Blue Dahlia (In the Garden, Book 1)

by Nora Roberts

2004

Status

Available

Publication

Jove (2004), Edition: English Language, 384 pages

Description

Fantasy. Fiction. Literature. Romance. HTML:Against the backdrop of a house steeped in history and a thriving new gardening business, three women unearth the memories of the past in the first novel in #1 New York Times bestselling author Nora Roberts' In the Garden Trilogy. A Harper has always lived at Harper House, the centuries-old mansion just outside of Memphis. And for as long as anyone alive remembers, the ghostly Harper Bride has walked the halls, singing lullabies at nightâ?¦ Trying to escape the ghosts of the past, young widow Stella Rothchild, along with her two energetic little boys, has moved back to her roots in southern Tennessee. She isnâ??t intimidated by Harper Houseâ??nor by its mistress. Despite a reputation for being difficult, Roz Harper has been nothing but kind to Stella, offering her a comfortable place to live and a challenging new job as manager of the flourishing In the Garden nursery. As Stella settles comfortably into her new life, she finds a nurturing friendship with Roz and expectant mother Hayley and a fierce attraction to ruggedly handsome landscaper Logan Kitridge. Heâ??s difficult but honest, brash but considerateâ??and undeniably sexy. And for a sensible woman like Stella, he may be just what she needsâ?¦ Donâ??t miss the other books in the In the Garden Trilogy Black Rose… (more)

Media reviews

Blue Dahlia kicks off another new paranormal trilogy from the hugely prolific Roberts. As in her previous trilogies, the cast is now assembled and the fun can begin. Touching emotion, fascinating characters and a tantalizing ghost add up to extreme reading pleasure.

User reviews

LibraryThing member brendajanefrank
This is the 1st in the Nora Roberts gardening trilogy, and what a great beginning. Romance, the supernatural (in the form of a ghost), and gardening, what's not to like! The descriptions of the people, the plants, the emotions, the house are great. And, everything works out so well for everyone.
Show More
The good people and love conquer all adversity. Very satisfying.
Show Less
LibraryThing member katie.chase
I tried, I swear. Stephen King praised her in his EW column, and I thought, "if Steve King likes her, she must be good". Wrong. I could not stand the lazy characterizations and descriptions, the tired plotting. It's not that it's cliched. I LOVE cliches. It's just so damn poorly written. So I quit.
Show More
Which I hate to do, but find myself doing more and more often.
Show Less
LibraryThing member ADallasCat
As an avid Nora fan I was dissappointed in this series -- I only bought the first two with the assumption that I would buy the third while reading the second. I could barely get through the first one and put it down halfway and have yet to pick it up.

Don't let this be a gauge for the usual Nora
Show More
book, this trilogy is the only in a long list that I have disliked.
Show Less
LibraryThing member AnneCurrin
my first Nora Roberts! Excellent book...captured my interest in the first two pages.
LibraryThing member readingrat
I enjoyed the ghost story twist on what was basically a "romance" plot. I liked how the ghost story continued to be developed a little bit more in each book. This trilogy was my first exposure to Nora Roberts.
LibraryThing member sunfi
An entertaining tale of three women who meet at very important points in each of their lives. The story centers around a mother whose children are grown and gone, a widowed single mother raising two boys, and a pregnant single woman who is soon to become a first time mother. This is the first book
Show More
in the trilogy, and you can see initial lines that have been laid into the story that will be expanded upon in the future books. While I'm looking forward to reading the others, it took me around 75 pages or so to get into this one. Hopefully the others are able to grab me quicker.
Show Less
LibraryThing member anterastilis
Blue Dahlia is Nora Roberts' latest romance novel - the first of a trilogy. Unfortunately for me, the beginning revolves around a plane crash; and I read it while on a rickety Czech Airlines flight. Other than that, it's just like most other Nora Roberts novels: she meets him, he dislikes her, they
Show More
fight, she grows on him, he realizes he loves her, they kiss, she gets nervous, he tells her he loves her, they get married. Not her best, not her worst. I like her trilogies because she has a tendency to end books abruptly, and with a trilogy you get to see the story continued in the next book (well, twice, anyway).
Show Less
LibraryThing member leseratte4
very predictable.. not bad, but not captivating for 1st part in trilogy... has humor.. ghoststory... love... friendship...gardening...not as great as other trilogies... love story not captivating.. took me long time to read..
LibraryThing member verenka
It’s a book about a young woman, recently widowed who moves to the American South with her two young sons to work at a garden center. There’s a coworker she hates on sight and then they fall in love.
I was a little disappointed by the book – I thought someone with so much routine would write a
Show More
little less clichéd. Don’t get me wrong, it was a nice read, it was escapist, it was fun. All the female lead characters were interesting and strong, independent women.
But after becoming a widow so tragically (plane crash) everything just runs soooo smoothly. She gets the job, she loves her new boss (who is admittedly awesome), she gets along great with her family, her kids have no problems adapting, everyone loves the changes she makes at the garden store. The shop thrives, and everybody gets along real smoothly. Not even the plants ever develop any lice or whatnot. There’s another character introduced and there’s more instant female bonding. Then there’s a ghost, to propel the story forward a little and to set up the sequels but it’s clear from the beginning that it doesn’t pose a threat.
There’s no conflict. The only conflict in the whole book appears to be the fact that the hero and heroine dislike each other on sight. That is dissolved with a date pretty soon and from then on it’s really just her overly developed sense of duty and order that keeps them apart. And for that 500 pages seems a bit much.
Show Less
LibraryThing member fuzzydeadthing
I had the misfortune to buy this book rather than renting it, as I do for most of my reads. Don't get me wrong, I can see why many women enjoy her work. It's an oasis of sensible people and happy endings in a chaotic world filled with neither. But for me, it was less than enjoyable.

