A review by maggiestraveledbookshelf
Vision in White by Nora Roberts

funny lighthearted medium-paced

• Plot- or character-driven? Character
• Strong character development? Yes
• Loveable characters? Yes
• Diverse cast of characters? No
• Flaws of characters a main focus? Yes

5.0

(Updated review, as of August 2024)

📖 Vision in White

📚 Book 1 of Bride Quartet series

✍🏻 Nora Roberts

☑️ Contemporary Romance 

Rating: ⭐️⭐️⭐️⭐️⭐️

Spice: 🌶️🌶️

𝙃𝙚 𝙡𝙚𝙖𝙣𝙚𝙙 𝙙𝙤𝙬𝙣, 𝙗𝙧𝙪𝙨𝙝𝙚𝙙 𝙝𝙞𝙨 𝙡𝙞𝙥𝙨 𝙡𝙞𝙜𝙝𝙩𝙡𝙮 𝙤𝙫𝙚𝙧 𝙝𝙚𝙧𝙨. “𝙏𝙝𝙚𝙧𝙚. 𝙄 𝙛𝙚𝙚𝙡 𝙗𝙚𝙩𝙩𝙚𝙧.”

“𝙏𝙝𝙖𝙣?”

“𝙋𝙧𝙤𝙗𝙖𝙗𝙡𝙮 𝙚𝙫𝙚𝙧𝙮 𝙢𝙖𝙣 𝙬𝙞𝙩𝙝𝙞𝙣 𝙖 𝙩𝙬𝙚𝙣𝙩𝙮-𝙢𝙞𝙡𝙚 𝙧𝙖𝙙𝙞𝙪𝙨 𝙗𝙚𝙘𝙖𝙪𝙨𝙚 𝙩𝙝𝙚𝙮 𝙘𝙖𝙣’𝙩 𝙠𝙞𝙨𝙨 𝙮𝙤𝙪 𝙞𝙣 𝙩𝙝𝙚 𝙠𝙞𝙩𝙘𝙝𝙚𝙣.”

Let me start with this: I’ve now read this series 8 or 9 times in the past 12 years. This is my OG favorite romance series, and I love it more with every reread. 

Overview: 

•Wedding Planning Business

•Four Best Friends

•Photographer FMC x Teacher MMC

•Sweet and Swoony

•Top Tier Found Family

𝗖𝗵𝗶𝗹𝗱𝗵𝗼𝗼𝗱 𝗳𝗿𝗶𝗲𝗻𝗱𝘀 𝗣𝗮𝗿𝗸𝗲𝗿, 𝗘𝗺𝗺𝗮, 𝗟𝗮𝘂𝗿𝗲𝗹, 𝗮𝗻𝗱 𝗠𝗮𝗰 𝗮𝗿𝗲 𝘁𝗵𝗲 𝗳𝗼𝘂𝗻𝗱𝗲𝗿𝘀 𝗼𝗳 𝗩𝗼𝘄𝘀, 𝗼𝗻𝗲 𝗼𝗳 𝗖𝗼𝗻𝗻𝗲𝗰𝘁𝗶𝗰𝘂𝘁'𝘀 𝗽𝗿𝗲𝗺𝗶𝗲𝗿 𝘄𝗲𝗱𝗱𝗶𝗻𝗴 𝗽𝗹𝗮𝗻𝗻𝗶𝗻𝗴 𝗰𝗼𝗺𝗽𝗮𝗻𝗶𝗲𝘀. 𝗪𝗵𝗲𝗻 𝗠𝗮𝗰 𝗿𝘂𝗻𝘀 𝗶𝗻𝘁𝗼 𝗖𝗮𝗿𝘁𝗲𝗿, 𝗮 𝗰𝗮𝘀𝘂𝗮𝗹 𝗳𝗹𝗶𝗻𝗴 𝗯𝗲𝗰𝗼𝗺𝗲𝘀 𝘀𝗼𝗺𝗲𝘁𝗵𝗶𝗻𝗴 𝗺𝗼𝗿𝗲 𝘁𝗵𝗮𝗻 𝘀𝗵𝗲 𝗳𝗲𝗲𝗹𝘀 𝗲𝗾𝘂𝗶𝗽𝗽𝗲𝗱 𝘁𝗼 𝗵𝗮𝗻𝗱𝗹𝗲.

The romance in this book hits all of the right notes! Carter is so intentional and thoughtful, and he sees Mac so clearly. 

