The Last Boyfriend

The Last Boyfriend is the second book in the Inn Boonsboro trilogy by Nora Roberts. This book focuses on Owen Montgomery, the organized, efficient brother and Avery MacTavish, the ever hair color changing owner of pizzeria Vesta.

Owen was Avery’s first boyfriend and she has never forgotten him. She was five and he was eight.  They have been lifelong friends and a chance kiss has them looking at each other in a new light. They each take the time to consider the risks of hopping into a relationship- both of them appreciate their friendship and neither wants to damage it. Both are attracted to each other and decide to take the next step in their relationship.

I am in love with this trilogy. I was captivated by the first book The Next Always and Nora does another good job in The Last Boyfriend. I loved Avery and Owen’s story. Because they were friends, they took their time figuring out next steps but for me, it made the story better.

The word play between the brothers and between Avery and Owen had me giggling like a schoolgirl by page fifty. There is not one character in this series that I am not in love with. Nora has done a fantastic job pulling these great characters together in one series.

The book heavily focuses on the Inn which becomes a secondary character to the plot, much as it did in The Next Always. The brothers are rehabbing the Inn and Avery, along with Clare and Hope is pitching in to help make it a success. The book gives a lot of detail to the renovation, focusing at times on minute details of each room.

The Inn also comes with a ghost. First discovered by Beckett in the previous book, Lizzy, as she is called gets a little bit more page time in this book as Owen and Hope try to unravel her mystery.

For me, the ghost and the Inn detail worked, they are as much a part of this trilogy as the actual characters, but I can understand how it might grate on some people.  I thought it helped enhance their romance but at the same time I would prefer to be shown the love, not told. I didn’t necessarily need less of the Inn/ghost; I just needed more Avery and Owen. Once they got together, the book focused more on Lizzy and the Inn than Avery and Owen.

 I was disappointed in the conflict of the story. You could see it a mile away and it was so clichéd. I would have much rather seen the focus on Avery and Owen and their relationship without the blast from the past.

There was a lot of buildup for Hope and Ryder’s story, The Last Hope, which comes out in November. Ryder made up half of my giggles in this book so I am highly anticipating their story.

Overall, I think it was a good read. I loved the buildup and the romance as well as the ghost story but I think this book is going to wind up being my least favorite in the trilogy. Don’t get me wrong, I did really like the book but between the Inn/ghost and the Ryder/Hope buildup, I just feel like Avery/Owen were a little shortchanged in this book.