Stonebrook Cottage

Carriage House #3

by Carla Neggers

Kara Galway thought moving home to Texas after years in New England would put her life back in perspective. An up-and-coming defense attorney, she intends to concentrate on her career and on spending time with her Texas Ranger brother, Jack, and his wife, Susanna. But fate has something else in store.

First, Kara's good friend and mentor, Connecticut governor Mike Parisi, dies under suspicious circumstances. Then the children of the new governor, Kara's best friend, Allyson Stockwell, show up unannounced at Kara's home in Austin. It's clear the children are scared out of their wits -- and hiding something. Something connected to their mother's new role as governor and to Mike's death. And then there's Sam Temple, the Texas Ranger she can't believe she's fallen head over heels in love with.

Now Kara has to return to Allyson's home, Stonebrook Cottage, with the children to unravel what exactly is going on. Are the children really in danger? What secrets is Allyson hiding? And what is she going to do about Sam Temple, who has followed her to Connecticut and has no intention of leaving without her?

Genres: Romantic Suspense, Romance, Suspense, Mystery, Fiction, Contemporary, Mystery Thriller

384 pages, Mass Market Paperback

First published July 25, 2002

About the author

Carla Neggers is the New York Times bestselling author of the Sharpe & Donovan series featuring Boston-based FBI agents Emma Sharpe and Colin Donovan, and the popular Swift River Valley series set in the small, fictional New England town of Knights Bridge. With many bestsellers to her credit, Carla loves to write now as much as she did when she climbed a tree at age eleven with a pad and pen and spun stories perched on her favorite branch.

A native New Englander, Carla and her husband divide their time between their hilltop home in Vermont, a sofa bed at their kids' places in Boston and various inns, hotels and hideaways on their travels, frequently to Ireland.

Find out more and sign up for Carla's newsletter at CarlaNeggers.com.

Reviews

[Tracy · Rating 3 out of 5]

This book could have coined the phrase "guilty pleasure." Carla Neggers combined mystery and romance perfectly, creating seductive characters who were struggling with their own emotional baggage while trying to make sense of the murders of close friends. This book was cleverly written, making everyone a suspect, and putting our heroes on a deadline to catch the killer before their own lives were forfeit.

Unfortunately, I'm not going to read anymore books by this author. I dislike reading about sex in novels, usually it's easy to skip explicit parts. In this novel, however, I would be reading the most romantic, seductive prose, and in the next sentence I'd be reading explicit sexual material. It snuck up so quickly that I didn't have a chance to skip it, and it didn't just happen once, but three times in this book. Time to try out another author...

[Jean Brown · Rating 3 out of 5]

Mike Parisi dies in unusual circumstances. Was it an accident or a murder? Only a few people were privy to information about him that could make this a murder. Kara Galway is one of those people. So, just when Kara has moved back to Texas and plans on concentrating on her career as a lawyer. Her plans are turned up-side down. First, she becomes involved with Texas ranger Sam Temple and then her friend's children go missing only to turn up on her doorstep. They claim they are in danger. Are they telling the truth? Is it connected to Mike Parisi's death or something to do with their mother who became governor upon Mike's death? Kara's committed to protecting the children. Even if it means lying to Sam Temple. Sam is confounded by Kara's ability to keep him in the dark but he is determined to get to the bottom of the mystery

I found this to be an enjoyable light read. Mike Parisi's death was innovative and the author providing Mike's thoughts of the situation at the time created empathy with him. Kara is a strong independant lead. She has a career, she can fly a plane, she can shoot a gun. Even, though Sam feels he is there to protect her Kara is not reliant on him to get her out of situations. The characterization of Henry and Lillian the children in the story allowed one to see the softer side of Sam. I found all the secondary characters in the story were realistic and added to the storyline. My one complaint would be the pacing seemed a bit slow without much happening before an intensive ending.

[Amy · Rating 5 out of 5]

This book is written in Neggers's trademark style. She builds intensity from page 1. I always feel like her books are more about the journey than the destination and that's definitely true here. You know Kara and Sam are attracted to each other and you know they'll end up together but watching them hedge around one another is so much fun! Neggers carefully chooses her words for maximum impact, showing not just romantic tension but moreso tension and fear of the unknown. Kara doesn't know what's going on but she knows she'll do anything to protect her godkids. As is common in reality, each person in this tableau holds part of a picture (like pieces of a jigsaw puzzle) but due to perfectly logical, human reasons, they never share with one another so no one sees the big picture. And the way Neggers crafts her story, I'm not entirely sure anyone would have guessed the outcome even if they had pooled knowledge. There are so many players and they are all deliciously human--with strengths and faults and endearments and irks--that it makes it hard to really know who you should trust. This was definitely one I couldn't put down! And the ending was more romantically sappy than many of Neggers books so after all that tension and fear and unkowing, she left me with a goofy grin on my face, happy for the players and curious to see where she'll go next in this series!

