Victoria Jones grew up in the foster care system and now she’s 18 years old and ‘aged out’ of the system. She’s got a temporary home and is told she will need to find a job so she can pay the rent. She’s not interested in finding a job, until she comes across Renata’s flower shop and asks if she needs any help. Renata takes pity on her and once she realises that Victoria has a magical gift working with flowers, she gives her a job for two days a week. Pretty soon customers find their way to Victoria and her gift, she uses the language of flowers that one of her foster mothers taught her.
The book has flashbacks to Victoria’s past with Elizabeth, the woman who taught her about flowers. Elizabeth wanted to adopt Victoria, but something happened that tore them apart.
Vanessa Diffenbaugh weaves the past through current day narrative like the vines in Elizabeth’s vineyard. The romance between Elizabeth’s nephew Grant and Victoria in the current day is not all warm and fuzzy as one would normally expect in a book – but then again Victoria isn’t a warm and fuzzy person, she’s more complicated.
I absolutely loved this book!
Read for the PopSugar Reading Challenge 2025
Prompt 40: A book about chosen family
Rating: ⭐️⭐️⭐️⭐️⭐️
