copied from some other, similar books:
The Barnes & Noble Review
Nora Roberts brings her bestselling In the Garden trilogy to a most satisfying conclusion with Red Lily, which tells the story of Hayley Phillips and solves the mystery of the Harper House ghost.

Hayley, first encountered in Blue Dahlia, lurched into adult life unexpectedly when she left home six months pregnant. She found the fresh start she was looking for, thanks to her distant cousin Roz, who gave her a home, a job in the nursery business, and a chance. Hayley has found many good friends too, including Roz's son, Harper, whom her young daughter, Lily, adores.

Although Harper and Hayley have spent the past two books becoming friends and eyeing each other from the side, in this book they finally act on their attraction. Their romance is sweet and intense, supported and complicated by the cast of friends and relatives introduced in the two previous books: Stella and her husband, Logan, and Roz and her new husband, Mitch. And for reasons to be revealed, the ghost of Harper House takes offense at any romance -- especially Hayley's -- in a way that could endanger her life.

As in the previous two books, Roberts excels at creating a rich cast of characters, led by three women of different ages, who start out unattached and ultimately find the friendship and love they deserve. Ginger Curwen

From The Critics
Library Journal
The final book of Roberts's "In the Garden" trilogy sees the bride going on a full-frontal assault, with Hayley and Harper in the spotlight. Susie Breck, who reads the series, shows empathy for our ghost, Amelia. And although Amelia is clearly psychotic, Breck never makes her shrill or maniacal; her approach is more tempered, allowing us to see Amelia's love for her child, however corrupted. The narrator's lilting Southern accent is pleasurable rather than affected and isn't used to displace individual characterizations. There is less romantic development in this book, since Hayley and Harper are a given, leaving the onus of the story on the mystery, which wraps up neatly. Breck's reading adds interest; highly recommended.

My summary: I found the love story rather boring and far-fetched. All these troubles Hayley has to go through are constructs to keep the book going, while I found it hardly interesting. The story what has become of Amelia was definitely more interesting for me...
It was a nice listening-to, while I was knitting, but I will not search for the first two books of this garden series...

returned to owner