Customer Reviews

Love in Bloom

5 star:		(6)
4 star:		(4)
3 star:		(1)
2 star:		(0)
1 star:		(0)

 

 

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.

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.

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

I love this book! It was a fun read with a lot of heart. I didn't want it to end!

The book was an easy read. Started and finished in one day. Have to admit I really liked the older woman, Millie. It's real easy to be taken advantage of by our children and boy could I relate to her.She was a giving sweet lady and I felt terrible that she passed away after findng happiness.
I know that Hope lived with fear and she felt the deformity left from breast surgery made her undesirable. I can understand the fear, but I couldn't as far as the scarring to her breast was concerned. How many of us are perfect, we all have flaws whether on the inside or on the outside. I couldn't stand her sister who was trying to find herself in all the wrong places. Looks aren't everything honey eventually age sets in then what have you got? Even the girls that stood right out there sag. I wanted to kick her right in the ass.
Amber's problems I'm sure we all could relate to. With today's economy alot of us have found ourselves without employment but I thought her patience with her husband was short and it felt like she blamed him for the loss of their business. He wanted to curl up in a corner and forget but she kept reminding him of his failure .
Millie was there for all of them . They say with age comes wisdom although I felt each one helped the other through some difficult times.

It took me far longer to finish this book than I thought it would, but that turned out to be a good thing. It is definitely a good book, one to be read slowly and with enjoyment.

I especially loved the interaction between the characters at the garden, the friendships forged from the fires of life. I am no gardener so I appreciated the author's attention to this setting and all of her detail work.

It was a book filled from start to finish with laughter, love, and even a little sorrow, but isn't that like life?

Sheila has written a truly fun read, and one that is to be savored. I recommend this one to all readers.

The community garden in the small Washington town of Heart Lake brings together three women facing obstacles in their lives. Hope Walker is a 30 year old breast cancer survivor who has built a lovely life for herself - a life that includes everything except romance. Hope's surgeries have left her with scars, emotional and physical, and she can't believe that any man will want her so she firmly closes the door on that part of her life. Millie is a 77 year old widow who has moved across the country to live with her divorced daughter and two grandchildren. She soon finds herself at loose ends, unable to connect with her bitter, self-centered daughter and spoiled grandkids. Amber is a young mom barely clinging on to a faltering marriage and struggling with financial hardships. Over a period of several months the women form a bond and offer each other advice and support as they work through the challenges in their lives as well as their gardens.

This was a lovely book; sweet and uplifting. I liked the way the women's individual stories were woven throughout the book and Hope's story was particularly touching. The character of Jason, Hope's "love interest", was nicely written and Hope's sister, Bobbi, offers some comic relief. If you're reading this for the romance you might be disappointed - the focus is on the women and the strength they draw from each other. Jason and Hope's relationship is more of a side story but it is engaging none the less.

The setting is present day Washington state; some mild swearing with no explicit sex.

My daughter and I trade books and this is one of hers. I couldn't put it
down. It is very well written. It made you feel like you were there. The
story kept moving and I especially like Millie.
I just wanted to sit and lose myself in the book. The characters all
come together and the story makes you feel good all over as you see each
one struggle with their own problems and they all blend and they always
there for each other.

I highly recommend it. Shelia is a author I will glady follow.

Karen in South Carolina

Sheila Roberts reminds me a lot of Debbie Macomber. Like Macomber's books, this one is set in Washington near Seattle. She also allows you to really get to know the characters and empathize with them.
This book follows three women who are linked through gardening patches at the local park. Millie is a seventy-seven-year-old grandmother who is helping out her newly divorced daughter with her household and two children. Amber is a young mother with an out-of-work husband and a flailing marriage. Hope is a thirty-year-old breast cancer survivor who is still afraid of living. Each learns from the others and grows in her relationships with others and herself. Even though the interactions between the women were limited, they were poignant and really brought the story together. Each individual story was strong and well-developed. I found myself liking all of the women and rooting for them.
What I really enjoy about her books are the messages of hope and life. Things may not always be perfect, but there are always good things and those that are bad can be made better--we all make choices.
I read this book in one day and finished feeling happy--that makes it a perfect book for me. I will continue to look forward to new books from Roberts.

Love in Bloom is a delightful novel. It's message is clear: Live life. "None of us has any guarantee. You can't just give up and sit on the sidelines." - Hope's friend, Amber.

"Listen to an old woman and live your life to the fullest. Take advantage of every good thing that comes into it." - 77 year old Millie, the character I hope to be just like in 25 years!

Millie also had this to say: "A garden is such an amazing thing, isn't it? There it is, the whole cycle of life played out for us every year - death, then resurrection, new buds, new life, new beginnings."

From beginning to end, this was a satisfying book. It wasn't preachy or maudlin. I found the characters to be realistic (in fact a few seemed quite familiar to me) and the emotions, genuine. I look forward to reading more books by Sheila Roberts.