I'm going to be really honest even though I don't like having to be... Half-Blown Rose really wasn't my cup of tea. I was so excited for Cross-Smith's latest- the cover is beautiful, the plot description sounded dreamy, and I adore Cross-Smith's writing style. However, I just felt like this wasn't her best- it was a little predictable, a little drawn out, and honestly a little scattered. I didn't love the flashbacks and the interwoven excerpts. I didn't love Vincent constantly second guessing herself. I disliked Cillian entirely. Unfortunately, this was a real dud for me.

This was beautifully written and tells a great story about a woman in her mid-40s figuring out what she wants out of life after her husband betrays her. There was something <I>Eat, Pray, Love</I> meets <I>Call Me By Your Name</I> about it, but I liked it better than both of those books.

I liked following Vincent on her journey. I liked that she knows who she is but she doesn’t always know what she wants to do, and we get to watch her figure it out.

Something about the dialogue felt very much like a play, and I kept wishing it sounded more natural (although I loved the bits of French mixed in even though I speak zero French).

The ending was total chaos, but I think that was intentional. Vincent makes decisions that lead to consequences that all coalesce. (I wouldn’t say it was a super satisfying ending, but I’m okay with that.)

Fun fact, this is the second book in a row I’ve read with a female Vincent character.

<I>I received this book from NetGalley and Grand Central Publishing in exchange for an unbiased review.</I>

I have realized this author is not for me. I keep trying but I don’t enjoy her writing at all no matter how much I like the concept of the book. The “Paris, mon amour” paragraph made me laugh out loud and not in a good way.

Lessa Cross-Smith has the amazing gift of writing about unusual relationships.

I loved her previous book, This Close to Okay. It was definitely unique. Half-Blown Rose is a story about Vincent, a forty-four year old woman who left her husband behind in the USA after learning something shocking about his past. She needs time on her own and she goes to Paris.

She gets involved with Loup, one of her students at the museum. He’s in his early twenties. (Oh and I highly recommend picturing him as Timothée Chalamet btw! You’ll see why.)

So, yea…not the kind of relationship we see a lot in contemporary fiction.

Oh, and this book is very detailed and slow, so don't expect a lot of spicy scenes in the first chapters. It’s sensual and unhurried.

I read this book at the most perfect time. A few weeks before my first trip to Europe! YAY!! Most of the story takes place in Paris and it was in-cre-di-ble.

Ohhh and one more thing that this book has that I love: Playlists for everything. And they’re GREAT playlists.

I highly recommend it but it’s not for everyone.

As a novel of travel and escapism and the lovely scenes of Paris, I'd highly recommend. But, as a piece of literary fiction, which I believe it is, this novel was less successful. Cross-Smith is an author I've enjoyed and I appreciate her range in subjects, settings and themes. Here, in direct contrast to her recent This Close to Okay, she seems to sidestep some topics and societal issues for a more freeform and lighthearted ride. And, as that, I'm here for it.

Leesa Cross-Smith's writing is filled with heart, motion, and E*motion, and I love how she intertwines her own love of pop culture and other forms of art into the book -- the playlists are fun and in another author's hands would feel kitschy and besides the point. In HBR they are part of the point. A book about Paris should feel over-the-top romantic and bursting with opportunities and this one certainly does. It reminded me of a more colorful "It's Not Love, It's Just Paris" by Patricia Engel. Thank you for the ARC and the opportunity to read this book!

Vincent Wilde runs away from her home in Kentucky to her parents’ Paris apartment after learning, along with the rest of the reading world, that her best-selling-author husband, Cillian, fathered a child at 15 years old and never told Vincent in their 25 years together. Vincent (yes, after Van Gogh) explores Paris newly jolted from domestic comfort and committed to do What She Wants. That soon becomes Who She Wants when Vincent falls for Loup, 20+ years her junior.

Whew.

In texting about this book, my overall feelings were summarized thusly: The pacing was so, so off putting. I loved the writing and the lyricism. I was shocked by all the turns of events. I was confused by the lack of conversations about privilege and race. I continued to get Eat, Pray, Love and Carrie Bradshaw (obsession with Paris) vibes. I truly don’t know who the target audience is for this book!

The true shining light of this book is Cross-Smith’s style of writing: short vignettes rich with feeling and color. I think this style suits Vincent during her time in Paris because of her unwillingness (bordering on need) to feel untethered and free from Cillian and their life together.

