Customer Reviews

Happy Ever After (Bride Quartet, Book 4)

5 star:		(81)
4 star:		(31)
3 star:		(31)
2 star:		(15)
1 star:		(18)

 

 

When I sat down to write this review, I spent time thinking about not only how I felt about this book but also tried to imagine how some other readers with different tastes might feel. Eventually it became clear to me that we are very likely to see two different types of reviews here, so I'll try to give them both. Pick one depending upon what type of reader you are.

Type 1 - Style fit for a fairytale and no holds barred romance. Sigh.
If you are an adoring fan of the first three novels in this series and have spent the past month staring at that 4th gorgeous bride cover and waiting, waiting, waiting for that day when Parker Brown puts down her Blackberry and lets the man of her dreams sweep her off her well pedicured Manolo Blahnik encased feet, then wait no longer because your day has come. Like a certain Disney movie, Princess Parker Brown (of the Connecticut Browns) finds herself a true diamond in the rough in Malcom. Underneath all that tiny little insignificant bit of grease and dust Malcolm might collect during the day is a man who is nice to his mom, cares about the literacy levels of his employees, and most importantly of all --- knows nothing says sorry like a new pair of high end designer shoes.

For you - Five Stars. Make that Six. Go buy the book and read it because you are gonna love it!!!!!

Type II - Enough Already! Do people really live like this? Bedroom closets with refrigerators?
For those who have grown perhaps a bit weary of the world where every cake Laurel produces is her most fabulous ever, every flower arrangement Emma designs is a tasteful reflection of two hearts beating in harmony, every bride is beautifully Vera Wang-ed from head to toe and there is never a wedding "disaster" that Parker can't solve in two paragraphs - well I'm sorry to say that not much changes. At Vows, even a Divorce Event is handled in a completely classy, beautiful, and dare I say "Holy Smokes Can You Imagine the Bill?!!" manner.

And what of Parker and Malcolm you ask?

Well "Bad Boy" Malcolm does ride a motorcycle, complete with an extra helmet on board for Parker. Safety first don't ya know! There is a small walk on the wild side where the dangerous make your heart thump man takes Parker on a date like she's never experienced before.....to a just shabby enough to be cozy family pizza parlor. (read that in a sarcastic tone). Then he falls right in line behind Carter, Del, and Jack toting chairs around Vows events and helping to hang greenery and just generally being there to comment upon the talent, intelligence and general fabulosity of the Vows foursome whenever they need a man around to do that.

So if you're hoping for the long, sleek "tale" of Parker's to get a little mussed up - or a tattoo to be inked across that blue blooded Ivy League educated derriere of hers as she takes a walk on the wild side.....ummmm, this probably isn't your book. I'd say probably 2.5 stars for you. Come on, those covers alone are pretty enough for 2 stars.

For me, I'm going to put it at three stars. Yeah, yeah, I admit that the nasty part of me was hoping for a fallen wedding cake or something. A problem. Imperfection. Just something different or some real conflict. I really feel like there was a chance here for Nora Roberts to shake things up a bit and have some fun with the Ivy League girl and the boy from the wrong side of the tracks. She didn't do that though. She played it safe and in the end I felt the book read like she wrote it with her eyes closed.

I have a tradition, a completely girly and irrational tradition that I love and hope to continue for many years. On the day that a new Nora Roberts book comes out, I purchase it at my local bookstore, crack open a bottle of red wine, and read it cover-to-cover. I give myself permission to drink the WHOLE bottle of wine, cry freely at the over-the-top romantic parts, and disregard any work/social functions to stay up to the wee hours to make sure that the leading man and woman end up Happy Ever After!

Happy Ever After is the final member of the Bride Quartet: Parker Brown. Parker created Vows - a premier wedding business in the ultra-rich Greenwich - for her and her three best friends and continued to make their dream a reality by being the glue that held everything together. Efficient, supreme multi-tasker, level-headed, and organized beyond belief, Parker never saw herself falling for her mechanic, Mal Kavanaugh. But, as Mal proves to be much more than he appears on the surface, Parker finds that he may just be everything she has ever wanted but never planned for.

