ARC Review: True Love by Jude Deveraux

True Love
Author: Jude Deveraux
Series: Nantucket Brides Trilogy
Publication: Ballantine Books (May 27, 2014)

Description: Jude Deveraux, the bestselling author of unforgettable romance, returns with a breathtaking first book in a fantastic new series—the Nantucket Brides trilogy. Set on the magical Massachusetts island, True Love introduces characters from a new generation of Montgomery-Taggerts, the beloved family from Deveraux’s classic novels.

Just as Alix Madsen is finishing up architectural school, Adelaide Kingsley dies and wills her, for one year, the use of a charming nineteenth-century Nantucket house. The elderly woman’s relationship to the Madsen family is a mystery to the spirited Alix—fresh from a romantic breakup—but for reasons of her own Alix accepts the quirky bequest, in part because it gives her time to plan her best friend’s storybook wedding.

But unseen forces move behind the scenes, creaking Kingsley House’s ancient floorboards. It seems that Adelaide Kingsley had a rather specific task for Alix: to solve the strange disappearance of one of the Kingsley women, Valentina, more than two hundred years ago. If that wasn’t troubling enough, Alix must deal with the arrogant (and extremely good-looking) architect Jared Montgomery, who is living in the property’s guesthouse.

Unbeknown to Alix, Jared has been charged with looking after her while she lives on the island—an easy task for him, considering the undeniable chemistry between the two. But Jared harbors secrets of his own, which, if revealed, may drive a wedge between the pair.

With a glorious Nantucket wedding on the horizon, sparks fly, and the ghosts of the past begin to reveal themselves—some of them literally. Finding their lives inextricably entwined with the turbulent fortunes of their ancestors, Alix and Jared discover that only by righting the wrongs of the past can they hope to be together.

My Thoughts: Sometimes I just need a good romance. TRUE LOVE was amazing. Alix Madsen has come to spend a year on Nantucket. She has just finished school to be an architect and is looking for a place to work on her portfolio to use to find a job. Little does she know that famous architect Jared Montgomery Kingsley is the house's owner and has been tasked with helping Alix get along on the island.

Alix is the child of divorce. Her father Ken was a builder and an architect and now teaches at a university. Alix takes after him in her love of building and architecture. Her mother is a famous novelist who is as outrageous, charming, and flamboyant as she could be. Alix loves her. Both of her parents have been keeping secrets from her for her whole life.

Alix's mother Victoria has spent the month of August each year on Nantucket reading Kingsley family diaries to mine for plots for her best selling novels. Alix thought that her mother spent the time in Colorado. Alix's father has also been a frequent visitor to Nantucket where he was a mentor to young Jared. He helped straighten him out after his father died. Both Ken and Victoria had a large part in Jared's life and career but Alix knew nothing about it. Now that Alix is on the island, Jared is falling in love with her but promised her father that he'd leave her alone.

Then there is the whole ghost thing. Captain Caleb Kingsley has been haunting the house for 202 years searching for his lost love Valentina. Conditions are finally right to resolve that mystery.

I loved the characters - both main and side - though I did get a little irritated with the machinations of Alix's mother. I loved that Alix saw the real Jared inside the Great Man of Architecture that the rest of the world saw.

I can't wait to read the rest of this trilogy and find out how Lexie and Toby find their true loves. And I will be very disappointed if they are not the stars of the other two books in this trilogy.

Favorite Quote:

They stood there in silence, not sure what to do or say. Jared Montgomery was their hero, a man whose designs were legendary in the architectural world. To them he was the Beatles, all the vampires, and Justin Bieber rolled into one. 

I got this ARC for review from LibraryThing. You can buy your copy here.