This book was so fun and different and I loved it. The idea that an entire town is in on a secret about medical marijuana is insane, but amazing. Lucy Eden made this book so enjoyable. The love story was great, the banter was great, everything. I also loved how deep the book got, into grief and how it can affect a family for years. This was a great story and I hope there's more books in this world.

I'm dying that the farm in this story is a medical marijuana farm. That was the first time something like that was mentioned in a book I've read. Anyway, I loved this rom com and this was spicyyyyyyyyyyyyyyy hunniiii. It was small town vibes so you know you're going to love every character here.

This is romantic dramedy perfection!

Very much heart of dixie meets some sort of vivacious Black female lead, and a yummy Indian male lead.
I do adore the pace of this book. I truly fell in love with the characters and found myself rooting for them during the story.
I appreciate even the third act break up and the way the female main character sits and wallows in some of her fails. As well as community and family coming in to help to lift her spirits.

The steam is a great addition to the couples chemistry!

What to expect:
🌾city girl inherits farm
🌾secret family business
🌾long standing chess game
🌾fall festival
🌾Hallmarky farming fails

I was invested in the storyline at the start and loved how Emma stood up for herself, and was determined to carve out a life she was happy with. The romance was sweet, but also moved quickly. I thought the pacing was a little off with things moving fast between them and then little happening but spice once the farm secret was revealed. I'm glad I had forgotten the summary by the time I read this, so the weed farm secret was a surprise for me. I was also surprised to see afterwards that this was actually revealed in the book summary. I think it was more enjoyable not knowing that up front personally. Overall, it was just an okay read for me, though it did have cute aspects

When a woman inherits a farm moments after breaking up with her boyfriend and getting fired the last thing she expects is to start living on said farm with a hot farmer... who happens to also be farming weed. Emma is a publicist from Atlanta and she expected her life to go a certain way but when she gets fired and breaks up with her boyfriend, she discovers that her grandparents had left her a farm in Green Acres Georgia.... but then there is also the matter of the farm manager, the extremely hot British guy named Dan who has her hot and bothered. Emma soon discovers that the farm isn't just any old regular farm.... but something much bigger, a weed farm that caters to the town and helps out, it's the town's biggest secret. Yet Emma has to find. away to save it when the farm is threatened... all the while dealing with her ex who won't leave her alone and her new feelings for Dan. This one just didn't really catch my attention in the way I was hoping it would. The premise is fun and unique and the small town vibes were nice, but I just didn't find myself all that invested in the romance or the characters. It's a fine small town romance and I do think that someone else might enjoy it, but it just felt lacking to me and I just didn't get drawn in the way I was hoping I would.

Release Date: November 12, 2024

Publication/Blog: Ash and Books (ash-and-books.tumblr.com)

*Thanks Netgalley and Forever (Grand Central Publishing) | Forever for sending me an arc in exchange for an honest review*

DNF @ 37%

Unfortunately, the writing in this one was not for me. It felt overly simplistic, and the plot felt kind of silly in a way that I couldn’t quite take seriously.

However, if you like a city girl suddenly moving to a small farm, this could be for you!

I love this book. Remi was a totally relatable FMC. She struggled with accepting help and was very independent. Like many people can relate to, she found herself feeling like she just didn’t belong in her current life and relationship. She wasn’t happy anymore. When she inherits her estranged grandparents farm, she is opened up to a whole new lifestyle. Her connection with Dan was undeniable. There were times I teared up but also lots of times I laughed. I read the majority of it with the physical book but I did listen to a couple of chapters as well with Libro.fm and I enjoyed the narrator. This book has a lot of character growth, it has romance, found family. Truly a great read. Excited to read whatever Lucy writes next!

Emma is a successful businesswoman with a PR career and politically driven boyfriend. However things start going wrong after a trip to her grandparent's hometown for the reading of their will. She finds out that they have left their farm to her. After she returns home, she has a disaster at work and gets fired. This leads her to break up with her perfect on paper boyfriend and a decision to return to the farm to try to start over again. She soon finds the farm and its attractive manager, Dan Pednekar are not quite what they seem.

I really loved this book. Emma and Dan had incredible chemistry from the start and really charming banter. I loved the town and how the people all ended up taking Emma in and making her part of the family. I thought that the town secret was really interesting and heartwarming. Emma's family story really broke my heart but it really contributed to her growth as a character. I have hope that we might get some more stories set in this town in the future. This was my first Lucy Eden book but it will not be my last.

Thank you to NetGalley and Forever for the ARC in exchange for an honest review.

