Nora Roberts begins a trilogy set in a haunted house. The Prologue set in 1806 shows the death of the first bride and the beginnings of the curse that will take the life of six more brides who come to live at the manor.

Sonya MacTavish is surprised to learn that she has inherited an estate from the late father's unknown twin brother. The babies were separated at birth and her father put up for adoption. She is curious to know the circumstances that caused the babies to be separated.

The bequest comes at an interesting time in Sonya's life. She has recently ended her engagement to a co-worker who is now trashing her to fellow employees at the graphic design firm where they both work. She was going to keep the fact that she walked in on him in bed with her cousin quiet until he started saying that she changed her mind due to emotional stress. However, conditions where she works at a job she loves have become intolerable due to his harassment.

But Lost Brides Manor might not be a stress-free change. She has to move to a small town in Maine and live in the house for three years. Locals including her lawyers who were friends of her uncle Collin Poole all believe that the house is haunted. It isn't long before Sonya starts having encounters with ghosts herself. From sobbing and piano playing in the dead of night, to a ghost who uses Sonya's phone and tablet to provide timely music, to a ghost boy who plays with her new dog and a maid who makes her bed and keeps her house in immaculate condition to the ghost of the woman who killed and cursed the dead brides, Sonya is surrounded by ghosts.

Sonya isn't alone in trying to understand what is happening at the manor. Trey is the third Doyle in the local law office and provides a lot of help to Sonya. His father Deuce was Collin Poole's friend and Trey and his sister spent a lot of time in the house while he was growing up. He's had his own encounters with some of the ghosts. Trey is also the love interest in this story. And Sonya has her best friend Cleo to provide support too. Cleo was her college roommate and a fellow artist. She is also more open to the idea of ghosts than Sonya having a Cajun grandmother who instilled beliefs in spirits and demons.

This was an engaging story with many of Roberts' hallmarks. Both the female and male leads are strong, self-sufficient people with a circle of close friends. Neither looks to the other to fill in lacks in their own lives. Both are open to a relationship because they have seen good relationships all around them. Both Sonya and Trey are interesting people with strong opinions.

My one quibble with the story is that it felt particularly unfinished to me. Yes, I know it is the start of a trilogy, but neither the romance nor the curse reaches any sort of resolution. In fact, there is a definite cliffhanger of an ending that has me aching for the next book. ( )

A new trilogy by Nora Roberts which mixes historical romance with mystical mystery set in 1806. It begins with the tragic death of Astrid Grandville who is overwhelmed with joy after marrying Collin Poole. The newly married Mrs. Poole is found murdered on her wedding day still wearing her dress. Oddly, they find that her wedding ring was missing!

The story is brought to the present with Sonya MacTavish prepared to marry Brandon Wise, a graphic artist like herself. They worked together at By Design where she was senior designer. What is unusual is his insistence on planning the large fancy wedding at a Back Bay Boston hotel. Sonya doesn't express the same enthusiasm and especially not after she walks into her house to find her cousin, Tracie in bed with Brandon. You know, the "it's not what it looks like" scenario! The betrayal hits hard as it's her mother Winter's sister, Summer. Yes, they are named after seasons! There is fall out from the cancelled wedding as Brandon becomes bitter to his ex-fiancé with whom he still works.

Life has a way of working itself out as Sonya receives notice that she is to inherit an old mansion on the Maine coast from an uncle that no one knew existed. She learns that her deceased father Andrew MacTavish had a twin brother, Collin Poole, who was leaving his rumored haunted mansion to her. She isn't sure if she wants to uproot her life and move to Maine until she sees the impressive home. When she arrives for the reading of her uncle's Last Will, she is greeted by Trey a young lawyer tasked with executing the will. He provides a tour with commentary of the massive home which feels like it holds secrets and memories from the past. The atmosphere of the home is filled with an eeriness of a place still occupied by family members who have yet to move on from the tragedies that occurred there.

Trey proves to be more than just an executor of the will as he offers assistance after the professional obligations are complete. The attraction between them only intensifies as they work together to uncover the mysteries that the house holds regarding rumors of young brides found murdered with their wedding rings mysteriously missing. Sonya begins to feel uneasy as the energy in the home is clearly sending her subtle message which begin to become more aggressive in nature. Fortunately, she is able to convince her best friend, Cleo Fabares to move in. The story has developed and has you captured wanting to know what happens next.

The ending is such a cliff hanger that you feel like you are literally hanging onto the cliff's edge! Many ideas and theories floating in your head that must wait until The Mirrors, book 2 is released in November 2024. Kudos to Nora Roberts for creating such a spell-binding intense trilogy with such a dramatic ending. Of course, any fan of Nora Roberts is familiar with her many trilogies!

Many thanks to NetGalley and St Martin's Press for allowing me access to read this digital book. My review is my honest and unbiased opinion. All comments are expressly my own. ( )

I loved this book! This is the first book in the Lost Bride trilogy. Sonya is busy planning her wedding when she comes home early and catches her fiance in bed with one of the bridesmaids...her cousin no less. To make matters worse she works in the same graphic design firm that he does and knows things won't end well.

In the process of resigning and starting to work on her own she finds out she had an uncle she never knew about, it was her late father's twin. They were separated at birth and her father never knew he existed. Her uncle found out too late, but in his death he decided to leave his house (aka manor) to his niece, along with a small portion of their shipbuilding business. With the house, there is a stipulation however. She must live there for three years. All of the expenses that deal with the home will be covered by trust, and her percent in the family business will be more than enough to get her through.

Why the 3 year stipulation with the manor? Well, it is haunted. And, 7 brides have died in one way or another during their stay there. Not only is the manor haunted, but one of the spirits is mean and will do anything to get Sonya out of the house. But, Sonya doesn't scare easily, and the longer she stays the more she falls in love with the manor and the town surrounding it. And, Trey is a little bonus - his firm is handling the will for Sonya and Sonya and Trey notice that there is a spark between them. And, he is more than willing to help her figure out who is haunting the manor, and what their end game is.

The one downfall of this book? It ended on a major cliffhanger. ( )

Nora Roberts continue to reuse names, character traits, and plot devices, and also still be a ton of fun. ( )

Writing style isn’t for me - it just felt so cheesy and scripted, the characters and dialogue didn’t feel real.
This book also didn’t need to be 400 pages and end on a cliffhanger.
The romance also felt lifeless - I will not be continuing. ( )