This book was not at all what I expected, but I still very much enjoyed it. At first, I thought it would be a typical story of heartache, healing, and love. However, the author doesn’t follow a standard outline; even though all three are featured in the story, they are not presented in the usual fashion. This took some getting used to, but I appreciate the difference. I don’t want to say too much about the plot, because I think that readers should be able to discover it on their own. I liked that the heroine, Kara, was prickly and very rough; that was refreshing, and fit the story very well. The writing was very poetic, and some passages did actually bring me to tears. 4.5 stars. I certainly look forward to reading more from this author. Thank you to NetGalley, Lake Union Publishing, and the author for an ARC in exchange for an honest review.

I’m new to Grace Greene books but I definitely will be looking for more. This is a heartwarming story about Kara a young woman who needs to find herself. She has been through some heartbreaks and has trouble trusting. Again. This is a intense read which deals with betrayal, friendship, new beginnings! The story just kept me reaching for more! Definitely a must read!

This is a difficult review to write, because I ended up with very mixed feelings about Wildflower Heart.

The fact is that if I’d been reading this book for fun, I’d not have finished it. I don’t give up on books easily and have guilt about writing negative reviews on books I’ve not finished just in case things turn around, but if I weren’t reviewing this book for NetGalley, I probably wouldn’t have made it past chapter one and definitely not all the way to chapter four.

The next time a book turns me off early on, the nagging voice in my head will probably say, “but remember what happened in Wildflower Heart. What if it’s like that?”

It’s very possible the author made a deliberate choice to tell that part of the story as she did (to contrast the characters own disconnect from her life then to what happens), but for me as a reader it failed. The last scene of chapter three is a turning point. Before that it all feels like background dump. But there things begin to change. I end up wishing I could review this book based solely on chapter four forward, but it doesn’t work that way.

Anyway, if you push forward to chapter four, things will turn around. From there, I could connect to the character and start caring about what had happened to her. I’d classify the book as women’s fiction, as weird as that genre is in some ways (is there such a thing as men’s fiction or it is our role in society that makes us long for a genre of our own with journeys of self-awakening?).

The main character has lost herself after a series of bad things happen, starting in childhood. Her father invites her to join him as he sets out to fulfill a dream she doesn’t understand. And this puts so much more into motion.

The rest of the story is a touching tale of learning who people really are and finding inner strength and sense of self. The character becomes someone I can care about and feel with, especially as I have myself dealt with the struggles of a redefinition of self through health issues, although her situation involves other things as well.

Considering the book as a whole, I can’t give it more than 3 stars. But I recommend you push on through the slow start to see what blooms in the rest of the pages.

Lindas Book Obsession Reviews “Wildflower Heart” by Grace Greene, Lake Union Publishing, January 22, 2019

Grace Green, Author of “Wildflower Heart” has written a compassionate, emotional, intense, intriguing, and creative novel. The Genres for this novel are Fiction and Women’s Fiction. The timeline for the story is in the present and past when it pertains to the events or characters in the story. The author describes her characters as complex and complicated.

Kara Hart is certainly used to loss. Her mother had emotional issues, and left her when she was young. Kara and her husband had marital issues, and then in a tragedy she loses him. After a terrible accident, Kara is working hard on physical therapy and her hard-working dad, who has been so responsible, decides to retire and move. He chooses an old large Victorian mansion in Virginia that needs much work. The only beauty that Kara sees is the colorful wildflowers that surround the house. Her dad wants her to help him with the renovations in the house.

Kara has an artistic sense when she does cross stitching and needlework. Kara starts to make new friends, and realizes that an old friend might have betrayed her. At the same time, tragedy occurs again, and Kara once again has to make significant decisions on how to rebuild her life. This is the first book in a new series. I can’t wait to read the next book. I appreciate that the author discusses, loss, love, emotional support, family and friends. I would recommend this novel to readers who enjoy a thought-provoking book. I received this ARC from NetGalley for my honest review.

Another wonderful read set in magical Cub Creek. Grace Greene never disappoints. Her books take readers on a journey that allows them to discover new places and an abundance of different emotions within the journey. Her writing allows us to be there next to those she is writing about in each story. The story of Kara and watching her unfurl as the wildflowers she so loves was both heartbreaking and wonderful at the same time.

A story filled with loss, grief and heartbreaking loneliness but also filled with love and finding true friends. This is a story that draws you in to feel the rejection and the aching grief that Kara experience and you can feel the breeze, see the wildflowers dance...

Wildflower Heart was an emotional novel! I enjoyed the way that Kara’s challenges are portrayed throughout the story. Kara was injured in a car accident where her husband dies. This is made worse because of what happened right before the accident occurred. When Kara leaves the hospital, she goes to stay with her father at his house. Kara fights through her recovery and her emotions as she confronts the past and her future life. At the same time, her father is beginning to start changes in his own life as he embarks on a new life that includes the purchase of an old Victorian mansion. The two of them begin to work through some tough emotions from the past together as well, as they experience all the new changes of moving into the new house. There are moments of happiness and joy as they both struggle through the difficult days.

