Review of - In the Garden series - Blue Dahlia, Black Rose, Red Lily by Nora Roberts

I’ve recently predicted it’s going to be the year of Nora Roberts for me…I’m continuing with that statement and have been delving into a few of her book series.

The “In the Garden” series is about 3 women who come together through circumstance and choice. The book portrays strong women who stand on their own, yet come to depend on each other through a mutual mystery involving The Harper Bride. There is a plethora of paranormal, a touch of intrigue and mayhem, and an ancestry, history, floriculture and botany lesson – all rolled into 3 books that tell a tale revolving around the coming together of these women at the Harper House estate, and subsequently, fusing together over womanhoods, motherhood and strength.  

In the first book we are introduced to possible romantic partners and you basically know how each of those storylines end…one of the downsides to why I stepped away from romances and am only now delving back in, but they have to have something more, side story that peaks my interest and keeps it. It’s pleasant to walk through the paths all the characters take on these side journeys… it’s nice to see how all the relationships in the books bud, are nurtured, grow and blossom into the ultimate goal of every romance novel – love.

I think a series – be it book, movies, mini or TV, succeeds when the storylines you've been engrossed in over the course of story, be it book or movies, come full circle and yet you are left still wanting more. You want to see where these characters go, how their stories blossom and grown, and to see what happens next.

Success for a fictional writer today comes if you can see the story come to life - if you can picture it as a movie, mini-series, television or online series. So many wonderful movies and show have come from existing material.

In order to achieve this, you have to have engaging and endearing characters who are multi-dimensional and possess identifiable personalities – whether they be friend or foe; believable plot twists – even if the books are fantasy fiction; and a storyline and some events that may be “a tale as old as time” and echoing with familiar scenes and plausible outcomes but still surprises the reader.

I’ve just started reading Nora Roberts - although I’ve been a fan or J.D. Robb for a couple of years now and have gone right through over 40 novels and novellas on the Eve Dallas – In Death series. She is a master at blending romance, a bit of suspense, twists & turns and characters who you come to love and are engrossing and fully formed.

If you are a book lover and haven’t had the fortune to spend time and enjoy Nora Roberts (or J.D. Robb) books for yourself…I suggest you start.