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Mother of the Bride
The last thing that Helen wanted for her cherished only child was the sort of disastrous youthful marriage which she herself had made. So when Emily announced her engagement amid celebrations for her eighteenth birthday and celebrations for the bridegroom to be was Zack Nelison's son was even greater cause consternation Zack whom she had hoped to cut completely from her life Zack who had brought her heartbreak.How on earth was Helen going to cope with meeting him again?
224 pages, Mass Market Paperback
First published January 1, 1992
About the author
Carole Mortimer
1,307 books913 followersI have written almost 250 romance novels in contemporary and Regency.
I am a USA Today Bestselling Author and recipient of the 2015 RWA Lifetime Achievement Award. In 2014 I received a Pioneer of Romance Award from Romantic Times in the US and in 2012 I was recognised by Queen Elizabeth II for my 'outstanding service to literature'.
I am very happily married to Peter with six sons, and live on the Isle of Man
I am a USA Today Bestselling Author and recipient of the 2015 RWA Lifetime Achievement Award. In 2014 I received a Pioneer of Romance Award from Romantic Times in the US and in 2012 I was recognised by Queen Elizabeth II for my 'outstanding service to literature'.
I am very happily married to Peter with six sons, and live on the Isle of Man
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Displaying 1 - 10 of 10 reviews
February 17, 2018
Re Mother of the Bride - Carole Mortimer wins the December 1993 HP Plus bonus book. This is a second chance story of a pretty nice h who is married to a blackmailing H she thinks has a mistress and how they get to their HEA.
It starts with the h, who owns a florist shop, reading the announcement of her just turned 18 yr old daughter's engagement to her step-brother.
The h actually has nothing against her husband's son, but she is concerned about her daughter marrying at 18. The h herself was married at that age. She was 17, got preggers and her retired military and much older father demanded that the h wed her boyfriend, move into the family home and live under his overbearing authority.
The marriage did not work out and the h knew it wouldn't, but she caved to family pressure and then her husband started drinking heavily and died when he wrecked his motorbike. The h's mother also died during this time and her father told the h she had to stay with him and mind her child and the house.
Then when the h's daughter went to school, the h found the only job she had skills for, working for a florist, because A) she could do the job and B) it was the only job she could find that had workable hours to be there for her child - the h's father refused to watch the little girl.
Eventually the h manages to purchase the house that she and her father live in, but she has a mortgage to pay and she also has to support her father, as well as her daughter. The h also strikes up a friendship with the H's terminally ill mother.
So when the original florist shop owner wants to sell the business and the H's mother buys it, the h feels she has no choice but to continue on in her job, she needs the income. Then the H meets the h at his mother's instigation and he is a nasty, slime toad pustule to her. He is convinced that the h is a con artist out to bilk his terminally ill mother and treats the h accordingly.
When his mother is determined to see the H married before she dies, (she has cancer and is fading fast), the senior surgeon H blackmails the h into marrying him, using the shop and the h's job as a way to do it. The h reluctantly allows herself to be blackmailed, but as the marriage was only intended to last for the mother's life time, she moves out five months later.
But while the h is married and living with the H in separate rooms, the H's mother tells her all about the other surgeon the h is in love with - who unfortunately can't leave her paralyzed husband and so she can't openly be with the H.
We also find out that after the H's mother's funeral, the H has a meltdown and the h winds up consoling him in the classic HP lurve mojo clubbing style. The h cries after the event and then moves out, back to her house. Where the father nastily taunts her about being sloppy seconds, after the H's mistress, and it is no wonder her marriage did not work out.
The h just gets on with things and waits out the two years she needs before she can file for divorce. Now the two years are up and the h finds out her daughter is engaged, she thinks it may be a practical joke that the daughter's friends did.
The kids are all in uni now and the h knows that they play pranks on each other, so the h isn't too worried. She and her father plan to meet the h's daughter for dinner and things can be sorted out. The daughter is having a family birthday dinner at a restaurant and then she is having a big party for her friends the next night.
The h wants to limit the father's participation in things for a variety of reasons. Then the H shows up at the h's shop. He is taking the announcement a lot more seriously than the h is and he and his son are planning to be at the h's daughter's birthday dinner too.
