Carrie Dashwood fled Dorset ten years ago when her best friend Megan stole her love, local heart-throb Tom. Now she’s back to help run her aunt Ruby’s flower stall in idyllic Shipley.
Trying to persuade herself that her feelings for Tom are in the past, Carrie plans to avoid him and Megan completely. But it’s not to be, because Ruby’s Blooms are arranging the flowers for Megan and Tom’s wedding.
Soon Carrie’s crawling under the stall to hide and accidentally inventing an imaginary boyfriend… But with the stall’s finances in jeopardy and Ruby needing her niece more than ever, Carrie has to keep her emotions in check.
With bouquets to arrange, family secrets to uncover, and Tom unavoidably a part of her life again, can Carrie keep her cool, save the stall, and find her very own happy ever after?
About the Author
I confess I haven’t read the first in this series even though it is sitting on my kindle but the opportunity came up to join the blog tour so this one got read instead. I certainly didn’t feel as though I was missing anything although I suspect there are some repeat characters, this is a compact story on it’s own.
You know if a beach is involved it should be good and this one has pretty flowers included! Carrie returns to the seaside town of Shipley when a health crisis strikes her Aunt Ruby.
However now she has been made unemployed and Ruby needs help running her flower stall. What can be so difficult? Carrie simply watches a youtube video and away she goes …. cue disaster!
Carrie has no idea about flowers, she doesn’t recognise any of the names let alone have a clue on how to arrange them. Then as if by some twist of fate Megan shows up and wants the flower stall to cater for her wedding, to Tom of all people! Megan is the type of person I would hate on sight, she is a world class bitch with no thought for anyone’s feelings but her own. She is incredibly well written I could almost see her smirk each time she spoke.
The ensuing drama is humourous and some of Carrie’s antics made me smile. The more serious side of the book involves Ruby and the reason behind her illness. If you have dealt with some of the circumstances then it’s understandable where she as coming from and I thought they were some of the best parts of the book. Carrie took a while to grow on me, at first I felt she was rather immature but the support she gives Ruby shows her in a different light. Will Carrie finally find her happy ending?
There are a great mixture of characters involved, something for everyone. This is an ideal book to read in the garden or by the pool. The writing flows nicely, I like the author’s style and the ability to reel the reader in so that you want to keep turning the pages. It was an enjoyable story and I will definitely be keeping an eye open for the promised Christmas book in the series.
