I really enjoyed Lotus more than I anticipated to! This was the first book by Jennifer Hartmann that I’ve read and I was super happy that I did. The psychological and trauma aspects were heavy but they read through a childlike lens reflective of when the trauma originally happened to the children this story follows into adulthood.

The mystery aspect of the Lotus element and the suspense of why the puzzle pieces fit together was wild and so much happened in the last few chapters to wrap the story up nicely.

The only thing that held it back from five stars was that the suspension of disbelief was lost on me in Oliver’s POV with the distinctly childlike and clinical mannerisms he had. I completely understand that it was to solidify his experiences and their impact on his isolation through growing up, but it made the romance aspect a bit too uncomfortable to me- although my heart absolutely broke to pieces for everything he and Syd went through. True crime fans, people who enjoy psychological aspects and struggles to the character development, and suspense/thrillers will likely love this as it ties those subjects into a sweet and sweeping romance with themes of overcoming abuse and hardship to find the place they truly belong.

Thank you to Netgalley and Bloom Books for this arc which was provided so that I may write an honest review. All opinions are my own.

This one was what everyone said about it! Nothing less than amazing! I am a sucker for a kidnapping story and this one was done beautifully! i really Oliver and thought his character was the perfect balance of strong for surviving what he did but also weaker when it came to adjusting to the world and people he thought where for ever gone. I loved sydney too and how she helped and loved Oliver along the way, this one was definitely heart wrenching beautiful and suspenseful! These are also marketed as stand alones but I would recommend you read in order of still beating lotus and than the newest as the characters are in each and play a part. I didn’t feel like I missed two much reading this one first but if I could go back I would do in order! I listened to the audiobook of this and thought the narration was done really well and felt my self lost in there voices and in the story many times. This one is really heavy and I do need a break before going back but I highly Recommend!

I AM ALL IN ON <b> JENNIFER HARTMANN</b>. <i>Lotus</i> was just everything. A bingeable, dark contemporary romance that has all the feels and all the twists and turns.

Sydney is reunited with her best friend Oliver when he is found alive after being held captive for 22 years. OLIVER, OH OLIVER. Sweet, sweet Oliver. He was easily my favorite character in the book. His character made me laugh and cry and want more of his storyline. I also really loved Sydney. Her sarcastic and witty personality made for light moments in an otherwise really dark story. The alternating POV & alternating timelines added so much depth to the story. AND THAT TWIST AT THE END. (Also, if you read Still Beating... some of your favorite characters make an appearance).

Read if you like
-dark romance
-alternating timelines
-alternating POVs
-a crazy twist
-childhood best friends to lovers

<b>Final Thoughts:</b> <i>Lotus</i> is dark but romantic. It's sad but hopeful. It's a story of forgiveness and redemption. And most of all strength. <b>Jennifer Hartmann</b> can write the hell out of a dark romance. I haven't disappointed yet. This is a top read of the year for me. You'll laugh & cry & probably be left in a slump because it's just so damn good.

I liked the narration from both Oliver and Sydney’s points of view, but their instant attraction to one another felt improbable and unhealthy. I didn’t get “childhood best friends” vibes, and it seemed weird that Sydney would love Oliver so fiercely from the age of 7 that it would seamlessly translate to such chemistry 22 years later. I think it would’ve been less cringey if Oliver and Sydney had dated as teenagers before he disappeared, better still if they didn’t date at all and he was just her best friend’s brother.

I loved Oliver’s nescience, innocently unfiltered honesty, and hilariously quirky language as he acclimates to the current world though. And the domesticated raccoon, of course.

This was absolutely stunning. Beautiful and harrowing. This book reached its hand into my chest, gripped my heart, and has yet to let it go.

Sydney and Oliver were childhood best friends. They were inseparable, that is until Oliver's abducted one day and two decades pass before he's found. This is a story about Oliver adjusting to life outside captivity while Sydney learns to open up her heart again. It's a story of healing and love. The romance is sweet, the emotions are raw, and there's even a shocking twisty conflict before the end of the book.

When I found out the meaning behind Lotus, my heart couldn't take it anymore. The writing was phenomenal. Never have I laughed out loud while reading the way I did with this. I swooned, I empathized, I cried. This was charming, this was thrilling and suspenseful, this was everything.

