Violet and Rose Flowers have identical looks, except for Violet’s birthmark, but completely different temperaments. In 1928, an explosion rocks their small town’s dance hall, leaving dozens dead and killing one of the twins. Fifty years later, Daisy Flowers is sent to live with her grandma Rose for the summer, and the fifteen-year-old negotiates her way into an internship at the local newspaper. There, Daisy learns of the tragedy from fifty years ago and is determined to write an article remembering the tragedy and those affected. Rose and others involved, however, are determined not to let Daisy go digging up the past.

I loved this story based on an explosion that really happened in the author’s hometown. The characters were well-written, and the story was engaging from start to finish. I highly recommend this story for fans of historical fiction and even people who don’t normally read historical fiction. The audiobook had a narrative cast who did a phenomenal job. I can’t wait to see what else this author comes out with!

Many thanks to NetGalley for providing me with an audio ARC of this book.

I feel like this book has potential but it fell a little flat for me. At times, I felt bored with the book because it drug on in some places. The characters were well developed and the ending was tied up nicely. It was a quick and easy read. I would recommend this to a book club.

*Historical fiction, but based on a true story of a fire that took place in Collins Anderson's hometown.*

This novel gives the multi POV, and also gives the reflection on previous time (an event that occurred 50 years ago).

Daisy is on her quest to be a journalist, but will she like what she uncovers?

Who are the Flower sisters? Will Daisy learn more about herself and her family through her discoveries?

This was a great debut novel, loved the current time line with reflections back to the event, and loved the different aspects of the book. Characters were funny, smart, and witty.

Really enjoyed this audiobook! Made me wish I was back in Possum Flats with Daisy as her investigating side kick. Good story line and great development of the protagonist. You can't help but love her!

Historical fiction ~ Based on a true story ~ Multiple POVs ~ Missouri ~ Twin sisters ~ Tragedy ~ Dual timeline ~ Dance hall days ~ Grandmother/granddaughter connection ~ Secrets ~ Well-written characters ~ Flowers ~ Debut author ~ Highly Recommended

Thank you to RB Media, NetGalley, and author Michelle Collins Anderson for providing me with a digital ARC copy of this audiobook in exchange for an honest review.

⭐️⭐️⭐️ Liked it, fun while I was reading it
Part mystery and part family drama, this book was a fun small town historical fiction story. There were a lot of POVs that added up to the whole picture in the end. This would have been a great vacation read.

Narrated by a large cast, Jim Frangione, Andrea Gallo, L.J. Ganser, Laura Knight Keating, Christina Moore and Graham Winton did a good job, I had no trouble understanding who was saying what, where, when and with what expression/intension.

Thank you to RB Media, NetGalley, and author Michelle Collins Anderson for providing me with a digital ARC copy of this audiobook in exchange for an honest review. The Flower Sisters is out April 23, 2024.

The Flower Sisters is a story about family & community. It's covers multiple generations and the effects a huge tragedy had on their lives and the town, as a whole. It's a classic tale of secrets and the difficulties they cause. The story centers around Daisy Flowers, who is basically dumped by her mom to live in Possum Flats, MO with her no-nonsense, funeral home running grandmother. Daisy manages to get in with her local newspaper and, through her curiosity, stirs up a lot of feelings & grievances in the community.

This is a good beach read. I would give it 3.5 stars, not a flat 3, but that's not an option. The story is easy to follow and enough character development to get you interested in the various individuals who are involved. I listened to the audiobook version and choice of using a variety of narrators to voice the characters was a very good choice. The story bounces through the perspectives of different characters so the unique voices made it much easier to track whose perspective you were getting the information from.

I do think the conclusion wrapped up a little too quickly & neatly. It definitely could have been a longer book. The sheriff and the preacher could have been more involved in the story. The effects of the truth coming to light would have made for a stronger ending, although this does, in a way, leave it to the readers imagination to decide for ourselves how the community builds from the course of events.

I received free access to this audiobook through Netgalley with the request for an honest review.