A STORY OF RESILIENCE!

WILDFLOWER HEART (The Wildflower House # 1) by Grace Greene is a story of RESILIENCE. One of my favorite quotes is: “Never trust a (wo)man without a limp.” In other words, people without “imperfections” (i.e. real life experiences) don’t always see things clearly. They feel as though they have ideal families, careers and relationships. These are the people who tend to compartmentalize. They lead orderly lives but in reality are they really living?

Kara Hart has been one of those “compartmentalizers” all her life. It’s a trait she learned well from her successful Tire/Automotive Magnate - her Dad. She’s suffered several devastating losses and a real limp from a devastating car accident but remains stoic through it all. She finds solace in doing needlework of flowers as part of her rehabilitation.

It takes her Dad making major unexpected changes to get her attention that life is passing her by. Who would have thought that a field of beautiful wildflowers could begin to bring peace to such a troubled heart! It takes meeting a new group of genuine people who accept her just as she is and seeing someone who reminds her of a reflection of who she was to shake her to her soul. Her future is a blank canvas. What will she choose to fill it with? Who will she choose to spend her time with? I was provided an ARC of this novel by NetGalley and Lake Union Publishers. The opinions expressed here are completely my own and without influence.

This is quite a sensitive and emotional book. Telling the story of a young woman Kara, who was badly injured in a car accident. Her husband was killed in the accident. It follows her journey from the the accident happening and how she started to recover physically and mentally. It demonstrates how a person's past emotional life impacts on the now. Kara's mother had left when she was very young and she had been brought up by her father who in some ways was emotionally absent This all plays out when Kara moves with her father when he retires to the Virginian countryside. It explores Kara and her father's relationship and digs into their pasts. Slowly some emotional connection is made by Kara finding pictures of her mother and starting to ask questions. It dealssensitively with the issues that evolve when people who have not been used to their emotional state start to recognise how they feel.

There is also a parallel story which deals more with the day to day running of their lives and how they start to build a new life together. There are others involved as well. and of course the start of a romantic entangle id empathy that was portrayed made up for it. I really felt I knew the characters and had a feel for where they were both emotionally and physically.. A good read.

This is an emotional & heartfelt story.
Kara, has suffered great losses, in her life. After being in a tragic car accident,
her father cares for Kara, durning her
recovery. A year later, her father decides to retire, & buy an old Victorian home. Kara moves with him, to help out with the restorations. While looking over the grounds, she comes across a beautiful field of wildflowers. Kara makes friends with her handsome & helpful neighbor, Seth. As Kara is trying to figure out where to live & work, tragedy sticks again.
Kara deserves happiness. Will she do what she knows, or give herself chance, for a fresh start in life?

Kara Hart has been living with loss her entire life. When her mother walked out one day, never to return, it scarred Kara in ways she could not understand. After the accident which claims the life of her husband, she is back staying with her father and trying to recover some semblance of her life before the accident.
But her father has a few surprises up his sleeve as well. He is determined to sell the company he owns, and buy an older home, starting a new course in his life. Kara is surprised but goes along with her father to help him out, and she continues to heal from the accident. But when she gets there, she gets more than what she bargained for, and might just find the start of a new life where she least expects it.....
Wildflower House might be more a chance for Kara to get her life back on track, than her father's dreams of long ago.
This was a great read! I could not put it down! The story weaves and binds together so many emotions. Love, friendship, renewal, anger, redemption... there is so much here - and more.

I really enjoyed Wildflower Heart by Grace Greene. The story of Kara and her dad, the opportunity for a second chance for them brought about by her accident and their move gave a lot of heart and meaning to this story.

The author's characters and descriptions made me rapidly want to know much more about what was going to happen, ensuring that I was pulled into the story from the very beginning. I am excited that there's going to be a sequel to this book because there is so much more I want to know about the characters. I really became invested in their lives!

If you like second chance stories, family sagas, or stories filled with lush scenery and great descriptions, this is your book.

Thanks to the author, publishers and Netgalley for approving my request for an ARC. My thoughts are my own.

Wildflower Heart is a bittersweet story full of pathos and sometimes desolation. It will touch a reader's heart with a lingering sense of sorrow and yet not without hope. I was drawn into Kara's story immediately as the first chapters find her a young teen dealing with the abandonment and subsequent loss of her mother. As the story continues, Kara finds life continues to bring challenges, challenges that may just break her spirit and yet, as her father reminds her, she is resilient and will find the strength to triumph. Beautifully written with the image of an amazing, almost magical field of wildflowers scattered throughout the story, Kara's journey through grief is unexpected, and yet one in which she finds value. I thoroughly enjoyed this book and am looking forward to the second in the Wildflower House series. I was given a complimentary copy of the book and was not required to write a review. The opinions are my own.

