I received an ARC from the publisher via NetGalley in exchange for an honest review. All opinions are my own.

This is my first book by Sarah Morgan, but I’ve occasionally heard her books mentioned by others, and based on my experience with this one, it won’t be my last. This is a heartwarming story about family being about more than blood, with the main characters each finding (or redefining) their place in the family unit.

I really felt for orphaned Flora who never really felt like she belonged anywhere due to losing her mother at a young age. And the sweet relationship that develops between her and Jack was made even more compelling by the way he begins to welcome her into his still grief-stricken family, leading to an evolving relationship with his two daughters: the younger, Molly embraces her relatively quickly, while the elder, Izzy, does not.

I enjoyed getting Izzy’s perspective as well, because while it seemed at first to be a story where the daughter has to deal with “dad’s new girlfriend” that she’s hostile to, there’s depth to it, by exploring a revelation about her mother that puts her off balance and has her questioning her identity and place in the family. And the addition of Clare’s perspective as the best friend to Jack’s late wife Becca, while not my favorite parts of the novel, further contextualizes the way they are dealing with grief, as well as the reality of who Becca was.

I enjoyed this book and its sweet story about family and healing from loss. I recommend this to anyone looking for a cozy, heartwarming contemporary read.

I have not read this author before, but will look for more of her books. She tells a story well. The book for me was more about family and grief than it was about the relationship between Flora and Jack. I felt the relationship wasn't fully developed well, but the author did well with the relationship between Flora and Izzy. A very real, honest book that is relatable to those who are entering a relationship where there are children.

I swear, Sarah Morgan is one of the best authors out there for characterization! She weaves together these interesting and well-paces stories with characters who feel like real people and go on journeys of personal growth and love. Family for Beginners is no different. I loved everything about it.

Flora is a single woman with a traumatic past who has always tried to form herself into a person other people will love, but with little success. She's orphaned and lonely, longing for a real family. Until the day Jack walks into the flower shop where she works and she finally finds someone she can be herself with. Jack is a widower with two daughters, one of them a teenager holding lots of pain and anger tightly inside. Introducing Flora into the mix threatens her shaky sense of security and causes her to throw up walls. Can the family come together in love and healing or will grief and secrets tear them apart?

All of the characters in the book (including Jacks wife Becca who isn't even alive!) feel thoughtfully drawn and fully fleshed out. Flora is on a journey toward bravery and vulnerability that will allow her to love and be loved, and other characters are growing as well. This has a beautiful picture of love, family, forgiveness, true intimacy, and allowing others to be imperfect. Highly recommend reading this and any other books by her really! I received an advance copy of this book for review via NetGalley. All opinions are my own.

Flora and Jack meet when he visits the Florist where she works to buy flowers for his daughter's birthday. He's a widower with two daughters and she's single, struggling with being orphaned as a child, being raised by her maiden aunt.

It's a story of family, friendship, and secrets. You can either let the secrets overtake your life or face them heads on, relying on the love of friends and family to help you through.

It's a story of resilience and of truth winning at the expense of secrets. A great story, perfect for your summer beach read.

I received a free ARC eBook from Net Galley and the publisher in exchange for my honest opinions.

Whenever I pick up a book by this very talented author, I know it will be a winner, and this one is no exception.
Flora Donovan is a florist in New York who loves her shop. But the shadows of her past seems to always hover over her.
Little did she know that the moment Jack Parker enters her shop, life would never be the same.
While a friendship starts to blossom, Izzy, Jack’s teenage daughter, is struggling with the loss of her mother, and the feeling that she has to help and be responsible for her Dad and younger sister.
This still suffering teenager’s life is turned upside down when Flora is invited to the family’s summer vacation.
In this at times heartbreaking as well as heartwarming story, we are reminded of the effects ones childhood has on our present and adult life. How grief is expressed differently by each person no matter their age. How fear of losing love sometimes keeps us from risking loving either for the first time, or again. How love comes in all forms and shapes.
Will they all be able to piece together their hearts and hopes to become a new family and find happiness, or will fear keep them from achieving that wonderful place.
Thank you , Ms. Morgan , for another incredibly touching and exception story.
I was entrusted a copy of this book by Netgalley and HQN books. The opinions expressed are solely my own.