I'm unsure how I felt about this audiobook. The narrators were a good fit for this. The story was engaging but seemed to drag on. I don't want to add any spoilers but twist is something that's been done over and over again and it was obvious it was coming. I'm not sure I'd recommend this one.

Thank you to NetGalley for providing me with an ARC in exchange for my honest review. I really enjoyed this beautiful story. Rose & Violet Flowers are identical twin sisters and the only way you can tell them apart is by Violet's birthmark at the base of her neck. Rose is the quiet one and Violet is outgoing and always likes to speak her mind and have fun. The story starts with Rose helping Violet get ready for a dance at a local dance hall. At the tender age of 19 Violet and all of her friends were looking forward to having some fun. Rose was not feeling good so she decided to stay home. Little did they know that when Violet said goodbye that would be the last time they saw each other. That night there was a terrible explosion at the dance hall and 39 people died in the horrible fire. Fast forward to present day and Rose's granddaughter, Daisy comes to live with her for the summer. She is interested and journalism so when she is offered a summer job at the local paper she is very excited. One day at work Daisy comes across some articles about the horrible fire that happened all those years ago and she has this great idea to remember those lost. However, as she starts to ask questions she finds that nobody wants to talk about what happened, especially her grandmother. What is she hiding? Enjoy!!!!!

This historical fiction book follows two timelines telling the story of a devastating explosion that rocked a small southern town in the 1920's and showing how 50 years later some secrets need to be exposed. The story is told from many points of view, by different people of the town weaving their characters seamlessly. This is a great debut and should be a hit with everyone. Thank you to Netgalley, the author and the publisher for a chance to read and review this book in exchange for an honest review.

Actual Rating 2.5

Daisy isn’t looking forward to the time she’ll be spending with her grandma living above a funeral home. Her mom dropped her off to travel with her boyfriend, and Daisy barely knows her grandma. But she finds a way to distract herself and begins to intern for the local paper. Looking for an interesting story, she stumbles across details about a tragic event that occurred in the town in 1928. Eager to prove her skills, she dives right into telling the story, not worried about what memories it may dredge up for those living around her.

This work of historical fiction is told using a dual timeline, the primary timeline is set in the 1970s and the second timeline is set in the late 1920s. (Don’t worry, I’m not calling the 1970s historical fiction!) This is a very slow mystery and is really more of a small-town fiction than a mystery. I did like the author’s note and the fact that this is based on a true event that happened in the author’s hometown.

I thought the book started off strongly in both timelines, and I was excited for an interesting read. However, the story instead lost its momentum and never got its strength back. I quite liked Daisy as a character, and that timeline was a much stronger story to me (except for the holier-than-thou preacher who was written overdramatically and whose POV I found frustrating). The details surrounding the funeral home business were interesting, and I enjoyed the insights that were included surrounding that in the first portion of the book. I also quite liked Daisy’s internship and how that evolved.

The historic timeline (1920s) was told from many, many POVs. Each POV gave background for each character, then told the same events from their POV which ended up getting repetitive. Despite having the background provided, they were difficult to keep straight. I also disliked how perfect/neat the ending was – it felt like a Hallmark movie and was disappointing after the long journey to get there.

I’m sure some folks will really love this one, but nothing about this work quite clicked for me. If you’re looking for small-town historical fiction, then you might enjoy this one. My thanks to NetGalley and RB Media for allowing me to read this work. All thoughts and opinions expressed in this review are my own.

When I'm really enjoying a book, I like to provide updates as I go along. I'M REALLY ENJOYING the AUDIO version of The Flower Sisters!!

I'm only at 38% (about 8 hr 41 min remaining). Multiple points of view. Daisy's mom ran off with her latest boyfriend and "dumped" Daisy with her grandmother, who is a mortician/funeral director in Possum Flats. 5 stars so far. I'll continue to provide updates. Additionally, I believe this to be a debut by author Michelle Collins Anderson. Great job! I think I'll be following this author.

Finished The Flower Sisters yesterday. Really enjoyed it (although descriptions of the explosion aftermath were - expectedly - grisly). I enjoyed the writing.

