“Romance, in Emmaline’s opinion, made being a woman special. Romance made every woman beautiful, and every man a prince. A woman with romance in her life lived as grandly as a queen, because her heart is treasured.” — First paragraph (Prologue)
Bed of Roses by Nora Roberts is the second book in the Bride Quartet. In the Bride Quartet, we meet childhood friends Parker, Emma, Laurel, and Mac, and their love stories. Together, they co-own Vows, a wedding planning company.
Here’s a quick recap of the previous book:
- Book 1 is about Mackensie “Mac” Elliot who is a photographer and her love interest Carter Maguire PhD who is an English professor.
- In Book 2, we are taken into the world of Emmaline “Emma” Grant, a florist and Jack Cooke, an architect. Jack is also a long-time family friend.
Emma is a firm believer in romance and her own love life is great. Still, she hasn’t found her Mr Right. That is, until she discovers she does have feelings for Jack, and it is mutual (yay!). They have reservations because it is weird: Jack is Parker’s brother’s best friend, and that sort of makes him family. This is actually a big deal because the girls have been best friends for so long, and so are the men in their lives, except for Carter, the English professor. That said, Carter is now also considered one of their buddies (read Book 1, please).
Emma and Jack have a few romantic episodes, and things are really heating up between them. The problem is Jack is commitment-phobic while Emma yearns for lifelong love. So… can they work out their differences and turn lust and romance into love?
The following passage caught my attention when Jack observes the love between Mac and Carter (read their story in Book 1):
While they discussed details, choices of materials, he wondered what it was like to feel the connection with and that certainty about another person. No doubt their minds, he mused, that this was the one. The one to make home with, build a future with, maybe have kids with. Share a cat with. How did they know? Or at least believe enough to risk it? It was, for him, one of life’s great mysteries.
It is wonderful to have such a connection and certainty about a person, and to be willing to take the risk of falling in love. The Bride Quartet will make you believe in the magic of marriage and love. Good characterisation; great dialogue. If you want a good romantic story, this book is a good place to start, but please begin with Vision in White first. I have enjoyed this second book more than the first, and Jack and Emma really sizzle!
Bed of Roses is a joint reading with Julia—I love all our readings! Thank you, Julia, for getting this book for me as a Christmas present; it’s funny how I got the same book for you too. I’m looking forward to the next instalment, Savor the Moment, scheduled to be released in April this year and would love to continue reading the series with you.
Related Posts:
Vision in White (Book One in The Bride Quartet)
Savor the Moment (Book Three in The Bride Quartet)
Happy Ever After (Book Four in The Bride Quartet)