Love in Bloom by Lucy Eden

Rating: 4/5 ⭐️⭐️⭐️⭐️
Spice: 2/5 🌶️🌶️

Thank you to Forever Publishing, Hachette Book Group, Netgalley, and Lucy Eden for access to this ARC in exchange for an honest review!

This book was super cute and so much fun! It was such a cozy read and I loved seeing how the MCs both grew while following along on the FMC’s small town journey. Seeing how Emma finds herself throughout this story, even as she took on farming and small-town life, was both entertaining and inspiring.

There were tons of awesome adventures while also having a deeper storyline as Emma tries to figure out why her parents were not close to her grandparents. The family aspect was interesting and strengthened the overall storyline. The MCs trauma was highlighted while still remaining upbeat/positive all in all. Emma and Dan had great chemistry and there is spice throughout. This had perfect small-town vibes and seeing Emma do whatever it took to ensure that nothing happened to the town was so wonderful!

Overall, this was a sweet and heartwarming read that I’d recommend for all who are looking for a cozy romance read!

Tropes:
- Small town romance
- Found family
- City girl FMC
- Grumpy MMC
- Family secrets/drama

Imagine you meet a man who loves flowers more than people
Imagine you meet a man by accident because you're in the wrong bathroom on a very important day (not knowing the day is important for him too)
Imagine meeting a man that knows more about your family than you but it's your parents fault
Imagine your grandparents that your barely remember leaving you their farm
Imagine everyone in the town being skeptical about you because they all depend on said farm
Imagine that same man lives on said farm
Imagine that same man you actually find attractive

Dan and Emma were so cute to me, Teddy and his family are jerks and I am glad that Emma and Dan were both mature enough to work out their problems. Dan is the man!

DNF Details

How far did I get? I listened to an hour or two of the audiobook before switching over to the ebook and then ultimately skimming.

Why did I stop? I was not feeling the story at all, unfortunately. That cover is absolutely adorable and I've heard good things about Eden's writing, but it was clear from the start that this wasn't going to be a win for me. The heroine has a long-term boyfriend when the book begins, yet she's lusting over the hero almost immediately. There are over 200 mentions of her boyfriend throughout the book, so it's not like she dumps him at the beginning and then connects with the hero - the OM drama is present throughout. Definitely not my personal preference to just keep hearing about a past relationship while I'm trying to connect with the new one. The cover gives off such sweet and swoony vibes, I wasn't expecting to encounter that much drama.

Was I enjoying it initially? No, the red flags popped up pretty quickly, and there was no going back after that. Technically speaking, this should be a fun, fish out of water romance, with our city girl heroine re-evaluating her life after inheriting a farm. I was excited to get to that part of the story, but it took a LOT of stops and starts for me to get that far - every time I would try to pick it back up, something would pull me right out again.

Would I finish this? I would not. Looking at other reviews, very few people have rated it as 5 stars, so I'm okay with leaving it unfinished.

Who would I recommend this to? Fans of fish out of water romances who don't mind some OM drama.

I appreciated that the leads were characters of color and that the plot was different. The female lead was annoying. The male lead was bland. I didn't care about their story.

Love in Bloom is a sweet, steamy rom com set in a small town. Emma is a successful PR exec whose life gets flipped upside down after her grandparents leave her their farm, she makes a huge mistake that costs her job, and her seemingly picture perfect relationship ends.

Life on the farm is an entirely different pace. She meets Dan (in a pretty hilarious manner) the farm manager who takes care of the plants and flowers, and is keeping a secret about what lies behind a locked door. The folks in the town seem to harbour a grudge against Emma, and she yearns to unearth more about why.

I liked a lot of the charm and quirks of this rom com. I wish the chapters had been a bit shorter and that the tipping point of the conflict had been less frustrating. For someone who was such a helper in her soul and prolific in her PR career, it was tough to believe everything came crashing down so quickly. I liked that the story had grit, and the spice was spicy! 3.5 rounded up to 4.

Big thanks to Netgalley and Forever for the opportunity to read this ARC in exchange for my honest review.

This is definitely a romance but I think it's equally about Emma's journey as a person. Emma learning how she fits into the town and falling in love with it was fun to read. I feel like this is a pretty unique take a girl inheriting her family's farm and I liked it. Dan was such a good guy who was in love with Emma from the moment he met her.

I received an arc through netgalley.

I stopped reading after the big reveal at 35%. Just no.

Thanks, NetGalley, for the ARC I received.

