Her mother is so selfish 

I almost forgot to write this up! 

So, a Nora romance does what a Nora romance does for me.  Makes me smile, makes me chuckle, makes me tear up and makes me sigh a little, a happy sigh, at the end.  La Nora is a comfort read for me.

And Vision in White doesn't lack in that category. 

It's not the best Nora I've read, nor is it the worst.  4 gals run a wedding business.  One stop shopping for the big day.  Now this is really all lost on me because I think the money spent on these spectacles would be far better spent on a vacation or a house or a car or... well, you get my drift.

Anyway, book one is about the photographer, Mackensie and Carter, the high school English teacher.  I have to say, for the first few chapters I wondered if we were going to find out that Carter was on the spectrum, but no, he was just being an iffily written safe, stable and a little befuddled guy.  I liked him a lot in the second half of the book.

Anyway, sweet romance, fun dialogue and far too much details about wedding planning.  *LOL*  I have the other three in the Kobo for the next time I need a comfort read. 

So I decided to re-read the Bride Quartet books over Christmas. I needed something to do and just figured I could bring the four books home along with finishing other books on my Kindle. I kind of forgot how downhill these books get from books #1 through #4. First of, I have read some really funny and sexy wedding planning books. This one ends up missing the mark, though the first part turned out to be pretty good.

Book #1 is about Mackensie "Mac" Elliot. She is a photographer getting to work alongside her three other best friends, Emma (does flower arrangements) Laurel (does the cooking/baking) and Parker (organizer galore and typical Type A). The four friends end up starting their own wedding business when Parker realizes she needs to do something to pay for the family home/estate after her parents are killed. Parker is an updated version of Laura Templeton from Finding the Dream (Dream Trilogy) series. I ended up realizing that Mac is a mixture of Margo and Kate from the Dream Trilogy.

Though Margo and Kate's parents loved them, and Mac's mother is a pain in the butt.

Mac's love interest is Carter. They went to school together and Mac didn't notice him much. But now of course there are feelings and sex and all that. Honestly I was just bored by Carter. I swear Roberts writes these archetype heroes all the time. Carter is an academic (he's a teacher) which of course means that Mac is all well we totally have nothing in common. Of course Carter surprises her by being passionate. I just wish that I cared about either of them. I remember first reading this years ago, and Mac was my favorite out of the best friends. But now I ended up just feeling meh about her. There is nothing really going on besides Mac trying to ruin her relationship with Carter cause she's scared of it turning into something more cause of what happened with her parents messed up marriage.

I also really think this first book ended up drowning way too much in wedding details. I almost fell asleep. Plus the acronyms drove me up the wall. I didn't care about the MOB (Mother of the Bride) or anyone else that they kept short hand talking about. It made the text hard to read. I recall the first time I read this book I was totally in the dark about who they were all talking about.

I did have the nice paperback version of this book with the fancy paper and all, so I did get a kick out of it (the book) being made special for readers.

The best thing about these books is the four friends. I wish we had gotten more time with them as a group later in the series, but honestly, book #4 could seriously just be "Finding the Dream" with different names for people which was a disappointment.

The ending of course is a HEA, but that is to be expected and appreciated in romances.

Wedding photographer Mackensie "Mac" Elliot is most at home behind the camera, but her focus is shattered moments before an important wedding rehearsal when she bumps into the bride-to-be's brother...an encounter that has them both seeing stars.

A stable, safe English teacher, Carter Maguire is definitely not Mac's type. But a casual fling might be just what she needs to take her mind off bridezillas. Of course, casual flings can turn into something more when you least expect it. And Mac will have to turn to her three best friends—and business partners—to see her way to her own happy ending.

Genre: Contemporary Romance



Year Published: 2009




Number of Pages: 325 pages



Date Read: 12/22/2016



Series: Bride Quartet #1



Publisher: Berkley Books

Now, I will be honest here. Even though I have been reading romance novels for a long time from various romance novelists, I had never read any of Nora Roberts’ works before and her work is everywhere in the reading sphere! So, when I stumbled upon this book by Nora Roberts called “Vision in White,” I just knew that this was the book that was going to introduce me to Nora Roberts’ works in a good way!

Mackensie “Mac” Elliot had dreamed for all her life about taking pictures at a wedding and she finally has her dreams come true when she and her best friends, Parker, Emma and Laurel all came together to create Connecticut’s wedding planning business called “Vow.” With Mac being a well-renowned photographer, she is able to capture the most beautiful moments at the weddings with a click of her camera. But, unfortunately Mac has no desire to get married despite working at a wedding planning business due to her trust issues that started with her father leaving her and her mother when she was a child and her mother Linda constantly asking Mac for more money, despite the fact that this act is emotionally hurting Mac. Then one fateful day, Mac runs into a shy yet sexy teacher named Carter Maguire, who she has known since high school and it turns out that Carter has been infatuated with Mac ever since they were in high school. Now, Mac must conquer her fears of falling in love with Carter if she has to make her own happy ending.

Wow! I have to say that as the first book I had read from Nora Roberts, it was simply amazing and heartwarming! I loved the fact that Nora Roberts made friendship and the importance of true love a central theme in this book as I enjoyed seeing how Mac starts developing as a character as she slowly learns to start trusting people despite her tragic past with her parents and the fact that her mother Linda keeps trying to take money from her. I also enjoyed the scenes where Mac confides in her friends Parker, Emma and Laurel about her romantic woes and her issues with her mother as it shows that Mac’s circle of friends are extremely supportive of Mac through her life and it shows that they are truly good friends towards Mac and it makes me want to have such friends in real life! Nora Roberts also did a great job at developing the relationships between Mac, her friends and Carter as not only does Mac have great friends who support her through her issues, but she also has a love interest in Carter who showed her what it is like to trust and love someone again. I loved almost all of the characters in this novel (well, except for the antagonists, of course) as they all felt so genuine and are supportive of each other through tough times. I especially loved the characters of Mac and Carter themselves as they were the stars of the show with their unique romance and support of each other. I loved the fact that Mac is a successful photographer as it shows that she is a strong and determined young woman who is trying to get her personal life together and it was great seeing her character develop throughout the story as she is trying to learn how to trust and love someone again. Carter was absolutely fantastic as he is truly supportive of Mac and knows how to comfort Mac when she really needs it and who says that high school teachers cannot be HOT and SEXY!?

For readers who do not like strong language and sex scenes, this book does contain some strong language such as the usage of the “s” word and some sex scenes, so some readers might want to skim over these scenes if they find them to be a bit too much.

Overall, “Vision in White” is a truly fantastic book about the importance of true friendship and love and I am sure that anyone who loves a good winter romance will enjoy this book!


Review is also on: Rabbit Ears Book Blog