<b>I downloaded a copy of this book from NetGalley to review. </b>

First, I hate the cover. Yes, it is nice but I expected more from Montlake Romance. To this reader, it looks like someone went and purchased a stock photo, threw on some text and that was it. The cover is generic and does not show any promise to a good story.

I should have taken my opinion of the cover and not wasted my time reading this book. I found problems with the story very early.

First problem. In location 729 it states the following at Location 729 <i>."The doctor really wanted him to go to a physical therapy place for six weeks now that the staples were out."</i>. Okay great. The staples were out.
Then at Location 789 readers see the following <i>."She couldn't possibly support his weight, and if he fell and the staples broke loose, he could wind up back in the hospital."</i>. Then at location 2321 readers see the following <i>.'The doctor nodded. "Why don't you lie on the sofa here and let me take a look at the staples."</i>. So my question is when were the staples removed?

My second problem starts at Chapter 4. Really the first sentence in chapter 4. The first sentence is a total of 46 words. Really?!? 46 words to convey what the authors wanted readers to know. It makes me wonder why this extra, extremely long sentence could not have been written in two or three sentences. Don't take my word for it. Here is the sentence: <i>.‘Emmy Jo paced to the top of the staircase at the top of the wide upstairs hallway, back to her room and to the balcony, only to start all over again several times before she finally plopped down in the wing-back chair out in the hall.’</i>. Little wordiness there?

This was a halfway clean story. No sex scenes and some cussing. At first, I honestly thought the author had intentionally left out all cussing. However, as readers get later into the story the author has characters throwing out lots of cuss words. If I had to give this book a rating it would be PG13.

I halfway liked this story but felt some of the characters got off very easy for the stuff they did. Yes, what happened was in the past but still, each and every one should have realized they screwed up and apologized, atoned and made amends for their sins.

Then I realize how fast everything happened in this story. How easy Seth was able to forgive everyone. After carrying 60+ years of hatred, bitterness, and anger for those who wronged him he just allowed everyone to walk away without anything but knowing his great-granddaughter.

I admit really disliked Jesse. To be someone who calls himself a man of God but cannot forgive others show he is not anything but a piece of scum. He acts like others show follow the ten commandments but he is allowed to pick and choose which ones he wants to follow. He is nothing but a hypocrite.

Then I have a problem with the age of some characters. Seth, Tandy, and Jesse are in their 80's. If Seth and Tandy slept together while in high school and had a child that would make them 17-19 years old. Okay then if that child also had a child early in life (which is implied in the book) these two characters would be in their early 40's. Then if that child (their grandchild) had a child early in life (which is implied also) that would make these two people in their early 60's. NOT in their early 80's unless we skipped a generation and again that is not implied in the book. It is stated often that Emmy Jo is Tandy's great-grandchild. No, it does not state her age but it is stated she is 21. So this reader would like to know why the author made Seth, Tandy, and Jesse so old. To this reader, something is wrong with the age of these characters.

I really wanted to like this story. The description fit the story but the writing did not live up to what I wanted. It just fell flat. Sorry but this book just did not do it for me.

I like this author. She's had a few that were great reads. The Yellow Rose Beauty Shop, The Red Hot Chili Cook-off...I first discovered her with The Lady's Room and The PMS Club. Sometimes you can find her stuff free on Amazon, if not free, then on sale. And I enjoyed a lot of her stuff. But this was just plain romance, but I had hope. She does a lot of cowboy, southern stuff in her stories, which is fun. This felt like it was following a formula, and there were "conflicts" that the character seemed to be finding out of the blue. There really should be enough in the plot to go along with it.

I think I know what was going on in the beginning, but she was far too secretive with us readers. If the hints had hit a little faster and a little sooner, it would have been more fun.

The first thing that bothered me, was the character's insistence on a church wedding. That no one would believe they were really married unless she had a big church wedding. That's why she took the job that caused so many problems. But honestly, why does she care? In this day and age - and it was a modern tale - no one cares if you elope. Hell, he only wanted to go see a judge...in town. Can anyone explain how that's questionable?

So it wasn't terrible, but it wasn't exciting either. But I'd definitely keep looking if you aren't hardcore into romance novels.

I enjoyed The LilaBouquet. Loved Emmy Jo and Seth! Emmy Jo's great grandmother Tandy was an odd character and I just never could warm to her.

Such a sweet love story with a bit of mystery mixed in.

Another wonderful tale by a great author. This is the story of Emmy Jo, who lives with her great-grandmother. She gets hired to help Seth, who is recovering from hip surgery, and gets involved in a 60 year old feud between her great-grandmother, Seth and Jessie (her fiance's grandfather). The mystery and the growing friendship between Emmy Jo and Seth is sweet to see, and just made an overall nice story. The mean-spirited actions of the townsfolk towards Seth's mother was hard to read about, and brought tears to my eyes to think that poor woman had to live through all that. Highly recommend this book and author, you will not regret it.

a well written good read