[Ferne (Enthusiastic Reader) · Rating 4 out of 5]

As mentioned in my review of “The Cabin,” it was particularly enjoyable for those that watched Walker, Texas Ranger (TV Series 1993–2001). In the novel the Texas Ranger cowboy hat is white rather than black and suits this reader's imagination just fine. I added a comment on 27-Sep-2019 after reading the news online: Jared Padalecki to Star in 'Walker, Texas Ranger' Reboot
Link: https://www.hollywoodreporter.com/liv...

I was not familiar with the name Jared Padalecki before reading the Hollywood Reporter article and viewing his photograph. Without a doubt the photograph was easily absorbed as my image of Texas Ranger Sam Temple.

The interwoven twists and turns of suspense and romantic overlays that Carla Neggers brings to each of her novels are finely etched in this novel. This story also portrays the innocence as well as the fears of children as they respond to the crises that bring multiple changes to their family.

[Marilyn · Rating 3 out of 5]

Enjoyed the main story in this book as much as I did the first two in the series. I have a problem and it's not just with this author. The main male and female characters have unprotected sex and then she thinks she might be pregnant. These are not silly teenagers. They were not drunk or high on drugs. They are supposedly smart, responsible adults, but they certainly didn't act like it. She has two teenage nieces. If she had gotten pregnant, what kind of example would that set for them. This happens in books I read over and over again. Have none of these people heard of birth control methods?

What kind of dude ranch were these kids sent to? Obviously not a very good one. Where were the adults/counselors? A strange man is roaming around the ranch and no one but these 2 kids notice him?

Kara needs to become an adult before she has kids. She is too irresponsible and too easily manipulated.

[Nicole Dyer · Rating 2 out of 5]

What I liked: well I liked was that the chapters weren't too long. I also liked how didn't focus to much on the romance.

What I didn't like: Well I didn't like some of the characters choices that they made I also didn't like how Kara's brother was acting like Kara wasn't capable of making decisions about her life.

Overall: It was an ok book I couldn't really think of anything that stood out to me or anything I really liked about the characters. I don't think I will seek out this series however I might pick up a book from it if I find it in one of the goodwill shops or something.

[SandraLee Smith · Rating 5 out of 5]

This is a definite must read even as a stand alone if you haven't read the first two books in the series. This book combines mystery and romance with very likeable characters. The plot is very intriguing and compelling. Up until the very end you are still trying to figure out who the killer is. This is a great read.

[Angela Lewis · Rating 3 out of 5]

Son and daughter, pre teenaged kid’s of the new Texas Governor go missing from their camp. Allyson has been in power since her predecessor died in a swimming pool incident. The children get to their God mother and lawyer with a note from their parent and insist she takes them to the cottage. There are romantic elements and a twisted tale of questionable loyalty.

[Kim Bakos · Rating 4 out of 5]

This book had the perfect mix of mystery and romance. Also liked that the language was clean, and although there were a few sex scenes, they were fairly short and easy to skip over. Other than those scenes, the sexual content was minimal, not filled with lots of innuendo and leading scenes.

[Ashley Henderson · Rating 3 out of 5]

this book is ok

I loved Kara and Sam, but after a while, Henry and Lillian got annoying to me. Allyson was a huge push over, and Pete was just kinda there. I gave this book 3 stars because it was ok.

[Angie Rae · Rating 2 out of 5]

Very slow read. Not much of the mystery was uncovered till the last few chapters. Repetitive mentioning of the events that happened in chapter one. A boring romance/mystery.

[Daphne · Rating 4 out of 5]

A quick but good read

[Claudia · Rating 4 out of 5]

Romantic thriller. Good read.

[Laurie D'ghent · Rating 4 out of 5]

This is the second time I've read this, and I still had the wrong murderer pegged 🤣. Some swearing and easy-to-skip sex scenes. Engaging. I would read more.

[laurel jones · Rating 4 out of 5]

a nice read for a cold rainy day

[Sandy Morgan · Rating 5 out of 5]

Another great Carla Neggars book

[Dee Roll · Rating 3 out of 5]

Good mystery easy reading

[Madonna Slife]

Good

[Phyllis M. Wright · Rating 5 out of 5]

Seems it’s a good thing for people to be open about things. Definitely less stressful.

[Brenda Stevens · Rating 5 out of 5]

Thrilling

Very thrilling and not ending like you thought. Always thinking I knew what was coming next. But it was surprising.

[S.L. · Rating 3 out of 5]

So, next to the last book I am likely to read this year. It's not 100, but 50 (okay, 49 so far) is good for me. *pats self on back*

Par for the course, it's an older book. I have read current books this year. I just have to plow through my mountain of "ancient" books as well, or my husband will never let me set foot in a bookstore again. So, this time it's Stonebrook Cottage by Carla Neggers, published in 2002.

Kara Galway is a criminal defense attorney who's moved back home to Texas after spending several years in Connecticutt. She is a friend of Mike Parisi, the governor of the state, his lieutenant governor Allyson Stockwell, and several other influential people in the little town of Bluefield. She's also the little sister of a Texas Ranger, which always leads to a good time.


