3.5 stars

Emma comes into an unexpected inheritance from her estranged grandparents - their beloved farm. She has to contend with this surprise, and Dan, the farm manager. She doesn’t know why she inherited it or what her plans are, but Dan and the community await anxiously. All this comes at a pivotal time in her life when she has to decide if she’ll be happy as a trophy wife to her fiancé, an ambitious politician, while she gives up her own ambitions and happiness.

This jumpstarts Emma’s journey to self-discovery, and also to uncovering family secrets. She and Dan get off to a rocky start. I realized during this part that I don’t particularly like this sub trope of a potential love interest being openly hostile to the other when the other has no clue why. And then they start to fall for each other, and I’m still back here simmering in the hostility that the story built up 🤷🏽‍♀️ Anyway, once I caught up I enjoyed their growing romance. Dan’s a surprising hero. I also liked getting to know the various townsfolk and their stories. What Emma learns as she gets to know them better is definitely life changing.

Highlights:
🐓 Adversaries-to-lovers, spicy, open door
🐓 Family drama/secrets
🐓 Small town, tight community
🐓 Strong FMC
🐓 BIPOC rep (Black & South Asian)

Be aware of: miscommunication trope, mention of illness, smarmy ex

Overall a pleasant and enjoyable read that respectfully brings up a topical issue. Lucy Eden is a new-to-me author and I’d be interested in reading more from her.

Thanks to @readforeverpub for my ALC in exchange for an honest review. 𝗟𝗼𝘃𝗲 𝗶𝗻 𝗕𝗹𝗼𝗼𝗺 is available November 12th.

Love in Bloom is a small-town romance following Emma, a well known publicist, whose life is turned upside down after she is fired and inherits her grandparents' farm all in the same week. With her relationship on the rocks and no job to keep her in the city, Emma flees to the farm in the hopes of discovering more about herself and her family. When she is met with Dan, the farm's subsequent manager, Emma is forced to decide if she is willing to push aside her previous beliefs about small-town living and her new role all while falling for the charming horticulturist.

This was a very cute and simple read! The small town was full of busy bodies and I thought it was so sweet how everybody was concerned for Emma, Dan, and the farm. I absolutely loved the relationship between the two, they were so understanding of one another, Dan was such a gentleman but always willing to call Emma out on herself. While I did enjoy the romance, I wish there was more plot and something to liven up the writing. I found the book to be a little boring and just wish it had an extra element to keep me engaged the whole way through. While this may not be my favorite read, I think it will work for a lot of people and lovers of cozy romances with low stakes and medium heat!

Love in Bloom by Lucy Eden starts with a lot of charm—a city girl thrown into small-town chaos, complete with an unexpected farm inheritance and a gruff, skeptical farm manager named Dan, who initially resents Emma's presence but gradually warms up to her. Emma's misadventures immediately drew me in as she tried to adjust to her new life, fumbling through rural life with plenty of humour. The quirky townsfolk and their collective mystery added a nice layer, hinting that there was more to Green Acres than met the eye.

But I hit a lull in the middle, and the story just seemed to stall. Emma's struggles felt repetitive, and while the town's mystery, a series of unexplained events that seemed to be connected to Emma's inheritance, lingered, the pacing slowed down so much that it started to lose some of its spark. It was a bit of a slog to get through, and I found myself hoping for something—anything—to shake things up.

Luckily, the last section was delivered. The stakes ramped up, and Emma finally had to take charge, bringing the story back to life. The finale was enjoyable, especially seeing Emma's growth and how she understood and cared for the community around her. Ultimately, it was a pleasant read, but the mid-book slowdown held it back for me.

I was really enjoying this book until she discovered the pot growing operation in the greenhouse. I probably would have continued reading if the story took place where growing pot was legal but it’s not legal in Georgia and I’m not interested in reading about criminals.

This one be SPICY and I was totally here for it. I loved the small town vibes, the medical marijuana farm storyline and the diverse main character leads. Lucy Eden was a new to me author and I thoroughly enjoyed her excellent blend of humor, heat and heart in this well written story about finding your place and taking charge of your life. Many thanks to NetGalley and the publisher for an early digital and audio copy in exchange for my honest review. The audio narration by Wesleigh Siobhan was extremely well done considering she tackles both a British male voice and an American female voice. Highly recommended for fans of authors like Talia Hibbert and Denise Williams.

Love in Bloom is a journey of self-discovery for Emma. She’s spent her whole life preparing to be the perfect society wife but a twist of fate helps her understand her true desires. And she accepts these changes without a lot of fuss, working to find happiness in her new town and on the farm.

Emma also learns some hard lessons like learning to ask for and accept help from others. Learning to listen to what others what and need and not what she thinks they need. It takes time, and Emma nearly ruins her new life and the town she’s promised to protect, but in the end she shines.

Her romance with Dan is simple and easy, which is an eye opener. She’s never had someone meet her as an equal partner or offer to take care of her and insist she take care of herself. The pair grows close quickly after an immediate connection and attraction.

