Emma’s life blows up in twenty-four hours. She loses her job and breaks up with her boyfriend of over ten years. Escaping her life sounds good and she just inherited her grandparents farm. She just isn’t prepared for the secrets to be found or the man already living there.

Lucy Eden gives us a meet-cute angsty romance set on a farm. There are also a lot of deeper issues within the pages. Not only is Emma getting over the loss of her grandparents, but being back on the farm brings up the death of her sister and the impact it had on her family. Secrets that still aren’t discussed today.

Then we have Dan who is hiding his own secrets after having escaped a scandal in the U.K. Dan is just an unbelievably sweet guy and this kind of brings up an issue for me - and it’s a personal one. So here’s a spoiler, he’s a giver and Emma is a taker. The author writes a great sex scene, but Emma doesn’t reciprocate…for awhile. Dan gives her the most intense orgasm and then more later that she’s ever had and she doesn’t help him out for another two weeks?! Pillow princess! That says more about her character then I think the author intended. Emma admits all the time how great Dan is in all areas and then he satisfies her multiple times and because there are no condoms she can’t even give him a hand job? Or watch him? Like seriously?! It actually made me step back from fully liking Emma because all I kept thinking was “greedy bitch”.

I love the secondary cast. I can’t pick a friend of Emma’s that I like best because they are all fabulous. Eden does a great job of showcasing Emma’s friendships throughout the story and I love it.

Love in Bloom is a romance with a town and hero to root for. Dan can name a rose after me anytime.

i enjoyed this. it’s a small town romance, found family, with lots of drama. the concept was cute and the mmc was one grumpy man. it was a cute little rom com.

DNF at 43%. I really tried to get into it for a long time. I got past the cringy main character and her quirks. Main storyline felt forced, the chemistry between characters nonexistent. Instalove but not really. The book took a very unexpected turn I was not prepared for with the main farm being used for weed farm and the whole town is suddenly in on it? I’m sorry, but what? This had such a good premise and such good set up, but poor character development ruined it for me.

This book was so entertaining! Emma inherits her grandparents’ farm but it also comes with secrets. She has to rely on Dan, the farm’s horticulturist, to learn how to run a farm and decide if she’s going to keep it.

The premise was so fun and gave such cozy small-town vibes. I found the family drama so interesting to read about, and I had a hard time putting the book down! The romance between Emma and Dan progressed so naturally, and I loved the strong female friendships. There were a few unclear time jumps that made me pause, but it didn’t detract from the story. Overall, it was a really cute and fun read!

Thank you to Lucy Eden, Forever (Grand Central Publishing), and NetGalley for this e-ARC in exchange for my honest review.

I liked this novel, but I wanted to love it. I'm a sucker for the small-town romance, the city-girl-learns-to-farm story, the competent man, etc. And I thought many of the scenes and quips throughout were laugh-out-loud funny! Unfortunately, there were some elementsof the novel I didn't like so much. For example, there were quite a few time jumps between and within chapters that felt out of place or unclear to me. I also personally felt that the romance moved really quickly, and the resolution of the final conflict was a bit anticlimactic and unbelievable. So while parts of this novel were really fun and funny, and I liked our main characters, my overall rating loses a couple stars.

I've been looking forward to this book since I read the Publisher's Marketplace announcement for it. Lucy Eden always writes an enjoyable rom-com, and this is no exception. It's a great premise--Emma inherits a farm that's secretly (illegally) producing medical marijuana and keeping the town afloat with medical tourism--and the stakes are high. I loved Dan, the love interest, and the whole small-town vibe of the story. My main issue is that Emma tends to hide her head in the sand for way too long, and as someone who's a go-getter and determined, she shouldn't be, so this feels off for the character. The climactic moment of peril should have a ton of urgency behind it and necessitate a third-act breakup with both the love interest and the town, but she just goes on blithely for a couple of weeks.

Thanks to Forever and NetGalley for the ARC.

I had mixed feelings on this book. I enjoyed the premise and some of the plot. The spicy scenes felt pretty cheesy and sometimes the dialogue fell short. I read to the end to find out what happened to the relationship and the town, but I wouldn't reread.

this was a fun read! i don’t usually like small town romances because it’s too hallmark-y for me but this cover really called to me i had to read it so bad
and i was NOT disappointed to say the least
i lowkey want a farm now and a broody guy with trauma to hit me up LIKE RIGHT NOW thank u netgalley and co for this arc.

Love in Bloom is a sweet & spicy small town romance about Emma, who loses her job and her direction in life. After she learns her estranged grandparent have left her their profitable farm she decides to uproot her life to find inspiration.

At Green Acres she meets Dan, the farm manager and it is instant chemistry as Dan is tall, handsome and super smart 🤓🔥 As the two begin to learn how to co-exist on the farm together and Emma gets a crash course into farming. . . that has more mid-adventures than successes the sparks fly.

This novel is laugh out loud funny but also tackles some difficult issues such as grief/loss, health issues and finding your calling.

Thank you Forever for the ARC!

Love in Bloom is the story of Emma and Dan. Emma inherits a farm from her grandparents and Dan has been working for them and living in their attic. Emma's life falls apart and living at the farm seems to be the perfect escape for her from her problems.

Dan and Emma's forced proximity and connection were so great. I enjoyed watching their romance come together so much. But I did feel like there were so many communication issues. From literally everyone. The big secret needed to be protected, but everyone's messes were so covered in miscommunication and hard headedness that it made characters hard to read and definitely hard to watch from the reader's perspective.

Overall, it was a fun and enjoyable read. If you like staying in the same house, I am quietly making your life easier, strong women and a very fun small town, this one is for you.

