In the wake of the collapse of her father’s business empire, Flor, the gorgeous twenty-one year-old daughter of disgraced former Brazillionaire Gustavo de Lima, is forced to forge her own path in life. Flor decides that none of it—the private jets, the vacation homes and the luxury cars—were real. Or at least they really didn’t matter. The only thing that’s real for Flor is her love of horses and … and her desire to go to veterinary school. Heading into her final year of college, Flor seeks out the help of an unlikely benefactor to secure a summer internship working with horses. Arriving at the secluded Belo Horizonte ranch, Flor is awed not only by the majestic beauty of the place, but also by handsome cowboy and skilled horse trainer, Collin Taylor. Yet nothing is quite as it appears on the surface. When the hidden past is revealed, will love end up blossoming for Flor?
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“Once again love drives me on, that loosener of limbs, bittersweet creature against which nothing can be done.”
-Sappho
Blossoming Flower was my first experience reading Vivian Winslow, and I must confess I am hooked. She has mastered the art of writing a slow burn novel! I love when you read a story and the romance building is slow and about the characters finding each other. This is the epitome of the relationship between Flor de Lima and Collin Taylor throughout this novel.
Flor captured my attention and fascination from the very beginning. She has been put through the wringer so far in her life, and rather than let it stop her from becoming a productive adult, she pursues her dreams and doesn’t look back on the past. I admired her strength and determination to make something of herself and to stay true to who she was as a person.
Her father’s past transgressions have left Flor with a bad reputation and broke. She sets out to find an internship in America, and her goal of attending veterinary school. Her love for horses is what leads her to Poppy Baron’s ranch, and into the life of the handsome and well, dashing, Collin Taylor.
Collin is a dark and brooding man on the outside looking in. He reserves his thoughts for the horses and himself. When Flor is assigned to work with him in the stables feelings start to develop, slow and painfully, between the two. The sexual tension is real but the journey to that culmination in this book is one to engross you in the painful and slow journey.
As with life in the real world, there is forks in the road, and fate lays them out for us in the most random of places. How will Flor handle the decisions she is forced to make? Can she face the secrets she has and push forward? Or will she turn and run away from everything?
Collin has his own demons and is forced with his own decisions that must be made. Will the relationship that has developed between the two survive all that is about to be dropped in their paths?
I will say I was rooting so much for these two. I wanted them to have that happily ever after. I will say I was a bit disappointed with the way things ended in this book, but can see where it may be going since it is the first in a series.
Now that I have discovered Vivian Winslow, I will be going back and reading the precursor series to this one, The Gilded Flower Series. I don’t think it is totally necessary to enjoy this book as I haven’t read them, but can see where there would be a benefit to having some background information on the characters that are popping up in this series. It is just a bonus that there is new novels that I can go back and devour back to back!
Blossoming Flower by Vivian Winslow is book one in the Wildflowers series. I absolutely love the characters in this book! Flor is the perfect New Adult female character! She is strong and feminine. I really enjoyed reading this beautiful romance story! And who doesn’t love a country man!! I can’t wait to read what Vivian has for us next!! I loved this New Adult Romance!!
Blossoming Flower (Wildflowers Book 1)
4 stars
This was my first read by this author, and while its not my normal genre, I couldnt pass up on the cover!
Flor’s fathers business empire has fallen. She is now living off her trust, that her selfish mother drained for “necessities” from stress. She is now out on her own, doing all she can to go to veterinary school and open her own practice.
She reaches out to a friend of her fathers and lands on a beautiful ranch where ahe meets Collin. As pasts are fought through and secrets are revealed, what happens with Flor?
I was left feeling like pages were missing as the ending wasnt what I expected or wanted but at least it was a happy end just not complete enough for me (im selfish lol)
Blossoming Flower (Wildflowers Book 1) by Vivian Winslow is an awesome read from the start. Flor is a young lady in college who’s world just got turned upside down. She came from a family with money and because of her father’s bad decisions all that is gone, lets not forget about her mother’s bad decisions as well, and now her college has went bankrupt. She is very upset with both of her parents, and needs to work through that in her own time.She finds herself doing an internship, working with horses, which is her passion. That is where she meets Collin. I love how the author showed us the growth of these characters. They are a hot and steamy couple. The steam will will fog up your glasses if you wear them. These two go through a lot throughout the story. The supporting characters in this story made it that much better. The author did an awesome job making this story flow so well and keeping you intrigued throughout the entire story. I highly recommend this book for mature adults. It is a wonderful story and start to a series.
