Like a Flower in Bloom

I've read quite a bit of Siri Mitchell's work and I've loved what I've read, but most of the time she writes with a deeper plot than most authors of this genre. And I like that! Like a Flower in Bloom has a bit more humor in it than some of her other books, and I like that, too! In some ways this book reminded me of some of our car trips while my children were growing up. Often my husband would stop the car to identify a plant on the side of the road. Every road trip was a plant identification class.

Like a Flower in Bloom delves deep into the world of botony with Charlotte Withersby and her father rambling the countryside finding various plant specimens to identify them and illustrate them for publication. Charlotte was very talented with the illustrations and loved doing the work, until her uncle stuck his nose into her business insisting she get married. In her uncle's machinations, she meets Miss Templeton, a girl just a bit younger than she is who doesn't want to marry except for true love because she feels that she won't live a long life.

Through the course of the book, both ladies meet Mr Stansbury (a fairly wealthy man with a large collection of plants) and Mr Hopkins-Reeve (the local rector who has been collecting plants because he believes it is expected of him). Charlotte gets involved with both men in connection with their plant collections as a way to get back at her father who hires a Mr Trimble who shows up at their door unexpectedly. She truly doesn't want to get married. Her life has been helping her father since her mother died, and she doesn't want to give it up.

In the author's notes Siri explains how she had to study botany for this book, and like any good author, she knows her subject matter. The research in the times of the novel is also excellently done. Siri always does an outstanding job with intertwining research into her plots. I haven't given much of the plot in my review because to give much more of a synopsis would give away too much of the plot. Five Stars, Two Thumbs Up, and an orchid for your plant collection.

Bethany House provided this book in exchange for my honest review.