I am capable of understanding books with complex themes and subtexts and then dissect and discuss them on an intellectual level...I even enjoy books such as that on a fairly regular basis. However, my favorite genre of all time is contemporary romance (heavy on the contemporary, medium on the romance) and Nora Roberts is a goddess in my world. I realize NR novels are unrealistic, contrived, and fit a cookie-cutter mold....and I could care less. They are my guilty pleasure and I love every single word on every single page! :)

Let the countdown begin to July 7, 2011, when the next Nora Roberts novel is released!

I liked the first 3 books and was hoping for a wonderful ending to this romance saga. With characters like Parker and Malcolm there was so much potential for drama and interesting dialogue. Should have been more passion and more intimate moments between Parker & Malcolm, get rid of the wedding details and other relatives - these become boring after a while and I skipped many of these pages on my Kindle. On the whole the book was OK but I waited all year for this book and it fell short for me - maybe my expectations were too high.

Let me state up front I LOVE Nora Roberts and JD Robb - and the first two books of this quartet were FABULOUS, The third - Meh! Not so much What a surprise that was, but I was certain Parker's would be the best ever. As I read it I became sad - because it just never warms up, it doesn't get there. Parker was not the fully rounded Parker I expected to see and know more of. Malcolm was ok - even fine - but not great - not Carter or Jack. He was lukewarm when you know this guy is HOT! what happened? Del's book was also not-quite-there. I feel cheated of the real stories for the last two, but especially this one!

Bottom line - this reads like one of the books you buy when away and you are desperate just have to have something - anything to read and you really don't expect too much. If it isn't good you don't feel cheated. But this is the last of a quartet that began with EVERYTHING - passion, fun, real people and it's just petered out to be so NOT what the first two were. Even the Mac/Carter wedding scenes didn't save it.

What a lovely ending to the Bridal Quartet Series! Calm, cool collected Parker Brown finally falls in love and it drives her crazy....in a good way.

In this book we find out more about how Vows started and how Parker dealt with and continues to deals with the loss of parents. Again, as in Savor the Moment, we learn more about Mrs. G and her history with the Browns. We get to know Mal and his Ma; she is a riot and we learn more about all of the guys; especially Big Brother Del.

We see how much Parker loves her work, and how she also feels lonely, but knows that she is not alone because of the family she has with Mrs. G, Mac, Carter, Emma, Jack, Laurel and Del. We learn how Mal went from stunt man to mechanic, and what drove him to go to Hollywood. He too is lonely, but doesn't realize it, until things get really started with Parker. He is the perfect man for Miss Brown because he is a challenge, nothing like the men she has previously dated and Parker is the perfect woman for Mal for the same reason.

While reading this book, you experience sadness, tears, laughter with friends (girls & guys), heart ache, and confusion, the love of good friends and family as well as romantic love. Mal and Parker are great together!! They give you a new appreciation of a utility closet and a pair of new shoes :)

As much as I loved this book, I am sad to see this series end.

Nora where have you gone? Where is the Nora of the Dream Trilogy and the Born In Trilogy? After reading all 4 books in the Bride Quartet I am overwhelmingly UNDERWHELMED. Character development was not a focus and I think the series lacked because of it. I needed so much more Malcolm. I finished the book feeling like I didn't truly know him at all. I was stoked that Nora was returning to contemporary, realistic storylines without a trace of the at times exhausting mysticism. But I can admit that overall this book and the quartet in totality left a lot to be desired for me.

Happy Ever After (Bride Quartet) is the fourth and final book in the Bride Quartet series by Nora Roberts. It is the story of Parker Brown and Malcolm Kavanaugh. The previous books were slow moving stories with very little conflict and character development. I had high hopes for this one. Parker is a type triple A as is Kavanaugh and the pairing hinted of conflict and misunderstanding until the happily ever after ending. Unfortunately, Roberts finished her series the same way she started it--with a slow moving story, very little plot, and characters that remained card board cut outs.

