Bestselling author Staci Hart is back with a brand new romantic comedy and clever spin on Jane Austen’s Pride and Prejudice. Meet the Bennet brothers, get to know Longbourne, and fall in love in this steamy enemies to lovers romcom.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 … 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.
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“Everyone hates something about their job. And she hates Luke Bennet.”
Luke Bennet is back. After nearly a decade of living in the West Coast, he has returned to help the family business… Rather all the Bennet children are home to save Longbourne.
The story begins with some groping and some heavy tension. Tess Monroe cannot stand Luke. Ever since he broke her heart and forgot the kiss they shared all those years ago she’s been harbouring some bitter feelings.
Tess hasn’t had it easy. The floral shop is her life. That’s all she’s ever known. Being the primary caregiver of her invalid father, she has a lot of responsibilities and not many opportunities to be wild.
“Be wild. Because life is lived in the moments you don’t see coming. Not in the comfort of predictability, but in the thrill of the unknown.”
Luke on the other hand is the opposite. He’s had many jobs and is very carefree. He’s the youngest of the Bennets and the troublemaker. He lives for the next adventure. The world is his oyster. He knows just how to get his way with his charm and swoonworthy smile.
Through Luke, Tess learns to spread her wings and fly. To not be afraid. These once best friends must work together to bring life back to Longbourne. What started off as dislike soon turns into love.
Coming Up Roses by Staci Hart was a wonderful standalone romcom re-telling of a classic Jane Austen love story. Filled with angst and fun, sweet and sexy moments, you won’t stop turning the pages until you’ve reached the end! Also, Luke happens to be shirtless a lot. If that doesn’t entice you to read this book, I don’t know what will.
This is a lovely story! There were ups and downs, secret crushes and a loving outrageous family. This story surrounds a family flower store. Tragedy has struck and the the whole family returns to help. Once they arrive it causes laughs, smiles and tickled my funny bone more than once. The feels?? Yes those were all around and added my enjoyment of the story.
Tess..she really could have held a grudge I mean more than the one she held. I also think it would have been hard to let go of her opinion of Luke. He seemed to show his playboy colors repeatedly. But through faith and a couple shoves from family and friends the two were able to forget the past and move forward. Luke did do some special things to earn her forgiveness which was cute. Him trying so stinking hard for Tess. Loved it!
The family and Ivy…..they were a huge accompaniment to the main story. The brothers and sister fighting..the parents and their openness. Ivy with her special knowledge at all things Tess. I loved the addition of all these characters and I can’t wait for their stories.
I smiled, laughed and wondered why it took me so long to pick up this author. She writes wonderful stories and her characters are so full of life. I really just want to become a wall fixture in this family. I eagerly look forward to the next in the series.
Staci Hart does it again! This was just a wonderful book! I loved getting to know the Bennet family along with Tess and Ivy. I so want to visit this store, the image of this place is so well done and the flowers, you can just see the window displays. I mean I want to walk that greenhouse and put up a little tent and live in it!
Tess and Luke are childhood friends to ex friends when Luke walks back in the door, again. I really liked these two characters but all of the family and friends played wonderful together in this book.
I can’t wait to see the rest of this series and hope each of the Bennet family gets a book!
I love Staci Hart’s writing, she builds up characters, settings are always perfect- aka you could live in them, the drama, the slow burn of love in this one, and the idea of more words from here!
“When I kissed her once more, I felt her give herself over completely, felt her yeld, felt the fight in her heart abandon her. And I took the chance to fill that space in her with me. I’d convince her I could be what she wanted, what she didn’t think I was. I could be that man. I would be that man.” -Luke
Coming Up Roses is Staci Hart’s newest Pride & Prejudice inspired novel. It is no secret that Pride and Prejudice is one of my favorite books of all time. So when I heard that Staci Hart was writing a book inspired by it, I knew I had to get my hands on it.
In this version the Bennet’s are made up of mostly men except for a daughter and mother. Each one of them is similar to the original characters. In this book Luke is Staci’s version of Lydia. He’s a little wishy washy but he’s not a total idiot like the original (thank Staci for that) but he is the guy that Tess, our heroine, is angry at. Hence the love-hate relationship that is bent toward the original couple of Darcy and Elizabeth.
Tess Monroe has been a florist in the Bennet flower-shop, in Longbourne, and has become Mrs. Bennet right hand for years. She loves her job and she loves the fact that Luke Bennet, the youngest sibling is living across the country and no where near her. But in a the event of some setbacks involving the family business, hes back in town to help bring the once lustrous flower-shop back alive, along with the rest of his siblings.
