Violet Tendencies by Kate Dyer-Seeley is the second in a new series. It takes place in Portland, Oregon and centers around a florist and her niece. Elin owns Blomma and adopted her niece, Britta, when her parents died at an early age. As happens with children, she grew up and moved away, had a dead-end job, and as it turned out, a dead-end marriage. They are building a float for the annual Grand Floral Parade and are nearly at the end of the process: the parade. It means grueling hours and hard work, which is now being complicated by Dark Fusion protestors espousing anarchy-totally anti-establishment and anti-government. Thus far they have done nothing but hurl epithets and make workers and volunteers coming to the float barn.

Dyer-Seeley always includes a plethora of information about her protagonist's calling. In this case, the information includes not only float-building tips, but also floral design and care tips. There is also an abundance of information about Portland's Rose Festival and parade. This makes her books even more interesting and gives the reader a short education, as well. Elin is an interesting character, reconnecting with her fiancé many years after the breakup, which lends an air of romance to the mystery. There are several close calls, which sometimes tends to push the believability, but in this case worked fairly well. Britta is a good character, as well as her friend, Tomo, a police officer, and dutiful Japanese son. Detective Peter Fletcher is another interesting, albeit mysterious character, who seems to really be attracted to Britta, and she to him. I loved this book and totally recommend it.

I received a free ARC of Violet Tendencies in exchange for a fair and honest review. #netgalley #violettendencies

This is a delightful series. Flowers are one of my favorite things. The float building and parade are subjects familiar to me so this addition to the series had great appeal. I look forward to the next flower tale.

It is time for Portland, Oregon’s annual Rose Festival. We have all enjoyed the parade on tv, but what happens behind the scenes, leading up to the final hours is fascinating.
Most of the action takes place in the `` float barn,`` a huge warehouse. Volunteers from all walks of life come together to work on various floats. Outside of the `barn` are protesters, claiming this is all just about money.
The book has to establish a balance, between the beauty of the flowers and flowering relationships, and the violent tendencies and opinions of the protesting factions. Light and dark, and neither side knows all that is going on. The violence that does happen, over and over, doesn`t seem planned.
Fortunately for our heroine, even though she is fairly new to Portland, she has made friends in the right places. That doesn`t keep her from being endangered.

An interesting topic and wonderful characters build a strong foundation for this series.

Violet Tendencies by Kate Dyer-Seeley, AKA Ellie Alexander, is the 2nd book in the new series, Rose City Mysteries. Britta Johnston is finally settling in after her divorce in Portland, Oregon helping out at her Aunt Elin's florist shoppe, Bloom. The yearly Rose Festival is quickly coming and Britta, Aunt Elin, and friends are working hard to make Bloom's float the best ever. Unfortunately there is a group of scary protesters, Dark Fusion, that is trying to put an end to the Festival. When Britta finds a dead body next to her float, she must find the truth. I really enjoyed this book, not only is it a good mystery, it is great to see Britta grow as a women. I found this book to be a quick read, with a well developed plot and characters. I can not wait for the next book in the series. If you love cozy mysteries, I recommend this book. 

I received this book from Netgalley in exchange for a fair and honest review.

Violet Tendencies by Kate Dyer-Seeley is the second installment in Rose City Mystery series but can be read as a standalone.
This is the first book I have read and I must say I didn't have any problems getting to know characters and understanding the story.
Britta came back home to Portland to help her aunt with her floral business and have been chosen to build a float for the annual Rose festival. However there is a very menacing and violet group called Dark Fusion who will stop at nothing to put an end to the festival.
When Britta finds their leader strangled it is obvious that the festival is in jeopardy. She needs to work fast if she is to discover the murderer before it gets cancelled.
Not having read book one I don't know if it took such a long time for murder to happen as it did in this installment, and I didn't appreciate the slow pace. I also found details of how to make a float a bit too detailed. It might be an extremely interesting topic for some.
I have waited for sparks to fly between the main character and her detective but nothing worth mentioning happened.
All in all cleverly plotted and well written mystery and I am waiting for the next book to see what will happen.

