Ellie Holmes

There was something so very appealing about this book - the colours of the cover are so very striking and the lonely lady on the front suggests a story of love and loss. So if books were made of metal and I was a bookmagnet, I would be so pleased to be attracted to The Flower Seller.

Jessie finds herself newly single after finding out that her husband has been cheating on her with a younger woman. As they go through the pain of a divorce and try to split assets, tempers fray and ornaments are thrown. It's alright for William, he has a new life now with his young lady friend so he'd be quite happy to see Jessie living out her remaining days as a single lady. So when Jessie meets Owen, it takes her a while to trust him as he is younger than her, and William doesn't take it well at all. Is Owen too good to be true? William certainly thinks that Owen is not as perfect as he seems, so he does a bit of digging...just what will he uncover and by doing this does it mean that he still loves Jessie?

My heart went out to Jessie as her marriage fell apart and she struggled to get back in the dating game. Jessie is a lot stronger than she thinks, both personally and professionally; she takes her work very seriously and is clearly very good at her job. She certainly has morals which are often lacking in many people today.

It's hard to believe this is a debut novel; the writing flows so easily and I was completely drawn into the story after only a few pages. I really liked Jessie and, to be honest, I wasn't sure which man I would prefer to see her end up with. William has hurt her deeply and I wasn't sure if she would ever be able to forgive and forget, whereas Owen seemed lovely but he was very guarded and appeared to be hiding something, so I doubted whether Jessie could truly love him if she didn't really know him. Of course, there are always two sides to every story...

The Flower Seller is an impressive debut novel; Ellie Holmes has managed to weave many emotions into this raw examination of the hurt caused by a marriage breakdown and the hope of a new relationship. Heartfelt and emotive, you don't want to miss The Flower Seller.

I received this e-book from Brook Cottage Books in exchange for an honest review.… (meer)

This is one of those books you’ll want to get others to read with you because there are so many levels to explore on human behavior and psychology it’d be more interesting to discuss with friends to figure out what path everyone else would choose.

So often people think that small lies are essentially harmless but when one leads to another until you have a domino effect of consequences you begin to realize there really is no such thing as a ‘white lie’. Holmes takes that concept and blows it up using believable characters, behaviors and situations so it is easy to find parallels to yourself and think about what you would do given the same situation.

At times it was hard to like the characters or even feel invested in what would happen to them but it was like watching an old episode of Jerry Springer where you just find yourself glued needing to know how it was all going to play out.

Holmes has proven her right to be part of the literary world before and she continues to uphold her position with this compelling novel; you will leave wanting to hold yourself to a higher standard of truth.… (meer)