I know I'm going to get a lot of flack for this but here it is: I am getting tired of Nora Roberts. For those of you living in a cave, Nora Roberts is the best selling author in the universe. She's written well over 100 books, maybe 200 by now. Lately I've felt like she was recycling material. Nora generally releases 3 to 4 new books a year and there are about 5-10 reprints on the shelf at any given time. The new releases generally consist of a mass market paperback trilogy and a hardcover standalone novel. The Hardcovers are generally awesome. The MMP? Well the quality is sliding there a little bit. For the past few years all of the MMPs have been paranormal romances. And please don't be mistaken: I love that genre. LOVE IT! For the most part she does OK. But, there tends to be a "Nora Roberts Paranormal Romance Mass Market Paperback Format" (see below), and I've got to say it is getting old.
"Nora Roberts Paranormal Romance Mass Market Paperback Format"
Six people (three men and three women) live in an idyllic small town. Most of them are childhood friends but approximately 40% are there to write a book or "just felt an urgent need" to move to the boondocks (almost always from NYC or similar large metro area).
The Men:
One All-American Type
One Intellectual
One Bad Boy
The Women:
One Academic (usually a writer or "people scientist" [anthropologist, sociologist])
One "brought herself up from nothing" small business owner
One single mother with abusive (either physically or emotionally) asshole exhusband
Any one of these characters can be someone's long lost sibling.
The Mission:
These characters are contacted by some sort of paranormal beings who cryptically give them their mission: SAVE THE WORLD FROM EVIL.
In the process they pair off and fall in love.
Vision In White is the first in a quartet of Trade contemporaries and it's a welcome change. Well, it's not that big of a change. Four couples instead of three and the only evil they encounter are bridezillas. It' a fun book. Four friends own a wedding business. Mackensie is the photographer. Carter is the brother of one of the brides. Mackensie's mother is a train wreck as well as a financial and emotional leach. At one point she borrows her daughter's car and doesn't bring it back for a week. Carter and Mackensie fall in love--but will Mackensie's fear of commitment derail their future happiness? Three guesses.
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