Growing up in Los Angeles, I am familiar with the Rose Parade and all the pageantry (and hard work) that goes with it, so I was very interested in the backdrop for this novel – Portland’s annual Rose Festival. And the story did not disappoint. This is the second novel in the Rose City mysteries series, and although I hadn’t read the first one, I was able to jump right into this one. I was immediately drawn in, not only by Britta and her Aunt Elin, but also by the elaborate descriptions about working on the floats for the Rose Festival parade.

Britta, who moved to Portland, OR in the first book, now runs the flower shop, Blomma, with her Aunt Elin. Blomma is asked to create a float for the upcoming parade, and Britta quickly becomes immersed in the parade preparations and the conflict presented by an angry group of protesters who tend to harass Britta and the other people who have volunteered to help decorate the floats. The mystery ensues when Britta finds the group’s leader dead and Blomma’s float damaged. Britta sets out to solve the mystery and rebuild the float in time for the parade festivities.

The writing is sharp and flows well. I do think the angry mob of protesters is a little dark for most cozy mysteries, but it worked here anyway. The mystery had several turns and twists before the suspect is finally revealed. All in all, Violet Tendencies was an entertaining mystery with likable characters and an interesting plot. I will definitely be reading more in this series!

Note: I received an ARC of Violet Tendencies from NetGalley and Kensington Books. The above is my honest review.

Violet Tendencies by Kate E. Dyer-Seeley is the second book in the Rose City series set in Portland Oregon. I enjoyed the first in series and highly recommend the series. This can be read as a stand alone to a new reader as the author has set the story for the reader. I love this series as it features a flower shop and Portland somewhere i have always wanted to visit.

Britta is happily making Portland her home again after starting over and is enjoying her work with flowers in her Aunt Elin's flower shop, Blomma. She has a great relationship with her Aunt. I love the descriptions of creating floral arrangements and the various flowers used . The setting of a small village in Portland is charming and enjoyable to visit in this series. The author writes the location so beautifully that the reader feels they are visiting the village and flower shop !
The sleuth was very well crafted with twists that kept this avid mystery reader guessing. I was fascinated with how the author build the clues and suspects to a satisfying conclusion. This is a enjoyable fun read and I look forward to the next in series. Thank you to the publisher and Net Galley for the ARC. My opinion is my own. I highly recommend this fun cozy series for all that love a good sleuth and enjoy reading of beautiful flowers.

This was a fantastic second book to the Rose City Mystery series! I didn't figure out the whodunit until Britta did! Love love loved it!

3.5 stars

This second Rose City Mystery features Britta Johnston, a newly-returned Portland floral artist who operates a flower boutique with her aunt Elin. The background of this novel is the famous Portland Rose Parade. Britta and Elin are slaving away at their parade float in the midst of some serious civil disturbances happening in Portland. A group of anarchists is threatening to disrupt the parade and the city and issuing some heavy threats. Then one of the group's ringleaders is found murdered in the building where the floats are being built.

This is an appealing city and setting and there are some great characters, but I didn't find this novel to be as enjoyable as the series debut. There was perhaps a bit too much detail about the building of the floats and flower placement, too much for me, anyway. Britta is still waiting to see if the spark-ridden chemistry she shares with Detective Pete will turn into a romance. The book jumps back and forth between the float-building, her aunt's long-delayed meeting with an old lover, and the violence happening in Portland, which gave it a bit of a disjointed feeling.

Britta seemed to have a lot of common sense but she has a few too stupid to live moments in this one that it's hard to explain. Thanks to Net Galley and the publisher for providing me with an ARC in exchange for my honest review.

I'm a fan of this series which merges flowers and Portland and takes good advantage of both. If you didn't read the first one, Britta is pulling her life back together and working with her aunt Elin who raised her at Elgin's flower shop- and she's finding dead bodies. This time, Elin and Britta are working on a float for the annual parade- and there's lot of really interesting info about that- which is being protested by anarchists. When Sham, the leader of the Dark Fusion, is murdered, Britta of course investigates. In classic cozy fashion, there are red herrings and twists but things aren't too complicated. There's a little romance too. Thanks to Netgalley for the ARC. Try this one!

