REVIEW: A Wedding on Primrose Street by Sheila Roberts

In A Wedding on Primrose Street (Life in Icicle Falls #7) by Sheila Roberts, Roberta Gilbert is prepared for just about anything after three decades of running Primrose Haus. But having her beautiful, perpetually scorned-in-love daughter Daphne come home to stay in Icicle Falls has disaster written all over it. Dealing with a divorce will be difficult enough for her daughter, but helping host the many weddings they cater to will made it nearly impossible to heal. Maybe the time together can possibly help mend the rift that has grown between Roberta and Daphne, though.

‘Mother-daughter relationships were a complicated mixture of love, loyalty, irritation and resentment, and there was nothing like a wedding to stir that pot.’

When Anne Richardson finds out her beloved daughter Laney is getting married in just a few months, her job as a wedding planner comes in handy. They’ve spent years dreaming together about the details. But things have changed, just as Laney’s tastes have. Anne finds herself in the position of being one of ‘those’ moms, or as she calls them, Momzillas. Trying to keep her daughter on task and to not downplay the importance of her wedding day seems to do more harm than good. How did Anne ever think this was going to be easy?

‘A marriage was about the two people who were making a commitment to each other. How they did it wasn’t half as important as why they did it. Everything else was just frosting on the wedding cake.’

From the beautiful book cover to the lovely tale within, A Wedding on Primrose Street was a winning romance set in picture perfect Icicle Falls. How can you not fall in love with such a stunning place?

I feel like every time I step into one of Sheila Roberts’ Life in Icicle Falls books I’ve found somewhere I would not only want to visit, but want to live as well. The charm of the town and the many businesses and townspeople is always apparent. But I think what I enjoy most about this series is that the stories are very realistic. Yes, the couple (or couples) get their HEA, but it is typically hard won, not handed to them. Watching each character find their way and redeem themselves is wonderfully satisfying.

So the overall theme of this novel, to me, was about mother-daughter relationships. The ups, the downs. The good and the bad. It was a lot of fun learning about Roberta and her daughter Daphne, as well as Anne and her daughter Laney. In both cases, I felt like Roberta and Anne had good intentions, wanting what was best for their daughters, but they may have been projecting their own wants or hopes and dreams onto Daphne and Laney without knowing it. Obviously it led to some tense, emotion-fueled drama.

What was also nice about this story, as with all of Ms. Roberts’ books, was that each character was working on their own issues and we followed along with that process. Laney had to figure out what type of wedding she truly wanted, while Anne needed to realize how grown up and capable Laney had become. Daphne was learning to stand on her own two feet after her divorce, as Roberta began to see how her own past had influenced her life and knew she needed to have some fun and let go. None of which would have happened without a little bit of help from the rest of the caring townspeople.

All about weddings and the complex relationships between mothers and daughters, A Wedding on Primrose Street will have you wrapped up in the story and gorgeous locale. And make sure to read to the very end: we get a bonus of not only a few yummy recipes (yay!) but also a couple of tales of weddings from some other Icicle Falls residents. Fans won’t want to miss that part!

Book Info:

Published August 1st 2015 (first published July 28th 2015) | by MIRA | Life in Icicle Falls #7

There’s nothing like a wedding!

The joy, the fun, the memories—the stress. As a wedding planner, Anne Richardson has seen mothers of the bride turn into Momzillas, and she’s determined not to do that when it’s her daughter’s turn to get married. But once Laney gets engaged, all bets are off. Anne becomes obsessed with giving Laney the perfect wedding she herself never had. And that wedding needs to be held in Icicle Falls at Primrose Haus, the perfect setting.

Roberta Gilbert, owner of Primrose Haus, has been hosting events at her charming Victorian for thirty years. She’s an expert on weddings, but not on mother-daughter relations. When her daughter, Daphne, comes home and decides to help with the business, the receptions become truly memorable—and not in a good way. Then there’s the added complication of Roberta’s gardener, who seems more interested in Daphne than he is in planting primroses…

Tying the knot is a business that has everyone tied up in knots!