Ever After

Starred review from March 9, 2015
The thoroughly enjoyable conclusion to the Nantucket Brides trilogy (after For All Time) features the offspring of the Montgomery-Taggerts, who have populated many of Deveraux’s previous novels, but it’s entirely accessible to new readers. Jamie Taggert, a physician and military veteran struggling with physical injuries and debilitating PTSD, seeks to pacify his overly solicitous family by hiring a private physical therapist. Hallie Hartley, a meek “good girl,” flees to her newly discovered Nantucket house after learning of her stepsister’s plot to steal it, and contracts to treat a wealthy private patient. Scarred Jamie and self-deprecating Hallie are mutually attracted but have trouble believing in each other’s interest. However, their friendship deepens as they openly enjoy each other’s company and commune with the house’s invisible inhabitants, the Bell Sisters, who provide elegant teas, work continually on embroidery, and appear only to those who have not connected with their “True Love.” While boisterous, meddling relatives descending for a family wedding exacerbate the couple’s misunderstandings, kindly ghostly interventions bolster their courage and compassion. A sweet cast of supporting characters rooting for the lovers adds zest and humor to this thoroughly pleasurable novel.

April 15, 2015
Deveraux (For All Time, 2014, etc.) saves the best for last in the final installment of the Nantucket Brides trilogy, in which a physical therapist rehabilitates a wounded military veteran in a haunted house. When Hallie Hartley unexpectedly inherits a home on the island of Nantucket, she knows she'll have to move quickly to keep it away from her spoiled stepsister, Shelly, who steals Hallie's identity to try to claim the house for herself. Hallie hastily honors Shelly's arrangement with veteran Jamie Taggert, who had planned to move into the Nantucket home with the woman he thought was Hallie for round-the-clock physical therapy to escape his meddling family. While Hallie insists that her massage therapy techniques are strictly professional, the innuendos practically write themselves: "It's been a tough day and I took my anger out on you," Hallie says to Jamie. "Why don't you take your clothes off and let's start over?" Legend has it that a pair of beautiful ghosts named Hyacinth and Juliana still haunt the house with the aim of uniting people with their true loves. Hallie believes she's already met hers, and she hopes that her childhood friend, Braden, will take his mother's advice and propose to her. Braden, however, prefers lanky models, and curvy Hallie isn't his type. Braden arrives at the house assuming that Jamie will feel the same way, which makes it all the more gratifying when Jamie says he likes Hallie's curves, proving that beauty is in the eye of the beholder. Hallie is still torn between the two men when a bevy of Montgomery-Taggert cousins from previous books invade the house for a wedding celebration, giving her blessings and warnings that muddle her feelings but thankfully don't muddle the plot. Behind the scenes, the two scheming ghosts intervene with a whimsical touch, inspiring heartfelt revelations as both Hallie and Jamie heal old wounds to find new love. This sexy, lighthearted romp brings the series to a satisfying close.

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May 1, 2015
Hallie Hartley has put others before herself, including her spoiled stepsister, Shelly. But when Shelly attempts to steal the Nantucket home that Hallie has inherited from a long-lost relative, it's the last straw. Hallie decamps to the island, and a physical-therapy job assisting a mysterious (and wealthy) young man recovering from a skiing accident. There's more to Jamie Taggert than good looks and money, and Hallie finds herself falling in love, with a little help from the home's resident ghosts. Best-selling Deveraux's (For All Time, 2014) fans will relish the closing installment in her Nantucket Brides series, which features many of her trademarksa sensual love story, a touch of the supernatural, and members of the sprawling Taggert clan. Hallie is a bit of a Cinderella, with a wicked stepsister who gets her comeuppance, and Jamie, a war veteran whose physical scars reflect the emotional toll of combat, is an appealing hero with a surprising sense of humor. The combination of a popular setting, likable characters, and happy endings for all make this another winner from this prolific author.(Reprinted with permission of Booklist, copyright 2015, American Library Association.)

January 1, 2015

This final book in the "Nantucket Brides" trilogy opens with Hallie Hartley unexpectedly inheriting a lovely old home on Nantucket while taking on gentle but troubled James Taggert as a physical therapy client. Secrets will out.

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