"Happy Ever After" by Nora Roberts

Nora Roberts "Bridal Quartet" series comes to an end with Parker's story in "Happy Ever After".

Parker Brown is the brains behind the Quartet's wedding business, Vows.  She lives with her Blackberry glued to her side and makes herself accessible to her brides 24/7.  In all three of the previous books, Parker is the sensible one.  She would die for her friends and is fiercely loyal but a major control freak.  Nothing ever seems to trip her up.

Until Malcolm Kavanaugh.

Malcolm makes me want to sigh.  He is the bad boy that we all want, only better.  His character is introduces in book two; he is the mechanic that Emma has her car taken to but it is Parker who picks it up and we can see sparks starting to flare between the two back then.  Showing up again in book three, Malcolm and Parker share two steamy kisses but Parker is in denial about them meaning anything.  In "Happy Ever After", Malcolm is a man on a mission and that mission is to have Parker Brown.

While Malcolm is a working man who comes from a modest background, his business is a successful one and he, too, is friends with Parker's brother Del.  He fits easily in to the Quartet's circle but he has the ability to make Parker nervous and unsure of herself; mainly because he isn't afraid to stand up to her and call her on her behavior.  He has a tendency to catch Parker when she is most vulnerable and makes her appear more human.  Although it is a little difficult at this point in the series to see strong and stable Parker Brown continually second-guessing herself.

Their romance is steamy and sensual and when Malcolm simply says "Invite me in to your bed", I don't know a woman who would tell him no!  He keeps Parker on her toes till the end but one of the highlights of their relationship is his mother - Ma Kavanaugh.  Her descriptive appearance is near comical and while she used to work as a waitress at parties that the Brown family used to throw, she and Parker get along like old friends.  Again, Parker's human side comes through and you can tell that she is just a very classy individual.

"Happy Ever After" is a great ending to an amazing series.  The Epilogue brought tears to my eyes and yet there was no other way to end it - predictable though it was.  Another great Nora Roberts series!