4 of 4 people found the following review helpful:
4.0 out of 5 stars
A love story that is rated PG, July 4, 2009
This review is from: Love in Bloom (Paperback)
This was an enjoyable little love story. The characters were well developed. I enjoyed the interaction of the older widow and the young business owner. The relationship of the sisters was also handled nicely. I like the way the author handled the body image of the breast cancer survivor. I also appreciate her for giving us a strong male character with sensitivity and a good heart. I'm married to a good man, and I like seeing males portrayed in a positive light.
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5 of 6 people found the following review helpful:
5.0 out of 5 stars
Heartwarming and charming - Highly Recommended!!!, April 10, 2009
This review is from: Love in Bloom (Paperback)
Watch out Debbie Macomber, we have another author of heartwarming, charming stories set in the Pacific Northwest who is going to be soon be sharing your readers. Her name is Sheila Roberts and this is a name to remember because if her future books are as outstanding as LOVE IN BLOOM she should become a household name soon.
Heart Lake is a small, tight-knit community in western Washington. Its beauty and charm has attracted newcomers and keeps many native residents.
Flower shop owner Hope has recently recovered from breast cancer. Although she had reconstruction, she is very self-conscious as the surgery left her with scars, as many emotional as physical. She feels that she is never going to be attractive to men again. When the very attractive Jason enters her shop, both she and her sister Bobbi are instantly attracted to him, but feeling about herself as she does, she helps Bobbi try to snag "Mr. Right" even though she would love to get to know the handsome contractor better. It isn't long before Jason takes the bait and begins to date the fun-loving Bobbi, who, to try to make herself more attractive to him, tells him little white lies regarding her life and the activities she enjoys. Will he ever find out that he really has more in common with Hope?
Seventy-seven year old Millie is new to town. A widow, she has moved in with her busy divorced daughter Debra to help her care for her grandchildren. But Debra is quick to take advantage of Millie's generosity leaving very little time for Millie to have a life of her own. An avid gardener, Millie soon finds out about the community garden and doesn't waste anytime staking out her own plot. Soon a flower-delivering mishap changes her life in a way she could have never imagined.
Also new to town is young wife and mother Amber whose chef husband lost their restaurant business. They had to sell their home to pay off their loans, and now husband Ty is more often a couch potato then a job applicant which causes friction between the two. They have found a cozy cabin in Heart Lake but to help make ends meet, Amber and her young son Seth stake out a plot in the community garden next to Millie's.
Millie and Amber become fast friends. Millie finds Amber more appreciative of her than her own daughter does. Millie shares some cookie recipes with Amber and soon she is selling the delicious lavender and carrot cookies to help with household expenses.
This book as it all - romance, women's friendship, poignancy, and characters the reader can't help but love. Sheila Roberts has written a heartwarming novel that is difficult to put down once started. It's a great read for the springtime and gardening time where not only flowers but love is in bloom. Highly recommended.
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2 of 2 people found the following review helpful:
5.0 out of 5 stars
profound character study, March 31, 2009
This review is from: Love in Bloom (Paperback)
Thirty years old Hope Walker physically survived breast cancer, but mentally the mastectomy has left her doubting she is a complete woman; consequently Hope no longer dates. Instead, she hides in the Changing Seasons Floral shop she owns; enhancing her lovely flower arrangements with beautiful written poetry. When contractor Jason Wells enters the florist, Hope realizes he is the first man she has found interesting since the operation. However, she knows she has no chance after he meets her whole sister Bobbi.
Septuagenarian widow Millie Baldwin moved to Heart Lake to move on with her life and assist her acrimonious recently divorced daughter Debra and two grandchildren. Also newly arrived in town is Amber Howell seeking to start over at a time when she feels she has nothing. These newcomers and Hope meet at a community garden plot project and becomes friends nurturing one another as they struggle to start over.
Bobbi is attracted to Jason's friend Duke whom she meets after she starts dating Jason. Millie meets the younger Altheus and encouraged by her two garden buds over the objections of her offspring, decides to see him. Amber struggles with her depressed husband Ty, whose feelings of failure after their restaurant went bankrupt leaves her alone to raise their son and bring in income while he wallows his life way.
This is a profound character study of three females at different points in their respective lives summed up nicely by Millie who poignantly realizes that strangers make her feel needed and wanted more than her family does. The ensemble cast is fully developed so everyone matters. With plenty of metaphors between gardening and living, fans will relish the adventures of the three amigas as all kinds of relationships blossom when LOVE IN BLOOM is flourishing.
Harriet Klausner
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