visioninwhiteTitle: Vision in White
Author: Nora Roberts

The first in her Bride Quartet series, Robert’s Vision in White is more “All the Single Ladies” than “Put a Ring on It”.

Set in an upper class New England town four childhood friends have grown up to make their pre-teen fantasies a reality by creating the one stop shop wedding business Vows.  Living in an estate that also doubles as an all inclusive reception hall the girls live their work on a daily basis.

Each woman is uniquely qualified to contribute to the larger whole: Parker is the money, brains, and organizational wunderkind; Laurel is the strong and sassy pastry chef and foodie; Emmaline is the florist and free-spirit who embraces the single girl lifestyle; and, the focus of this first novel, Mackensie is the photographer with a jaded view of love and marriage.

Mac grew up with an absent father and a mother desperate for a moneyed life-style causing her unsurprising disbelief in marriage. As her mother continually attempts to find the next big whale throughout Mac’s life their relationship is adversarial at best and just downright loathsome at worst.  Exemplifying the latter is the typically “all about me” attitude whereby her mother only musters up the appearance of caring for Mac when she can provide some sort of service — money, car, tangible icons of status.

Lucky for Mac in walks Carter MacQuire a geeky English teacher who is predictably awkward around women but even more so around Mac because of her previous incarnation as his much longed after high school crush. Once past the initial getting to re-know each other period we find Carter is deeply committed, compassionate and most importantly firm with Mac in their relationship when she needs it most.  Roberts does write her men well and Carter is no exception to that rule.

Roberts seemingly went more the route of chick lit in this piece rather than the way of the traditional romance novel.  Much time and focus was spent on the building of the female relationships and it felt, more times than not, that the romance between Carter and Mac was secondary.  For example, when Carter appears he does so haphazardly and then with virtually no build up they were on the fast track to romanceville.   While I personally enjoyed the strong female relationships the book focused on I believe romance traditionalists might find the work lacking.

Moreover Mac as a central character was the weakest.  The dysfunctional family angle as the central hurdle to the relationship between she and Carter didn’t make for as compelling a romance.   The good news is that this means that there likely isn’t anywhere to go but up for the remaining three female leads.  Based on the characterization we’ve seen thus far in Vision it seems that at least two of the remaining three novels in the series might have more quirk and fun.
Ultimately if you’re looking for an all consuming waiting on the edge of your seat for the boy to get the girl romance you might want to try another novel but for those who enjoy strong female friendships I strongly recommend Vision, it won’t disappoint.