Unfortunately, Kara gets the bad news that her friend, the governor, died in a bizarre accident: he drowned trying to rescue a bluebird in his swimming pool. In shock and refusing to deal with her feelings the night she gets the call, she ends up in bed with Sam Temple, another Texas Ranger. Then Henry and Lillian, Allyson's children, go missing. They've been at a dude ranch for the summer, and disappeared without warning. When they show up in Kara's house, all hell breaks loose.

I will say, upfront and before I criticize, that I really did like the story. I kept picking the book up immediately after putting it down. Ms. Neggers has a compelling voice and she grabbed me with the plot, once it got rolling.

That said: the fact that my summary of the book is clumsy is disjointed really does mirror how I feel about the whole premise set-up. I mean, I like nature and animals a lot. I will go out of my way to help an injured animal if I can, but the governor is concerned with bluebirds to the point of obsession. So much so that a man who does not know how to swim (and yet owns a pool) knowingly risks himself to pull one out of the deep end of his swimming pool. This is not a brilliant man, folks. And though he seems like a nice guy from the little we see and hear of him, I'm not sure I would trust him to lead a state.

The rest of the plot twists really didn't seem any more graceful to me. There were a lot of characters, so the misdirection on the whodunit worked, but I never really bought in to the logic or saw the events as a logical escalation of what someone might do, no matter how deranged, to get rid of people who were "in the way".

I think I might have been a little less confused by the characters and this method of plotting if I'd read one of Ms. Neggers' books before. It seems to me that this is part of a series, or that the big brother, at least, had a book of his own. It won't stop me from reading her again. I'll just draw myself a plot map as I go.

[Heidi · Rating 5 out of 5]

This was actually one of the best. I've read about her brother first which was also cool. This one is kinda the next story and I really like it. I love it in fact. I wish their child have a story too. (Wishful Thinking)

[Linda · Rating 4 out of 5]

When the children of the new governor of Connecticut disappear from the ranch, everyone is in an uproar until their mother is notified that they have arrived at their godmother’s house. They tell Kara Galway a story about a man following them and she doesn’t know whether to believe them or not. She returns them home to Connecticut and learns that they were witnesses to the drowning of the former governor. This brings up the question that was on everyone's mind. Did Mike Parisi accidentally drown or was he pushed? As she and Texas Ranger Sam Temple try to find out the truth, someone in the governor’s inner circle is making threatening phone calls to her. Then the governor’s house is blown up injuring her and a trooper assigned for her protection. Now it is serious and the perpetrator must be found before anyone else is killed.

[Jessi · Rating 3 out of 5]

I know that I'read this book before but I didn't remember most of it. Kara Galway was rocked when her friend Big Mike, a New England governor, was found dead in his pool. She was one of the few people who knew his secret, that he couldn't swim. But after a passionate night with one of her brother's fellow Texas Rangers, Sam Temple, she retreats to Texas and her new job. But when her friend Allyson's kids (Allyson was the lieutenant governor who stepped into Big Mike's seat) show up running for their lives, Kara is confused but trusts their instincts. When Sam follows her back to New England, Kara is confused and frustrated but grateful for his help. As they protect the kids and try to figure out who's after them, Kara and Sam fall in love.

[Francene · Rating 2 out of 5]

With my employment comes all these people who want to share their book choices with me so I have been reading things that I would never choose by myself. With the recommendations I have been following through.

So far nothing has peeked my interest but who knows. I have discovered that most of the senior readers that have been sharing are romantics and love their romance novels. Who knew? Certainly not me!

[Jo-Ann Carson · Rating 4 out of 5]

Another great romantic suspense by Carla Neggers. I admit it, I'm addicted to her writing. Her smooth prose, charming settings and likable characters draw me deep into her story. Her plots are intriguing and compelling. This story involves murders, runaway children, two passionate romances and jealousy. What I find makes the mystery part particularly creepy is that everyone in the small town knows the murderer has to be a local. A great read.

[bex · Rating 3 out of 5]

Would probably have given this 4 stars if the POV had been more stable. It shifts a lot and has at least one POV break.

Need to note that my copy is probably damaged. It starts with Ch. 1 on p. 11. I know the front page is missing, but the start on p. 11 makes me wonder if a prologue is also missing. I don't know if reading that might have changed my impression of the book.

[Tracey · Rating 4 out of 5]

This book was enjoyable.. not a super page-turner but entertaining.. However I just couldn't picture the main couple together. It seemed their relationship came out of nowhere- like one day they were avoiding each other and the next they were in love. I may give one of the other books in the series a try though.

[Dawn · Rating 3 out of 5]

An enjoyable read. It took me awhile to get into the story because I did not read much while on vacation. I was anxious to find out who was behind all the things happening & I didn't guess who it was.

[Evelyn Brooks · Rating 4 out of 5]

A genuine "who done-it ".

A genuine "who done-it ".

Very suspenseful with lots of twist and turns. Also a wonderful romance with a surprise ending. An excellent, very fast read.