The h goes home and lets her father know the H will be at the dinner. She is actually trying to ward off the father's nasty comments about the H before the fact. She knows that if the father goes and is surprised by the H's appearance, the father will ruin his granddaughter's birthday and the h wants to avoid that.
She is also concerned because her father has a serious heart condition and she doesn't want any heart attacks at birthday celebrations. The h is stuck between a rock and hard place, her father is cantankerous and demanding, but he is also 75 yrs old and alone and at the end of the day, he is her father.
The father refuses to attend the dinner. The H shows up and the h's daughter, really is engaged to the H's son apparently. The h gets drunk on champagne because while she does like the H's son - (his mother died when he was a baby and the H is widowed), she remembers her youthful marriage and she is full of misgivings.
When the h is too intoxicated to drive, he takes the h back to his house. The next morning the h is ill and hungover and thinks, because the H strongly hints at it, that she slept with the H the night before. The H tells the h that she can't file for divorce in a few months. He will be out of the country and the kids are engaged and if the h tries to file, he will fight it.
The h is really ill and doesn't have the fortitude to deal with all of this, plus she has to get home and deal with her father - who is going to make her life a misery because she did not go home and she spent the night at the H's.
After the h gets home and the father launches into his tirade, the h listens for a bit and then goes to sleep her hangover off. She is very ill before hand and she has a pain in her side. She thinks she has food poisoning on top of a hangover, but that doesn't stop her from reflecting on how much she loves the H and worrying that she slept with him.
The H shows up at the h's house later that day and the H and her father get into an argument. To the h's dismay the H is accusing her of having another man lined up and that is why she wants a divorce.
The h's father is all kinds of bolshie arguments over the engagement, the nematodeness of the H, how the h is a bad mother and a bad person and then announces that he is taking his disapproving self to the party for the daughter, even tho the h tries to explain that he won't enjoy himself.
The h, by this point, is too sick and too worn out with trying to play peacemaker to care. She goes to the party and the father, if he gets tired, will have to take a taxi home. The daughter and the H's son show up and they seem to be really happy. The H is late because he supposedly got called into work.
The h knows that happens a lot, but she also wonders how much the H being "calling into work" is really legitimate and not an excuse for the H to see his OW. The H finally arrives, he pushes the h into dancing with him and then drags her off to hospital when he realizes that she is really ill.
We all get to hospital and the female consultant the H calls diagnoses the h with appendicitis. The two of them are discussing the h like she isn't present and the h announces loudly that she is there and who said she was having surgery anyways. But then she agrees and asks the H not leave her alone.
The h does get the surgery and is in recovery before she realizes that her female surgeon is the H's OW. Then she gets hit with the fact that her daughter moved out because she couldn't handle living with the h's father anymore. The H is quite keen to let the h know just how incompetent he thinks the h is in managing her family and the h has a little weepy moment.
The h thinks she has almost lost her connection with her daughter and decides things need to change- the h concludes that she tolerated her father's excesses for so long because of guilt for getting preggers at 17. After a week in hospital, she goes home and tells her father has to move out, he is obviously capable of caring for himself and she will finally be able to live on her own.
The h's father tries to use his heart condition to guilt the h into letting him stay, but the H barges in again and calls him on his deception. The father throws the H's mistress into the mix and the H gives the father an ultimatum of him finding a retirement complex or going to a nursing home.
The H drags the h back to his house, explains that he and the OW are really just friends and that he realized a long time ago that he had no romantic feelings for her. In fact she has been free for a year since her first husband died and is now marrying someone else. The H claims he loves the h and has since his mother's funeral. He also adds that he did not lurve up the h while she was drunk and passed out.
But he blackmailed her into marriage and she cried buckets when they had their big passion moment. So now he is just trying to keep her anyway he can. That explanation is enough for the h, she admits she loves him back and the two of them are planning to adjourn upstairs so he can make her cry some more.
But before the big lurve club fest can begin, the h's daughter shows up and admits the engagement was a sham. The H's son and the daughter wanted to force their parents to talk to each other and save the marriage.
