I’m not at all happy that I have to wait a year for the second book in Nora Roberts’ Lost Bride Trilogy. After reading Inheritance, I just want to find the author, and shake the next book out of her. Yes, it’s that good, especially if you’re a fan of Roberts’ trilogies, as I am. Every series is different. Her main characters are interesting, and the supporting characters are always as delightful as the lead characters.

Sonya MacTavish is preparing for the lavish wedding that her fiance wants, but she doesn’t. She wanted small and intimate. He wants a big, impressive modern house. Sonya wants something older with history. But, time after time she gives in to Brandon. That changes when she skips an appointment with the florist and walks into their shared place to find him in bed with her cousin. She calls off the wedding, but it’s harder to deal with him at work because they both work for the same graphic design firm. Finally, Sonya calls it quits to go off on her own, working freelance.

It’s perfect timing. When Oliver Doyle II, a lawyer, shows up with a shocking story, she no longer has work ties to keep her in Boston. Her father, who died when Sonya as twelve, had a twin brother. No one in the family knew that. Sonya’s father was adopted, and even his parents didn’t know he had a twin. That twin, Collin Poole, died and left his Maine estate to the niece he never met. There are strings attached. Sonya must live in the manor for no less than three years in order in inherit the house and property. The family shipbuilding company goes to cousins, but Collin left a trust to maintain the house.

Sonya hates to leave her best friend, Cleo, and her mother, but she knows she can work from Maine. And, once she sees the manor and the seaside property, she falls in love. The house calls to her, but there are unusual occurrences there. Oliver Doyle III, Trey, assures her the house is haunted, but he has never experienced the true extent of the hauntings. Fortunately, Trey’s father wrote a family genealogy for his best friend, Collin, and it tells the story of the lost brides, the brides of each generation who died on their wedding days. The first lost bride was murdered by a mad woman, a woman who left behind a curse. “Again and again, over and over, year by year, and bride by bride.” Sonya is warned. “Find the seven rings. Break the curse.”

Inheritance provides the background for the house and Sonya and her ancestors. As always, Roberts creates a strong woman who doesn’t hesitate to depend on friends for support. Part of the fascination of the book is in the artistry created in the books as Sonya builds her graphic design business, and Cleo works as a talented illustrator. There are welcome details about the business aspects of their lives. Those details round out their characters, just as the story behind the Doyle law firm does for that family.

Nora Roberts incorporates ghosts and hauntings and stories of the past into the story of Sonya’s life. It works so well that the reader just accepts this version of a haunted manor house in Maine. It’s a wonderful Gothic tale for anyone who enjoys those stories set in isolated houses. Now, if I just had the sequel to Inheritance to read. Nora Roberts’ storytelling skills are a gift to her readers.

Nora Roberts’ website is https://noraroberts.com/

Inheritance by Nora Roberts. St. Martin’s Press, 2023. ISBN 9781250288325 (hardcover), 432p.

FTC Full Disclosure – The publisher sent a copy of the book, with no promise of a positive review.