Tuesday, May 5, 2020

Building a Blended Family


Flora, a talented florist, finally has what she always wanted, an apartment of her own, but now it somehow feels empty. She’s an orphan who was raised by an aunt who was a difficult person. Secretly she longs to be a part of a family. Then she meets Jack.

Jack is a widower with a two daughters: Izzy, a teenager, and Molly who is seven. Izzy has been taking care of the family ever since her mother’s death and she’s jealous of her place in the family. When Flora is introduced to the family and even more when Jack wants her to be part of their annual vacation with Becca’s long term friend, Clare, in the Lake District in England, Izzy is angry and resentful.

This is a well developed character driven novel. The major characters have lessons to learn in how to be a family. Flora grew up as a people pleaser. She finds that she has to be less accommodating to come across as a real person. Izzy has to deal with her anger, which as a teen, is right on the surface. Molly is delightful. She brings pure love into the story. Jack is an excellent character. He loves his family, but he loves Flora too and wants to make the new family succeed.

The story starts in New York, but the most delightful descriptions of the setting take place in the Lake District. Clare’s family has a lovey estate with a renovated boat house that is used for guests. I would love to visit there. This is a heartwarming story about making blended families work. I recommend it if you enjoy well developed characters.

I received this book from Harlequin for this review.



No comments:

Post a Comment