This is the first book of the series and I already cant wait to read the next one! I love that Flor gets to find her own path now that nothing stands in her way. The description of the country side where the horses are is amazing, I can just picture it. I love that we get to watch the relationship grow with Flor and the cowboy! I like reading about the characters by themselves and then how they are together. I’m ready to move onto the next book, that’s how cute this book is! I know one person who would read this book.
This is absolutely a 5 star read for me. It’s the epic tale of one woman’s journey who is finding herself after life changes unexpectedly. She has to rely on the help of others and learn her strengths.
This story is written in such a way that layers are peeled back and more is revealed as each chapter progresses. The plot points are well thought out and the story has twists and turns – it never feels stale.
It is setting up other characters who I look forward to reading about in the future of this series.
Blossoming Flower ( Wildflowers Book 1 )
By Vivian Winslow
5/5 Stars
This is my first time reading this author… wow ! Such a captivating and intriguing story, from being to end!! Its beautifully written, with a well thought out plot and with gorgeous scenic surroundings!! I can picture the pretty ranch, houses and trees in my head! I can only imagine how peaceful and tranquil it would be to visit there!!
Flor is so naive and yet so darn strong at the same time. But she truly has no idea how strong she is. College just ended and she’s looking for a summer job elsewhere. She is trying to put some distance between her past and family. But the past, always has a way of sneaking a way back into your present !
Wow… this is such an amazing roller coaster ride. Full of ups and downs..twists and turns,you didn’t even see coming !! Once you start reading, you’ll be hooked.. trust me! Great job, Vivian!! I can’t wait to see what’s in store for us in the second book!!
Blossoming Flower
By Vivian Winslow
4 stars
I really enjoyed this story and thought it was a great 4 star read. When I first read the synopsis I was intrigued about it but was also really looking forward to reading something from an author who is new to me. What really struck me about this book apart from the wonderful female lead was the beautiful writing from the author. I thought that they story had a great pace and flow to it and her character development was very good.
I really liked Flor, and felt a connection from the very beginning. She had a great strength about her especially considering everything happening in her life at present. I really admired her as a character. She didn’t seem to let anything get in her way and she dealt with obstacles with great maturity and positivity.
There was some great drama in the story along with some great twists and turns that kept my interest throughout the whole book. I am really looking forward to reading more from this author and the subsequent stories in this series.
Blossoming Flower (Wildflowers Book 1) by Vivian Winslow
5 Stars
I’ll start with I was drawn to this book because of the cover, I don’t know why but I think it’s beautiful…then I read the synopsis and just new I had to read this. I was thrilled when I realized it was the start of a series. I have not read any books by this author until this one and I already can’t wait to start the second book.
I am not going to go into any detail about the storyline. It had just enough in the way of twists and turns to keep me guessing and the characters were all written perfectly. I got a bit confused in trying to keep history straight a few times but it worked itself out quick enough.
What does the future hold for Flor? Will Her and Collin have a future? There are so many working parts to this story and I hope this story will continue in a future book
I really enjoyed the flow and the writing style of this book, and this author is definitely someone I will be reading more of even after this series.
Loved it!!
Blossoming Flower by Vivian Winslow
Four Stars
Growing up with wealth doesn’t mean happiness. Flor is a lovely young lady who grew up with money but it couldn’t buy her happiness. We all want our parents approval and love. You could feel Flor’s anger, disappointment and sadness. Then there is the mysterious Collins. I didn’t know what to think of him at first but as the book came along I grew to like him and understand him. They both had their secrets and their relationship was tested. The author did an amazing job with the details. You almost felt like you were right there with the characters as their story developed. The stables, horses and every intimate moment was felt in every word the author used. Though we were born under different lives I could feel what she felt. Both characters were relatable and had me wanting to be their friend.
Blossoming Flower is the first book in Vivian Winslow’s new adult series Wildflowers. It is my first encounter with this writer and I am looking forward to many more hours with her as there are 3 more books (currently) that have been published in the series!
