Red Lily

Red Lily by Nora Roberts

I downloaded the audiobook from the public library's OverDrive service.

My review:

This is the third and final book in the In the Garden trilogy. My reviews for the previous two books are here and here. As a continuation of the story, this book shares the characteristics of Blue Dahlia and Black Rose-- same setting (near Memphis), same cast of characters, same psychologically-unbalanced ghost. In this book we finally get to focus on Hayley and Harper, a romance that has been in the making since Hayley showed up pregnant at the Harper estate. I've been waiting for this story throughout the previous two installments.

There are some definite swoon-and-sigh-worthy moments. There are also plenty of conflicts between the love birds as they learn to navigate their new relationship. I like that, but in this case, there is one argument when Hayley ends up caving to Harper that just left a bad taste in my mouth for the rest of the book. Other readers might not have as much of a problem with it as I did, however.

The part of this book that really shines is the effort to learn what really happened to the Harper Bride, the resident ghost. In Red Lily, the investigation becomes both more urgent and more central to the story. Amelia is definitely a major player in this one, and I enjoyed finding out more of her story bit by bit. Red Lily answers questions and left me satisfied; it's the perfect final chapter to an enjoyable trilogy.

Stars: 4

Runability: 5