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.
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.
Helpful Score: 1
It all begins with an advertisement in the Heart Lake Herald. Hope Walker is definitely a fighter; a survivor who has always met the various adversities of life with a sunny disposition and a smile. She had survived breast cancer at just thirty years old, yet a mastectomy had left her with a lot of physical scarring, and a seriously battered self esteem. After all she has been through, Hope is perhaps understandably, fearful of dating.
She owns Heart Lake's most popular flower shop - 'Changing Seasons Floral' - and is renowned for her charming flower arrangements. Yes, when it comes to love and relationships, Hope is able to work a special type of magic through her expert flower arranging...for everyone else except herself. Then one day a handsome contractor starts coming into her shop - he's good-looking, charming, funny, even slightly flirty. In fact, he seems inordinately interested in flower arrangements, but Hope knows he'd rather have a whole woman than someone like her.
When Hope stakes a plot of ground in Heart Lake's community garden, she finds out that a woman can grow all sorts of things there: flowers, herbs, vegetables, and even friendship. As Hope gets to know the two women - Millie Baldwin and Amber Howell - who share the neighboring plots, all three women discover that they can learn a lot from one another. Their friendship may have started out swapping gardening tips, but it quickly blossoms into a strong and lasting bond - not just about gardening but also about life. And Hope realizes that in order to order to truly live life to the fullest, sometimes you have to take a chance on love.
I must say that I thoroughly enjoyed reading this book. I don't usually read romance novels, but this book was a different case, in my opinion. Yes, there was light romance, but the story also had a well-developed and intriguing plot to go with the romance. I was caught up in the story right away, and found it to be fairly easy reading for me - not too complicated or intricate. I would give this book an A!
She owns Heart Lake's most popular flower shop - 'Changing Seasons Floral' - and is renowned for her charming flower arrangements. Yes, when it comes to love and relationships, Hope is able to work a special type of magic through her expert flower arranging...for everyone else except herself. Then one day a handsome contractor starts coming into her shop - he's good-looking, charming, funny, even slightly flirty. In fact, he seems inordinately interested in flower arrangements, but Hope knows he'd rather have a whole woman than someone like her.
When Hope stakes a plot of ground in Heart Lake's community garden, she finds out that a woman can grow all sorts of things there: flowers, herbs, vegetables, and even friendship. As Hope gets to know the two women - Millie Baldwin and Amber Howell - who share the neighboring plots, all three women discover that they can learn a lot from one another. Their friendship may have started out swapping gardening tips, but it quickly blossoms into a strong and lasting bond - not just about gardening but also about life. And Hope realizes that in order to order to truly live life to the fullest, sometimes you have to take a chance on love.
I must say that I thoroughly enjoyed reading this book. I don't usually read romance novels, but this book was a different case, in my opinion. Yes, there was light romance, but the story also had a well-developed and intriguing plot to go with the romance. I was caught up in the story right away, and found it to be fairly easy reading for me - not too complicated or intricate. I would give this book an A!