Thank you to NetGalley, Sarah Morgan and the publishing company for an early copy of this book in exchange for an honest review.

I thoroughly enjoyed every page of this book and was very sad when it ended. The way the author flipped from one character to the other while keeping things hidden to the very end was brilliant.

I resonated with Izzy while understanding every single thing that Flora felt and went through. I loved the way this book ended and this author is now one of my favorites.

The heart of this book is family. Wanting it, needing it, creating it... I don't think I was fully prepared for the emotional response I had when reading this book. It was welcome but a little bit of a departure from my reactions when I read other books by Sarah Morgan! Well done!

Family For Beginners
Sarah Morgan

Sarah Morgan’s latest women’s fiction bravely goes where too few novels take readers, into the depths of family dysfunction brought on by a sudden and unexpected death. Covering not only loss and grieving but the guilt and anger that often accompanies these kinds of losses then she throws a wrench of the remaining parent finding a new love. Her characters are all really good but especially father and daughter Jack and Izzy who have some huge obstacles to overcome which Sarah handles beautifully. She also handles the budding romance between Jack and Flora and the tension between Izzy and Flora perfectly. The vacation in the quaint English countryside and the addition of the long time friends across the pond gives readers a deeper knowledge of where this family came from and where they’re going. The standout is definitely the scene where Jack and Flora first meet; the lost look Sarah describes on Jack’s face is so real. As usual Sarah’s compelling storytelling, her descriptive narrative and tight storyline make this an up all night one sitting read.

Flora Donovan has been an outsider since her mother died when she was five and left her in the care of her single aunt who only saw her as baggage. She’s always longed for a family to call her own, so when a man walks into her flower shop a recent widower and a sudden single parent to two grieving girls she thinks she might have found everything she’s ever wanted. That is until she walks into a father daughter battleground and war of wills.

Jack Parker’s up a creek without a paddle trying to deal with life without his wife and caring for his two daughters, Molly who’s seven and Izzy seventeen. Then he meets a real breath of fresh air in Flora but he’ll need to keep her in the dark about his family’s secrets or she’ll for sure run for the hills.

Izzy battles the pain of losing her mom and the guilt she feels about unresolved issues with her by trying to take her place, taking care of her sister Molly and her dad. So when her dad brings home another woman Izzy decides to show her there’s no vacancy in this family.

This is not my first Sarah Morgan book and it won't be my last!!! I love her stories that usually are based around family relationships with a touch of quirky or dysfunctional mixed in. Her characters always have unique relationships with each other and Family for Beginners is no different. I believe she touched a very common thread in today's society with remarriages complicated by children. It was interesting for Flora to get feedback from Izzy and Molly as to how "perfect" their mother was and for Jack to stay silent about Becca until the bottom falls out and then the truth prevails. To have Clare and her family involved as well really rounded out the story. I recommend this book if you want a poignant story with lots of heart and at the same time some humour which a couple of times were laugh out loud funny!!

Flora Donovan's father deserted her before she was born. Her mother died when she was eight and she grew up with an aunt who saw her as baggage. Her past has made her very sensitive to others who are hurting. And she sees the daughters of Jack Parker hurting. He came into the flower store where she worked and was immediately intrigued. A widower for almost a year, he knows his daughters are in pain but he isn't able to see how deep. When he introduces Flora to seventeen-year-old Izzy and seven-year-old Molly, it doesn't go well but he isn't able to see.
And I think Morgan does a good job of showing the emotions of each character and the blocks that each one has as well. The book was a bit narrow compared to some of others of Morgans books -- the focus is super tight mainly on Izzy and Flora but I strangely felt like they were a bit one-dimensional as well in places. Definitely on par with others of Morgan's books that aren't strict romances (though there is an HEA here) but didn't pull on as much emotion as others.