My overall impression of Half-Blown Rose was the same as Eat, Pray, Love: who can afford to have this experience except for the elite? And thus, who is going to relate to this book?

Vincent acknowledges her wealth privilege briefly while with her entire family— two well-known and wealthy artist parents and two well-to-do siblings— in Amsterdam. To which they all traveled relatively last minute on a whim! What fun! And Vincent has the added freeness to leave Kentucky because her two children are not in the home and in their 20s. She supplements her Parisian life by creating jewelry and teaching art classes at a museum.

I tried not to be bitter but at the same time… excuse me?

I really was rooting for Vincent. Truly. I mean, for goodness sakes, she learned about her husband’s secret love child IN A BOOK at the time it was PUBLISHED for everyone else to read and learn too?! But then, I found myself wondering when I’d see her angry. And then, towards the end of the novel, when I’d see her accept consequences of her own actions. When I finished Half-Blown Rose, though, I wanted the best for her regardless.

If someone asked, “Should I read this book?” I’d respond with a shrug and say, “Yeah… sure.”

Thank you to Net Galley and Grand Central Publishing for this ARC in exchange for my honest review of Half-Blown Rose by Leesa Cross-Smith.

This smart and sexy book is the perfect escape from the heaviness of the world. It's an easy read about (mostly) European travel, romance, betrayal, memories, and the wild unpredictability of life. I felt the sights, smells, and sounds of London, Nice, Amsterdam, Auvers-sur-Oise, and especially Paris so vividly. There are several dinner, studio, and travel music playlists listed throughout the book, enhancing the reading experience, and each is a vibe!

I've now read each of Leesa Cross-Smith's three novels (she has two other books that I've yet to read), and she writes about complicated relationships in a deliciously unique way. This Close to Okay and Whiskey and Ribbons also center unexpected or taboo relationships in ways that have challenged my own thinking and who I'm mentally rooting for. Similar to Jasmine Guillory, she is inclusive of but light-handed with challenges of interracial relationships (not the centerpiece of the story). Each of her characters is fully developed, but never over-written. I've consistently been left wanting more after reading her books. This novel in particular feels like she had fun writing it and was a joy to read.

These are my quotes from the novel:

<i>"Our memories make up who we are. And I don't say that lightly. Our hippocampus helps us to store and recollect them. Our brains contain vast wealth of memories in their storehouses. Imagine our minds, our hearts, without our memories. I believe that you'd find yourself wanting to hold on to even all of the bad ones if met with the idea of losing every memory in one swoop."</i>

<i>"Everyone who says Paris is a woman is right. Paris is la vie en rose. Paris is sexy. Paris is splendor. Paris is full of light. Paris is full of life. Paris is a new beginning. Paris, mon amour. Paris is the only city in the world."</i>

Many thanks to Leesa Cross-Smith, NetGalley, and Grand Central Publishing for providing me with an advanced copy in exchange for an honest review before its release on 5/31/22.

After reading this book, I feel like I've literally traveled to Paris. It's that immersive. The prose is gorgeous, lush, and emotive, in a way that makes the love story read like a sultry fairy tale. This book portrays romantic love as something that's both simple (through her uncluttered passion for Loup) and complex (through her messy twenty-five-year marriage to Cillian) in a way I found engaging and compelling. This was my first time reading Leesa Cross-Smith, and it won't be the last.

I loved Leesa Cross-Smith's new book about a woman scorned. Vincent, one sibling of three named after famous artists, learns about her husband's love affair before he met her. Cillian, originally from Ireland, was very young and foolish. He made up for his youthful mistake by writing a novel, a tell-all that left Vincent devastated. Unlucky Vincent has a soft landing pad in Paris. Her parent's apartment is empty. Her rich, famous artist parents travel around the world all year.

Vincent camps out in their luxurious digs and begins to enjoy all the pleasures Pars had to offer; she finds a young lover (he is 24, and she is 44). Vincent loves everything about Paris, the scenery, the food, the walks along the Seine. She teaches creativity and makes popular clay jewelry. FCS took me with her and I enjoyed all of the excellent experiences Vincent's life afforded her.

I understood Vincent's inability to even speak with her husband, but after a while, I felt that the life she was living bordered on a modern fairy tale, one that few real people could pull off. I loved the writing, full of luscious descriptions and beautiful scenery. I loved the fairy tale.

Thank you to NG and Grand Central Publishing for this ARC in exchange for my response.

