Daughters of the Bride

I have read Susan Mallery's other works and for me the only one that I really do enjoy is the Blackberry Island series. Everything else has been hit or miss with me. This is a standalone novel and though I loved two characters from beginning to end (Charlotte and Quinn) everyone else was a meh (Sienna) and double meh to me (Rachel and the girl's mother (Maggie).

Daughters of the Bride revolves around the Watson family (Rachel, Sienna, and Charlotte) who are in the throes of the party planning for their widowed mother Maggie. Maggie has finally after decades alone found someone to fall in love with and marry. Her three daughters are happy for their mother and all are going through some changes in their lives as well.

Rachel is dealing show more with her fallout from divorcing her high school boyfriend Greg and joint parenting their son with him. Sienna is with a man that she knows that she feel more towards, but wonders if this is all she can expect in their relationship. Courtney is the black sheep of the family, she works as a maid in a boutique hotel with their family's long-time friend who owns the hotel.

So let's start with the good. I loved everything about Courtney's story-line. She's the youngest and seen as the screw-up due to her height and her inability to walk anywhere without knocking something over. Due to a learning disability school was hard and she quit as soon as she could and took up with some not great guys. Now she's working at a maid and is doing a lot to prove herself (in secret) to her family. Courtney definitely got things more than her sisters. And I liked that she finally stood up to her family and her mother regarding how they treated her for years.

Sienna I warmed up to in the middle of the book when you read more of her backstory and she starts to realize how terribly she treated her younger sister. Sienna knows that things between her and her boyfriend are not quite right, but she's still struggling through what is wrong.

Rachel I started out liking, but I really did hate what Mallery did with her character. To have a character who was cheated on and then have the whole thing end up being their fault because she ended up not showing her husband how much she needed him and oh she treated him like an overgrown child since he even admits that what he was doing, but still it's her fault? I hated the whole thing. I don't know why in romance novels we always punish the strong heroine unless it's in a regency romance novel and the same heroine is applauded for being ahead of her times and an Original.

Mallery doesn't spend much time with the mother of the group which I think was a missed opportunity. I really didn't care for her. Self absorbed throughout, and her immaturity when she realizes Courtney's secret was ridiculous. I also hated the fiancee too since he was overly indulgent with her and even rebukes Courtney when her mother is upset with her. Okay dude, not her dad, stay out of it. That's the other thing. The girls don't have a relationship at all with the fiancee which is weird. They all three think and talk about him in general terms.

Mallery chooses instead to include a male perspective into this read with the character of Quinn who is related to the owner of the hotel. I don't know why she did this, and know in retrospect get how odd it was since it breaks up the flow between the three daughters and then to have his POV included. Since Mallery doesn't do this with the other love interests (don't worry, not going to tell you who) it doesn't make any sense why she did this with him.

The other men in this book we don't get much to go by at all. I can honestly say I wasn't impressed with them at all.

The writing was good, I thought Courtney and Quinn's POV were more fun and also more real than the other two. Sienna doesn't really come alive til the middle/end of the book and I wish Mallery had shown her more at her job since I was more interested in her after we get to see how she does her job helping with battered women. I wish that Mallery had included more interactions with the three of them. I felt like I was reading three separate stories with a guy included until the very end.

The flow was good until as I noted above, Quinn's POV was included. It would have flowed better if the book had just stayed focused on the three sisters, with maybe some POV from the mother.

The setting of California was utilized a bit here and there. I guess I am just disappointed because Blackberry Island always reads like a real place with people. So far none of the books I have read (including Fool's Gold) touches that series.

The ending was a foregone conclusion. I wish that something had been changed up a bit, or it would have been great for the daughters as a whole to call their mother out on a lot of things that went on as they were growing up. show less

I am always amazed when I love a “romance” so much, but great writing is great writing, no matter the subject or the genre.

Three sisters, each with their own distinct personality, each harboring their own secret.

The writing is fabulous and their world was so easy to visualize. I loved so much of the verbal banter between Courtney and Quinn. I laughed out loud when Rachel was ‘cramping’ in the kitchen. Come on Sienna. Listen to your instincts. They are speaking loud and clear.

Even with a predictable story, Susan Mallery can weave a story with some heat and bite, that had me laughing, smiling, oohing and aahing.

She wasn’t sure what was more eye catching – the convertible with the top down, the handsome man driving it, or the show more blonde poodle sitting next to him in the passenger seat.

Basically, he was catnip and she just wanted to purr and rub all over him.

I had seen Daughter of the Bridge by Susan Mallery on another blog and mentioned that I don’t think I had read any of her work before. Then, surprise, surprise, I get the beautiful signed hardcover with a gorgeous bookmark arriving at my door. No review asked for, but I try to review all the physical books I receive, so no request necessary.

At the end of the book are discussion questions, perfect for your book club, and some “sweet” recipes in honor of the Drunken Red Nosed Honeybee.

This is one of those books I feel could be on everyone’s reading list.

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Courtney, Sienna and Rachel mother is getting married and after 24 years of being a single Mom, she certainly deserves it. But while a pink bonanza of a wedding is being planned, her daughters lives are spilling out of control.

