Blue Dahlia by Nora Roberts

Blue Dahlia by Nora Roberts 2004 A Jove Book

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The story begins in 1892 when Amelia Conner, mistress to Reginald Harper, loses her child during childbirth and goes mad.

Forward to 2001 When Stella Rothchild is waiting for her husband Kevin to return from a business trip. Her two young sons Gavin, 6, and Luke, 4, are fighting when she hears about a plane crash and knows her husband is dead.

Three years later she moves to Tennessee where her father and stepmother live and has a job at Harper House where Roz owns a flower/plant nursery. She hires Stella as manager. Stella and her boys move into Roz’s large house and they begin to see the ghost of Amelia.

Organized and meticulous Stella butts head with spur of the moment Logan, the landscaper who never has time for paperwork. Opposites attract but Stella never planned on remarrying after losing Kevin. It sets up the tug of war of romance that plays out in this book.

Roz hires Dr. Mitchell Carnegie to study her genealogy and figure out who the ghost is and why she’s haunting the house. This is the romance in the second book of the trilogy.

To add to the mix, a  pregnant Hayley Phillips shows up on Roz’s doorstep. She’s a distant cousin and needs a job. Roz’s shy son, Harper, falls for Hayley and will be the romance in the third book in the trilogy.

For anyone who loves gardening or wants to learn more about it, this book provides plenty of information. Fiction books just like non-fiction require research.

It’s knowing the setting, including the history, architecture, seasons, food and more to make it realistic for the reader and ring true for anyone who lives in that area.

Roberts excels at adding facts and describing routine tasks, whether its grafting a plant or castrating a bull in her stories. Writers need that same accuracy in details. Don’t skip research in your writing.

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