When Luke returns, all the pent up feelings she has just seeps out, when they are stuck together on a project to lure customers into the shop. Neither expected to have their connection intensify after not seeing each other for years. But there are things left unsaid between them and that comes to a head. I loved their chemistry, which made all their moments together so much more.
“He’s larger than life, somewhere above us all. He’s got the gravity of the sun, Ivy. No one can match him. No one can be equal to a man like that.” -Tess
OMG, Luke has some great inner reflections! I have so many highlighted on my kindle. He really is a sweet guy, who just lost his way, until he returned home. I really fell for the guy. He has a lot of great qualities except for one, which I will leave for you to find out for yourself when you read the book.
The family dynamic was great, it is so much better in my opinion than Jane Austen’s, which is one thing that I hated about Pride & Prejudice. But in this book, they are a close nit family, who support each other. Even the mom didn’t annoy me the way the original did. I was so relieved!
“Never had I known a woman who held the power to change me. But Tess did. And as scared as I should have been, I wasn’t. Because I wasn’t just discovering her. I was discovering myself.” -Luke
How you can NOT fall for a man who says that? I really enjoyed this book so much and I rated it five stars because of Luke! I really recommend reading this book for those love Pride & Prejudice because this isn’t one of the crappy versions (sorry to those authors) but it is true.
You will love every minute of it all.
ARC generously provided by Socialbutterfly and the author.
Confession: I am always wary reading books that take place in NYC (I live there and I get twitchy when things are wrong). No need to worry with Coming Up Roses though! Staci Hart was on point with the city, the humor and the romance.
I adored Tess. Set in her ways. Strong willed. Kind. Tender hearted. Not impressed with Luke’s antics but totally crushing on him at the same time. He was her first kiss after all. I really liked Luke. He was smart about so many things. Business savvy. A guy that loves his family with his whole heart. A guy that can’t stop looking at Tess.
It was an oh so sweet slow burn between these two as they worked to save the shop. From midnight confessions that became kisses and more, these two steamed it up all over the place. And it was hot, hot HOT!!! When Luke’s past came back to threaten the future he had been building with Tess, everything starts to fall apart.
There was just something about Coming Up Roses that made it impossible to put down. Staci Hart crafted a world that I could see see blooming in all its bright, bold glory. And I felt all the things blossoming between Tess and Luke too. The animosity, the anticipation, the fear, the love. Gah! I legit had flutters in my belly while I was reading. I was so into the family and friendships that I looked down, saw I was at around 85% and was like ‘nooooo’ I don’t want it to be over. I adored the Bennet brood and I can’t wait to get more of them (pretty please with Blanche’s donuts on top).
First off- I’m in love with this cover. It is so beautiful and I can’t wait to buy a hard copy of the book. Staring at it in my Kindle just isn’t enough. It deserves to be on a shelf.
Staci Hart is an author I one click without hesitating. Coming Up Roses did not disappoint.
All Tess has ever wanted is the consistency of working in the flower shop, peacefully creating masterpieces, one bouquet at a time. In walks Luke who seems to have an extreme aversion to consistency. But it’s not like Tess can tell him to turn right back around, considering it’s his family’s flower shop. These two have a pull to one another. They both have something to offer each other. Working together to save the flower shop they will either flourish or go down in flames.
I loved this book and couldn’t put it down. I hope we get to see more from the Bennet family.
Rate: 4.5 / 5 stars
Staci Hart did it again! But does she ever not?! I don’t think so. I loved everything about this cute, funny and dreamy second chance-ish romance. From the flower shop, to the whole Bennett family to the enemies to lovers vibe that fast became friends to lovers. Seriously, this story was so dreamy and cute.
I love books where I get to see a whole project come to life, whether it’s a bakery, a coffee shop or a flower shop like this one. I mean, who doesn’t love flowers?! And watching it all come to life is amazing and imagining how things looked made it even more special. And Luke and Tess were a dream team, watching them work together had me all excited. Their ideas, the team work, the support. Gah! I loved them. I died over watching Tess getting to know the real Luke and not the bad guy she made him out to be over that one night all those years ago. There is so much more to Luke than meets the eye. He totally stole my heart. The whole family did. I hope the rest of the Bennet siblings will get their own story!
