EVER AFTER – Jude Deveraux
A Nantucket Brides Novel , Book 3
Ballantine Books
ISBN: 978-0-345-54185-7
July 2015
Contemporary Romance

Nantucket Island, Massachusetts, the Present with some Shades of the Past

Getting a stepmother when young is not always an easy thing, especially if it includes a younger stepsister who is both beautiful and spoiled rotten. That's the situation Hallie Hartley found herself in. Worse to come, her father and stepmother were killed in an auto accident when Hallie was just starting college. She had to quit and go to work to make the mortgage payments and feed herself and Shelly. Eventually, Shelly had left for Hollywood to get into the movies—that didn't work out, so she's back—and Hallie has earned her physical therapist license and is about to start a new job. She had to go back to the house for some papers, and there she learned that Shelly was in the process of cheating her out of an inheritance she knew nothing about by pretending to be her. It seems an unknown ancestor of hers died and left Hallie a house on Nantucket Island.

Noted architect Jared Montgomery was completely fooled. He'd been in correspondence with Ms. Hartley , had even seen her passport (a faked copy), and had arranged for her to house and treat his cousin Jaimie, whoinjured his knee in a skiing accident. Jared had an outbuilding on the property turned into a gym and therapy room. Shelly had been picking Hallie's brain on treating such an injury…now Hallie knows why. Hallie steamed for a while, but finally decided it was time for her to get out of her rut and take a chance. Mr. Montgomery flew her to the island in a private jet.

Jamie Taggert turned out to be an attractive, well-built but difficult patient. He wouldn't take off his clothes for one thing, and he awakened her in the wee hours with nightmares. Yet he was interesting and they shared a wry sense of humor. Something they were to need in the days to come. . .

The permanent residents of Nantucket, both alive and not,are truly characters. The spirits of two beautiful, romantic sisters haunt Hallie's new home. To add a lot more spice, Montgomerys and Taggerts and assorted other relatives were about to descend upon the island to celebrate a wedding or two. (One was to be broadcast from Lanconia, a small kingdom in Europe.)

And that is only the beginning of a warm and moving tale. Don't make the mistake I did. I had a busy day ahead when I thought to relax with EVER AFTER for an hour or so before getting started on my errands. Hah! Good thing they weren't crucial errands. Get this latest riveting opus form Ms. Deveraux and be sure to block out plenty of time. You won't want to put it down.

Jane Bowers