The H remarks that the two of them really are great together and the h agrees, so we leave them planning a baby to force the kids to babysit together and then we move on to the ecstatic tears of the h for the big HEA.
This one is okay, tho I am not going to point out the irony of the h standing up to her father's guilt trip only to fall into the daughter's and H's guilt trip right after. I am also avoiding the fact the H seems keen to keep the h AFTER the OW went and got herself engaged to someone else. (Okay, so I kinda had to do it, smack me with a wet noodle.)
(Interestingly, I did feel sorta sorry for the h's father - he was obviously the dictatorial father type, but he probably did not know any better and his actions may have stemmed more from wanting to hang on to his child more than anything else. It was good that the h stood up to him tho, and she was pretty nice about it. )
So overall the h seemed to be happy being manipulated and we can be happy the h is happy and it all works out in the end for a pretty standard HPlandia outing.
It starts with the h, who owns a florist shop, reading the announcement of her just turned 18 yr old daughter's engagement to her step-brother.
The h actually has nothing against her husband's son, but she is concerned about her daughter marrying at 18. The h herself was married at that age. She was 17, got preggers and her retired military and much older father demanded that the h wed her boyfriend, move into the family home and live under his overbearing authority.
The marriage did not work out and the h knew it wouldn't, but she caved to family pressure and then her husband started drinking heavily and died when he wrecked his motorbike. The h's mother also died during this time and her father told the h she had to stay with him and mind her child and the house.
Then when the h's daughter went to school, the h found the only job she had skills for, working for a florist, because A) she could do the job and B) it was the only job she could find that had workable hours to be there for her child - the h's father refused to watch the little girl.
Eventually the h manages to purchase the house that she and her father live in, but she has a mortgage to pay and she also has to support her father, as well as her daughter. The h also strikes up a friendship with the H's terminally ill mother.
So when the original florist shop owner wants to sell the business and the H's mother buys it, the h feels she has no choice but to continue on in her job, she needs the income. Then the H meets the h at his mother's instigation and he is a nasty, slime toad pustule to her. He is convinced that the h is a con artist out to bilk his terminally ill mother and treats the h accordingly.
When his mother is determined to see the H married before she dies, (she has cancer and is fading fast), the senior surgeon H blackmails the h into marrying him, using the shop and the h's job as a way to do it. The h reluctantly allows herself to be blackmailed, but as the marriage was only intended to last for the mother's life time, she moves out five months later.
But while the h is married and living with the H in separate rooms, the H's mother tells her all about the other surgeon the h is in love with - who unfortunately can't leave her paralyzed husband and so she can't openly be with the H.
We also find out that after the H's mother's funeral, the H has a meltdown and the h winds up consoling him in the classic HP lurve mojo clubbing style. The h cries after the event and then moves out, back to her house. Where the father nastily taunts her about being sloppy seconds, after the H's mistress, and it is no wonder her marriage did not work out.
The h just gets on with things and waits out the two years she needs before she can file for divorce. Now the two years are up and the h finds out her daughter is engaged, she thinks it may be a practical joke that the daughter's friends did.
The kids are all in uni now and the h knows that they play pranks on each other, so the h isn't too worried. She and her father plan to meet the h's daughter for dinner and things can be sorted out. The daughter is having a family birthday dinner at a restaurant and then she is having a big party for her friends the next night.
The h wants to limit the father's participation in things for a variety of reasons. Then the H shows up at the h's shop. He is taking the announcement a lot more seriously than the h is and he and his son are planning to be at the h's daughter's birthday dinner too.
The h goes home and lets her father know the H will be at the dinner. She is actually trying to ward off the father's nasty comments about the H before the fact. She knows that if the father goes and is surprised by the H's appearance, the father will ruin his granddaughter's birthday and the h wants to avoid that.
She is also concerned because her father has a serious heart condition and she doesn't want any heart attacks at birthday celebrations. The h is stuck between a rock and hard place, her father is cantankerous and demanding, but he is also 75 yrs old and alone and at the end of the day, he is her father.
The father refuses to attend the dinner. The H shows up and the h's daughter, really is engaged to the H's son apparently. The h gets drunk on champagne because while she does like the H's son - (his mother died when he was a baby and the H is widowed), she remembers her youthful marriage and she is full of misgivings.
