The Mirror
Ratings3
Average rating3.2
15
Ratings3
Average rating3.2
When Sonya MacTavish inherits the huge Victorian mansion on the coast of Maine, she has no idea that the house is haunted. The footsteps she hears at night, the doors slamming, the music playing, are not figments of her imagination. In her dreams she sees glimpses of the past. In the present she finds portraits of brides. And when she has visions of an antique mirror, she is drawn to it, sensing it holds dark family secrets.
Then one night the mirror appears and Sonya glides through this looking glass, into the past―and sees a bride murdered on her wedding day, the circle of gold torn from her finger. It is a scene that will play out again and again―a centuries-old curse that must be broken―and a puzzle she must solve if there is any hope of breaking the curse.
Featured Series
2 primary booksThe Lost Bride Trilogy is a 2-book series with 2 primary works first released in 2023 with contributions by Nora Roberts.
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I received a complimentary copy of this book. Opinions expressed in this review are completely my own. (via Netgalley)
Actual review: 3.5 stars.
I was pretty excited to receive the email inviting me to an ARC for this. I suppose my first clue that this was not as gripping as the first was that it took me a week to read it. It felt like most of the book was just repetitive and tbh, I expected there to be more progress made towards defeating Dobbs. I feel like a lot has to happen in the third to "catch up."
If you're hoping that this middle book of The Lost Bride Trilogy ramps up the paranormal suspense angle, you will probably be disappointed. However, if your catnip is any or all of the following, this is your lucky day:
competence porninterior design
gardeningcooking
graphic art and creative artboatmaking
event planningbespoke dog houses
wine, wine, wineperfunctory sex scenes between MC and her LI
*occasional reminders that there is an evil ghost haunting the house in which the MC and her BFF live
Honestly, it's rather mind-numbing, but also comforting to read about good, professionally capable people being decent to each other and planning a big party so that all the shiny, happy people can meet each other. The paranormal plot is barely advanced in the course of 400+ pages, but Sonya plants some flowers and Cleo gets a cat.
N.B. A genealogist from the Eureka Public Library has posted a helpful Poole family tree that includes each of the seven lost brides. Thank you C. O'Neill, whoever you are!
This was painfully boring. Nothing that happened here didn't happen in the first book except maybe one thing. One of the problems is this is still just Sonya's pov. If we got to be in Cleo's head for a while it might break up some of the monotony. But this is just a retelling of the same things, chapter after chapter. Sonya and Cleo work, take a break, let the animals out, go back to work, Clover plays songs, Jack plays with the animals and Dobbs slams doors and rings bells. Then the men come over they talk about the same stuff, “Dobbs can't have this house! It's mine!” They go to bed, wake up at 3 am, go back to bed and the whole routine starts over.
