Book Review: The Mirror The Lost Bride Trilogy #2 by Nora Roberts

The Mirror by Nora Roberts

My rating: 1 of 5 stars


Review also available on my site: https://roxannacross.com/2025/09/09/b...

Roberts’ continuation of the Lost Bride Trilogy, published November 19th, 2024, picks up where the first book left off; therefore, this is not a standalone read. Roberts’ Lost Bride series is available on Amazon in paperback, hardcover, Kindle, and audiobook formats, at your local library or through the Libby App. The audiobook is narrated by Brittany Pressley. She does an excellent job with the narration, not just of the living characters but of the ghostly ones as well.

The foundation laid in the first book is that Sonya MacTavish inherits a mansion on the coast of Maine, with the condition that she live there for at least three years. As it turns out, the mansion is haunted, cursed by an evil, murderous witch named Hester Dobbs, and she makes a nuisance of herself by banging and slamming doors, creating illusions of bleeding walls, sending imaginary vultures out the window after Sonya, Cleo, Trey and Owen, leaving the smell of sulphur lingering in the air. Her efforts to get rid of Sonya and her friends fall on deaf ears. In her second book, Roberts keeps up the evil manifestation; however, she doesn’t introduce any new ways for her to scare Sonya away, so this becomes redundant.

Honestly, the book was more like lather, rinse, repeat, on a loop. Substitute for the evil witch makes a scene, they freak out, drink wine, eat, rehash what happened, tell the witch to f*ck off, drink more wine, and everything that happens is retold in the following scene, again redundant like being stuck in Groundhog Day with lots and lots of wine. What Roberts got right is the new beginnings Sonya and Cleo created, the career paths they undertake, and how they anchor themselves in the community; however, the romance is lacklustre. There is no chemistry between Sonya and Trey, so it’s difficult to portray them as a couple falling in love. Owen and Cleo, however, the sparks flew from the start, and the audience expected them to get together. In this book, Roberts allows the sparks to continue burning and percolating until they reach combustion, so readers and listeners get some genuine romance.

Solving the mystery of the mirror, the seven murdered brides, and retrieving the rings from Dobbs are the most critical aspects of the storyline. However, by the end of the book, nothing is resolved, leaving the audience wondering if this book was even necessary. Making this regrettably a 1.5-star read or listen.



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