Book audio length is 12.25 hours, publication date is April 23, 204. There is a full cast of narrators who were all very well selected for their roles. I especially liked the narration of "Daisy" and "Hazel".

Many thanks to NetGalley and RB Media for introducing me to (yet again) another fabulous debut author in Michelle Collins Anderson. I'm now following her. I was approved for both the audio by RB Media and the ebook version by publisher Kensington Books. The audio version was reviewed. Publication date for both was April 2024.

A couple paragraphs with Joe and Daisy ...
Joe starts to say somethin, but doesn't. Instead, he pops open a can of Pepsi and sets it beside him before reaching into his bag and removing a bologna sandwich, potato chips and Oreos. "Want a swig?" he asks, noting my lack of liquid refreshment. i usually get a cup of water at The Picayune (newspaper), but in my haste had forgotten to bring anything to drink.
"No," I say. "Soda is terrible for you."
"Oh," he says, taking another long pull at his Pepsi before wiping his mouth with one tanned forearm. "I've heard Fig Newtons are super healthy."
Oops. ...

Loved the nickname Joe had for Daisy.

The Flower Sisters by Michelle Collins Anderson is an excellent work of historical fiction. Based on a real event, this story is about an explosion at a dance hall in small town Missouri in the late 1920s, as well as life in the same town 50 years later. I requested this book because of my love of historical fiction, as well as the fact that I grew up close to the area in which the story is set.

The author did a great job developing characters and keeping the story moving. Once I got a couple chapters into the book I didn’t want to put it down! The narration on the audiobook was fantastic. I would definitely recommend this book to fans of historical fiction. And I can’t wait to read more from this debut author!

Thank you to NetGalley and RB Media for the advanced copy. I received a complimentary copy of this book. Opinions expressed in this review are completely my own.

I started this as an ARC read but finished it after the book came out. I absolutely loved this story. I used to not be into historical fiction. I thought the past should stay in the past. But this book had a little bit of everything. There is one scene where rape is about to take place but didn’t happen so please check trigger warnings before reading this book. There is scandal, love, loss, family reunification. It will make you laugh one minute and the. Make you want to throw the book the next. Infinity stars! ⭐️⭐️⭐️⭐️⭐️

It was hard to believe that The Flower Sisters was Michelle Collins Anderson’s debut book. I always enjoy when an author sets their story in a place that is familiar to them. Somehow the story and the descriptions of the land are more authentic that way. That was exactly what Michelle Collins Anderson did with The Flower Sisters, her debut novel. The Flower Sisters was inspired by the true story of what occurred at the Bond Hall in West Plains, Missouri, the author’s hometown. There had been a tragic explosion at that dance hall on April 13, 1928. For purposes of making the timeline storyline fit the narrative of The Flower Sisters better, Michelle Collins Anderson changed the date of the explosion to August 13, 1928. She also changed the name of the dance hall. Instead of using Bond Hall, she renamed the dance hall Lamb’s Hall. Monthly dances were held at Lamb Hall and attracted many young people to attend. I listened to the audiobook of The Flower Sisters that was narrated by a multitude of very good and convincing narrators. The Flower Sisters was a character driven novel that captured my attention immediately. It was written in the alternating time periods of 1928 and 1978 and from the POV’s of the various characters, past and present.

On August 13, 1928, the Flower sisters, identical twins, were preparing to pull off one of their greatest feats. Rose and Violet were almost impossible to tell apart from each other. Even their mother had a hard time keeping their identities straight. The only thing that gave them away was that Violet had a tiny birth mark by her hairline. Their personalities were as different, though, as night and day. Rose was shy and a rule follower while Violet was wild, outgoing and quite outspoken. The sisters were as close as could be, though, despite their differences in their respective personalities. For that reason, it was not unthinkable then that Rose would agree to take Violet’s place and go to the dance at Lamb Hall in Violet’s place. Violet had been sick all day but did not want to disappoint her steady boyfriend, Dash Edmonds. Just as Rose was opening the door to leave when she heard Dash honk the horn, Rose and Violet’s mother suggested that Violet (who was really Rose) reconsider going. After all, it was Friday the 13th. Was that an omen for what was going to happen later that evening?