Synopsis:

Publicist Emma Walters’s life goes from near-perfect to a monumental disaster. One day to break up with her boyfriend, get fired and inherit a farm. Emma’s new country life is anything but peaceful. Adding to her frustration is Dan Pednekar, the farm’s infuriatingly handsome manager. Emma soon discovers that the farm isn’t exactly what it seems. With suspiciously named shops like Four and Twenty Blackbirds lining Main Street, it’s clear that the whole town might be in on a secret. When the farm—and the livelihood of the townsfolk—is threatened, Emma must come up with a plan to save it.

Review:

What a sweet and easy read. This is my first time reading this author but it won’t be my last! I loved the element of mystery and the small town setting. The characters were likeable (most of them) and I loved watching the two MCs grow throughout the book. Dan was a hot South Asian MMC (always love SA rep!) and the cultural nuances were done well.

Thank you to Forever for my ARC! I read this book in a day 🤩

Love in Bloom is a sweet rom-com. It’s your typical big city girl ends up in a small-town, but this town has a secret, and the entire community is in on it.

I laughed and got teary-eyed, I also got irritated with Emma’s ex! lol I liked the diverse characters and close-knit community. I liked the budding relationship between Emma and Dan and their ongoing chess games. Dan is just so kind and caring; I really liked him and the safe space he provided for Emma to really come into her own and grow.

Love in Bloom pub date is 11/12/24, so mark your calendars.

This is a cute, sweet rom com. I love the Hallmark type feel of this story. There is some spice but there is a great story that will have you laughing and rooting not only for Dan and Emma but for the whole town!

I unfortunately did not really vibe with this book. I found it hard to be invested in the relationship when it felt like they went from being acquaintances to saying "I love you" in almost no time. The small town vibes were cute, but considering this is set in present day when so many states have legalized weed and medical marijuana doesn't have a great deal of tabboo around it anymore, it was hard to buy into the idea that people travel into this town from all over for this farm.

Thank you to Forever and Netgalley for the e-ARC!

I've been waiting for Lucy Eden's next book and she did not disappoint. I enjoyed this book from cover to cover.

What I loved most was the element of enemies to lovers. It's so delicious when it's well done and this author did it well.

The small town was super cute and had a chosen family vibe that resonated with me.

I was so excited to get to know this couple and read how their story would play out. They were adorable, quirky, and steamy. A yummy combination.

To give you a taste of what you can expect, here's my favorite quote:
"His lips were soft and welcoming but with an undercurrent of furious desire that made me wonder what he was holding back..."

*I received an ARC in exchange for an honest review.

More like 3.5 stars but I’m rounding up!

Emma is an overachieving PR agent who suddenly inherits a farm from her grandparents that she really didn’t know. It is very unclear to me what happened to her grandparents but they’ve been declared dead and it’s not really addressed. After she gets fired and dumps her boyfriend (who sucks) she flees to the farm to get away from her life. Dan is from London and lives on the farm as a botanist and farm manager.

I like Dan and Emma. I think they had a nice sweet little romance. I like the meddling small town and the cast of characters in it. I even liked the twist with the farm (even though I think Emma way overreacted but whatever). However, everything just felt kinda one dimensional. I wanted there to be more depth to everything and instead it just fell kinda flat for me. I wanted Emma and Dan to be deeper more complex characters and instead they were just kinda there. I did love their romance and the epilogue was cute. I’d recommend as a nice quick happy read (I read it in a day so I clearly enjoyed it).

Love in Bloom is surprisingly empowering! I really loved seeing Emma turn into Emmaline in her discovery of her past.

While discovering who she was she falls in love, with herself, the town, and Dan which was very endearing to see her go through this growth.

Emma inherits her grandparents' farmhouse after their passing and suddenly her world shifts from the fast pace city life in Atlanta to the slow moving country pace of her grandparents' small rural town. Little does she expect to meet Dan, the man who oversees the greenhouses on the property or that he will be the first in her life to show her the meaning of unconditional love.

This was a slow burn romance that centered around the town, the history and secrets the townsfolk keep and how Emma finds a new path moving away from her old lifestyle and into a new path discovering her family legacy and creating new relationships of her own.

It took me a while to feel invested in the story and the romance. It takes a while for the romantic tension to evolve into an actual relationship and waiting for that in addition to waiting for the blanks in Emma's memories from her childhood that took 95% of the book to reveal made the story feel a bit drawn out at tines. That being said I did enjoy the build up to the climax of the book and appreciated the way everything in the story concluded.

Read if you enjoy:
💚 forced proximity
💚 city girl, country guy
💚 British hero
💚 opposites attract
💚 inheriting the family farm
💚 small town vibes

Romance: open door
3.5 rounded up to 4 stars

Many thanks to Forever and Netgalley for an advanced copy of this story. All opinions are my own.

3.5 / 5 stars

I had zero expectations going into this book and I'm glad about that because it was quite the journey. I must have missed the part of the description where it called out that the farm actually is a medical marajuana business, but that gave the book a bit of a mystery feel to it because I had to wait to discover the big secret. This book was more than a romance—it was a rediscovering of self and family as well. I enjoyed reading Emmaline's growth arc.

Certain parts of the writing fell a little flat for me, but the story was entertaining and it was funny to see how the characters chose how to resolve the big problem in the end.

Thanks to the publisher and NetGalley for an advance copy of this book.

I love the idea of the book; however, I feel like it focused too much dialogue and the plot could've had a little more to make it exciting because it is very formulaic to the tropes that it has. Emma and Dan have such a funny meet cute though. I like their characters and think they go well together. There isn’t a lot more for me to say because while I didn’t mind the book, nothing stood out that dazzled me.

This review will be posted on my Instagram on November the 19th.