This book drew me in from the very beginning. It was extremely effective to tell this multilayered survival story from the main character’s point of view. This was her story from the very beginning and I was with her all the way.

In some ways, it reminded me of Delia Owen’s Where the Crawdad Sings, not in the story per se but the magical backdrop of the marshes of North Carolina for Kya in that book and Leandra/Leigh in South Carolina and ultimately Alabama. The similarities between them is of a young girl abandoned without having any of the tools needed to connect to the world. Leandra/Leigh, our main character here is just that young woman and by her telling us her story as she sees it, we are in the world of someone raised off the grid by a schizophrenic father and abused mother. She is expected to protect her younger sister from the evil of the larger world. Leigh is the lone survivor of that family. We don’t know why or how until much later.

At the book opens, Leandra is a prisoner being transported from one prison to another. We don’t know why she is in prison but overtime the reader can start filling in some of the blanks. The prison bus speeds off the road and plunges into a river. Leandra, having been taught to breathe underwater for long periods of time, is the sole survivor. She takes money from the dead prison guards and walks into the woods to hide. When she gets as far as she can on foot, she takes a bus far away from the accident scene. The bus, however, breaks down and Leandra stays, first as a housekeeper at a campgrounds and then is hired at a wildflower farm on a nearby island. This is where the story takes off.

Leandra, now Leigh, is drawn to the owner Jackson, who has a big dream for his farm. Jackson has a personal history that makes him perceptive and empathic. Leigh makes a family with Jackson and his two workers, Luke and Caleb among the flower gardens her sister loved. It is on the farm that she is able to process her grief, accept the past, relinquish some of her guilt, and face the demons that consume her.

She is a fully developed character as is Jackson who tenderly helps her in her journey. The writing is lyrical and in some cases mesmerizing, although I think overwritten in parts. Leigh is a character that will remain with me. With help and the loving guidance of the characters on the wildflower farm, she finds enough peace within herself to do the hardest thing of all.

I highly recommend this novel. It is a beautiful read and shows us that even in the deepest despair, redemption is possible when the circumstances are right. I plan to read this writer's other books. She is a gifted storyteller.

Many thanks to Netgalley and Sourcebooks (Landmark) for the opportunity to read this advanced reading copy and provide an honest review.

Where the Wildflowers Grow is one of those quietly powerful novels that sits with you long after the final page. It’s a story about loss, healing, and the winding, unexpected paths that love can take to find us—even when we think we're not ready.

The story follows the journey of a woman trying to put the pieces of her life back together after profound trauma. What unfolds is a beautifully written narrative about rediscovering self-worth, making peace with the past, and allowing yourself to be vulnerable again. The writing is tender without being overly sentimental, and Terah Shelton Harris has this rare ability to make the emotional weight of her characters feel both deeply personal and universally human.

At its heart, this is a love story—but not just romantic love. It’s about loving yourself after you've been broken, learning to trust again, and realizing that sometimes, the person who sees you most clearly—the one you were meant to find—appears when you least expect it. There's a soul-deep connection between the main characters that feels earned, not rushed. It’s a reminder that love doesn’t always come in fireworks; sometimes it comes in steady warmth, in growth, in the quiet blooming of wildflowers.

If you enjoy stories with emotional depth, strong character development, and a focus on healing and second chances, this book is a must-read.

Thank you to NetGalley and Sourcebooks for the advanced reader’s copy in exchange for an honest review.

"Flowers aren't that different than people. They need a little love, a little attention."
This is a book about survival, heartbreak, love, friendship and so much more!
How does a young woman survive so many terrible, life changing happenings and yet learns through people she has met among wildflowers that "life does go on" once you learn to open up within your mind.

I opened up the book and was immediately caught in Leigh's journey.
I needed to go with her to see how her life would evolve and it was incredible!

I highly recommend this story to anyone. It is inspiring and definitely heartfelt!
Thank you to @NetGalley and to @SOURCEBOOKS Landmark for this wonderful ARC and allowing me to read and provide my own review.

Like her previous two novels, this one by Harris is one of those wonderfully delicious books that begs you to read immediately! Leigh is on a prison bus when it crashes and everyone drowns except for her, Walking a long distance, she arrives at a flower farm where Jack, the owner, takes her in and gives her a job cleaning cabins. Terrified of someone discovering who she is, she does what she's told, keeps her head down, and never accepts a compliment as she is used to hard work. Things unfold slowly but it's such a lyrical, lovely novel that I cried often as Leigh realizes that your scars are "a reminder of what happened or proof that you survived."
Thanks to NetGalley for this ARC!

Oh my gosh, this book was so emotionally intense, but in the best way. Watch Leigh work through her trauma and grief was so heart-wrenching, but the outcome was so beautiful to read. The characters in this book were well written and getting to hear parts of their past helped understand them better. I love reading about found families, brings me so much joy. Now there were some things I don't prefer reading about, but I understand how important it was for Leigh's journey.

Thank you NetGalley for an ARC of this book.
I enjoyed every part of this story. Such a sweet story of survival, finding yourself and finding love along the way.

WHERE THE WILDFLOWERS GROW is a love story! Harris unveils the complexities of love of family, community, romance, and self in a picturesque Alabama town. Although Leigh is a convicted murderer, you are rooting for her and Jackson to find a way to their "Happily Ever After".

Praises for Harris for such a well-written piece.! WHERE THE WILDFLOWERS GROW is a book to be savored and not rushed! The characters are believable and the imagery allows the reader to smell the flowers on the Flower Farm.

Where the Wildflowers Grow is a breathtaking meditation on survival—not just of the body, but of the heart, the spirit, and one’s sense of self after unimaginable loss.

