Small town romances have a bit of a cult following, much like enemies-to-lovers. I enjoy a good one here and there, but what I love more is one with a fresh take on the classic trope. Love in Bloom by Lucy Eden is a new romcom which gives new life to small town stories.

Love in Bloom [Buy Bookshop Amazon LibroFM] follows Emma as her life rapidly falls apart. She inherits a farm from her estranged grandparents, loses her job, and ends her relationship in back-to-back drama. Oh, and there’s this thing where she had her dress up over her head in the bathroom and a man walked in…. because she was in the men’s room…. and that man happens to be the guy who runs said farm she’s inherited. Things are looking great.

However, once she visits the farm, she develops some questions. She doesn’t understand how the farm is as successful as it is. She doesn’t understand why the town is so obsessed with her grandparents. Most importantly, she doesn’t understand what caused such a massive rift between her mom and her grandparents that kept them separated for so many years.

I really enjoyed the way Lucy twisted the small town romance trope and made it so the town really has something at stake with the relationship. It made it feel a little more fresh than your average trope. There’s a lot of tension that comes into play from Emma’s ex, which also raised the stakes in an interesting way.

I did listen to part of this on audio since I was travelling and it was well done. The narrator really brought Emma to life with extra expression you don’t always heart in the audio format, so I enjoyed that aspect as well.

Overall, this was pretty enjoyable. I can’t put my finger on it, but something didn’t quite win me over with our hero, Dan. I’m not sure what it is.

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