Blossoming Flower is the story of Flor da Lima, the daughter of ex-billionaire Gustavo da Lima who is in housearrest at the beginning of the story. I actually got a feeling that Flor is more resentful towards her mother, a typical Latina drama queen, who is the reason that all the pieces came down tumbling. She is not resentful because her father lost everything, she is resentful for how her mother behaved as a woman… Flor does not care for the trappings of her father’s world; the only thing she really truly loves is horses and her dream of becoming a veterinarian and at the beginning of the story she sets out to the horse ranch Belo Horizonte where the rest of her story unfolds … Here she will grow into her own as a delicate yet fierce woman who speaks her mind … here she meets Collin Taylor, an amazing horse trainer and hottie to die for AND what I loved was the fact that they took it slow and built their relationship slow and sweet until they ended up in bed together.
In addition there were a number of other intriguing characters that I hope we will meet in the next books. As it seems that the characters overlap then I hope to hear more about Flor and Collin as well as yes, there is no cliffhanger at the end but they are young and life can get in the way of all the best intentions. Totally going to dig into next book now!
This book grabbed my attention from the very first page. This author is new to me and I certainly cannot wait to read more in this series. Realistic and heart warming and riveting and just fantastic. Hands down, a wonderful read. Highly recommended.
Blossomed Flower written by Vivian Winslow is a sweet story with lots of emotions stemming from current and past relationships. Flor brings lots of emotional baggage with her to the ranch which she comes to love for a variety of different reasons. Flor falls for a sweet cowboy named Collin who enters the relationship with his own baggage. It seems by the end of the story there will be somesort of future for these characters even if it is long distance. The story was quiet and sweet. No life altering events but sweet nonetheless. The characters were developed well. The story made sense. I am giving it 4 stars.
Blossoming Flower is a cute romance. Vivan Winslow is an amazing author who has a deep attention to detail. One of the reasons why I read this story the cover shows a woman staring off into the field where we see a horse, clouds, and birds. This woman is reflecting by looking past the clouds. I wanted to be that woman to be drifting in thought. Flor has been on a path of self-discovery. Flor has come from a wealthy family. Flor loves working with horses and she even did an internship working with horses and that is when she met Collin. Flor was hesitant because she was not sure what her mind was telling her and her body saying another. There were a lot of hot and heavy sex scenes with this story. Another feel to the story is secrets and past decisions coming around. Flor is easy to relate to and makes you want to read more and more.
“Blossoming Flower” by Vivian Winslow is the wonderfully bittersweet tale of Flor, a college student from Brazil who is studying to be a veterinarian for horses in the States. Flor craves something she has never found, a place that truly felt like home. Needing a place to stay for the summer, she uses an old family contact by the name of Poppy to help her get set up with work experience. What she gets is so much more. Flor’s character really intrigued me. She isn’t your typical college student as she is wise beyond her years but still has a naiveté about her. Her families sordid past isn’t going to hold her back and she just wants to find her place in the world. This is the first book in The Wildflower Novels by Vivian Winslow and I am eager to read the rest! I give “Blossoming Flower” five stars!
4 Stars
Blossoming Flower is the first book in the Wildflower series by Vivian Winslow. This is a wonderful New Adult romance that captivated me right from the beginning. I loved Ms. Winslow’s Gilded Flower series and I was intrigued by the connection that series has to this book. I guess you could say that this is a bit of a spin-off from that series.
Flor deLima has tried to avoid the fallout from her father’s crumbling empire and the scandal that came with it. She instead focuses on her dream of becoming a veterinarian. She needs to find a summer job/internship and ends up approaching someone who I least expected, to seek a position. She finds herself in the beautiful Californian countryside at the Belo Horizonte ranch. There she meets the handsome horse trainer, Collin Taylor. She feels drawn to him, but he is a bit of an enigma- quiet and reserved. But as they begin to work together, he starts to open up a little more. But will secrets and revelations destroy their blossoming romance? You really should read this wonderful story and discover all the intriguing details for yourself. You won’t be disappointed!
As I have come to expect from Ms. Winslow, this story is really well developed, and beautifully written. Here descriptions are detailed, vivid, rich and bold. I could see, smell and hear the story- that’s how well written this book is.
The characters are fully realised individuals with their own complexities and traits. The were interesting and endearing- some were a surprising revelation. I loved Flor and Collin and was cheering them on from the sidelines.
This is a fantastic start to another superb series from Ms. Winslow. I have already read the next couple of books in the series as I couldn’t wait to see what Ms. Winslow had in store for us- and let me just say you are in for a treat!!
Thank you, Ms. Winslow!
