I enjoyed every minute of this book and I am not particularly interested in flowers or gemstones.
The characters have an unusual meet point - there is sorrow and emotions flying about everywhere.
The 2 women have plenty in common - they are both successful, established and wealthy - and it is always good to read stories that feature women in their 40s or older.
Although you know (or presume) where the story will end there were many points in this story when I didn't know which direction it would go in.
There are several, to me, laugh out loud moments. I mean 'slapped the air until she found the light switch' - you can just picture that in your head.
There is plenty of research evidenced in the story - gardening and flowers - who knew there was so much to learn! And the jewellery business of course. And of course the impact of living your whole life with an abusive, angry, resentful mother.

There is of course an epilogue.
This showed not only that their relationship had progressed but with a jeweller involved there had to be a ring.

This was such an amazing mature love story about two mature women. This is a must read during 2025!

The start of the book is so different with Hannah planning to finally break up with her secretive and distant girlfriend Bren, the same day she finds out she has died in an accident. Moving on from that is challenging, but she finds Bren's ex Vanessa that also has a lot of baggage, and they can work on understanding themselves and Bren’s story together. The growth to get to their HEA is so angsty and complex, but fantastic to read about and no stupid misunderstanding and 3rd act breakups. It is so much more; the attraction is there but they need to change to finally find the love they deserve, 2>1.

Thank you NetGalley and Publisher for allowing me to read and review this book.

I very much enjoyed this book. The writing was great and the characters were well developed. I hope to read more from this author in the future.

Alaina Erdell is an extremely talented author that I have on my must purchase author list. There is a realism that she portrays with her characters and in her books that grabs hold and won't let me go.
Erdell takes the time to resolve issues and doesn't sugar coat the consequences, even though it is a romance, realistic consequences occur. She will completely satisfy the resolution, in a timely manner, explaining the MC's hang-ups of what is necessary for a remedy.
The characters are well developed, with unforeseen chemistry that they were unsure of, they slowly start by becoming reluctant friends. From there, the MC's relationship grows slowly. The secondary characters are a wonderful addition, a good support system for both MC's.
This book was angsty from the start. I enjoyed reading this book. I look forward to more books by this author in the future.
Thank you netgalley for a copy of this book, for an honest review.