Fifty years later, in May of 1978, fifteen year old Daisy Flowers was left in Possum Flats, Missouri with her grandmother Rose who she was meeting for the first time in her life. Daisy’s mother had dropped her daughter off to stay in the place she had run away from and swore she would never go back to. Her grandmother owned and operated a funeral home and her living quarters were directly above the funeral parlor. Daisy was quite bored in Possum Flats until she accompanied her grandmother to the office of the local newspaper. Her grandmother had to report the death of the town’s mayor. Daisy had learned about the embarrassing circumstances of the mayor’s death and promised her grandmother that she would keep it a secret. All of that changed when Daisy realized she could use that secret to negotiate an internship at the newspaper for herself. All of a sudden Daisy’s life got more interesting. After a few weeks, Daisy’s boss, Fence McMillan the Fourth, editor and publisher, gave her an assignment. She was tasked with exploring the archives to find a story that happened in the past and follow up with it to see how those people might remember that time or circumstances. As Daisy combed through old stories, she came across a story about an explosion that had occurred almost fifty years ago. The person who caused the explosion had never been identified. There were so many lives that were lost that night because of the explosion. Daisy decided that that was what she wanted to write about. What would Daisy discover? Would old secrets finally be revealed?

The Flower Sisters by Michelle Collins Anderson was a very moving book. It was paced just right and was well plotted. The Flower Sisters explored the dynamics of family, the special relationship between twins, secrets that laid dormant and had been suppressed for years on end, the innocence and curiosity of an inquisitive young girl, trust, past relationships, love and hope. I really enjoyed the characters in The Flower Sisters. They were flawed but that was what made them so special. I admired Daisy’s gumption and confidence even when she was came across obstacles. The relationship that Daisy and her grandmother developed was so strong and beautiful. I enjoyed the friendship Daisy and Joe forged together that had the promise of turning into something more. Be sure to read the author’s note at the conclusion of The Flower Sisters. It was quite enlightening. I highly recommend The Flower Sisters by Michelle Collins Anderson if you enjoy a good mystery that explores a secret a whole town chose to ignore due to how painful it was to remember.

Thank you to Recorded Books for allowing me to listen to the audiobook of The Flower Sisters by Michelle Collins Anderson through Netgalley in exchange for an honest review.

Thank you to NetGalley and RB Media for the early listen!
Really enjoyed this audiobook. Narrators did a great job telling the story.
Author did a great job drawing the reader in. Great character development.
Will recommend

THE FLOWER SISTERS by Michelle Collins Anderson

Thank you to NetGalley and RB Media/recorded books for the audiobook of, The Flower Sisters

Narrated by a cast of readers: Jim Frangione, Andrea Gallo, L.J. Ganser, Laura Knight Keating, Christina Moore, Graham Winton

Narration was very well done in this compelling debut of a coming-of-age/historical fiction read; told in twin storylines fifty years apart. Daisy Flowers is fifteen in 1978 when her free-spirited mother dumps her in Possum Flats, Missouri. She is to spend the summer living with her grandmother, the town mortician. Daisy obtains an internship at the local newspaper where, sorting through the basement archives, she learns of a mysterious tragedy from fifty years earlier...

In 1928 an explosion at the local dance hall left dozens of young people dead and among them is a name Daisy recognizes with family ties. Daisy becomes obsessed with investigating this tragedy and soon discovers the small-town of, Possum Flats, holds a myriad of secrets and not many that remember it are happy Daisy is asking questions. Is it time for this hurting town to finally heal?