Sienna loves her job at the women's center; she absolutely loves the raising money side, but she does SO much more…not the her superficial fiancé would know, and even though Sienna is caught up in this loveless engagement, she doesn't trust her own judgement…so she is stuck in a catch 22 position.

Rachel will love her ex-husband forever, even though he cheated on her. But Gregg has finally grown up and has become a more dedicated father to their son; But Rachel doesn't trust to easily and is scared to ask for show more help, especially when she doesn't know if she can have what she wants…a life time with Gregg.

Courtney has struggled with her family. Having been diagnosed with a learning disability when she was 10 and walking out of school when she was 18, after being held back 2 years, Courtney is scared to show her success to anyone, especially her family, who all seem to treat her like an idiot. But she meets Quinn, everything changes and she finally let's herself live…until her own fears cause her to run away from the only man she has ever loved.

OH MY GOODNESS! I haven't read a Susan Mallet book in years and I had forgotten just how much of an amazing writer she is! I had forgotten how she weaves the plowing her truly amazing writing, that is seeps into your soul and literally makes you feel apart of this book.

When it comes to the characters; I completely relate to Courtney, being dyslexic myself and not being diagnosed until I was 18, I completely relate to the feelings of feeling like a failure, it is honestly like the author climbed inside my mind and poured my feelings out on to paper! It's truly amazing. When it comes to the other two sisters, I loved Sienna's feisty side as well as her confusion over real love, which is also relatable. I also identify with Rachel's need to be needed, except I don't have her trust issues. I think the only characters I struggled with were David…cause he was a complete arse! And Maggie; the girls Mom, because I think life has just made her hard, not warm and fuzzy, like we wish our mothers are.

To say I completely love Daughters of the Bride, that might be an understatement! But I give it a very well deserved 5 stars! show less

Daughters of the Bride by Susan Mallery follows three sisters in the months before their mothers wedding. Rachel is the eldest who has trouble relying on others or asking for help, a character flaw which helped lead to the failure of her marriage. Sienna is the middle child who has had two broken engagements and is more focused on her work than love. Courtney is the baby of the family and after dropping out of high school and running away is trying to get her life back in order without any help from her family.
As these sisters, and their mother of course, get ready for the big day, they all must be brave and face what their decisions will do to everyone around them.

This book was so wonderful, I really did not want it to end. The show more characters were so unique and well developed that I forgot I didn't actually know them. I was rooting for all of them and felt each victory as though it were my own. I loved how they each developed more and more as the story went on and how their interactions with each other shifted as time went on.

This book was so well organized, having section dividers between each person's point of view. I never got confused as to who I was reading about at that time. They layout and plot was so well put together that I never got lost.

This book became one of my favorite books. This is my first Susan Mallery book and it is definitely not my last. I am so excited to read her other books now. I just hope they are all as good as this one was.

I recommend this book to anyone! Although it has more female attributes, I think even some men would appreciate this book. show less

Although this is a book encompassing all three sisters, only one of the sisters gets the fullest happily ever after (descriptive sex). The other two sisters get a varying degree of HEA. Yes they all get the guy, but their stories aren’t as fully realized as Courtney’s is. Their stories are as interesting, but not as gripping since Sienna and Rachel don’t have the familial issues as Courtney does.

Yes this is a book about secrets –and a second time bride who in my opinion, was a bridezilla. The secrets make this a frustrating read and the slow start to this book added to that frustration. I very nearly didn’t give this book enough time to grab me –luckily I did.

The story focuses on three daughters, who were all nine and under when their father died unexpectedly, leaving their mother Maggie to become quite the businesswoman the keep the family together. Getting remarried now, later in life, the wedding seems to be a conduit for a lot of truths to come out. Youngest sister Courtney was left behind in school because of an unnamed learning disability and is very tall. Middle child Sienna becomes engaged for the third time to a man, David, that based on her job, should have had her noticing red flags right away. Oldest daughter Rachel is divorced from her high school sweetheart, but he’s stepping up to the plate this summer, and really helping her out with their son. The women seemed close, but show more not close. I don't think their margarita get togethers were doing their job. Definitely felt more like a regular romance than women's fiction, if that makes sense. show less

Maggie has been a widow and raised her three daughters by herself while she tried (at one time failed) to keep a roof over their heads. The girls are now grown, Maggie has a successful business and she is getting married again. Her daughters will be bridesmaids and help to plan the wedding, even though Maggie has some over the top requests for the wedding. Sp the book is about Maggie's wedding but it's also about so much more -- her daughters have all had extra pressure put on them over the years and the way they view life plus their relationships with each other show the results of their younger lives. Sienna is the oldest daughter. She works at a non profit to help women who are abused. She is in a relationship with David but isn't show more sure that he's the 'one'. Rachel is divorced from her fireman husband but are there still feelings between them or are they just working together to raise their son? Courtney (who was my favorite of the sisters) is working as a maid at a hotel. Her family is all a little embarrassed because of her job but she is hiding a secret from them that she is almost finished with her college degree. Will she find love within her family and learn to love herself?

This was a light, fun read and I really enjoyed it. show less