I had no idea what I was getting into when I started Micalea Smeltzer's The Confidence of Wildflowers. But god, this book took me through a rollercoaster of emotions and left me asking for more.

Eighteen-year-old Salem feels a bit directionless in life as she's just graduated high school and her long-time boyfriend is preparing to leave for college and his football career. He wants her to go with him, but she doesn't want to mold her life around his dreams. So, she stays behind in her small town with her mother, the shop they run together, her candle-making business, and a new side job she's gained next door, watching the six-year-old son of her older, grumpy, divorced, rough-around-the-edges neighbor, Thayer.

Time and again, Salem and Thayer are pulled together. She finds comfort from her trauma-riddled past, and he finds the spark of hope and love he thought would never be possible after his split from his wife. It takes time for them to accept what's building between them. How it's bigger than what Salem ever knew with her high school sweetheart. How it doesn't matter that there's more than a decade between their ages. How there's no denying the pull of their hearts.

When tragedy strikes (definitely be on the look out for trigger-warnings for this book) our two main characters can't seem to find their footing to keep them on level ground. No matter how far Salem reaches, Thayer can't seem to make himself reach back. But the universe isn't finished with them that quickly. The final pages of this book make it clear our unlikely pair will eventually find their way back to each other. For better or worse.

I'm a little late to the party on this one...

"The Confidence of Wildflowers" by Micalea Smeltzer was published on April 4, 2023. It's available on Kindle Unlimited, and I suggest you download immediately and put it to the top of the TBR.

Salem is an 18-year-old with a trigger warning past. Thayer is a 31-year-old single dad who moved in next door. They are so vastly different but when she agrees to start babysitting his 6-year-old son, they are constantly pushed together. Who can expect them to deny that kind of chemistry?

I really enjoyed this age gap, grumpy and sunshine, single dad trope triangle. Some of my favorites all in one, yes please. Salem is a lovable character, and I was able to easily relate to her. And Thayer? WHEW. Ok, Daddy. I live for a guy that delivers acts of service.

Head to KU and download or hit up Amazon and buy this book! OUT ALREADY! Enjoy. But be warned. It ends on the biggest cliffhanger so make sure you download "The Resurrection of Wildflowers" as well....I'm reading it right now!

#netgalley #theconfidenceofwildflowers #arc #victoryediting #micaleasmeltzer #kindleunlimited

There hasn't been a story from this author that I haven't enjoyed, and this book was no different. I have to say that when it comes to the age gap between the two main characters Salem and Thayer, their story was one that was well-written. I enjoyed this slow-burn romance as it was one that definitely played with my heartstrings. Some of my favorite stories are ones that can pull emotions from me and make me invested in the characters and when it came to that this story did not disappoint. It has some sensitive subject matters, so I suggest that readers beware of what the story contains before reading just in case it's not something they like or want to read about. The story ended with a cliffhanger that I wasn't ready for, but it left me looking forward to reading the next book.

The voice of this book is that of a entitled teenager who thinks she knows everything. Its infuriating.

The was tragic and beautiful and everything I could've ever wanted in a contemporary romance. It has an age gap and forbidden love, tragedies, and angst... some of the best spicy scenes. This story tears out your heart and sews it back together over and over again, and you just keep going back for more because Salem and Thayer's love story is so beautiful. It's 2AM, and I just finished bawling my eyes out to this story, and I refuse to leave it at this, so I'm immediately starting book 2!

This reading was for one night and one morning and please, what a way to suffer.

I started reading it on the recommendation of a friend who told me that I had an age gap and that I was doing well and I said, here I go. I didn't read the synopsis, I swear, I just dove into it.

In one night I read 50% and when I got up I continued reading because I needed to know what was happening. And let me tell you that it is a very nice book.

I think there are many factors that make this story an interesting one. I can't say much about this because it would be spoiling but I think that when you read it you'll realize what I'm talking about.

I feel that it has many nuances, that the author handled them well, that she was able to delve so far in some and very well in others. There are certain things that I would have liked a little more development but just now I look at the number of pages it has and I say "I'm asking for a 600-page book, it's a lot" hahaha

What I do feel is that maybe it has... EVERYTHING. All the drama that one can imagine is here and that felt a bit excessive.

4/5 ⭐
2/5 🌶️
5/5 🎧

I'll start by saying I knew the big trigger point spoiler going in, so I wasn't blindsided and wasn't as affected. I also listened vs. read, which I think often keeps you a bit separated from the story. All that being said, I really liked this story. The first 80% or so is Thayer and Salem building their relationship and a lot of it is sunshine and rainbows with the exception of her past, her mom and the drama surrounding her boyfriend, which sounds like a lot, but the last 20% is heartbreakingly tragic and would make almost anything look like unicorns and puppy dogs. Please, please, please do not read this story if you have any triggers surrounding SA or death of a main character [<spoiler>to be more specific a child</spoiler>]

*small spoilers ahead*
I really loved Thayer, but did have a hard time seeing what he saw in Salem... She is often mature, especially with what she went through as a kid, but she's also extremely immature, especially when it comes to handling her feelings for Thayer and her relationship with Caleb. I was pretty disappointed that she emotionally cheated on poor Caleb for so long and then ultimately physically did as well. He wasn't a bad guy, they just grew apart and she fell for someone else, she should have just been an adult and left him sooner. I think it would have bothered me less if she was going to be with some 18-20 year old kid, but she's going with a 31 year old man and needs to be more mature than she was to make that relationship work.

I'm really interested to see how book two plays out and how these two find their happily ever after, because the end of The Confidence of Wildflowers is anything but....