“𝙄 𝙬𝙖𝙣𝙩𝙚𝙙 𝙩𝙤 𝙨𝙖𝙮, 𝙛𝙞𝙧𝙨𝙩, 𝙝𝙤𝙬 𝙢𝙪𝙘𝙝 𝙄 𝙚𝙣𝙟𝙤𝙮𝙚𝙙 𝙡𝙖𝙨𝙩 𝙣𝙞𝙜𝙝𝙩. 𝙀𝙫𝙚𝙧𝙮 𝙢𝙞𝙣𝙪𝙩𝙚 𝙬𝙞𝙩𝙝 𝙮𝙤𝙪. 𝙈𝙮 𝙝𝙤𝙪𝙨𝙚 𝙨𝙚𝙚𝙢𝙨 𝙗𝙧𝙞𝙜𝙝𝙩𝙚𝙧 𝙖𝙣𝙙 𝙛𝙪𝙡𝙡𝙚𝙧 𝙩𝙤𝙙𝙖𝙮 𝙗𝙚𝙘𝙖𝙪𝙨𝙚 𝙮𝙤𝙪’𝙫𝙚 𝙗𝙚𝙚𝙣 𝙞𝙣 𝙞𝙩.”

Mac has lots of baggage, mostly due to an absentee father and an emotionally manipulative mother. Watching her work through her trauma and attempt to form a healthier relationship with the idea of love feels so brave and warm. 

“𝙄𝙨 𝙩𝙝𝙖𝙩 𝙜𝙤𝙞𝙣𝙜 𝙩𝙤 𝙗𝙚 𝙚𝙣𝙤𝙪𝙜𝙝? 𝘾𝙖𝙣 𝙮𝙤𝙪 𝙪𝙣𝙙𝙚𝙧𝙨𝙩𝙖𝙣𝙙 𝙄’𝙢 𝙩𝙧𝙮𝙞𝙣𝙜 𝙩𝙤 𝙙𝙚𝙖𝙡 𝙬𝙞𝙩𝙝 𝙩𝙝𝙚 𝙛𝙖𝙘𝙩 𝙢𝙮 𝙚𝙢𝙤𝙩𝙞𝙤𝙣𝙖𝙡 𝙘𝙡𝙤𝙨𝙚𝙩 𝙞𝙨 𝙘𝙡𝙪𝙩𝙩𝙚𝙧𝙚𝙙, 𝙙𝙞𝙨𝙤𝙧𝙜𝙖𝙣𝙞𝙯𝙚𝙙, 𝙖𝙣𝙙 𝙢𝙚𝙨𝙨𝙮? 𝙏𝙝𝙖𝙩 𝙄 𝙙𝙤𝙣’𝙩 𝙠𝙣𝙤𝙬 𝙝𝙤𝙬 𝙡𝙤𝙣𝙜 𝙞𝙩 𝙢𝙞𝙜𝙝𝙩 𝙩𝙖𝙠𝙚 𝙢𝙚 𝙩𝙤 𝙨𝙤𝙧𝙩 𝙞𝙩 𝙤𝙪𝙩?”

One of my favorite parts of this book is how Carter’s job of teaching is portrayed. Teaching - especially high schoolers - is a constantly undervalued profession, and I love how Roberts’ talks about it.

“𝘿𝙧. 𝙈𝙖𝙜𝙪𝙞𝙧𝙚, 𝙖𝙘𝙘𝙤𝙧𝙙𝙞𝙣𝙜 𝙩𝙤 𝙂𝙖𝙧𝙧𝙚𝙩𝙩, 𝙞𝙨 𝙥𝙧𝙚𝙩𝙩𝙮 𝙘𝙤𝙤𝙡 𝙛𝙤𝙧 𝙖 𝙗𝙧𝙖𝙞𝙣𝙞𝙖𝙘. 𝙄 𝙬𝙖𝙣𝙩𝙚𝙙 𝙮𝙤𝙪 𝙩𝙤 𝙠𝙣𝙤𝙬 𝙩𝙝𝙖𝙩 𝙬𝙝𝙖𝙩𝙚𝙫𝙚𝙧 𝙝𝙚 𝙙𝙤𝙚𝙨, 𝙬𝙝𝙖𝙩𝙚𝙫𝙚𝙧 𝙝𝙚 𝙗𝙚𝙘𝙤𝙢𝙚𝙨, 𝙝𝙚’𝙨 𝙣𝙚𝙫𝙚𝙧 𝙜𝙤𝙞𝙣𝙜 𝙩𝙤 𝙛𝙤𝙧𝙜𝙚𝙩 𝙮𝙤𝙪. 𝙄 𝙬𝙖𝙣𝙩𝙚𝙙 𝙩𝙤 𝙩𝙝𝙖𝙣𝙠 𝙮𝙤𝙪.”

And the joint venture of a wedding business between four lifelong best friends?! I have been obsessed with this concept for 12 years now, and it still feels so special.