Thank you to NetGalley and the publisher, for this free eARC.

Violet Tendencies is the second book in The Rose City Mysteries.

Britta and her aunt Elin have been invited to create a float for the city's Rose Festival parade. Their float will be featuring violets and will be judged at the grand parade. There is a group of anarchists called Dark Fusion, who want to disrupt the festives with protests and violence. Soon their leader is found dead, and strangled with violets from Blooma's float.

I enjoyed this second book, and can't wait to see how the third one goes. Looking forward to see where Britta and aunt Elin's romance leads, too. As always, I love all the details that Kate gives us in each book!

Britta runs a flower shop in Portland with her Aunt Elin. This mystery focuses on a float they're building for the Portland Rose Festival parade. An anarchist gang is threatening the event and a murder in the warehouse causes even more fear. Meanwhile, there's some romance between Britta and a detective, and Elin and her long lost love Eric. Sounds like your average cozy mystery, right? But this one was different. The writing makes you feel as if you're there in the midst of the action. And, the characters seemed much more complex than in typical cozy mysteries. They are not just good or bad people. That said, I did figure out who the murderer was pretty early, but something kept me in the story line. I'd highly recommend this book!

Violet Tendencies by Kate E. Dyer-Seeley is the second book in the cozy Rose City Mystery series. Each title in the series has it’s own case to be solved so they could be understood as a standalone however readers would miss some character building not beginning at the start of the series.

In the first book of the series readers met Britta Johnston who had returned home to the aunt that raised her and taken a job in her floral boutique, Blooma, along the banks of the Willamette in Portland, Oregon. Despite the bigger city setting the area in which the story takes place still had a small town feel to it.

Now Britta and her aunt Elin have been invited to create a float for the city’s Rose Festival. The festival however is in danger of being canceled when a group known as Dark Fusion continuously protest the parade but when one of their leaders is found murdered Britta knows they need to find out who is behind it before the whole event is shut down.

As much as I enjoyed the setting and characters in this series unfortunately this second book just did not work for me for several reasons. First, the mystery/murder side of the story did not take place until about a third of the way through which obviously made it incredibly slow moving. A part of that slow pace to me is the constantly going back to step by step flower talk/arranging, at book 2 of a series I expect a little less detail to that side of a story.

But also on that note, the protest angle in here seemed too be a bit too big of a story for a cozy when we go from exploding neighborhoods to arranging flowers on a float, it just didn’t balance well in my mind. I did however appreciate the author’s nod to first responders and all they do though. Overall though I’m going against the majority with this one and only rating at 2.5 stars, it just wasn’t for me but other’s seem to love it so you may still want to give it a try.

I received an advance copy from the publisher via NetGalley.

Britta Johnston has returned to Portland, Oregon and is working at her aunt Elin 's flower shop, Blooma. They are taking part in the city's annual Rose Festival which is a huge tourist draw. Blooma's floral float will feature violets and will be judged at the grand parade. But a group of anarchists called Dark Fusion wants to disrupt the festivities with protests and escalating acts of violence. Then Britta finds their leader Sham strangled with a garland of violets and the Blooma float has been damaged. Britta is determined to finish rebuilding the Blooma float in time for the parade and to find Sham's killer. Long-time Rose Parade participants including the Grand Marshal, former Rose Queens, and veteran volunteers are among the suspects. Tensions rise even further and the Dark Fusion strikes again with more violence. Britta puts her life in danger when she catches the culprit in the act of preparing another attack on the Rose Parade floats.

This was a darker, more violent read than the first book but was still an enjoyable read.

I received an eARC via Netgalley and Kensington Books with no requirements for a review. I voluntarily read this book and provided this review.

Those who follow my blog know I like animal stories and have a strong interest for tales with a garden background. This book features FLORAL design, an off shot of a garden. Britta Johnston has returned to Portland, Oregon to help Aunt Elin with her Floral Shop, Blomma. The shop has been selected for all the FLORAL Designs for the Rose Festival. There is good information on building a float. The Festival events are being chased by a group calling themselves Black Fusion. They hope to disrupt the Parade so it is canceled. Brittany finds the leader of the group dead by Blomma's damaged float. Is Black Fusion successful is halting the events of the parade? How does Blomma's float do in the Parade? I HIGHLY RECOMMEND THIS BOOK AND SERIES. Recipes are included.