The big secret on the farm is pretty obvious and revealed fairly quickly. I have questions about why things are done the way they are and why it’s such a forbidden secret in today’s day and age, but it works for the story. I was also a bit confused on how much time was passing because it seems contradictory at times, but again, it doesn’t impact the enjoyment of the story.

Love in Bloom is a lovely small town romance between two individuals finding their perfect other half. It’s a quick, enjoyable read.

My Rating: B

The loss of one star is due to my own preferences. The "f" word was used frequently. Lots of intimate scenes which I always skip over. Despite that I continued reading as I was thoroughly engaged in the characters. The small town and the farm were also interesting factors. Thanks to the publisher for providing a copy via NetGalley. My review is voluntary.

I really wanted to like this book! Unfortunately, I found myself quite bored for most of the story, and hoping for something else to happen to keep me engaged.

The only time I found myself rooting for this couple was within the first two chapters. I would have loved if there was a little bit more pushback from Emma against Dan wanting to take care of her. For someone who was so independent, it would have been a realistic plot point if Dan was desperate to take care of her and she was a little bit more resistant. They fell much too quickly for my liking, and once they were together, the intimate scenes were way too often. There was often three or more different scenes in one chapter, just to fit in two or more sex scenes into a chapter. It felt like overkill, and none of the intimate scenes ended up having much purpose other than to fill space on the page.

I think the story was well written, but it was far too long and had far too little plot. The overuse of nicknames by Dan drove me a little crazy as well. The dialogue between them seemed unrealistic and like they were performing with each other, not being real.

None of the side characters were overly unique and they often blended all together for me. I wasn't overly invested in any of them either.

aThe whole plot point about the farm seemed pretty out of pocket, and I didn't find it exciting or interesting. I think it could have been done a lot better, but there were such low stakes throughout almost the entire book that it almost seemed like it didn't matter.

Overall, I would have liked to enjoy this book a lot more than I did but I think it still absolutely has an audience that will like it!

If you let go of your disbeliefs to enjoy that a whole town can keep a secret of this magnitude, then you'll enjoy this romance. Sweet, low stakes love story.

Thank you, Forever (Grand Central Publishing) | Forever

After the surprising loss of her estranged grandparents, Emma inherits the family farm. While her life is in Atlanta, hours away from the small town, her mind drifts back to the space and the secrets that lie within it. When her circumstances change, she drives back and takes on the role as “farm owner”, trying to learn about her family’s past and the role it plays in the community. She’s met with weary glances, tough chores, and a handsome horticulturist, She slowly pieces together the secret of the farm and is caught in a dilEMMA of what to do with it. This story and the conflicts were unique! I had a fun time meeting the townspeople and watching the love story develop. I was hoping for a reunion at the end! Was a fun read!

Yes it's trope-y what with the insta-love thing (which gets steamy) but this has an unusual big heart at its center. Emma's world blows apart just as she inherits a farm from the grandparents she didn't really know. She also inherits Dan, the farm manager, and the hopes and reliance of most of the town of Green Acres. Dan, the hot Brit horticulturalist has a bit of unfair darkness in his past but he's aces for the farm and for Emma. No spoilers from me about the secret of the farm or Dan. Emma's ex is truly awful but the people in town are truly nice, and you will find yourself rooting for Emma and friends. I liked the diversity. Thanks to Netgalley for the ARC. Good storytelling made for a very good read.

3.5★

I really enjoyed how Lucy Eden set up this city fmc x small town farm life mmc. I think that there was some great moments of fun small-town moments that made it easy to see how someone to come to love the town. I wish that there was some more development in regards to Emma and her family, it felt super rushed and after finishing it feels like there is something missing there. Dan and Emma together was fun, very cute and I enjoyed seeing their relationship blossom. I left the book feeling like I wanted to read some more in regards to Dan as a character, he felt a little flat at times if he were to stand on his own but the way that him and Emma worked together was very cutsey and they had me melting at times so it made up for it in my opinion. A good small town read if you are looking for one!!

This was SO cute, and I am glad I had the chance to read it! I think it would be a perfect March or April read.

This was so cute!! I’ve read a couple of Lucy Eden’s other books over the summer, so when I saw this was her first traditionally published book! I was so excited to get to read it! The perfect small town romance!! I loved Emma and Dan so much! And this quirky small town with a little secret was filled with so many wonderful people, I loved getting to meet them all!

It was REFRESHING that Emma was so willing to try and learn about the farm before she made any decisions. And listen I LOVE enemies to lovers!! And I love when a woman comes back to her hometown just to sell whatever property she’s been left and the guy has some special attachment to it so he puts up a real fight - I LOVE IT. But this was like the opposite?? Like yes Emma was coming back to help her family business and Dan did have a strong emotional attachment to the farm… But Emma was sweet!? And Dan was SWEET! And they got along SO well!! And he helped her find people who could answer questions about her family and let her help on the farm even though he knew it was going to be a disaster! It was WHOLESOME from the start?? And it was SO GOOD!