Blossoming Flower (Wildflowers Book 1)
By Vivian Winslow
4 Stars
Blossoming Flower was a different kind of read for me. Vivian Winslow spins an engaging tale about romance, family loyalties, scandals, drama…the whole shebang. This was the first time reading this author for me and I was not disappointed. Vivian Winslow delivers the whole package with this book.
Flor has grown up not wanting for anything but now her life is crumbling. Trying to find some sense of normalcy, she goes to her friend asking if she can work on her ranch. Flor wants to be a vet and this opportunity will help her fulfill her dreams. What she doesn’t expect is the chemistry between her and the engaging cowboy and horse trainer Collin Taylor. As secrets are revealed will these two be able to stand together?
Vivian Winslow does a very good job of blending time place and people with this book. The pace is very steady and is able to keep the reader engaged. Truly a well-written book.
I recently came across Blossoming Flower by Vivian Winslow – and let me tell you, I absolutely adored everything about this book.
We get to meet Flor de Lima – a young woman who has lost everything she owns because of the dealings that her father is involved in. We learn that he is – or use to be a multi-billionaire. She has to learn how to relive her life. Without having to depend on her father or her mother – who seems to be good for nothing.
In the process of reinventing herself and figuring what she’s going to do with her life, she lands a summer job at a ranch. Which is ideal for her, seeing as she wants to become an equestrian veterinarian. Everything about the ranch calls to her. From the name, which happens to be “Belo Horizonte”, pronounced in her native Brazilian – which translates to ‘beautiful horizon’ in English. What she doesn’t know is the secrets that surround the ranch, and how it involves her and her future.
I loved everything about this book. Genuinely loved it. I fell in love with Flor. She was a beautifully written character, one that I could relate to. And that is because she was well written and developed. And as for Collin Taylor, the intriguing young horse trainer – I loved the mystery with which he was originally introduced. The chemistry that these 2 shared was absolutely what I needed.
I enjoyed everything about this world. I was so enthralled with the world that Vivian created, that I felt like I was actually living in it. I absolutely consider this book a 5 Star Book Review. I’m excited to delve into the other books that this author has to offer and can’t wait to see what else I can enjoy.
Blossoming Flower by Vivian Windslow is the first book in her new series, Wildflowers, and what a great opener! Following the story of Flor where she finds herself learning that if she wants her dreams to succeed that she is going to have to go it alone. Issues with her family make for hard times for Flor, with lots of anger and disappointment coming from and to her. When she finds herself applies to be an intern at a horse training farm, she knows this is what she loves to do. And when she meets one of the trainers, Collin Taylor, there is an instant attraction. But there are so many confusing emotions that come from him too. Is she looking for love in the wrong places? Or does Collin feel for her the way that she feels for him? Collin is a bit of a mystery, as though he is hiding out while training these horses, but what he feels for Flor scares him. She embodies everything that he never knew he was looking for, but with a past like his it is hard to open up to her. When secrets catch up to these two will their young love survive? Winslow is a new to me author, and I am so happy that I picked this book up. Her story had allot of depth to it, the characters were well written and the romance was just steamy enough to keep me engaged. I can’t wait to see where she takes this series next. Hopefully we will get to see more of Collin and Flor’s story in future books.
Blossoming Flower (Wildflowers Book 1)
By: Vivian Winslow
5 out of 5 stars
The story Blossoming Flower (Wildflowers Book 1) by Vivian Winslow is a wonderful romance book. It is the story of Flor who has found herself in a situation that if she wants her dreams to succeed she must do it on her own. She is a woman whose feelings for her parents shows how hurt, angry, and disappointed she is. No place feels like home to her and she misses that feeling. She finds herself assisted in getting an internship doing what she loves, working with horses. It is there that she meets horse trainer Collin Taylor. She is confused at the different emotions that come from him. There are times when he seems very interested in her and others when he is distant. Will she discover why? Denying the past will not stop it from resurfacing. Secrets and revelations are being revealed that have the past and the present colliding. What effect will this have on Flor’s future? What will all of this mean to both her dreams and the love that she has found? I loved reading about the characters in this book. Flor and Collin are my favorites. Flor is a woman that even though she was raised in a wealthy family does not act like she is owed anything. She doesn’t shy away from hard work. Collin’s character is handsome and a bit of a mystery. When both he and Flor talk I got the feeling that there is more to his story than he is saying. This is a wonderful story that I didn’t want to put down until I had finished the last page. It is the first book I have read by the author and the first book in a series. I can’t wait to read the next story.