Both Parker and Malcom have the potential to be interesting characters, but Roberts fails to flesh out their characters and fully develop them. While I realize that romance novels are mostly unrealistic in their portrayal of love, I found myself wondering why Roberts wrote four books that were mainly formula romance--the same formula. All four books lacked any significant conflict that makes romance interesting. All four books were really light on character development. All four books featured men who came to heel by the end. All four books featured the couples in each book deciding to take up residence at the Vows residence. All four books featured successful busy males who suddenly had time to run around during weddings hauling chairs and doing whatever is needed to get the wedding off the ground no matter when the wedding occurred.

The stories are sweet, there is no doubt about that, but I guess personally I like a story/romance where I feel as though I get a more in depth view of the main characters' inner workings. Why are they the way they are? What motivates them? And then, how does that motivation change them, propel them, and mature them? I also like a little more conflict in my romances. I'm not talking about alpha male who takes charge, but little things like Malcom and Parker having a bit more angst about being right for one another. Parker Brown is from "the" Browns of Connecticut and Malcolm Kavanaugh is from a blue collar background. While Parker and Malcolm may feel right for one another, you know that their respective social groups probably are gossiping big time. Very little of that type of potential conflict was brought into play.

Maybe I expect too much of one of my favorite authors, but it seems like Roberts put more effort into describing weddings rather than developing plot and character. However, I must admit I was happy to see she didn't use many of her over used phrases like the always present "punch to the belly" (unless I missed it).

If you like Nora Roberts, this is worth reading, but if you like an in depth romance...well you will most likely be disappointed.

I'm kind of amazed at how many good reviews there are for this. This is not Ms. Robert's best work by any stretch of the imagination. And I know what I'm getting into when I buy a NR romance: couple meets, couple goes on a date, couple has sex REALLY early in, couple dates some more, couplen then decides they are in love, couple has some sort of conflict that causes them to break up, couple gets back together, and usually within three pages of them getting back together, they are getting engaged.

And I've read probably every triology / series that NR has written, so I know that of which I write.

The most interesting parts of her novels, are usually the back stories. But this ... ugh the weddings. So sickly sweet. So sickly perfect. Even the dust ups weren't all that dusty. I didn't like the "evil mother" as the villian in all four books. It was tired by the second book, and really tired by the fourth.

My biggest issue with this book is pretty petty - Mal? Come on? Mal? We already have a Mac and a Del. The best she could do was Mal? I mean she could have gone for Mick or something with Malcom, or anything, really. Use his full name, but Mal? It didn't fit in with his image. And it was distracting every time I read it.

It's formulaic but that's not it's biggest problem ... I really believe these series are written by committee and she doesn't even personally write them. But, this does not stop me for buying them. And I'll continue to read. Because sometimes you really just want the guy to get the girl at the end.

But I'm really glad this is over.

I've read all four books in the series now, and they have been getting progressively worse. What started out as mildly annoying flaws in Book 1 (the obnoxious way that the four women use stupid abbreviations for all of the people associated with their weddings ALL THE TIME is a start--they are like Rachael Ray with her EVOO) have escalated into actually wanting to punch my E-reader when I see a single sentence that contains the acronyms FOB, FOG, SMOG, and MOH all at once!! (OMGWTF). And all the perfection makes me want to hurl a little. Every character in these books is the most beautiful, most talented, most handsome, most special, most awesome person ever, and all these weddings are the most fantastic, most gorgeous, most flawless events everrrr. And the details...oy. There is no room for much character development because we are too busy learning about every detail of the bouquets, of the dresses, of these customers who are not central to the story. Oh, and the workout routines of the women. Seriously. I realize that these are romance novels, which are primarily an idealized fantasy, but come on. Can't we have one character with an overbite or something?