They were PERFECT! They’re just two people who ran away to the farm and never looked back. I loved watching Emma figure out where she was going. Her life kind of fell apart at the beginning of the book, but it also was just the start! She had so many choices to make and so many options open to her! And watching her figure it out, and figure it out with Dan!!! It was so much fun!

Thank you so much to Forever for the ARC in exchange for an honest review!

After inheriting her estranged grandparents’ farm, city girl Emmaline Walters is thrust into the unpredictable world of country life and a sizzling attraction to the farm’s manager, Danesh Pednekar. As she navigates mistakes, secrets, and a town’s well-kept conspiracy, Emma must decide if love and a rural life are worth the risk to her heart.

Love in Bloom is the first book I’ve read from Lucy Eden. While the plot intrigued me, I ended up having mixed feelings. The story is told entirely from Emma’s perspective which I liked and it was great seeing her character growth. Dan’s backstory was also compelling, but I felt their insta-love developed too quickly even though their chemistry was sweet by the end. The story’s pacing was inconsistent. There were some parts flew by with little description while others dragged. Additionally, some of the side characters felt underdeveloped and I wish their roles had been more clearly defined. A few issues were resolved too easily and some characters had abrupt personality shifts which didn’t flow well for the story. Lastly, the “secret” behind the farm felt underwhelming and somewhat odd. Overall, this was a decent read.

This book was just super odd. It ended up being super preachy about medical marijuana, of all things? I wasn’t convinced by the romance between the MCs either because the FMC breaks up with her boyfriend of 10 years and is making out with the MMC like 2 days later. Also, the ex-boyfriend turns out to be a total villain. I just really don’t know what to think about this other than “not for me.” Cute cover though.

Thank you to Forever and NetGalley for the ARC!

+Small town romance
+Fish out of water
+Black and South Asian representation

Our main character, Emma Walters, is having the worst day ever. In just twenty-four hours, she manages to break up with her boyfriend, get fired, and inherit a farm in the middle of nowhere — Green Acres, Georgia. Since her life is in shambles she escapes from Atlanta to the farm.

The locals are friendly but they’re hiding something, and they’re not too sure about our city girl, Emma, trying to run a farm. No one is as unsure as Dan Pednekar, the attractive farm manager who she butt heads with from one day 1 (technically, before that). Lucy Eden writes a delicious tension between our main characters: a mix of annoyance, sparks, spice and banter that I really enjoyed.

As Emma digs deeper, she realizes there’s more going on in Green Acres than meets the eye. The farm doesn’t actually seem to sell anything, and there are shops like Four and Twenty *cough* cough* Blackbirds down the road. When the farm—and by extension, the town’s livelihoods—are threatened, Emma has to step up, figure out what’s going on, and maybe even save the day.

Lucy Eden brings Green Acres to life with quirky characters, witty dialogue, and enough charm to make you wish you could pack your bags and move there yourself. Love in Bloom is the perfect cozy read that will make you laugh out loud but also touches on more serious themes like parental relationships and discovering your roots. I really enjoyed spending time with these characters and can’t wait for what’s next.

Thank you to NetGalley, Forever, and Grand Central Publishing for the eARC! Love in Bloom is available now for pre-order and will be published on November 12, 2024.

This book was cute. I found the main character slightly irritating, but the story got a bit better. Some parts of it were not believable.

Emma has the perfect life, until she doesn’t. A series of unfortunate events leads to Emma having to face the truths long buried, including the things she’s hidden from herself. Dan is a MMC who can cook and who works with plants! He’s also a MMC who has been burned before and is terrified he’ll be burned again.

Emma is forced to figure out who she wants to be if she isn’t also trying to be the one everyone else needs. This book is full of life lessons everyone needs to - how to ask for help, how to speak up for yourself, how to give grace for the broken parts of others. I think this book would do well with a 5 years in the future epilogue, because it felt like Emma has some unfinished business.

This book had all the city girl, small town feels. I will say at some points the plot is a little wild, but if you don’t mind a little drama and slightly unbelievable conflict, you’ll like this one.

Thank you to the author, Forever, and NetGalley for this book to review. All thoughts and opinions are my own.

I adored Love in Bloom. I really, truly did. As a Gilmore Girls fan, it felt like I was journeying through a fresh, cultural version of Stars Hollow. It was familiar yet very unexpected at times. Like most small-town stories, the characters had bonds like a close-knit family. They had a secret, though, and it was one that, after thinking back, was hinted at from the start, yet still made me say, “OH, this is what we’re doing. Okay,” once it was revealed. Very unique!

Emma and Dan’s relationship was very sweet. I love that they had their own, special-to-them method of connection in the form of chess. While the characters paired well together, they were also strong on their own. Emma wanted to prove herself to the town while also finding herself and deciding what she truly wanted in life. Dan had her back at every turn while being a caring and hardworking pillar for the town. The supporting cast was interesting and felt dynamic. It was delightful.

If you like Gilmore Girls or Hallmark (but on a spicier level) this is the novel for you. A perfect fall read!

Thank you to Forever Publishing for the advanced copy!