While this does touch on SA and kidnapping, Lotus isn't as dark as Still Beating. I honestly think this is more of a love story rather than dark romance and highly recommend it. I can't wait to read more of JH's backlist!

From the start of this book I was hooked. Around the middle of the book it started to drag and I found myself getting a little bored 🙈. Glad I stuck with it because it picked up and I throughly enjoyed it. I like how this author deals with sensitive trauma related issues. The ending tied everything together and it was a bit of a shocker. Oliver was my favorite character the purity of his heart made me swoon. Thank you Netgalley and SourceBooks Bloom Books for the ARC in exchange for my honest review.

Thank you NetGalley for the ARC in exchange for my free, unbiased opinion.

I want to start out this review by first saying that I did find myself coming back and finishing the book. Rather that was determination or pure curiosity, I cannot say. Overall, I did find the story entertaining and interesting.

That being said, I would not recommend it to anyone. I personally struggled to connect (or even like) the characters and the plot was all over the place. I found it to be a little unbelievable which is not normal for me. I didn’t love the dynamic between the main couple and I found myself just reading the book to get to the end. I wish there was a way for me to write a better review for the book but I’m at a loss for words. I honor and respect the author for their time and dedication into writing this book but for me, and I cannot stress this enough, it was just not it for me.

I've never read a book like this before so there is a trigger warning since it's about a kidnapped survivor and sexual assault. It was a struggle to read about this because you know this happens in everyday life and we live in such a horrible world. It had me feeling pretty sad and anxious and made me cautious of the world we live in. It's a good book but there are triggers and it might make you question strangers around you.

Jennifer does it again!

The way she ties in the MCs from Still Beating is fantastic.

This story will live rent free in my head. The way that trauma can tie into such a beautiful connection is *chef’s kiss*.

I will read anything she writes

I was enthralled by this book. A boy kidnapped at such a young reappears decades later because he was finally able to escape his captor. A woman who never found someone to love because her heart always belonged to him. This story is heartbreaking and heartwarming. The sweetest parts are when we look at the innocence preserved by this boy who was help captive for so long and we see him experince all the new things he hasn't had exposure to while he was kept hidden. I read this book in one day, I had to know what happened to him and see him find the love of his life that he always dreamt about in his dreams. Loved this story, it stays with me.

What a heart wrenching wild ride. Prepare your heart before going into this one, but once you do, you will see it in its full beauty. Just captivating and fully investing and heart gripping. Jennifer is an incredible writer.

I received a copy of this book from NetGalley and the publisher for an honest review.

I really liked this book, and it may be more of a 4.5 star than a 4 star rating. This book has dual perspectives from our main characters, Sydney, a 29 year old, "hot mess", blonde, painter/bartender, who is full of life and effervescent, and Oliver, a 30 year old, sexy hottie, who spent 22 years kidnapped underground for a mysterious reason. Oliver and Syd were best friends as children and have a second chance as adults after Oliver has come back home following his extended kidnapping. There are a few elements to this novel, which I like: 1) the romance between Syd and Oliver, 2) the mystery of why Oliver was kidnapped, 3) navigating life as early 30 year olds, and 4) strong sibling relationships. There are a few content warnings for this book such as kidnapping, molestation, home invasion/attack, adults lying to children. There are also two cute animals, a cat named Alexis and a raccoon named Athena. And there are sex scenes too, which the first few worked for me, but because Oliver has a bit of an innocence to him due to his kidnapping, some of the later sex scenes read a little too clinical/strange for my liking.

Also, I figured out what the "real meaning" of Lotus is withing the first half of the book, so that wasn't the biggest reveal to me, and I didn't need the second epilogue to feel closure. But that is nitpicky considering how engrossed I was in this story and how much I enjoyed it. Recommend checking this out if you like second chance romances!