Three and a half stars
This book comes out May 5th
ARC kindly provided by Harlequin Romance and NetGalley
Opinions are my own

The heroine is so passive that is impossible to root for her. The male character is so oblivious it borders on neglect.

Another great romance from Sarah Morgan. This author is so good at exploring the inner lives of her characters and making us care about them. Flora, orphaned as a little girl, grew up without much love, and yearns for a family. She finds one in a tentative new romance with a widower and his two young daughters. Lots of complications get in the way, but once they are all together on a three week vacation to visit an old friend in England's beautiful Lakes District, they are forced to figure out how to become a family. This is beautifully written and just about impossible to put down!

This was definitely a feel good quick read. I felt it was well done by switching between the daughter and the girlfriend.

This book is a women’s fiction dealing with family and friends. I had a hard time relating to a couple of characters but as the story unfolds you realize the reasons why they feel the way they do. This book is full of emotion and I really enjoyed reading this story

Secrets abound in this new Women's Fiction from Sarah Morgan.

You can't choose your family, right? Um...maybe not.

This story is about 4 women, although we only 3 of them on the page. The 4th, Becca, is dead, but her death profoundly influences the 3 remaining women, Flora, Claire, and Izzy.

I will admit for most of the book I didn't like the characters of Izzy and Flora. There are 2 bog secrets revealed throughout the pages that I won't spoil, but when they are given the light of day I did see both of them in a different way. Their motivations and actions became apparent and I was able to look at them with objective eyes.

This story is, at it's essence, about something near and dear to me: families. What makes a family? Who should be included? Can you choose your family and even can you walk away from them? ALl very intense questions, and surprisingly, all answered in this book.

This wasn't my very favorite Sarah Morgan ever, but she is definitely a one click author for me and this story proves why.

Thank you to Netgalley for a sneak peek.

4 stars.

Family for Beginners is a romantic and emotional journey that brings out so many emotions for the reader. Sarah Morgan pulled out all the stops in this heart-warming novel.

3.5⭐️Flora was seeking someone to love her, accept her and include her. She was craving the family life she missed out on as a child. She meets Jack, a widower, with two children who are still very much grieving their mother. They fall for each other but have to overcome barriers to stay together. For the first half of the book, Flora’s character was like-able but frustrating since she was defined by her people-pleasing personality. This was a slow burn romance focusing much more on family dynamics and growing individually as well as within a family. Told from three perspectives, the story unfolded nicely and I felt more engaged in the second half. Flora found her inner voice and starting taking charge of her life. The relationships within Jack’s family and Clare’s Family were well built. The lake home was beautifully described and made me quite envious. I felt I didn’t have a good grasp on Jack and Floras relationship. They were very close, yet not deep, and we didn’t witness them having any real conversations before their trip to Clare’s lake home. That part was missing for me to feel more attached to them as a couple. I felt the rest of the relationships were much more well defined. Izzy and Molly were lovely daughters with a well built tight bond. I enjoyed this and recommend it.

Thanks to NetGalley and Harlequin-Romance for the chance to read this and offer my own opinion.

Family for Beginners illustrates why Sarah Morgan should be on the must read list for every lover of good women’s fiction. This story revolves around a Flora, woman who has great insecurities about her self worth and widower Jack and his daughters Izzy and Molly. When the girls’ mother, Becca, died Izzy took over running their house and the mothering of her younger sister. Her dad’s new relationship with Flora threatens her sense of belonging. Now Jack has invited Flora to join the family on a three week trip to England to a place that will always remind the girls of their perfect mother...the home of Becca’s best friend, Clare. As the story unfolds each character has to face their insecurities, their fears, and secrets about Becca. The characters are so well defined as are their motives that this reader felt a real connection to their struggles. It was a wonderfully insightful read. I voluntarily reviewed an advance copy of this book from NetGalley. Most highly recommend.

This story is beyond beautiful. I loved every part of it. The friendships, the romance, the children and the flowers.
Exquisitely written tale of what a family means. What love means. The happiest of endings but I could have kept reading about these characters forever.