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<This is the second novel
in a series.>
When it comes to hidden talents, Delphinium Hayes has a
unique one. She’s a synesthete and knows someone’s best or worst characteristic
with one whiff of a person. Only she will smell their unique floral (or herbal)
scent. For example, honeysuckle means bonded with love, while petunia always
indicates anger and resentment. Her parents have never understood her, and the
one person who did, Annie (her grandmother), has passed away. Her nose always
knows until two men flabbergast her scent-driven world. Mason McCormack, real
estate lawyer, is a player who uses Delphinium’s bouquets to impress and break
up with women, and she cannot smell him. That’s never happened
before.
Then there’s
Elliot Sturgis, the clean-cut, uptight-looking director of The Gardens Assisted
Living Facility who’s so put together that he looks like he should be her
parents’ kid. He smells like violets, and those individuals exude a “high
standard of loyalty and love.” His scent is so intoxicating that she too easily
loses her train of thought. He likes rules and maintaining order. Some of his
mature residents at The Gardens do not appreciate this. They want tater tots
twice a week, and Bob would eat tapioca every day. The residents continue to
hang out at Delphinium’s shop long after the A/C is fixed at The Gardens, and
they no longer have to hang out in Delphinium’s floral refrigerator to keep
cool. The residents claim that Elliot lets them keep coming to her shop,
because he has a crush on her. Sparks are definitely flying, but Delphinium’s
got more on her mind. Her shop is about to be foreclosed on. This shop is her
dream, for she loves flowers, but it’s also her tie to her late grandmother.
How can love bloom when she’s mired in failure?
Moonberry
Lake is a fictional small town in Minnesota, and this second in the Moonberry
Lake series is overall charming. There’s one moment where Delphinium’s
outburst strikes me as childish, and it read as contemporary fiction versus
Christian contemporary fiction, so subtle seems the faith or even faith’s
growth (it is there, though). Delphinium is spirited in her bright, floral
prints, and I chuckled aloud multiple times, just as I teared up when an
earthly goodbye sprouted up. It’s refreshing like a cool drink and sweet, but
not toothache-inducing sweet. As a Minnesotan, I can’t help but adore a
Minnesota setting, even fictional, and Moonberry Lake is exactly the idyllic
town I’d love to visit. Four out of five floral bouquets!
Book One:
On Moonberry Lake
* Disclosure of Material Connection: I received
this book free from Revell Books. I was not required to write a positive
review. The opinions are expressly my own. I am disclosing this in accordance
with the Federal Trade Commission’s 16 CFR, Part 255: “Guides Concerning the
Use of Endorsements and Testimonials in Advertising.”