This is the second book by this author that I’ve tried and I’m just gonna say I don’t think she’s for me. I found the storyline kind of just blah like the other one and I couldn’t get invested. Thanks to the publisher and netgalley for this copy for read and review

𝑫𝒊𝒗𝒆 𝒊𝒏𝒕𝒐 𝒂 𝒉𝒆𝒂𝒓𝒕𝒘𝒂𝒓𝒎𝒊𝒏𝒈 𝒋𝒐𝒖𝒓𝒏𝒆𝒚 𝒐𝒇 𝒉𝒆𝒂𝒍𝒊𝒏𝒈 𝒂𝒏𝒅 𝒓𝒆𝒌𝒊𝒏𝒅𝒍𝒆𝒅 𝒄𝒐𝒏𝒏𝒆𝒄𝒕𝒊𝒐𝒏𝒔 𝒊𝒏 𝑱𝒆𝒏𝒏𝒊𝒇𝒆𝒓 𝑯𝒂𝒓𝒕𝒎𝒂𝒏𝒏'𝒔 "𝑳𝒐𝒕𝒖𝒔." 🌸

𝐁𝐨𝐨𝐤: Lotus
𝐀𝐮𝐭𝐡𝐨𝐫: Jennifer Hartmann
𝐑𝐚𝐭𝐢𝐧𝐠: ⭐⭐⭐⭐⭐ (5 stars)
𝐒𝐩𝐢𝐜𝐞: 🌶️ (1 Chilli)

𝐓𝐫𝐨𝐩𝐞𝐬: Childhood Friends to Lovers, Soul Mates

𝐏𝐥𝐨𝐭 𝐒𝐮𝐦𝐦𝐚𝐫𝐲:
Oliver Lynch returns to the world after being captive underground for decades, reconnecting with childhood friend Sydney Neville. As they rediscover their deep connection, they must face painful truths and navigate a world that's not what it seems, all while seeking love in a dark place.

𝐌𝐲 𝐓𝐡𝐨𝐮𝐠𝐡𝐭𝐬:
"Lotus" is an incredible story of healing and soul mates finding their way back to each other after a horrific experience. Oliver is such a strong but innocent hero, and his naiveté to the world around him leads to both funny and emotional moments. If you are looking for a compelling story that touches on deep, emotional topics, a heroine who is easy to love, and a beautifully vulnerable male hero, pick this one up immediately. 🌸

Do not let the 4 star rating fool you, this book was phenomenal. I can admit that the 4 star is more so due to reader-error. I was in the worst book slump I’ve been in since starting to read last August, and that means that this book took me nearly a month to get through.

Oliver Lynch was abducted and held for 22 years in a bunker, believing that the world above ground was toxic. Until he found out it wasn’t. And his childhood best friend, Sydney, had never stopped thinking about what happened to her long-lost friend.

When Oliver makes his way back to Sydney, it’s a culture shock for everyone. The world is nothing like he knew. This is a man who grew up in the 90s before cell phones and was abducted far too young to develop conversational skills. Sydney struggles with the idea that her best friend is finally come back to her, but he’s a completely different person with no memory of her, when she has never forgotten.

When Sydney is attacked, Oliver comes to the rescue. Before they can catch the intruder, he escapes. Sydney is left with the smell of eucalyptus and fear of losing Oliver again. She struggles to come to terms with the fact that nothing is guaranteed and Oliver may leave her again.

This is a beautiful love story with healing, but as is life, they face many roadblocks along the way. The end has an incredible twist that will have you clutching your chest and your jaw on the floor.

The side characters like the raccoon pet and the best friend/stepbrother, and the grumpy old woman next door bring so much life to the story and I just can’t get enough. Jennifer Hartmann is a mastermind.

This book broke me a little bit... but not in the way I hoped it might.

Based on its description, I expected this book to be a story of recovery from trauma and reintegration into society, with a love story building throughout. It turned out that this books leans a LOT more into the romance, and the kidnapping and captivity of Oliver is mainly used as background for why he is the way he is for about the first two thirds of the book. While I thought the bits of insight we got into Oliver's time in captivity and subsequent fallout were well written, and a very interesting concept, I found the romance plotline (and generally most of Sydney's role in the story) heavy handed for a book on such a heavy subject.

For me, this book was just way too horny for its own good. I'm not personally a huge fan of the romance genre, but I did find that people who are would probably really enjoy the progression of Sydney and Oliver's relationship. To me though, it felt uncomfortable, and sometimes insensitive, to focus so heavily on the characters' sexual conquests in a story involving captivity and various kinds of abuse.