In addition to the stories being redundant and annoying, this particular book is terrible because Parker is the worst character in the series and I kept hoping she'd fall off Mal's (ugh, terrible name for a hero) motorcycle and die. Everyone in the book talks about how she's so perfect and awesome--I guess to try to convince us of that--when she is really an overbearing control freak with no personality. For example, her three best friends are all marrying (how convenient) and Parker goes out and picks out their wedding dresses for them. Now, I would not appreciate someone taking away a huge moment like trying on and finding the perfect dress, but her friends are just sooo grateful that she deprived them of this because Parker is (of course) so talented at finding the ideal dress for each one of them. So I am not sure why I am supposed to root for her to get together with this guy, a mechanic who is not balding and dirty and paunchy and uneducated but (of course) hot and kind and well-spoken, when she is an uptight, overstepping prig. Run away, Mal...and run away, readers, from this tripe.

I read all four of these novels when they each came out. These past two weekends, I read them all again. My opinion hasn't changed. I'm giving a one-star review to all four of these novels and here's why. I have been reading Nora Roberts since I was ten, for about twenty years. I own all of her romance series. In each of the early series, Ms. Roberts gave us interesting characters with believable flaws who were not carbon copies of each other, either physically or emotionally. You care about the characters, you believe that there is some reason they won't get together, there is some hole in one that the other fills, and you read every page of the book to see how Ms. Roberts fleshes out the romantic tension and the personal struggles. They work to get to their happy ever afters, they turn into different people and they become a couple that you root for. It makes these books and characters memorable and re-readable years, decades, later. The Born trilogy, the Dream series, the Gallaghers, Chesapeake Bay, these are all great novels that focus on the individual Hero and Heroine, their love stories, their families, and successfully balancing them all.

Then Ms. Roberts started changing her stories. Instead of focusing on character growth, she gave us plot. Lots and lots of intricate, convoluted plot. It became progressively less of the Hero and Heroine and their relationship, and more of what I will call "Scooby Doo gang mysteries". She gave us a gang of people and spent a lot of the story with the gang. The story line had little to do with the characters as developing people learning from their mistakes, and even less to do with the Hero and Heroine overcoming internal obstacles to find each other. What we got, was a mystery that sidelined the characters. The focus on the war between gods or the ghost possession or the demon haunted town.

The Three Sisters trilogy and the Key Trilogy still managed to balance excellently developed characters and supporting players with a very interesting storyline that directly related to the character development, and of course, the essential love story. Not so with the Garden trilogy, the Circle trilogy, and at the worst, the Sign of Seven trilogy, where Ms. Roberts gave up entirely on internal character struggles and any romantic tension. The stories become less about two people and more about the gang solving a mystery. She spends an inordinate amount of time with the gang, and if not with the gang, describing the gang, talking about the gang, having the gang solve mysteries, and ignoring the basic romance of the story.

Which is my problem with the Bride Quartet. This isn't Ms. Roberts going back to her roots and writing about romance. Instead, it is Ms. Roberts writing another set of "gang solves a problem" novels. As other reviews have said, these characters are perfect. They have no flaws, they have no differentiating characteristics, they have no internal struggles, they barely have any believable external struggles. There is no reason why the four women cannot be with the four men - at least no reason that Ms. Roberts gives us. There is zero tension, romantic, sexual or otherwise. Rather the sole purpose of reading these books is if you have any interest in how "the gang solves the wedding" mystery. If you're looking for a romance with two characters who become flesh and blood by the end of the novel, you're in the wrong place. If a hero and heroine have barely any pages alone together in the first half of the book, and even less in the second half, you're not reading a romance novel. I don't know what you're reading.

Either way, if the last decade is any indication, this is the way Ms. Roberts' books will be from now on. If you want to read them because you're a Nora fan, please do - but go to a bookstore or the library and read it there. Please don't waste your money. If you're looking for good contemporary romance that balances internal struggles and external struggles, pick up a Jill Shalvis (the Instant series) or a Lorelei James (Rough Riders) or even a Lori Foster (SBC series, Buckhorn brothers, some of the Visitation series). They're nowhere as good as early novels by Ms. Roberts (what could be?) but they are far better than who Ms. Roberts has become.