Stonebrook Cottage | Carla Neggers | Another great Carla Neggers book!

Stonebrook Cottage | Carla Neggers | LOVED IT!!!

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Stonebrook Cottage

	Stonebrook Cottage Carla Neggers Mira, 2005 - 384 pages average customer review:based on 11 reviews view larger image
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highly recommended

Connecticut attorney Kara Galway moves home to Texas, but is soon immersed in political intrigue. When Connecticut's governor mysteriously dies, her best friend, Allyson, is named new governor. Soon, Allyson's children show up in Texas, frightened. With the help of Sam Temple, a Texas Ranger she's fallen for, Kara returns to Allyson's home with the children to unravel what's going on. (August)

Another great Carla Neggers book!

STONEBROOK COTTAGE reminds me of why I'm a Carla Neggers fan. I loved the characters, found the mystery intriguing and the resolution totally satisfying. I agree -- it's an excellent summer read.

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LOVED IT!!!

This is the 3rd book in this 4 book series & in my opinion it's the best so far. I was hooked from page one & it kept me up hours past when I should've been asleep. I know after reading the last book in this series that I couldn't wait for Sam's story & he was as good as promised. I loved all the other characters that we've come to love in this series & it was great to catch up with them.

Unlike the first 2 books the murderer was kept a secret & it kept me guessing throughout the entire book. Finally some suspense. I highly recommend this book but I also highly recommend you read the series in order so you know who's who.

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Excellent

This is the first book by Carla Neggers I have read. While I suspected one person as the killer, I was wrong - but not too far off base. The characterizations were good, the story flowed well, and the concept was very believeable. I just ordered four more of her recent books.

Carla has moved into my favorite pile! 4 1/2

I really like her books. I especially like the way she makes you love the "place" where the action is happening. I really liked Kara, her older brother & family and Stonebrook Cottage. I could see it so clearly even though I have never been there. I also love birds!

Really fun, feel good read that you can lend to a friend.

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Stops and starts

I had read "The Harbor" by Carla Neggers and liked it, with reservations about the writing style. I liked it mostly for the ambience of the Maine coast. "Stonebrook Cottage," I discovered early on is the prequel to "The Harbor," but without that charm of Maine, or any other charm, for that matter.

There are just too many things wrong with this book. It repeats extraneous information endlessly, e.g., Sam's black eyes. Grammar and syntax are faulty, and there is considerable clutter. Didn't anyone at the publishing company even read the manuscript, much less edit it? The repetitions and language difficulties could have been eliminated and the book shortened by about 50-75 pages.

As in "The Harbor" there are many characters, with odd. hazy connections, referred to by first name, then last name, many pages apart. Again, I had to go back and make a list or I would never have been able to keep them straight. Even with a list, it was difficult. I don't usually have this problem, even with Dostoyevsky or Dickens, so I must fault the author here.

The action has way too many stops and starts. The result is an uneven flow of narration that is irritating. This is another problem that should have been solved by competent editors. A good pruning would have helped.

Now we come to the illogical events and explanations thereof. It is not giving away the plot to say that two missing children of the Connecticut governor's show up on their godmother's doorstep with a ridiculous explanation of why they ran away from a dude ranch and even more ridiculous and impossible evidence. And the godmother, supposedly a brilliant lawyer, no less, buys it whole. She actually follows the children's instructions as if she were no brighter or more experienced than they. That is just one example of what I mean. I would add that the children were completely unconvincing in their actions and dialogue.

Lastly, the ambience that lent charm to "The Harbor" is completely missing in this book. Austin, Texas and Connecticut just don't hack it somehow. And that doesn't leave much for this reader to find entertaining. Too bad. I had hoped for a repeat.

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reviews: page 1, 2, 3

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