Mother Knows Best....

If you were the mother of a perfect son, what kind of expectations would you have for his future wife?

A Mother's Standards, a one-shot fanfic written by the_bouquet, gives us a late night conversation between Esme and Edward about what type of girl she wants for him. Told from Edward's point of view, this pre-Twilight piece gives us an Edward who believes that he is complete in himself, and an Esme who is worried that her beloved son is alone. As she describes her other children's pairings and speculates on what type of girl awaits Edward, Edward himself finds himself wondering about this imaginary girl-a girl who has high standards to meet, but sounds quite familiar to any Twilight reader.

The huge benefit of any story told from Edward's POV is getting to hear everyone's thoughts. In a way, Edward's POV are essentially everyone's POV; and it allows a deepness to stories that isn't necessarily found in stories from other characters minds. In A Mother's Standards, we can experience not only Edward's thoughts on his mother's interference and annoyance at his family's nightly activities (wink, wink), but also on Esme's compassion and concern. We get glimpses of the entire Cullen family mind, in a way that only Edward's POV can provide.

A Mother's Standards is essentially perfect in detail and could easily slip right into Stephanie Meyer's own Midnight Sun. It's an excellent lead up to Edward meeting Bella, even going as far as matching up little details of Midnight Sun it's self. the_bouquet gives us a one-shot that is smart, true to character, and articulate. A fantastic quick read. Considering this is her first and only piece, let's hope that the_bouquet will provide us with more stories in the future.

Rated: PG-13

5 out of 5 Gold Apples