I was so intrigued by this premise (city girl inherits her grandparents’ farm only to discover it’s an illegal medical marijuana business) and I love a “city person inherits a (building/business/etc) and has to live in a small town to decide what to do with it” kind of plot.

It was a cute romcom, though the romance was a little flat for me. They’re into each other right away and pretty much are cute and together most of the book. The plot was a bit meandering for me, there was a lot of her adapting to country life and planning a local festival that didn’t really move forward the romance or the weed business plots and just felt like filler.

Overall it was cute if you’re looking for a low-angst romcom!

This was a cute small town romance. The book starts with Emma begrudgingly visiting a farm her estranged grandparents left her. When she goes to the will reading, so many things go wrong and she can’t wait to get back to the big city. However, upon arriving back to the city she finds herself jobless and boyfriendless in no time. At a loss for the first time in her life she runs back to the small town farm to try to lick her wounds and make sense of her life. While at the farm reevaluating her life choices, she meets some of the most interesting people and realizes not all is as it seems, and that maybe what she’s been working for her whole life is not what she really wants. I appreciated the moral dilemma in this story, and how that added an interesting element to this small town romance. A fun quick read with interesting characters, and an interesting twist. I received an ARC, and this is my honest review.

BIPOC Steamy Romance featuring a PR rep who's out of her element after inheriting her grandparents' farm and it's secrets and then meeting and falling for her horticulturist farm manager.

3/5 stars: This is Eden's stand-alone which is a BIPOC Steamy Romance that follows an Atlanta PR rep who's world turns upside down after inheriting her grandparents' farm. When she loses a job she realizes she hates and breaks up with her long-time boyfriend she hasn't been in love with for a long time, she decides to move to the family farm and finds herself living with the farm's British manager who's also a talented horticulturist and creator of hybrid roses. But more changes are in store, when she learns the farm's actually a thriving medical marijuana business that's essential to the whole town. So when it's threatened by outside powers, she'll need a plan, plenty of help from friends and family and she'll need to embrace the love growing between her and handsome Brit she's fallen in love with if their going to have a chance to save the farm. Heartfelt and humorous, Eden's writing and character work are great; the characters are well-rounded, complex and yet remain likable. Emma great and I really like her; she takes all the changes in her life with aplomb and when challenges arise confronts them and tackles them with gusto. Dan's also a dream and I really like seeing him and Emma fall in love and get their HEA. Both are dealing with complicated histories and I appreciated how Eden handled them. The romance is top notch with plenty of swoony banter and the OPS sex scenes are incredibly steamy and very hot. While there are plenty of funny and lighthearted moments, Eden does takes on some very sensitive subjects; so take care and check the CWs.

I received this eARC thanks to NetGalley and Forever (Grand Central Publishing) | Forever in exchange for an honest review. Publishing dates are subject to change.

I thought this was super cute! Nice book to read for autumn! If you love small town romance, with a bit of spice with diverse characters, this is the book for you! For sure

Small Town, Farm, Fish out of Water, this book has it all. I really really enjoyed this one! I’m a sucker for a good small town romance, and this was exactly that. I loved that it took common romance book tropes and moulded them into something new that was just as good and just as exciting!

"'Okay, so we're both running away,' I conceded. 'So what does that make us? Rebels? Outlaws?'
'Human,' Dan answered, 'Just two humans trying to figure things out.'"

Thank you to NetGalley and Forever (Grand Central Publishing) for the eARC.

This story follows Emma, whose life goes from near-perfect to a disaster in just under 24 hours. Not only does she get broken up with, she also gets fired and inherits a farm, which she has no idea what to do with it. Fleeing from the wreckage of her life, she finds solace in her new farm. However, she gets there to learn that the locals don't like outsiders, and the farm manager, Dan, doubts her every move. When she learns that there's something she doesn't know about the farm- a secret that the whole town is in on- she is forced to make a decision. Will she sell the farm and retreat to her old life, or will she stay and save the farm and the town's livelihood?

"You make me feel things that I thought had died years ago."

I enjoyed this book. I thought the romance was pretty well written and I enjoyed the outside plot that was occurring alongside the romance. Overall, I wished the characters would have been even more fleshed out because they just didn't feel real to me. They had thought-out backstories, but for some reason it just lacked a connection for me.

I enjoyed this book a lot! It combined classic rom-com tropes, such as a small town and a fish out of water, with really unique elements like a botanist male main character and a townwide secret. It was very satisfying to see Emma gain confidence and come into her own as a member of the town and capable farm owner. The miscommunication at times made me feel frustrated and like the characters were immature, but overall I felt that this was a very fun and unique story!

I will pick up any romance with a farm involved, and Love in Bloom did not disappoint! It took me a moment to resonate with our fmc, but once she won me over, this took off. This is the most Stars Hollow/Gilmore Girls town I've read in any book, and I can absolutely promise that you will not see the plot twist with the farm coming!

This book is so darn cute!

I loved the setting of the farm and the fish out of water story. The characters were entertaining and kept me interested. There’s plenty of fun adventures and hijinks that made me laugh and smile.

I didn’t want to put this book down!