When the h is too intoxicated to drive, he takes the h back to his house. The next morning the h is ill and hungover and thinks, because the H strongly hints at it, that she slept with the H the night before. The H tells the h that she can't file for divorce in a few months. He will be out of the country and the kids are engaged and if the h tries to file, he will fight it.
The h is really ill and doesn't have the fortitude to deal with all of this, plus she has to get home and deal with her father - who is going to make her life a misery because she did not go home and she spent the night at the H's.
After the h gets home and the father launches into his tirade, the h listens for a bit and then goes to sleep her hangover off. She is very ill before hand and she has a pain in her side. She thinks she has food poisoning on top of a hangover, but that doesn't stop her from reflecting on how much she loves the H and worrying that she slept with him.
The H shows up at the h's house later that day and the H and her father get into an argument. To the h's dismay the H is accusing her of having another man lined up and that is why she wants a divorce.
The h's father is all kinds of bolshie arguments over the engagement, the nematodeness of the H, how the h is a bad mother and a bad person and then announces that he is taking his disapproving self to the party for the daughter, even tho the h tries to explain that he won't enjoy himself.
The h, by this point, is too sick and too worn out with trying to play peacemaker to care. She goes to the party and the father, if he gets tired, will have to take a taxi home. The daughter and the H's son show up and they seem to be really happy. The H is late because he supposedly got called into work.
The h knows that happens a lot, but she also wonders how much the H being "calling into work" is really legitimate and not an excuse for the H to see his OW. The H finally arrives, he pushes the h into dancing with him and then drags her off to hospital when he realizes that she is really ill.
We all get to hospital and the female consultant the H calls diagnoses the h with appendicitis. The two of them are discussing the h like she isn't present and the h announces loudly that she is there and who said she was having surgery anyways. But then she agrees and asks the H not leave her alone.
The h does get the surgery and is in recovery before she realizes that her female surgeon is the H's OW. Then she gets hit with the fact that her daughter moved out because she couldn't handle living with the h's father anymore. The H is quite keen to let the h know just how incompetent he thinks the h is in managing her family and the h has a little weepy moment.
The h thinks she has almost lost her connection with her daughter and decides things need to change- the h concludes that she tolerated her father's excesses for so long because of guilt for getting preggers at 17. After a week in hospital, she goes home and tells her father has to move out, he is obviously capable of caring for himself and she will finally be able to live on her own.
The h's father tries to use his heart condition to guilt the h into letting him stay, but the H barges in again and calls him on his deception. The father throws the H's mistress into the mix and the H gives the father an ultimatum of him finding a retirement complex or going to a nursing home.
The H drags the h back to his house, explains that he and the OW are really just friends and that he realized a long time ago that he had no romantic feelings for her. In fact she has been free for a year since her first husband died and is now marrying someone else. The H claims he loves the h and has since his mother's funeral. He also adds that he did not lurve up the h while she was drunk and passed out.
But he blackmailed her into marriage and she cried buckets when they had their big passion moment. So now he is just trying to keep her anyway he can. That explanation is enough for the h, she admits she loves him back and the two of them are planning to adjourn upstairs so he can make her cry some more.
But before the big lurve club fest can begin, the h's daughter shows up and admits the engagement was a sham. The H's son and the daughter wanted to force their parents to talk to each other and save the marriage.
The H remarks that the two of them really are great together and the h agrees, so we leave them planning a baby to force the kids to babysit together and then we move on to the ecstatic tears of the h for the big HEA.
This one is okay, tho I am not going to point out the irony of the h standing up to her father's guilt trip only to fall into the daughter's and H's guilt trip right after. I am also avoiding the fact the H seems keen to keep the h AFTER the OW went and got herself engaged to someone else. (Okay, so I kinda had to do it, smack me with a wet noodle.)
(Interestingly, I did feel sorta sorry for the h's father - he was obviously the dictatorial father type, but he probably did not know any better and his actions may have stemmed more from wanting to hang on to his child more than anything else. It was good that the h stood up to him tho, and she was pretty nice about it. )
So overall the h seemed to be happy being manipulated and we can be happy the h is happy and it all works out in the end for a pretty standard HPlandia outing.
