book review: Bed of Roses by Nora Roberts

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Bed of Roses (The Bride Quartet, Book 2)
I read my first Nora Roberts novel last fall, and I enjoyed it enough to read the next book in the series. I read Vision in White, the first book in the bride quartet, because I found myself enjoying novels about wedding planning immensely while I was planning my wedding. These books each focus on one of four characters who have been best friends since they were children. Now they own and run Vows, a wedding business. Mac, the photographer, is the focus of the first book. Emmaline, the florist, is the focus of the second book. As someone not terribly interested in flowers (I didn't have any at my wedding), I wasn't expecting to enjoy hearing about Emma's work as much as I enjoyed hearing Mac talk about photography.

I was surprised how much I enjoyed Emma's perspective. She and I have little in common, but she was surprisingly more relatable than Mac was, and I found myself rooting for her. It also helped that I didn't feel the need to strangle her for being stupid. She was smart, confident and an unabashed romantic. 

The love story itself was somewhat predictable, and the dialogue was awkward at times. Overall, however, I really enjoyed this book. Nora Roberts crafted four characters who have a friendship I both admired and wanted to participate in. Despite the stressful nature of their business, and the vast details provided about it, I wasn't bored. I cared about what would happen.

I won't say I'm a Nora Roberts fan, but I did really enjoy this book, and I enjoyed it more than Vision in White. I'm looking forward to the third book in the series, Savor the Moment, focusing on pastry chef Laurel, which will be published in April 2010.

Rating: 4 stars (out of 5 stars) 
Pages: 368 pages
Release date: October 27, 2009
Source: I borrowed it from my local library

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Comments

  1. S. KrishnaMarch 25, 2010 at 9:15 AM

    I've read a few Nora Roberts books, and had to admit I didn't like this one as compared to her others. The second in the series is much better!

    ReplyDelete

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