without makeup. It drove me insane. The girls had to doll up before going out, before company came over, when they got up in the morning. Even if they only put on a little, they weren't allowed to go without makeup, just at home, working. I hated it so much.

Sonya and Cleo were able to master difficult recipes the first time. Cleo was known to cook some, but Sonya made it known she could burn water, and yet she made a savory pot roast and--was it oysters? some kind of seafood--and knocked both out of the park first try. I call bullshit. It would have been much more relatable if she'd fubbed something.

Actually, on that point, both Sonya and Cleo were way too perfect. Granted, Sonya almost married a grade-A asshole, but otherwise she excelled at pretty much everything else. Moving quite a ways away from home? Piece of cake. Getting harassed at work, quitting and going freelance? No sweat. New house is blatantly haunted? Unnerving, but she rolled with it. Adopting a new dog? He's perfectly behaved. I didn't see Cleo mess up much either. And of course they were both can-do-no-wrong geniuses in their fields. Nora tried to give them girls-next-door vibes, but failed, and they became hard to relate to. Add that on top of a grand living situation they won't ever have to pay a dime for, and by the end I resented them more than I related to them.

Now for the bigger problem. This book had no plot whatsoever. Yes, there was plenty of the overarching plot for the trilogy, aka the brides and the curse, but this book did not have a self-contained narrative arc. Waaaayyyy too much time is spent detailing Sonya's work projects, which don't matter and which I couldn't give a flying rat's about. A self-contained plot could have involved the ex-fiance Brandon, but we never saw hide nor hair of him again. Sonya could have struggled going freelance at first, but no. She could have not been so certain about staying in the house and didn't make the decision to until the end of her three months were up. Nope. There wasn't even a full romantic arc--we all know she and Tre will end up together, but thoughts of permanence doesn't even cross anyone's minds. They didn't even say the L word. If conflicts were begun, they weren't carried forward, but most often what could have been conflicts became null because Sonya was so goddamned perfect at everything.

So overall, while the premise checks a lot of boxes for me, too, Nora, your execution fell very flat. Also toward the end you were head-hopping and it got annoying.

Inheritance ends on a huge cliffhanger and none of the questions are resolved in this book! It’s book 1/3.

Now that that’s out of the way.

Inheritance is the perfect fall read. It is so cozy and a little creepy. There are dead brides, sprawling houses on the coast, and so. many. dogs.
Who doesn’t love a pack of adopted dogs in their book? I certainly do.

It reminds me a lot of the cozy ghost murder mysteries I read as a kid. Does anyone else remember The Dollhouse Murders? Just me?

I cannot stress this enough, it is very low angst and very low stakes. If you want something to be a little creepy with a big mystery but you want 99% good vibes, Inheritance is perfect.

A lot of the low reviews are completely right about Inheritance. It is slow, it isn’t very scary, the relationship moves quickly, and there is a lottt of day to day filler. Other than the last point, none of it bothered me. Maybe if I was in a different mood I wouldn’t have liked it so much but I honestly loved it. That’s the fun thing about reading, some people’s negatives are exactly what someone else wants.

The books starts out with a cheating fiancé, and there is lots of murder, ghosts, and mentions of spiders. If those are a hard no, it might not be for you.

Overall, I really enjoyed it and I can’t wait to see where Sonya, Trey, Cleo, and Owen end up.

This was a really good spooky romance. It ended on a major cliffhanger and I'm dying to know what comes next!

Fabulous mystery, ghost story with a romance thread that keeps the reader engaged! This story reminds me of the old book Rebecca by Daphne DuMoyer. Nora Roberts is excellent at building romantic tension and portraying strong women who love fiercely. I enjoy the spooky ghost story that is not too scary for me. I liked the way she ended the book with a cliffhanger. The beginning chapters took a little long but it was to keep the reader involved. There was one line in the book about the characters discussing how to trade services a boat for a painting. I think Owen says “slave labor” but it doesn’t seem to be a fair use of the word. Especially if Cleo is described as a multiethnic woman. A better description would be to have the two characters trade their art.

In the beginning to an exciting new trilogy, a graphic designer suddenly discovers that she is the heiress to a mansion - that happens to be haunted by murdered brides from her family.