I found that both the romance/friendship/family and trauma plotlines were both well written, but to me they didn't mesh well together. I think that if Oliver's story was handled with more grace and fewer sex scenes, the author could have written a compelling story of crime and its butterfly effects. I also think that the characters have a fun dynamic that suits a romance. I just feel that those could have been two separate stories, rather than using captivity as a basis for quirkiness and first love.

I do think that fans of romantic comedies with a little extra plot will enjoy this book. For me however, I found the back and forth between a sexy long-lost love to deep trauma to be a tad whiplash inducing. Perhaps those with a better ability to suspend their disbelief and not take things too seriously will enjoy this book more than I was able to, but there were so many things that happened that had me baffled or just down right irritated.

An overall entertaining book, I give Lotus a 3 (maybe a 3.5 if I'm being generous) as it just had too many flaws for me to justify a higher rating.

My first book by this author and I really enjoyed it. The story lone had been built in beautifully way and treats very sensitive topics with respect and so much love. It was addictive from the first pages and I couldn't put it down. Author created amazing friends to lovers and second chance romance - the push and pull is everything, the long road this couple did explains why their romance needed to be created like that. I enjoyed every single twist and turn - Lotus is definitely must read title, highly recommending this book

I will never full recover from this book,

This story is one of my top 5 this year(if not EVER)

Oliver and Sydney's story from childhood to adult is incredible.
The author does such an amazing job of creating a beautiful story from such trauma.
She really makes you FEEL what the characters are feeling.

I really loved how she went back and fourth not just between characters but also times. The past sprinkled into the now was fantastically written.
The pain and suffering of all the trauma and the patience and love that blossoms from it.
So beautiful.

Thank you to the publishers and NetGalley for a copy of this ARC.

Did not have time to even read the book since it was archived not long after i was accepted to read it

As a tremendous fan of Still Beating (a story with overlapping characters), I put reading this off for a while. I both knew my attachment to that particular story, the characters, even the tonal quality of the writing would bleed into Lotus-experience. And I truly wanted a cleaned palette to truly immerse myself in this story not as journey to plug the Still Beating sized hole in my heart but rather as its own independent experience. So time has passed, and I've finally come to revel in Sydney and Oliver's love story, and I'm so glad I have them the time and space to capture their own piece of my heart.

Oliver. My goodness. This man. 22 years a captive, taken as a boy, now free and trying to resocialize himself into a world that is a fundamentally place, while also coming to terms with being a man now populating that world. He made this book for me- from is eccentricities to his big beautiful heart. He's dreamy, he's thoughtful, he's a beautiful soul, and I felt his soul so deeply on these pages. Jennifer develops him beautifully- he's a character that deserved his own story, and I'm so glad I got to experience through his eyes. Sydney I found a bit less likable- but perhaps because she paled in comparison to the beautifulness of Oliver. At times I found her selfish and overly dramatic, but in the end I did root for her. She's clearly connected to Oliver in a powerful and unbreakable way, and their chemistry together is beautiful

This story is certainly lighter in some aspects (though with the same dark beginnings) than Still Beating, and much more endearing/sweet and charming at its core. Part of that was that we spend little time immersing ourselves in Oliver's past. I do think it's important to truly connect as intensely with him knowing just all that he's faced, all he's overcome, to be where he is now....but I don't think we needed to see all of that to "get" him- we do. A lot of the story has to deal with him coming to terms with himself as now a man- a man with sexual desires and needs. And I loved reveling in his connection with Sydney, his exploration of himself as an adult, his journey romantically. I just wish we'd had a bit more about the totality of his psychological experience, the impact of his time in captivity. Just what a mind-f this is for him. I told myself I wouldn't compare, but this is where Still Beating excels- the way that story explores the existential impact of trauma, of FREEDOM post capivity, and I just wanted a bit more of that here. I felt I was missing some of the heartwrenching depth Jennifer usually delivers, which made the story feels less substantive even if I really enjoyed it overall.

I also loved how everything came together- moments and pieces of information that seemed random at times all came together full circle, and Oliver deserved a true and complete HEA. And Jennifer gave him a compelling one. It's a beautiful and sweet story, and I'm so glad that I got to experience it's charm.