Love in Bloom
Hope, although in remission, seems permanently scarred both physically and emotionally from her mastectomy and withdraws socially. She is content to arrange other people’s flowers and love lives until Jason walks through the doors of her florist shop and is immediately attracted—not to her, but to her vivacious but shallow younger sister Bobbi. Piqued, Hope signs up for a plot at the community garden and meets Amber, a young mother whose husband has also become withdrawn after losing his job, and Millie, a recent transplant from the East Coast with a self-absorbed daughter and grandkids. Roberts writes compellingly about the issues faced by these three women in different stages of life and uses the language of flowers to great effect as the women draw closer and share their particular strengths. Readers may empathize or become impatient with Hope’s continued insistence on physical perfection as a prerequisite to being loved. --Lynne Welch