The first thing
Show More
to bother me was the author's habit of cutting short common colloquialisms. Yu can always easily guess what the word (or words) left out should be, but they are essentially half finished sentences, which personally always drives me absolutely bonkers.

This personal pet peeve aside, each of the characters (including most of the men) is incredibly reasonable, lovely, smart, hard working, and usually says the absolute right thing at all times. How many people do yu know that are actually like that? Personally, I tend to enjoy characters, even villains, with a mixture of both flaws and virtues (and virtues disguised as flaws don't count)

This "Perfect People Syndrome" leaves very little in the way of actual conflict, except for the ghost (which seems almost incidental to the story), and an unwanted attraction between Stella and Logan that I find utterly incomprehensible and devoid of chemistry (since they both admit that the other person represents everything they can't stand, and don't explain how this translates to actual admiration).

Since it quickly becomes apparent that nothing really bad will ever be allowed to happen, the ghost has no "teeth", and there is no doubt about whether Logan and Stella will work out.

I can likely tell yu what will happen in the next books without even trying: The two other relationships set up in the first book will blossom and succeed. Stella and the younger girl will each have a baby. The ghost will come to peace, after they discover and understand her past. The end. : / And I didn't even have to read their descriptions.

I have heard that the formula used here is common for this author's work, so I will definitely not be reading anything else she has written.

Sorry if my little hypothetical ending is an actual spoiler, but it's really just a blind guess.
Show Less
LibraryThing member mschweer432
This was my first time reading Nora Roberts' Blue Dahlia. I have to say, it was a pretty standard Nora Roberts book. Everyone was successful, smart, beautiful, etc. The only real conflict is minimal. The main characters fall in love easily and the characters don't really change from beginning to
Show More
end. That being said, I did like the book. It's a nice easy read that can be read over several days. I never had the feeling that I couldn't put the book down or couldn't wait to pick it up again so I'm sorry for that. But I'm not sorry I read it. Sometimes I feel like Nora Roberts' books can be too "teachy" for me and this book ALMOST got there. I don't mind books that I learn from, I just don't want to feel like the information is being jammed down my throat by excessive descriptions of things that I don't really care about. Over all, I would say if you like Nora Roberts, than you should definately read this book. You would love it. If you're on the fence with her, she has a lot of other books that are much better.
Show Less
LibraryThing member chrissywest
I loved Blue Dahlia. It is a great start to a new series! I liked the chemistry between Stella and Logan. The best part of the book was the scenes with the ghost, and her relationship in regards to the other characters. One mintue she is loving and protective, the next she is outright nasty. I love
Show More
gardening, when I have time to work at it, so it was very easy for me to enjoy this book. If you have never read a Nora Roberts novel, give Blue Dahlia a try. You won’t be disappointed.The next novel in this series is Black Rose, which I’m looking forward to reading.
Show Less
LibraryThing member shelleyraec
I enjoyed this - the usual romantic formula but done with thought and the added interest of paranormal and the obvious lead ins to the following books in the trilogy. A light read for a sunny afternoon in the garden.
LibraryThing member SunnySD
She's a compulsively organized, anal retentive redhead with two boys and a small dog. He works off of post-it's stuck to his dash and crumpled receipts.

Recently widowed, newly transplanted to Tennessee, Stella wants nothing more than to make a success of her new life for her boys' sake. Managing
Show More
Rosalind Harper's In the Garden greenhouse would be a completely rewarding experience, if it weren't for landscaper Logan's response to being organized - the pair strike enough sparks off one another to light a forest afire. Happily ever after might be in the cards, but with the resident ghost taking a hand, nothing is certain.