Leigh’s story is not a light one—how could it be, when it begins in the wreckage of a prison bus crash? But what Terah Shelton Harris does so brilliantly is to offer light through the cracks. With prose that’s both raw and deeply compassionate, Harris invites us to walk beside a woman who has forgotten what it means to live, and watch as she begins to remember—through the rhythm of the earth, the quiet kindness of strangers, and the persistence of things that bloom in spite of everything.

The flower farm setting is more than just atmospheric—it becomes a metaphor for slow, organic healing. There’s something quietly radical about the way this book frames redemption not as a dramatic turnaround, but as a series of small, brave choices: to stay, to trust, to let someone in. And in Jackson—flawed, gentle, and real—we find not just a love interest, but a symbol of the kind of steady presence that trauma survivors are rarely granted in fiction.

But perhaps the most powerful element here is the exploration of identity and memory. Leigh is not simply running from the law—she’s fleeing the ruins of a life she never had the power to build in the first place. Watching her rediscover herself, not through grand epiphanies but in quiet routines and acts of care, is profoundly moving.

This isn’t a story about flowers and romance on the surface—though it delivers both with grace—it’s a story about how we piece ourselves back together, how we learn to trust the soil we once thought too barren to grow anything. It’s tender, atmospheric, grounded, and at times heart-wrenching, but never without hope.

Deepest thanks to NetGalley and Sourcebooks Landmark for sharing this remarkable and emotional women’s fiction digital reviewer copy with me in exchange for my honest thoughts.

This story takes us into the world of Leandra, whose life we follow through challenges and transformation. It is a tale of healing, survival, and the strength one can find when faced with life at its most difficult. Leandra’s journey is serious and often harsh, but it stands as a powerful testament to human resilience and hope.

I loved this book, I was not sure where everything was going with the writing style at first and the striking imagery. It really settled into a flow and I was hooked as we uncovered Leigh’s story.

If you love a good love story and you have a love for flowers, definitely, definitely grab this book when it hits shelves February 17th of 2026. Those two things alone were enough to draw me in...those plus the success I knew Terah Shelton Harris had enjoyed as an author with Summer in Savannah and Long After We Are Gone; but, this book is about so much more than romance and flowers.

Let's talk about abuse, about fleeing, about almost giving up, about confronting grief, about finding love, about survival.

We first meet our protagonist, Leigh/Leandra, as she survives a bus crash, careening off of a ravine into a river, as a prison transport. Whoa...as if that doesn't grab our attention, Harris expertly places her in Alabama, specifically in the rural Alabama Black Belt. Harris utilizes her setting so exquisitely as Leigh ends up in Wilcox County, AL, in Gee's Bend, an actual settlement (pop. 208) known for their heirloom quilts and their Airing of the Quilts Festival as well as their Annual Cahaba Lily Festival. Masterfully, both of these actual festivals play into the storyline. The setting so beautifully enhances the love story and the quest for survival as Harris teaches her reader of such rural communities' challenges and especially of their limited economic opportunities and then also their attempt of overcoming their gradual loss of population.

Little by little Leigh's past is disclosed as the story progresses - living off the grid with a depressed, abusive, alcoholic, gambling addicted father and a mother who was starved for attention. She thinks of her younger sister, Lila, often; however, it's not until the end that we learn Leigh's (Leandra's) entire story.

Leigh eventually winds up at Jackson Flower Farm where her past is kept secretive for a good part of a year. Yes, a romance ensues, but there's so much more to this story.

I was so excited to receive a copy of this ARC from NetGalley and SOURCEBOOKS Landmark. I highly recommend it. It's a read that's good for the soul. 4.5 stars

This was a beautiful story about found family, healing, and discovering one’s purpose.

If you’ve read previous books by TSH, you know that she can develop characters who have experienced serious trauma. However, she can also showcase their recovery and growth and the ways life can surprise us and take our stories in unexpected directions. And the romantic elements are so tender and well done.

I loved the flower farm and small town setting. This gave vibes of the tv shows Queen Sugar and Virgin River.

There’s a scene where a character says, “He’s holding his joy higher than his grief.” That line and that intention will stay with me.

If you're looking for a beautifully written story that blossoms with emotion, resilience, and hope, Where the Wildflowers Grow by Terah Shelton Harris is a book that will leave you feeling inspired. This soulful novel takes you on a journey through life's ups and downs, set against the vivid backdrop of nature's resilience—wildflowers flourishing against all odds. Harris masterfully crafts characters who are real, relatable, and deeply human, each battling their own struggles while finding moments of grace and renewal. The narrative weaves between their stories, highlighting themes of healing, self-discovery, and the importance of community. The lyrical prose paints a picture of wildflowers blooming in unexpected places, symbolizing strength in vulnerability. What truly captivated me was how Harris balanced heartfelt emotion with uplifting messaging. The storytelling feels genuine, with tender moments that made me smile and poignant scenes that touched my soul. The pacing is steady, allowing time to savor each character’s growth while keeping the story engaging. A small critique: at times, some plot threads felt slightly rushed or could have been expanded for more depth. However, these minor hiccups don’t detract from the overall beauty of the book. In summary, Where the Wildflowers Grow is a charming, inspiring read perfect for anyone who appreciates stories of resilience and renewal. Harris’s lyrical voice and heartfelt storytelling earned this one a well-deserved 4 stars. Highly recommended for fans of feel-good, soul-searching fiction!

This was such a good book. I loved the story and the writing so much. The characters were great and the story flowed smoothly. Will definitely read more books by this author in the future.