This is a story of losses, heartbreak, pain and suffering. For Kara, it just didn’t stop. A horrific accident, leaves her with devastating injuries and a lengthy recovery, physically,mentally, and emotionally.
The author, Grace Greene, beautiful paints a verbal picture of the wildflowers, that carpet the grounds of the stately old house, that her father Henry buys. The making of a great team, they have to sort through old scars, to be able to put this house together. A fascinating look at restoring old classics and the beauty that can come out of removed layers! Thank you to Lake Union
Publishers, NetGalley and Grace Green for the ARC.

Wildflower Heart is a wonderfully written story of Kara Lange Hart and her father Henry. Tragedy strikes them both when Kara’s mother leaves the family permanently and passes away several years later. Their relationship is supportive and loving, but many of their thoughts and secrets are kept inside to preserve their day to day lives in some sort of semblance of normalcy.
There are additional tragedies and difficult times for both Kara and Henry as the story progresses. However, that thread of Kara’s mother leaving and its emotional impact continues to be an integral, underlying part of the story. The book slowly reveals some of the family secrets and the grief they have both endured. As the reader you get that feeling of Ah Ha because things all begin to make sense.
About halfway through the story Kara and Henry move to a house in a country setting and a beautiful field of wildflowers out back. Kara seems to be drawn to the beauty and solace of that field. There was one point in the story where Grace Greene was talking about the wildflowers as chaotic if they are left to grow wild and untended or more orderly if they are tended and weeded. That idea seemed to fit the characters in the story, who have had their share of chaos but were working toward trying to put their lives together.
Grace Greene is a master story teller whose skill with language makes you see and feel and understand the surroundings and the characters in a very personal way. I’m eager to reread this story and look forward to its sequel.

Kara has experienced heartbreak early in her life. Her mother left when she was 14 with no explanation, and Kara had to accept and move on. Now, on her anniversary, she finds out that her husband is having an affair. Devastated and trying to process, her life is further altered when they are involved in a horrific automobile accident, in which her husband dies.

Wildflower Heart is the story of Kara's struggles to overcome two devastating losses and come to terms with her life as it is altered, both emotionally and physically. Her father purchases a house out in the country and Kara is helping him to remodel and remake the house into a home; a home that doesn't see herself inhabiting. The saving grace of the home is the beautiful field of wildflowers in the backyard. A field that she comes to treasure. How will she survive, and can she overcome it all to become a stronger person? Beautifully written, this story will resonate with readers. Grace Greene writes from the heart.

I received an ARC of this book inreturn for an honest review. Thank you Grace Greene and Lake Union.

I give Kara credit for getting out of bed, let alone moving on as well as she does in this lovely novel of a woman who loses her husband and unborn child in a horrible accident. Kara's father Henry was not there for her emotionally when her mother left when Kara was 14 so she's not entirely certain that moving in with him in an old house outside Richmond is a good idea. Turns out it is. The wildflowers that grow in the fields inspire her to begin to live again. Her father shares his secrets with her and she finds new friends, notably in Seth. This isn't a romance, it's about a woman finding herself. Thanks to net galley for the ARC. I'm looking forward to the next book!

Wildflower Heart is the first of Grace Greene's books that I have read, and I was far from disappointed.

A story of a damaged woman, scarred, physically and emotionally, from situations in her life, including the disappearance and subsequent death of her mother, and then the loss of her husband, in a gruesome accident which injured her as well.
After a long time she finds herself healing in some way, due to Wildflower House, the project her father buys as his forever home, in his retirement.
I don't want to go into too much detail, but suffice to say, I felt sadness, joy, anger, frustration and hope whilst reading.
I am now keenly awaiting the sequel, wanting to know what happens next in Kara's Wildflower journey!

Many thanks to NetGalley, and Grace Greene for the Arc, in exchange for an honest review.

Amazing read from beginning to end! You will fall in love and feel this characters heart breaking journey to find herself and never give up! Grace Greene has once again found a way to make you want more and I'm hoping this is not the end of this story!

Wildflower Heart is the newest offering from bestselling author Grace Greene. Kara Lange Hart has had a difficult life. Loss has signified change throughout her life from the time her mother left when she was 14 until the current times. At that time her dad, Henry Lange, had been stalwart in his support and care for Kara, but never emotionally engaging. She will learn why that is as time goes by.

Kara leaves home for college where she studies economics and meets her future husband Niles Hart, and best friend Victoria. Following graduation and her wedding, she and Niles move to the beltway near DC from Richmond. On their sixth anniversary things go terribly wrong and Kara finds herself back in Richmond depending on her father.

When he makes the decision to sell his business and move about an hour outside of Richmond to Cub Creek, Kara is not on board. But on her first visit to the property the field of wildflowers touches her heart. The people she meets and what she learns about herself and her father make this move a very special time.

It has taken me days to write this review. This book touched me in ways I cannot explain. In fact I had to check myself repeatedly to not have spoilers. I do know that this poignant tale of love, loss, and resilience is one I would not have wanted to miss and do look forward to its sequel later this year. I did enjoy this book and I do recommend it!