I thoroughly enjoyed Like a Flower in Bloom. Honestly, the cover drew me to it at first — it’s absolutely perfect for the story! Told in first person,Like a Flower in Bloom is from the perspective of Charlotte, a young woman who has been sequestered at home helping her father with his botany work. Now her uncle and father have decided she should be married and someone else has come in to take her place. She feels completely displaced and out of sorts. The book tells the story of her endeavors to convince her father of how much he needs her while making men fall in love with her. And there are some absolutely wonderful characters around her.

I loved readingLike a Flower in Bloom, but what resonated with me most was the heroine’s deep sense of displacement. How many of us have felt like we just don’t fit no matter which way we turn? Yet through the pages of this story, I was reminded that God does indeed have a place for each of us. And that He turns our stories into things of beauty, even when there are a few valleys along the way. I also enjoyed looking into botany in 1850s England. There is enough richness to delight the most discriminating historical reader. And the romance is sweet and perfect.

And just in case you missed it, last week I was blogging all around the blogosphere. You can catch up with the posts easily enough:

At The GROVE I shared part of my journey of how God wooed me to move from perfectionism to grace…a journey still in progress to be sure!

At the Writer’s Alley, I talked about how to find a place in the publishing world.

And at Inspired by Life & Fiction I wrote about seeking God in the moments of “what’s next?”

In two weeks I’m headed to Brazil for a MBA class trip. I need some new reading material…any suggestions?