Anderson in Bloom
A Novel
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5.0 • 3 Ratings
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- $11.99
Publisher Description
“Like the first bloom after a long winter, Anderson in Bloom warmed my heart and had me kicking my feet all at once. A beautiful, fun, sexy celebrity romance." — Ashley Herring Blake, bestselling author of Delilah Green Doesn't Care
From the author of Love at First Set, a hilariously sexy enemies-to-lovers, second-chance rom-com about a reclusive former child star turned florist whose quiet life is turned upside down when her annoyingly hot ex (and former costar) shows up in town, with plans to write a tell-all memoir.
Former child star Anderson “Andy” Ducharme is hiding—has been for a long time, if she’s honest with herself, which she isn’t.
When she suddenly cut off all ties and left LA six years earlier to work in a flower shop in coastal New England, she wasn’t just running away from toxic relationships, embezzling agents, and all the rest of her Hollywood life; she was running to something… sort of, if you squinted, and if you accepted that what she was running toward was little more than a vacation daydream she had made up with her (in)famous ex, and former costar, Nicole “Nikki” Price.
Then Nikki announces her plan to write a tell-all book about growing up in Hollywood and their tumultuous time on the Nik and Andy show, and Andy’s feelings of hurt and betrayal come rushing back. Emboldened by anger (and maybe one too many drinks), Andy does something very stupid: she texts her ex for the first time in years. No one’s more shocked than Andy when Nikki actually shows up to her small florist shop, looking for answers.
Andy is fully prepared to send Nikki away, but it seems Nikki has some unfinished business as well. Now that she finally knows where Andy’s been hiding, she’s not letting her go so easy. And with each passing encounter, Andy can’t deny the simmering physical attraction that threatens to boil over every time they get close.
But can the two of them really reunite without wrecking Andy’s carefully rebuilt life? Or is she setting herself up for a fresh heartbreak?
TROPES
second-chancecelebritysmall townfwbformer exes
Customer Reviews
Catharsis
Romance novels are a new genre for me. I’ve never believed I could be allowed to enjoy them for so many different reasons, but over the last 11 days I’ve read fully 12 of them, including this one twice, from various authors.
Jennifer Dugan has been the author whose work I haven’t left since starting, and I’ve almost finished her entire discography.
Anderson in Bloom isn’t just my favorite of these, it’s by far my favorite of all 12 romance novels entirely. Moreover, it’s in my top 3 favorite romances regardless of medium.
To try and describe why, please allow me some melodrama as I explain why I titled this review “Catharsis” instead of “cathartic.” The word “cathartic” is a descriptor for the feeling you get from an event, a general point in time. It isn’t sufficient to describe how I feel after my second reading.
To me, Anderson in Bloom is “Catharsis” in the way you’d see a label underneath a painting on display in a gallery. It helps bring focus to what you’re looking it, an emotion to consider, but isn’t necessarily the only one you’ll discover while appreciating the brush strokes and color.
Anderson in Bloom is a watercolor of loss, sorrow, miscommunication. Longing, pining, missing. Of hatred, confusion. And, eventually, forgiveness and love.
Above all of these, for me, stands that word. Catharsis. The emotion I feel most after reading it.
I love and treasure that emotion over nearly all others. It’s subtle and complex. It settles as a warmth in my stomach, melodious and comforting. Just as the finals passages of Anderson in Bloom do this snowy Friday morning in Seattle.
I really love this book. I think you might too.