Nora Roberts is the absolute best at writing competent characters that are good at their chosen careers. Her heroines are completely capable on their own, but the heroes complement them rather than needing to just rescue them. Sonya is making it as a freelancer, so her Inheritance is a bonus rather than completely necessary. Trey has a lovely family and even their acquaintances like them together. The romance only has negative influences from the family curse, rather than anything between the two people. That can be such a relief when reading romance. The Gothic influences in this story make it perfect reading for this time of year, and I expect to immediately pick up the rest of the story as it publishes to see how they break the curse.

Thank you to St Martin's Press and Netgalley for my eARC.

This is the first book in The Lost Bride Trilogy. It seems very appropriate to be reading a book about ghosts during the month of October. Some of the ghosts are the lost brides of a haunted Victorian manor on the coast of Maine.

Sonya McTavish is a young, talented graphic designer and bride-to-be in Boston when she discovers that her fiance, Brandon, is cheating on her with her cousin. She calls the wedding off and gives Brandon the boot. He doesn't take that well and seeks retribution in various ways including sabotaging her at work. She decides to leave the company where they both worked and go out on her own. About that time, a lawyer from Maine, Oliver Doyle, shows up on her doorstep and tells her that she has inherited a centuries old Victorian manor on the coast of Maine from her uncle, Collin Poole. Sonya learns that her adopted father had a twin brother that he didn't know about.

Mr. Doyle was a close friend of Collin Poole and is handling the details of his estate. Sonya will inherit the manor with the stipulation that she must live there for three years. Since Sonya's life has taken a turn with regards to her career, she decides that she is in a position that she can pursue her freelance work in Maine and also explore this new avenue. She is warned that the manor is haunted with lost brides who never made it past their wedding day. She, of course, doesn't believe that.

When she arrives in Maine, she meets Oliver Doyle's son, Trey, who is also a lawyer in the same firm with his father and grandfather. He shows her around the manor and clues her in on the history of the Poole family. At first, Sonya thinks she is imagining things when strange happenings start to occur at the manor, but she begins to realize that she is not living there alone.

I enjoyed this mysterious and alluring story with a great cast of characters. Nora Roberts is one of my favorite authors and she has a winner with Inheritance. Warning! There is a cliffhanger at the end of the story. I can't wait to find out what happens next, but will have to wait until Book Two comes out.

I received an Advanced Reader Copy (ARC) from the author and publisher via NetGalley in exchange for a fair and honest review. Thank you.

Sonya MacTavish is happy in her job and engaged to be married--until she walks in on her fiance and her cousin having sex in her bed. As her life's plans are in an uproar, she is hit with another bombshell. Her late father, who was adopted, had a twin, and that twin has left Sonya a gorgeous estate in Maine. The only stipulation is that she has to live there for three years. Sonya ultimately decides to move to the estate and start over her life and her career. But the house has a history of "lost brides" and many ghostly inhabitants. And at least one of them does not want Sonya there.

This was just a wonderful reading experience. The characters and the story drew me in right away. I was immediately transported to this haunted mansion and caught up in the legend of the lost brides. The spirits, some of them fun-loving and one of them definitely not, make this book unique. The distinct personalities of al the spirits are so well portrayed. My only slight critique is that the book ends on a cliffhanger. I hope Book 2 comes out soon because I want to read more of this story!

Nora Roberts has hit a homerun with this one, and I recommend it to anyone who enjoys magical realism.

I received a free copy of this book from St. Martin's Press via Netgalley. My review is voluntary and the opinions expressed are my own.

I grew up on the older Nora Roberts trilogies such as the Key trilogy and Three Sisters Island trilogy. While I adore her standalone books, THIS BOOK took me back to my teenaged years when I devoured her trilogies like they were the air I breathed. The characters are flawless, including the dogs, and the story just sucked me in until I felt like I was there at the manor in Maine. There is not a dull moment from the first page to the last and the ending, for now, has me on pins and needles. I hope the rest of this series closely follows this book because these are definitely going to fall in the “up all night” pile. I really loved seeing not just what is happening now at the manor, but what happened in the past, both with the brides and the other ghosts there in the house. I adore that Sonya has such a strong friend in Cleo and look forward to seeing what Cleo’s grandmother might come up with to help them get rid of Hester Dobbs’ ghost once and for all! I only hope that by getting rid of her, Sonya doesn’t lose the other ghosts who she seems to have formed bonds with!

I have been a life time Nora roberts fan and this book was no different as she always does an outstanding job with storytelling! So excited that it’s a trilogy! I loved it!