A story that was more than just a love story! Emmaline aka Emma was a big city PR exec handling celebrities problems with ease when her grandparents disappeared and left her their farm. Danesha aka Dan was her grandparents right hand man that she knew nothing about. Emma’s parents hadn’t spoken to her grandparents in over 20 years and that meant she hadn’t either. Emma and Dan meeting at the will reading was nothing short of fate and their rude beginning changed into love over time. Emma learns what her grandparents had been doing and why they were treasured by this small town. I really enjoyed this story and it may have been a 4.5 minus the use of one word during a spicy scene. I just couldn’t let that go!

I had high hopes for this one, but it really fell flat for me. I didn't really care about the chemistry between the two main characters, it didn't really feel earned to me. I also thought this book being published in 2024 was kind of weird, considering medical marijuana is pretty widely accepted and recreational marijuana is legal many places in the US. I just don't see this book standing up to time.

Thank you to NetGalley, Forever, and Grand Central Publishing for this advanced copy. You can pick up Love in Bloom on November 12, 2024.

This story definitely reads like a Hallmark movie -- classic city girl with the high-paying corporate job gets called out to the country to look after her grandparent's farm she inherited. Meets cute farm hand, breaks up with crappy city boyfriend, sparks fly. It has all the ingredients for a great story, but I just don't think I'm in the mood for it right now and I can't bring myself to keep going. I might pick this one back up at a later time, but at the moment, it's a DNF.

Such a cute read. I had a good time. My first Lucy Eden book and it gave me everything I needed in that moment. I love a good well written small town romance especially one where the characters inherits a farm. It was really predictable but in a good way. I don’t really enjoy male characters playing hard to get especially when the female has to fight for his love. I looked past that because all of my other favorite elements were there. The cover was also a big factor in my rating too.

Thank you to Forever Publishing for the eARC.

I loved the premise of this one. Big city Emma inherits a farm from her estranged grandparents, and she meets the farm manager Dan, at the will reading. Of course, she meets him while she’s trying to change into a dress…in the men’s bathroom. Hijinks ensue.

I loved Dan. He’s so sweet and gentle, taking care of Emma even when she’s acting like a prickly cactus. I do really enjoy how Emma just dives right into farm life; she’s not afraid of hard work. Once the town sees her true self, they embrace her and she flourishes while living the small town life.

I was frustrated at times by the lack of communication throughout the story: from the town, from Dan, from Emma. I understood the big secret but I did wish the characters all talked a little bit more. Otherwise, this was a pretty cute Rom Com with a diverse cast of characters. I always love BIPOC leads!

Cute romance. Small town. Very hallmark- but I don’t think that’s a bad thing just nice to know going into it.

Business lady is going through it and inherited her grandparents farm so she moves away to see what she can do about the farm and reset. Small town guy works on the farm perfecting a rose after a scandal in a UK rose competition.

Cutesy. Spicy. Fun.

Thanks to Netgalley and forever for an eARC.

“Love In Bloom” by Lucy Eden is one of my favorite books of the year! I connected with Emma so much because we are both the same age and at a time in life when we are trying to figure it all out. The story follows Emma Walters, who recently lost her job and her fiancé and inherited a farm from her grandparents, who passed away all within the same week. She leaves her life in Atlanta and embarks on a journey to decide the fate of the farm. She meets Dan, the handsome farm manager with a sexy accent and all the charm in the world. Watching these two become friends and fall for each other was a delight! Dan is the epitome of a true gentleman, and watching Emma find love and discover herself was an absolute delight. The book has an incredible storyline with unexpected twists that kept me eagerly turning the pages to see what Emma would do next and how Dan would win her heart even more. With its perfect blend of spice, humor, and sweetness, I wholeheartedly give it a 5/5!

Overall, this was a quick, cute read with a unique small-town banding together to save the Emma’s family farm. There were aspects that stood out to me from other city-girl-inherits-farm type books and made the story enjoyable, but also there was a level of predictability.

The main relationship is cute, even though Emma’s POV is very lust-at-first-sight while she is still in a relationship. I did like Dan’s backstory and thought it added depth to the story.

Thank you Netgalley and Forever (Grand Central Publishing) for the ARC in exchange for my honest review.

This was a sweet and easy read. It read very Hallmark movie-esque with the big city girl going to a small town. I think overall this was an entertaining read but there were elements that didn’t work for me.

The writing style wasn’t for me. There were moments I felt bored because it felt like the conversations were just two people dumping information at each other and not engaged in actual conversation. It felt robotic and very info dumpy.

I did like the characters and their back stories. They had some trauma to work through which I appreciated. I just wish there was more tension in their romance. It was pretty insta lovey and I feel like I would’ve been more engaged in the book if I felt some angst.

Overall it was okay it left me wanting more. I do think there is a possibility that I’ll like other works from the author.

I really wanted to love this book, but it wasn’t my favorite. I felt like the dynamic between the MCs fell a little flat, the conflict was manufactured, and the spicy scenes felt awkward. I also had a hard time buying into the taboo aspect, especially for a book releasing in late 2024.

It was a very cute small town, with lots of small town characters, but I struggled to get through this one.

2.5 stars!

A cute small town romance but something was missing. This story was doing great for me in the beginning but I felt the story of the grandparents was unfinished and the book felt rushed at the end. I did love that this story showed a career you normally don't see in romance books and that the book was very diverse. I grew bored towards the end and was hoping that more would be explained. Unfortunately, that never happened.