Happy Ever After by Nora Roberts

Parker Brown's favorite game as a girl was Wedding Day. As an adult - and on the wake of the sudden death of her beloved parents - she started a wedding planning company with her best friends Mac, Laurel and Emma.

For Parker, VOWS was her sink or swim moment, when she chose to step away from her grief and start making her mark in the world. While her best friends take care of flowers (Emma), photos (Mac), and cake (Laurel), Parker takes care of the details.

She's good at smoothing ruffled feathers, managing crises and making every wedding as beautiful as possible. On the side, Parker has seen her best friends find the love of their lives and she can't help to want a little of that for herself.

It so happens that the only guy she currently finds interesting is Malcolm Kavanaugh. Mal is not at all like any guy she has ever dated before, and she's not even sure she wants to. He unsettles and confuses her.

Mal has always liked to know how things work - hence his job as a mechanic - and he wants to figure out Parker. However, he's not so happy when she tries to figure him out. There are things of his past he doesn't like to talk about, period.

But hey, no one said the road to Happy Ever After ran smoothly, right?

Happy Ever After it's the final book in the Bride Quartet, and I truly enjoyed it. The book was nice, the series was nice. For this book specifically, I think it suited Parker's personality beautifully. The problems she and Mal face are inherent to the way they are and I was surprised because it was quite non-cliche.

I liked them both as individuals and could understand why two such different people would want to be together. Parker is very giving and loving, for all that she's a bit of a control freak. Mal is very down to earth and understanding of what makes Parker who she is. And they are both so accepting of each other, even if they stumble a time or two.

My only disappointments are that I didn't see as much of the other girls as I expected to see. And that we only saw Mac's wedding and we were left hanging with Laurel's, Emma's...etc. Maybe Nora Roberts will write a novella with the rest. I don't know. I hope. 'cause this was not only nice romance, it was also wedding porn at it's best - the flowers! the cakes! the dresses! - to suit my wedding obsessed inner self (the one that doesn't want to get married but loves watching at wedding shows).

Favorite Quote: “It’s hard to resist a bad boy who’s a good man.They’ll knock the legs right out from under you.” - Mrs. G.
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