3.5 stars! This book is about a woman who’s down on her luck and moves to a small-town farm willed to her by her late grandparents. I don’t want to harp on the romance too much here because I felt like the romance was secondary to the main character’s growth. The romance aspect was fine, albeit almost instant love, but the more interesting part of this story lies with the found-family and character growth. I enjoyed how the town grew to be a place where she felt at home. She built relationships that are really strong. I also really enjoyed the cultural representation!

There’s a moral dilemma in this book that I struggled with. I, personally, don’t take issue with the actual dilemma in the book, but the fact that there is one to begin with makes this story a little less enticing for me. It could have been any moral dilemma and I’d still feel the same way.

That said, if you enjoy books that take place in small towns, found-family, and sweet love, this book is a great read. It’s fast, easy and enjoyable.

3.5 stars

Emma comes into an unexpected inheritance from her estranged grandparents - their beloved farm. She has to contend with this surprise, and Dan, the farm manager. She doesn’t know why she inherited it or what her plans are, but Dan and the community await anxiously. All this comes at a pivotal time in her life when she has to decide if she’ll be happy as a trophy wife to her fiancé, an ambitious politician, while she gives up her own ambitions and happiness.

This jumpstarts Emma’s journey to self-discovery, and also to uncovering family secrets. She and Dan get off to a rocky start. I realized during this part that I don’t particularly like this sub trope of a potential love interest being openly hostile to the other when the other has no clue why. And then they start to fall for each other, and I’m still back here simmering in the hostility that the story built up 🤷🏽‍♀️ Anyway, once I caught up I enjoyed their growing romance. Dan’s a surprising hero. I also liked getting to know the various townsfolk and their stories. What Emma learns as she gets to know them better is definitely life changing.

Highlights:
🐓 Adversaries-to-lovers, spicy, open door
🐓 Family drama/secrets
🐓 Small town, tight community
🐓 Strong FMC
🐓 BIPOC rep (Black & South Asian)

Be aware of: miscommunication trope, mention of illness, smarmy ex

Overall a pleasant and enjoyable read that respectfully brings up a topical issue. Lucy Eden is a new-to-me author and I’d be interested in reading more from her.

Thanks to @readforeverpub for my ALC in exchange for an honest review. 𝗟𝗼𝘃𝗲 𝗶𝗻 𝗕𝗹𝗼𝗼𝗺 is available November 12th.

Love in Bloom is a small-town romance following Emma, a well known publicist, whose life is turned upside down after she is fired and inherits her grandparents' farm all in the same week. With her relationship on the rocks and no job to keep her in the city, Emma flees to the farm in the hopes of discovering more about herself and her family. When she is met with Dan, the farm's subsequent manager, Emma is forced to decide if she is willing to push aside her previous beliefs about small-town living and her new role all while falling for the charming horticulturist.

This was a very cute and simple read! The small town was full of busy bodies and I thought it was so sweet how everybody was concerned for Emma, Dan, and the farm. I absolutely loved the relationship between the two, they were so understanding of one another, Dan was such a gentleman but always willing to call Emma out on herself. While I did enjoy the romance, I wish there was more plot and something to liven up the writing. I found the book to be a little boring and just wish it had an extra element to keep me engaged the whole way through. While this may not be my favorite read, I think it will work for a lot of people and lovers of cozy romances with low stakes and medium heat!

Love in Bloom by Lucy Eden starts with a lot of charm—a city girl thrown into small-town chaos, complete with an unexpected farm inheritance and a gruff, skeptical farm manager named Dan, who initially resents Emma's presence but gradually warms up to her. Emma's misadventures immediately drew me in as she tried to adjust to her new life, fumbling through rural life with plenty of humour. The quirky townsfolk and their collective mystery added a nice layer, hinting that there was more to Green Acres than met the eye.

But I hit a lull in the middle, and the story just seemed to stall. Emma's struggles felt repetitive, and while the town's mystery, a series of unexplained events that seemed to be connected to Emma's inheritance, lingered, the pacing slowed down so much that it started to lose some of its spark. It was a bit of a slog to get through, and I found myself hoping for something—anything—to shake things up.

Luckily, the last section was delivered. The stakes ramped up, and Emma finally had to take charge, bringing the story back to life. The finale was enjoyable, especially seeing Emma's growth and how she understood and cared for the community around her. Ultimately, it was a pleasant read, but the mid-book slowdown held it back for me.

I was really enjoying this book until she discovered the pot growing operation in the greenhouse. I probably would have continued reading if the story took place where growing pot was legal but it’s not legal in Georgia and I’m not interested in reading about criminals.