Vision in White (Bride Quartet) - Nora Roberts

...plot, predictable

VISION IN WHITE

NORA ROBERTS

"By the time she was eight, Mackensie Elliot had been married fourteen times. She'd married each of her three best friends--as both bride and groom--her best friend's brother (under his protest), two dogs, three cats, and a rabbit."


INTRODUCTION

'Vision in White' is the first book in Nora Roberts' 2009 'Bride ...
...from Nora Roberts's most recent books. For years, her books have included some kind of mystery along with romance. This book is straight romance, which may disappoint some of her readers.

Four childhood friends - Parker, Emma, Laurel and Mackensie - run a wedding planning company in Connecticut, called Vows.

The company is very successful and each woman has their own role - Emma handles the flowers and decorating, ... more

Advantages: A quick and easy read

Disadvantages: Disappointing, lack of plot, predictable

VISION IN WHITE

NORA ROBERTS

"By the time she was eight, Mackensie Elliot had been married fourteen times. She'd married each of her three best friends--as both bride and groom--her best friend's brother (under his protest), two dogs, three cats, and a rabbit."

INTRODUCTION

'Vision in White' is the first book in Nora Roberts' 2009 'Bride Quartet' Series.
This book is a bit different from Nora Roberts's most recent books. For years, her books have included some kind of mystery along with romance. This book is straight romance, which may disappoint some of her readers.

Four childhood friends - Parker, Emma, Laurel and Mackensie - run a wedding planning company in Connecticut, called Vows.

The company is very successful and each woman has their own role - Emma handles the flowers and decorating, Laurel is in charge of creating incredible cakes, Mackensie is the photographer and Parker handles all the other details for the brides and is the one clients call in a panic if something goes wrong.
The business is run from the Brown Estate that Parker inherited from her parents and it is also used as the setting for the weddings.

THE STORY

The book's prologue tells us that the four women have been friends since they were children playing 'wedding day' together.
The four young women have a strong friendship that is essential to the plot of 'Vision in White' and I'm sure it will be just as important in the next three books.
As they know each other very well they work well together most of the time. They do have disagreements at times, but they manage to work through them

Mackensie Elliot is a very talented photographer who has had pictures she's taken printed in bridal magazines. Despite earning her living through weddings, her family history has made her very cynical about the state of marriage. Her father had left when she was a child and her mother Linda has been married several times, and every time something goes wrong (which is frequent), Linda turns to her daughter for sympathy and financial help.
So Mackensie "Mac" Elliot isn't interested in romance - well that is until she meets Carter Maguire.

Mac and Carter (an English teacher at the local private high school.) have an awkward meeting when he wanders into her studio looking for his younger sister, who has hired Vows to plan her wedding.

Despite the embarrassing manner of their meeting (I shall leave you to read about that), there is an attraction between them and their relationship starts to develop, despite Mac's struggle against the complications of a serious relationship, while she tries to deal with her mother's newest catastrophe.

The developing relationship between Mackensie and Carter plays a large part in the plot of this book. They had known each other from high school, where he was a bit of a nerd (actually he still has some of those characteristics) He has almost always wanted to be a teacher, after he got past wanting to be one of the X-Men!

But will Mac, usually unlucky in love, cope with the stresses of a romance and will Carter be able to overcome his confidence issues?

WHAT DID I THINK?

I can't really think why I chose this book, maybe because I have enjoyed some Nora Roberts in the past, maybe because I have been doing some rather 'heavy' reading lately.

I can't say that I either enjoyed or hated the book; I think the best description I can give would be that I was disappointed in it.

I personally think that one of Nora's greatest strengths in her books are her characters. And I have to admit that her characters in this book are good, they are not archetypes but complete people.

Mackensie and Carter are the main characters in 'Vision in White' and receive the most attention I have to say that I was to see a 'romantic hero' who is more normal and not a macho type. Carter is a high school English teacher who challenges his students to wake up and actually learn, he tries to make a difference in the lives of his students. He loves to read, sometimes wears glasses, he is neat and orderly. He even has a three-legged cat as a pet.
I also loved the character of Mac; I thought that she was a great character. She is a very talented photographer who mostly takes wedding pictures even though she has serious issues about marriage She can be stubborn and even a bit irrational at times, but she is likable overall.

The other characters are Parker, Laurel, and Emma. Parker is very organized and a bit obsessive about details, ideal for her position of wedding planner. Emma has a talent for growing beautiful flowers that she uses as the flowers for the weddings, while Laurel creates delicious, elegant cakes and other deserts. These girls aren't featured too much in this book; presumably they will each feature in the next three parts of the quartet.

The minor characters in the book don't have that much to do. There is Parker's attorney brother Del and his architect friend Jack.
Also Mac's mother, Linda, who mostly turns up through distraught phone calls to Mackensie, weeping about something and demanding money and several clients of Vow - including Carters sister.
Possibly some, if not all of these characters, will feature in the other three books.

So why didn't I like this book?
I found that there was just nothing in this book to capture my attention or interest.
It is predictable, without a decent plot and reminded me very much of a Mills and Boon type book.
Certainly not up to normal Nora Roberts standard.

BOOK DETAILS

Paperback: 352 pages
Publisher: Piatkus Books (7 May 2009)
Language English
ISBN-10: 0749929278
ISBN-13: 978-0749929275
Product Dimensions: 23.2 x 15.2 x 2.8 cm

Summary: I shan't be reading the next three.

 

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