Classic Roberts fare - if you're a fan, this won't disappoint.
Show Less
LibraryThing member KANwrites
A "comfort" book--like comfort food. Enjoyable, a nice way to spend time while cleaning, baking, packing and folding laundry.
LibraryThing member wyvernfriend
First in a trilogy centered around a garden store. The usual Nora Roberts this time with a Ghost to keep everyone doing research and drag new characters in, and to provide the strong men with reasons to give the strong women with shoulders!
LibraryThing member wareagle78
A lovely story of a widow from Michigan moving to Tennessee with her two young sons to take the reins of a garden center. The story follows a few months of her acclimation - complete with ghosts, a new love, and a wonderful household of women. I enjoyed Blue Dahlia very much.
LibraryThing member harrietbrown
Things I Learned: Nora Roberts loves gardening and writes pretty well. I can see why she's a best-selling author.

Comments: On the whole, a pretty good book, Lagged in some spots, but not for long. A nice romance between a widow with two young sons and sexy, divorced landscaper. Sparks fly,
Show More
miscommunication ensues, true communication follows and hot sex proceeds apace. Ms. Roberts balances her various plot lines and characters nicely. I would like to read more in this series and perhaps more of Ms. Roberts' work.
Show Less
LibraryThing member JudithDCollins
(#1) In the Garden trilogy. Did not care for this book as listened to it on audio and the narrator Susie Breck was so country and southern, it was annoying. Setting near Memphis, TN with a backdrop of an historic house with a gardening business, three women bond while trying to uncover a past and
Show More
work toward a future. Stella along with her two boys move into the home after the death of her husband to start a new career. She find friendship and bonds with owner Roz and expectant mother Hayley. She also develops an attraction to the handsome landscaper Logan and a romance begins. However, someone is not happy (the ghost is back-Amelia from the past)! Not one of my favorites..
Show Less
LibraryThing member CinderH
This book was enjoyable, but formulaic. Something to be expected in a NR book so I didn't mind since I knew what I was getting into. I enjoyed the characters and their quirks. Ghost story thrown in was something different and interesting. I like the way NR builds everyone's story in each book
Show More
instead of only focusing solely on one couple. It's a nice change and paces the book well
Show Less
LibraryThing member ChristineEllei
Typical Roberts but makes me want to go on to the next book in the series. A ghost story cleverly woven into a romance ... good one for Roberts fans.
LibraryThing member soosthemoose
Enjoyable and fast moving story that had likeable characters.
LibraryThing member Marcella1717
Good read - typical Nora Roberts series - but what I like most about this book is that Stella's first - deceased - husband is not discredited in any way, which so often happens in other books where a widow or widower finds new love. Stella and her kids are 'allowed' to keep loving him as well as
Show More
Logan.
Show Less
LibraryThing member MelAnnC
This was a re-read for me, and just as enjoyable the second time. In this book, we are introduced to Stella (a widow with 2 young sons who is an organized, efficient mother and manager), to Roz (the owner of the Harper estate and the nursery In the Garden who gives Stella the job of a lifetime),
Show More
and to Hayley(Roz's distant cousin who is 6 months pregnant when we meet her; she is an energetic, people person who excels at sales). Stella (with her 2 boys) and Hayley end up living in Roz's house and quickly become a family. We also meet Stella's love interest - the creative, disorganized landscape designer who is working for Roz, and David, Roz's quiet son who works in the propogation part of the nursery. The last important character to mention is the "Harper Bride" - the ghost who visits children and sings to them.
Show Less
LibraryThing member LibraryCin
3.5 stars

A couple of years after Stella’s husband dies in a plane crash, she and her two sons move to Tennessee, where her father and stepmother live. Stella quickly finds a job (and a place to live) with Roz, who owns a gardening company. Roz also owns a huge old house, complete with a resident
Show More
ghost, who seems to enjoy children. Logan, another employee of Roz’s, and Stella get off to a bad start; Stella is super-organized and is trying to organize Roz’s company, and Logan is not.

I enjoyed this. It wasn’t fast-moving or anything, but it was enjoyable. I liked the ghost story, in particular. This, being the first in the trilogy, didn’t come to a full conclusion and we can already figure out who will be paired up with whom in the next two books, but that’s ok. I’d like to continue and I certainly want to learn more about the ghost story!
Show Less

Language

Original language

English

Original publication date

2005-11

Physical description

384 p.; 4.19 inches

ISBN

051513855X / 9780515138559

Barcode

1600594
Page: 0.8641 seconds