The cover of this book is so beautifully done and that is what caught my eye for this book. Also, when I read it is a Fannie Flagg of the Ozarks. I absolutely loved listening to this coming-of-age/historical fiction story. Rose, the grandmother is hysterically funny at times and there are laugh out loud moments in the story. You’ll find yourself rooting for Daisy, who is a fifteen-year-old inquisitive and endearing young lady. This has a well rounded cast of characters that you will enjoy. I’m excited to see what this author does next. Kudos to, Michelle Collin’s Anderson, on her debut novel that brings this story to life with her descriptive writing. A great book for book clubs.

To me this novel is in the same vein as Fannie Flagg’s books, as well as, Jan Karon’s, The Mitford Series.

Touching on, family, forgiveness, secrets, lies, sadness and grief, love, and friendship.

Michelle Collins Anderson makes her debut with The Flower Sisters and she hit it out of the park.
I was fully immersed from the very beginning and it maintained my attention throughout.
The novel is loosely based on a tragedy that occurred in a small town in Missouri in 1928, at a dance where many people perished in a fire.
The main characters are twin sisters, Violet and Rose Flowers.
Fifty years later, Daisy, one of the descendents of the Flowers family, starts to unravel the secrets of her family's past and the details regarding what happened that fatal night. The little town located on the Bible Belt will be shaken to its core.
This is written with multiple timelines and through different points of view. But the way the author weaves in and out of timelines with fluidity is masterful.
It is well-written and character-driven; haunting, full of suspense, humor, and mystery. You will feel a plethora of emotions as you get to know these characters. Through vivid descriptions and authentic dialogue, she brings the small town of Possum Flats to life.

I can't wait to see other novels from this author. She gave me Kristin Hannah and Kelly Rimmer vibes.

I highly recommend this book to anyone who enjoys historical fiction, coming-of-age and family secrets types of stories.

Thanks to NetGalley, Michelle Collins Anderson and Kensington Books for the opportunity to read this ARC audiobook. I feel I would have loved it even more in print.

I am a little sorry that I read this on audio because I am never sure that I am paying as much attention as I should be or as I do with a hard copy or e book, especially where, as here, the story is so compelling. This is a work of historical fiction that merits savor.
Let's talk about cover for a minute. The cover is gorgeous and gets the reader's attention. A young woman from an earlier time shrouded in mystery.
This book is also about sisters-twins, and twins fascinates me, perhaps because I am an only child).
This book makes me remember that history is made up of small events, not just big ones. There are many good novels about the Holocaust and WW II. They are a dime a dozen. I find it is the books about small events, though not small to the people that experienced them that draw me in.
The Flower Sisters is a dual timeline book, my favorite kind of historical fiction, that goes back and forth between 1978 (which to some is historical in and of itself but is my lifetime) and 1928, when in this small town in the Ozarks called Possom Flats, there is a fire at a dance hall which takes the lives of everyone in it. In 1978, a teenage girl, Daisy Flowers, comes to live with her grandmother who is the town's mortician, when her mother, a hippie traveling across the country with her boyfriend deposits her there. Daisy, a budding reporter who is otherwise bored to tears in this town (barely a town), finds out about what happened 50 years before and becomes obsessed with bringing the matter to light and in so doing, discovers some difficult truths.
This fire is not the kind of earth shattering event that changes the world. However, this author shows readers why it is worthy of our time and attention.
The characters are quirky and compelling. I just want to sit down with Daisy, the grandmother, and some of the other townspeople and have coffee. Actually, I would love to spend a week in Possom Flats (more than to just simply be able to say that I spent time in a place by that name, which is great).
I dabble in writing and this is how I want to write: with characters that bring what is a relatively small event in history to life, and a place that I might otherwise think, like Daisy does to begin with, is a fate worth than death, so enveloping that I just want to be there, immersed in it. Which, let's face it, I was as I was listening to this book.
The narrators (there were multiple) were good and helped bring this story to life, though I am sure, I would not have felt anything different had I read it in print or e form.
Thanks to Net Galley and to RB Media to providing me a copy of the audiobook in exchange for my honest review.

I had a really hard time getting into this book. It felt a bit sillier than I wanted it to be and the main characters just weren’t as compelling as I wanted them to be. The storyline jumped around and it just want my cup of tea