This entire review has been hidden because of spoilers.
January 16, 2019
I liked the blurb and so picked up this one. It was a light yet somewhat emotional read, if also at times a little vague about details about their past relationship and things as they actually happened leading to the split. It could have an easy 4 or more but for this vagueness, which left me somewhat antsy and dissatisfied.
I will not get into the details of the story but just some comments.
Another irritant is the confusing signals sent by the H in the beginning. And do I hate a mocking H – mocking look, mocking smile, mocking comment and mocking what not? It’s only when the author forgot that annoying word in the second half, that the story picked. There was seemingly some mysterious link between the two things.
The h is likable in spite of appearing cold and uptight in the beginning. She was just a teenage mother whose life never really recovered from that early ‘mistake’.
I didn't like the h’s father and his manipulations and machinations. But I wish the author had redeemed him at the end. I always find it unbelievable when the author redeems an obnoxious relative, but I felt sad for him. He was just a lonely, old and bitter man despite all his hateful actions.
I will not get into the details of the story but just some comments.
Another irritant is the confusing signals sent by the H in the beginning. And do I hate a mocking H – mocking look, mocking smile, mocking comment and mocking what not? It’s only when the author forgot that annoying word in the second half, that the story picked. There was seemingly some mysterious link between the two things.
The h is likable in spite of appearing cold and uptight in the beginning. She was just a teenage mother whose life never really recovered from that early ‘mistake’.
I didn't like the h’s father and his manipulations and machinations. But I wish the author had redeemed him at the end. I always find it unbelievable when the author redeems an obnoxious relative, but I felt sad for him. He was just a lonely, old and bitter man despite all his hateful actions.
February 2, 2016
Their children from previous marriages announced their engagement in the morning paper the day before the bride to be 18th birthday. Helen and Zack were married for five months and separated for almost two years when they read the news.
I felt sorry for Helen, her daughter, Zack's son and Helen's mother in law.
I felt sorry for Helen, her daughter, Zack's son and Helen's mother in law.
October 21, 2023
Helen and Zack Nelison are divorcing when her daughter (Emily) and his son (Greg) announce their engagement.
June 15, 2023
Surgeon Zack and florist Helen had a MoC to please his dying mother. She had a daughter from a very brief teenage marriage and he a son to his late wife. They parted after 5 months when the mother died - Helen believed him to be in a relationship with a married woman (her husband was crippled or something) and they hadn't really connected apart from sex on the day of the funeral. Cue 2 years on when Helen plans to file for divorce. The kids announce their engagement which pushes her and Zack back into contact. Usual lack of communication bs. Helen's overbearing father was against the marriage. It was ok.
June 30, 2020
Plenty of emotional connection between the main characters and their kids. I liked seeing some of the scenes through the man's view.
April 4, 2017
3,5/5.
April 1, 2026
I always go back to this book when I'm in a reading slump, and it works every time.
August 26, 2017
Very nice story and interesting plot . I need a part 2 with thier son and daughter as main characters
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June 21, 2018STOP THE WEDDING!
Nearly two years before, Helen had married Zack Neilson to fulfill a beloved matriarch's final wish. It had simply been a marriage of convenience, and Helen had immediately cut Zack out of her life, so at odds with the powerful dynamic man, so afraid of the longings he had unleashed in her body and soul.
But when her eighteen-year-old daughter--from a previous disastrous union--announces her engagement to Zack's son, Helen can no longer avoid her husband. Zack is back in her life ... and this time he's not leaving!
Nearly two years before, Helen had married Zack Neilson to fulfill a beloved matriarch's final wish. It had simply been a marriage of convenience, and Helen had immediately cut Zack out of her life, so at odds with the powerful dynamic man, so afraid of the longings he had unleashed in her body and soul.
But when her eighteen-year-old daughter--from a previous disastrous union--announces her engagement to Zack's son, Helen can no longer avoid her husband. Zack is back in her life ... and this time he's not leaving!
Displaying 1 - 10 of 10 reviews