Coming Up Roses

Staci Hart — 2019

Everyone hates parts of their job.Maybe it's the paperwork. Maybe it's the day-to-day grind. Maybe it's that client who never knows what they want, or the guy who always cooks fish in the microwave.But not me. I love every corner of the Longbourne Flower Shop, every flower, every petal, every stem. I love the greenhouse, and I love Mrs. Bennet, my boss. I love creating, and I love being a florist. I don't hate anything at all.Except for Luke Bennet.The Bennet brothers have come home to help their mom save the flower shop, and Luke is at the helm. His smile tells a tale of lust, loose and easy. He moves with the grace of a predator, feral and wild. A thing unbridled, without rules or constraint. When he comes home to save Longbourne, I almost can't be mad at him. Almost.He doesn't remember that night I'll never forget. That kiss, touched with whiskey and fire. It branded me like a red-hot iron. But it meant nothing to him.Everyone hates part of their job, and I hate Luke Bennet.Because if I don't, I'll fall in love with him.

Reviews

Sven Test@sven-sg-test-1

Aug 31, 2022

Eeeek! I'm so beyond excited for this new series! The Bennet Brothers series is a reverse-role retelling of Jane Austen's Bennet's sisters! This first book gave a glimpse of how this series will be and it is everything! Tess has always lived her life safe. She's never been adventurous, always is responsible and reliable. Luke is the opposite. He's unreliable and irresponsible, kind of a wild card in the sense you never expect what he's going to do next. He's flakey, witty, yet super smart! In him, I saw so many characteristics of Lydia Bennet, but also, he was his own character and he owned it! Luke Bennet had come home to wreck everything he touched, just like he always did. And the saddest thing? He didn’t even have a clue. Not one. Luke is back in town to help save his family's flower shop, along with all of his siblings. Tess has worked years at the flower shop and she's basically Momma Bennet's right hand. When Luke gets back and sees Tess, he can't help but be surprise by how wonderful she looks. But he also wonders what he did to receive so much anger from Tess. "You’re the most arrogant, ridiculous man I have ever met, and you just happen to be the very last man I’d ever entertain." Tess never forgot that night. And knowing Luke is back, brings all the feelings she has pushed down for years. It was honestly cute seeing Tess and Luke together. There's so much light banter between them. And Tess is such a lovely character! She really was heartbroken by what happened and now she's scared to take a chance on Luke. I’d written him off, but then he had come back and did everything right, said everything I wanted to hear without knowing I wanted to hear it. Lets go back to Luke. I love my bad boys, but Luke is why I love good guys, too! Man, he is everything! He reminds me of Tyler from The Bachelorette. He just want to be by Tess's side and support her and see how she conquers the world. *swoons* I wanted to build things for her and watch her face light up. I wanted to surprise her, wanted to give her the unexpected. I wanted to discover her, and I wanted to live in every little joy that discovery would bring. Family is a highlight in this book. We have Tess and her father, whom I consider so adorable! I love how he wants Tess to live and enjoy life. He's her biggest supporter, in my opinion. Then there's Luke' s family, especially his siblings! It was a hoot reading about the Bennet family! I had only just met this family when I already wanted all of the books of this series in my hands with each of the siblings' stories! Each sibling is unique in their own way, to the point it is so easy to remember who's who out of all five of them. All of them combined, including Momma Bennet had me laughing so much! I loved how Staci included traits of the characters they represent and it was easy to notice! When I commit, I go all in, Tess.” [...] All in, all the way into my heart she found her way. And I let her in without thinking twice. Without thinking at all. There's something about an author's writing that always speaks to me. I've read Staci's other novels and have enjoyed them, but I have to say her writing shone brighter in this novel! She completely surprised me! Her writing was on another level than her previous novels and in a fantastic way! This is the type of book that is perfect to read at any time! It will cheer you up from the start! Coming Up Roses is a witty, fun, yet endearing and sweet romance that will fill your heart with so much joy! And will make you want to have your own Lucas Bennet! Follow Me Blog ❃ Instagram ❃ Twitter ❃ Bloglovin ❃ Goodreads ❃ Pinterest

Candyce Kirk@thebookdutchesses

Dec 9, 2021

Coming Up Roses is a heartwarming, feel-good book that had me laughing out loud. In the end I was wishing I was a part of the Bennet family! This book is filled with characters I grew to love and has now made me wish for more books surrounding this family. Besides the amazing romance in Coming Up Roses, this book is very family focused. All of the Bennets come home to help their parents save the flower shop. I loved how close this family was and how everyone dropped everything to make this happen. They made this story complete. Everyone should have a family like this! We meet Tessa who has been working at the Bennet's flower shop for quite awhile and she loves her job. This store and family has become her own and she can't imagine her life without it! Tessa lost her mother at a young age and this store and Mrs. Bennet has become a safe place. I really loved this character. She's really creative and so passionate for her work. Luke is a Bennet and someone Tessa's had a crush on for quite awhile. He's a free spirit. Luke may seem like a guy who sleeps with tons of women and who doesn't care about the aftermath. That is definitely not true. In many ways Luke cares too much. He may not know where he wants to settle down or the job he wants forever, but his heart is always in the right place. I loved seeing Luke and Tessa connect again. Tessa didn't want anything to do with him, but you slowly saw her realizing he wasn't anything like she thought he was. There were a lot of laugh out loud moments between these two and some really loving ones. Without even realizing it, they both needed each other to learn how to live, feel and maybe even go for what they've been dreaming of. Coming Up Roses does have a character that causes some drama and in my opinion, I think this story would've been better without her. The way Tessa and Luke were communicating, made this character unnecessary. The journey of them saving the shop and making the new displays filled this book with enough struggles. All in all, Cominug Up Roses was an amazing story and I loved the characters. I really hope the author visits this family again, because I need more!