Disclosure: Many thanks to NetGalley and Kensington Books for a review copy. The opinions expressed are my own.

I loved the first book Natural Thorn Killers by this Author .
With the annual Rose Festival Britta and aunt Elin entering a float with Violets , it doesn't all go to plan a body is found and a killer on the lose with plenty of twist until the end a great read.
Looking forward to Kate's next book and to see where aunt Elin and Brittas romance leads.
Thanks to Kensington books and netgalley for letting me read this great book for a honest review .

This is the second book in the rose city mystery series. I loved book one and was very excited to get a new portland based cozy by Kate Dyer-Seeley after the incredible conclusion to her pacific northwest adventure series.
In this book we follow Britta as she and her aunt prepare for the Portland Rose Festival floral parade. The biggest festival on the year involves floats covered completely in flowers and organic material and Blooma is hoping to with best design. Unfortunately, the parade is being protested by an anarchist group hell bent on stopping the parade and causing chaos in the city of Portland. Can Britta finish the float in time while solving the mystery of a man found dead at the float warehouse and figuring out the anarchist group's agenda?
Book two focused much more on the plot than book one, which was more into establishing the setting and fleshing out the recurring characters. I feel like Kate Dyer-Seeley is still working on the right balance of the two, but I still enjoyed this book very much. The groundwork has also been laid for an underlying story that includes Tomo's father that hopefully will build throughout the series, as that worked incredibly well in the pacific northwest series and really set it apart from traditional cozys.
I highly recommend this series and I'm looking forward to book three!

In this second book in the Rose City Mysteries (after Natural Thorn Killer), we find Britta Johnston and her aunt Elin getting for the Rose City Festival Parade. Not only does their flower shop, Blomma, have a float in the parade, they are also preparing gifts for each of the visiting dignitaries. The only thing that puts a damper on the festivities is a group of protesters that call themselves Dark Fusion. Britta wants to stay far away from the disturbance, however the Blomma float becomes a crime scene, so Britta feels the need to investigate.

This seemed to be much slower than the last book. In this book the crime did not even take place until a quarter or a third into the book, which left me just wanting it to get to the point already. Even the end sort of petered out rather than coming to a nice, quick, complete conclusion. I do like Britta, her aunt, Pete, and all the rest, but some of the characters felt pulled out just to add a little color to the story rather than build their development at all. I will read the next in the series but wish I would have given this one a miss. I received a copy of this book from NetGalley.

Britta Johnston and her aunt Elin are excited to be decorating a float for the annual Rose Festival in Portland, but an anarchist group has other plans. With marches, threats and disruptions of all types, Dark Fusion keeps the float decorators on edge until one of them is found dead.

An exciting mystery with lots of action and plenty of "scents" of flowers.

I do love this series. This time Britta and her Aunt Elin are working on a float for the upcoming Rose Festival for the city of Portland. It is a great honor for Blooma to have a float and the tension is high as there is so much to get done and on top of that a protest group called Dark Fusion is harassing the volunteers as they go in to work on the floats. Blooma is fortunate to have a long time volunteer Gloria as the crew chief for the float. Aunt Elin is slightly distracted as her former fiancé Eric (they each went their separate ways when Elin chose to raise Britta after her parents died) is arriving from London. The threats from Dark Fusion escalate as the Grand Marshall and former Mayor Ted is threatening legal action against the group. Britta arrives early one morning and no one is there and as she makes her way to the Blooma float only to find one of the leaders of Dark Fusion Sham dead and appears to be strangled in the violets of their float. The red herrings are all over and frankly I was not sure who it was until the very end. This author does a great job of making you feel you are in Portland and part of the excitement of the Rose Festival. Looking forward to the next in this series. Maybe Britta and Elin will visit Eric in London and have a mystery there. Highly Recommend.