Bed of Roses (Book Two in the Bride Quartet)
“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.”
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 are the co-owners of 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 who is a florist and Jack Cooke who is an architect. Jack is also a long-time family friend.
Emma is a firm believer in romance and her own love life is great. Although so, she still hasn’t found her Mr. Right. That is until she discovers she does have feelings for Jack and it is mutual (yay!). They have their reservations because it is weird because Jack is Parker’s brother’s best friend and that sort of makes him a family member. This is actually a big deal because the girls have been best of friends for so long, and so are the men in their lives except for Carter the English professor. Having said that, 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 a commitment phobic while Emma yearns for lifelong love. So… will they be able to 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 be willing to take the risk to fall in love. The Bride Quartet will make you believe in the magic of marriage and love. Good characterization; great dialogues. 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 sizzles!
Bed of Roses is a joint-reading with Julia—I love our joint-readings! Thank you, Julia, for getting this book for me as Christmas present; it’s funny how I got the same book for you too. I’m looking forward to the next installment, 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)