“𝙄𝙩’𝙨 𝙧𝙚𝙬𝙖𝙧𝙙𝙞𝙣𝙜, 𝙞𝙨𝙣’𝙩 𝙞𝙩, 𝙩𝙤 𝙢𝙖𝙠𝙚 𝙨𝙤𝙢𝙚𝙤𝙣𝙚 𝙨𝙤 𝙝𝙖𝙥𝙥𝙮, 𝙩𝙤 𝙗𝙧𝙞𝙣𝙜 𝙩𝙝𝙖𝙩 𝙞𝙣𝙩𝙤 𝙩𝙝𝙚𝙞𝙧 𝙡𝙞𝙛𝙚 𝙗𝙮 𝙬𝙝𝙖𝙩 𝙮𝙤𝙪 𝙙𝙤?“

The friendship and ultimately Found Family bonds between the four women is perfection. I adore their frankness and empathy and ALL of their interactions.

“𝙄’𝙢 𝙢𝙚𝙖𝙣, 𝙇𝙖𝙪𝙧𝙚𝙡’𝙨 𝙝𝙖𝙧𝙙-𝙖𝙨𝙨𝙚𝙙, 𝙀𝙢𝙢𝙖’𝙨 𝙖 𝙥𝙪𝙨𝙝𝙤𝙫𝙚𝙧. 𝘼𝙣𝙙 𝙮𝙤𝙪 𝙛𝙖𝙡𝙡 𝙗𝙚𝙩𝙬𝙚𝙚𝙣 𝙇𝙖𝙪𝙧𝙚𝙡 𝙖𝙣𝙙 𝙀𝙢. 𝙒𝙚 𝙧𝙪𝙣 𝙩𝙝𝙚 𝙜𝙖𝙢𝙪𝙩,” 𝙋𝙖𝙧𝙠𝙚𝙧 𝙨𝙖𝙞𝙙, 𝙘𝙡𝙤𝙨𝙞𝙣𝙜 𝙝𝙚𝙧 𝙝𝙖𝙣𝙙 𝙤𝙫𝙚𝙧 𝙈𝙖𝙘’𝙨. “𝙄𝙩’𝙨 𝙬𝙝𝙮 𝙬𝙚 𝙬𝙤𝙧𝙠 𝙨𝙤 𝙬𝙚𝙡𝙡 𝙖𝙨 𝙖 𝙩𝙚𝙖𝙢.”

“𝙏𝙤 𝙪𝙨.” 𝙋𝙖𝙧𝙠𝙚𝙧 𝙡𝙞𝙛𝙩𝙚𝙙 𝙝𝙚𝙧 𝙜𝙡𝙖𝙨𝙨. “𝘽𝙚𝙨𝙩 𝙛𝙧𝙞𝙚𝙣𝙙𝙨 𝙚𝙫𝙚𝙧, 𝙖𝙣𝙙 𝙙𝙖𝙢𝙣 𝙨𝙢𝙖𝙧𝙩 𝙬𝙤𝙢𝙚𝙣.” 𝙏𝙝𝙚𝙮 𝙘𝙡𝙞𝙣𝙠𝙚𝙙, 𝙩𝙝𝙚𝙮 𝙙𝙧𝙖𝙣𝙠. 𝘼𝙣𝙙 𝙈𝙖𝙘 𝙩𝙝𝙤𝙪𝙜𝙝𝙩 𝙨𝙝𝙚 𝙘𝙤𝙪𝙡𝙙 𝙜𝙚𝙩 𝙩𝙝𝙧𝙤𝙪𝙜𝙝 𝙖𝙣𝙮𝙩𝙝𝙞𝙣𝙜, 𝙖𝙣𝙮𝙩𝙝𝙞𝙣𝙜 𝙩𝙝𝙖𝙩 𝙘𝙖𝙢𝙚, 𝙖𝙨 𝙡𝙤𝙣𝙜 𝙖𝙨 𝙨𝙝𝙚 𝙝𝙖𝙙 𝙩𝙝𝙚𝙢.

I originally rated these books 4⭐️, but honestly that feels ridiculous since I’ve read them SO many times and adore them completely. 

I used to think it was silly to rate romance books, or “beach reads”, a full five stars, but you know what? This series deserves it. 

Overall, if you love romance books, especially those that center themselves around friendship, I full heartedly recommend this series.

✨ Read via Libby ✨ 

———

Original Review (2021)


I reread the Bridal Quartet series practically every single year, so this is probably my 7th or 8th round (if not more, tbh) with Mac, Emma, Laurel, and Parker. Contemporary romance, sweet and fun, heartfelt friendships - it’s the perfect beach book. It makes me laugh out loud and tear up and feel heart-cozy.