If you love film and books mixed together, this book is definitely for you! This book reads like a script. IThis book was messy. MESSY MESSY MESSY. But I, live for the mess and drama. We have Vincent who is currently trying to live her best life in Paris. She’s teaching art, she’s making art, she’s having coffee dates and rotating dinner parties. Then we have Cillian, a writer, a teacher, a husband who needs forgiveness. And in comes, Loup. Young, hot, band playing, art making, inheritance money wealthy, in love with Vincent. And the mess just grows. Is it a triangle? Not really. There is no big plot twist, no big AHA! moment, it is just pure drama & a very different writing style which I think makes it quick and engaging. (it is also filled with wonderful playlists). Thank you to NetGalley for the advanced readers copy.

3.5 stars rounded up.

This book is LOVELY. It's beautifully written in a dreamy, modern style. It's littered with playlists, good ones. Everyone is smart and interesting and attractive and thoughtful.

And that's my problem. This book is a dream. There aren't serious consequences for anyone's actions, or if there are, we aren't seeing them and our main character, isn't experiencing them. The result is a story that is wonderful to wander through but left me feeling a little bored and disappointed by the end.

Thanks to Netgalley for the eARC.

Half-Blown Rose by Leesa Cross-Smith was a beautifully written book that brought Paris to life for me, even if the story left me feeling flat. Vincent escaped from her life in Kentucky to Paris when her husband of 20 years revealed in a novel he wrote that he had a child with another woman before they were married, and his parents forced him to leave his native Ireland for the US and leave the woman and his child behind. She was shocked that he kept a secret like this and couldn't forgive him, so ran off to her parent's apartment in Paris to recover and decide what to do about her marriage. While there she taught some classes and met a young, attractive man, Loup, who was the same age as her son. They embarked on a passionate affair, traveled together and she couldn't decide whether to stay with Loup or go back to her husband.

I spent the entire book waiting for something to happen, so we could see the consequences of her choice, how it would affect her children, her husband's illegitimate son, her husband and Loup, but no. We plod along until the very last page when she makes her decision and the book ends. What??? Nothing about her husband, her kids, the baby she is carrying? And why did she sleep with her estranged husband when she was carrying Loup's child? I found the whole thing disappointing. Thank you to the author, Grand Central Publishing and NetGalley for an ARC of this title in exchange for my honest review.

I don’t know how to describe Leesa Cross-Smith’s writing style…the characters she writes, the details she adds, the story she weaves, it’s just perfect to me. I love how she gives casual details about all of the meals. I love the museum classes Vincent taught and the discussions she led. Vincent and Loup’s relationship was ELECTRIC holy cannoli!!!!!!
I really loved the story line because it was so complicated and emotional. I can’t imagine being in the situation Vincent was in with her husband. I thought it was unique how instead of flashbacks, Cross-Smith used parts of the book. I like how confused Vincent herself seemed and that she really didn’t know what she was doing! I just love the characters. I cried and cried when it was over because I did not want to let go. I also am not really into music, but loved the playlists!!!!

SPOILER: The only thing I didn’t love or maybe felt uncomfortable by was Vincent’s decision to sleep with her husband while she was pregnant with another man’s baby, without first telling her husband… I know this story had a lot of messy elements and blurred lines, but that one did make me feel a bit weird!

I just TRULY cannot get enough of Leesa Cross-Smith. As soon as Netgalley approved me for her newest novel, I dropped everything and devoured it. Cross-Smith's writing is like wrapping yourself in a warm blanket, chatting with an old friend, and listening to your favorite nostalgic playlist. Her prose is witty and cozy, and her characters are full of life and lovable. I want to live inside her worlds, and HALF-BLOWN ROSE may be my favorite one yet.

Our heroine is a woman named Vincent, currently living in Paris in her parent's apartment after separating from her husband unexpectedly at 44. There, she has a rose-colored life of teaching at an art museum, making fabulous friends, eating incredible food, and falling into bed with a 24 year old who looks like Timothée Chalamet. We learn about her extended family, her grown children, and the love story between her and her husband (and the surprising reason why it soured). As she is torn between her old life in Kentucky and her new, dazzling life in Paris, we go with her on a journey of self-discovery, love, and lots of fun surprises. Cannot recommend enough!

Leesa Cross-Smith has a brand new fan - ME! Wow. Half-Blown Rose has blown me completely and totally away.
This story about a woman running away to Paris after feeling betrayed by secrets her husband has been keeping is smart, edgy, and sexy as all hell. Fifteen Gold Stars