Book Review: Like a Flower in Bloom

From the Back:

He Stole the Work She Loved.
Will She Let Him Steal Her Heart as Well?
It's all her uncle's fault. For years Charlotte Withersby has been free to pursue her love of plants and flowers by assisting her botanist father. But now that she's reached the old age of twenty-two, an intrusive uncle has convinced her father that Charlotte's future--the only proper future for a woman--is to be a wife and mother, not a scholar.

Her father is so dependent on her assistance that Charlotte believes he'll soon change his mind...and then Edward Trimble shows up. A long-time botany correspondent in the South Pacific, Trimble arrives ready to step in as assistant so that Charlotte can step out into proper society--a world that baffles her with its unwritten rules, inexplicable expectations, and confounding fashion.

Things aren't perfectly smooth between Trimble and her father, so Charlotte hatches a last gasp plan. She'll pretend such an interest in marriage that the thought of losing her will make her father welcome her back. Only things go quickly awry, and she realizes that the one man who recognizes her intelligence is also the person she's most angry with: Edward Trimble, her supposed rival. Suddenly juggling more suitors than she knows what to do with, Charlotte is caught in a trap of her own making. Will she have no choice but to leave her beloved flowers behind?

My Reflections:

Siri Mitchell has done her research with her latest book Like a Flower in Bloom, and while I enjoy most of her books this one lost it's petals leaving it quite wilted. I love to garden but am not in the slightest bit interested in Botany, so perhaps I am not one to lay judgement in this particular book.

Charlotte Withersby is blissfully helps her father with his work in botany. As an introvert by nature she seems quite content to continue on this path, until her uncle insists that she step out into society and start her somewhat late journey to finding a husband.

Charlotte is planted into a world of fashion, clubs and parties, a whole new experience that she is quite unprepared for. Wanting nothing to do with her new found life she finds herself stuck, and is now expected to leave behind her former role of helper and article writer and embrace this unusual rite of passage.

When Mrs. Trimble is hired to take over her former position Charlotte decides to hatch a plan to thwart her fathers plans. Charlotte fakes her enthusiasm and charms more than one suitor, not without blunders of course, but in the process she ends up encouraging her father even more.  In Charlotte's eyes no one can replace her role as assistant to her beloved father, but Mrs. Trimble proves to be managing quite well indeed.

What antics can she come up with next? With her new found friend Miss Templeton, the stereotypical Victorian era woman Charlotte endeavors to find a new path where she can continue doing what she loves,  and please society standards as well. Is there a happy ever after? Well you will have to wait until the very end of this book to find out...

So while I was not a fan of this novel I am quite sure It will appeal to many of Mitchell's followers. If nothing else you will be well educated on flowers and come out with a well rounded knowledge of Botany.

This book was provided free of charge form Graf-Martin Communications, in return for my honest opinion. Thank you so much Graf-Martin!

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About The Author:

1. 

   Siri Mitchell

   Siri Mitchell is the author of nearly a dozen novels, among them the critically acclaimed Christy Award finalists Chateau of Echoes and The Cubicle Next Door. A graduate of the University of Washington with a degree in business, she has worked in...
   

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