Review: The Last Boyfriend by Nora Roberts

The Last Boyfriend
Book 2 in the Inn Boonsboro series
Author: Nora Roberts
Publisher: Berkley Trade
Release date: 5/1/12
Author's website: Link

Owen is the organizer of the Montgomery clan, running the family's construction business with an iron fist - and an even less flexible spreadsheet. And though his brothers bust on his compulsive list-making, the Inn BoonsBoro is about to open right on schedule. The only thing Owen didn't plan for was Avery McTavish.

Avery's popular pizza place is right across the street from the inn, giving her a first-hand look at its amazing renovation - and a newfound appreciation for Owen. Since he was her first boyfriend when they were kids, Owen has never been far from Avery's thoughts. But the attraction she's feeling for him now is far from innocent.

As Avery and Owen cautiously take their relationship to another level, the opening of the inn gives the whole town of Boonsboro a reason to celebrate. But Owen's hard work has only begun. Getting Avery to let down her guard is going to take longer than he expected - and so will getting her to realize that her first boyfriend is going to be her last...

The Last Boyfriend focuses on the 2nd Montgomery brother Owen as he realizes that he has feelings for his good friend Avery McTavish.  In fact he was her very first boyfriend, and they've been there for each other for as long as they can remember.  They've always had a crush on one another, but never acted on it until now.  Not wanting to mess up a good thing, they take things slow in The Last Boyfriend as their relationship progresses naturally.  Avery has been a part of the Montgomery family and there are lots of tender, emotional moments between the characters of the book as they all come together to put the finishing touches on the Inn. 

An interesting character from book 1 returns, the ghost at the Inn.  While I didn't feel as if the scenes involving the ghost were believable in book 1, I have to say I really enjoyed her in this book.  Nora Roberts has made the whole issue with the ghost much more interesting as there is more to her than meets the eye.  She is more accepted by the others and her past is interwoven in the storyline as the reader get to know more about her.  I'm looking forward to see how this storyline plays out in the final book of the series.

I'm giving The Last Boyfriend a rating of:

I had several issues with the book.  There were parts of the story that I felt were too detailed.  Here are some examples of that.  The reader gets to be a part of each and every step of the renovation process.  This includes installation of shelving and characters talking about how the different colors of the bedroom items look against each other.  This made the book have a much longer feel to it than what it actually was.  After reading the 1st 3 chapters of the book I felt as if I had actually read 6.  I was happy when the detailing was gone, but that was then replaced by a lot of dialog between the characters.  While I felt that the team effort was wonderful to get the Inn ready for opening, I found all the conversations to be dragging on the storyline.  There were times that the entire group were talking amongst one another and it got to be a tad confusing as to who was talking at the time.  But the one thing that can't be denied is the closeness and sense of family that the characters in this series has.  There were many emotional scenes that I found myself tearing up at and this series is a good example of just why family is very important.