Coming Up Roses is filled with laughter, love and dreams coming to life. It’s a story that will warm you up and have you swooning left and right. Tess and Luke bring on the heat, first with their fiery banter and then with their impossible to resist chemistry. It’s not all fun and roses though, Staci also brings us an emotional punch that tests our couple’s love. And she does it all in her brilliant and beautiful writing style.
I highly recommend this book. It’s fun and entertaining, it’s sweet and romantic. It has the most fun characters that you will not get enough of. I loved it!
Love is in full bloom filling up you senses. Elizabeth @ Carolina Chic’s Read
Tess lives and breathes flowers they are a source of love, life and happiness for her. She has had a tough life, but she has always had love at Longborne, where flowers are born and made into beauty.
Luke Bennett is back home to help save the family business. Longborne has been in his family for centuries. He also needs a fresh start and to find his path. He just never expected for it to be Tess.
These two grab life by the horns and hang on. Their story is beautiful just like the roses.
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Staci Hart is incapable of authoring a bad book. hits you right in the feels. Such an amazing story of a missed opportunity, realized, rectified and restored only to become damaged and broken again. u2063u2063
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Staci you with their love and makes you feel like you’re part of the Bennet crew, silently cheering alongside them for the best outcome.
Notorious flirt and wild child Luke paired with the always predictable, on the straight and narrow Tess, are such a great example of opposites attracting and shockingly fitting together so well. u2063u2063
I laughed, cringed and sighed with all the interactions between the two. Such a well written book and definitely one you to read.
I LOVED this story. It was sweet, funny, steamy and just overall fantastic. Luke and Tess were childhood friends, then everything changed and Luke has no idea what he did wrong. They hadn’t seen each other for years, that is until Luke comes back to New York to help at his family’s flower shop, where Tess also happens to work. Talk about awkward.
Right from the very beginning you can tell there is so much chemistry between Luke and Tess and the more time they spend together the more that chemistry intensifies. It is definitely a slow burn and I love the enemies to lovers vibe they have in the beginning. They work well together, especially when it comes to Luke’s idea to completely renovate the shop and make it more modern.
The ENTIRE Bennet family is hilarious and I LOVE the entire family dynamic they have. I truly hope that we see more of this family in the future. I love everything revolving around a family business and a flower shop. It is fun and different. Plus, the way Staci Hart describes the scenes it is so easy to picture the displays, the bouquets, the greenhouse, everything. I felt like I was standing right in the middle of the shop.
This book is a MUST READ for any Hart fans or any newbies I loved every single minute of this story.
I loved the characters. Luke reminded me of Kevin of This Is Us tv series.
This was such fun! A playboy with hidden depths up against the girl he unwittingly rejected years before; this was a second chance romance that really hit my ‘sweet’ buttons. I particularly liked how Tess put Luke through the wringer to court her. I definitely liked how Luke made Tess really think about why she hated him so much and what that said about her. This was real, this was fun, this was sweet, this was real-life romance with a splash of comedy. The allusions to “Pride and Prejudice” did not hurt!
This is a free series starter on Amazon, and I’m a sucker for Jane Austen. Instead of a flock of girls, this Mrs. Bennett has mostly boys to auction off. Her youngest boy, Luke, is her dreamer all energy, easily distracted, good heart but often unwise. I was pretty set to hate or at least be highly annoyed by the male version of Lydia. Staci Hart made him into something special! As the Bennett kids put their energy into saving Longbourne, the family greenhouse and florist shop in Manhattan, Mrs. Bennett is trying to marry off her babies with as much glee as the book version. Her longtime assistant Tess is their best hope of re-branding and pulling in new customers. Can Tess’s vision and Luke’s energy save Longbourne without chaos ensuing? Of course not! 🙂 Happy Reading!!
This was a cute book. I really like Tess and how she took care of everyone. She’s a planner, predictable and just a great person. Luke is well your typical man making his rounds around after coming home from a failed marriage. I loved the setting of the flower shop, I felt I was in there with them trying to save it. Great writing, great characters, great love story!
This is an interesting story of crossed signals and hidden hurts. It is complicated mostly due to being told with some portions having little development (I think they are future stories) and others being told in great depth and detail. It makes for a feeling like a long read to get to the point of things. Possibly too much detail. I did skim sometimes, not just skimming the repetitive sex scenes. But, I enjoyed the story.
The Bennet family goes all out to save the family flower shop, Longbourne, in this story. Along the way a romance develops between long time employee, Tess and Luke Bennet. Fun read to see how family supports each other during good and bad times.
A very cute twist on Pride and Prejudice
I loved this book! I laughed out loud at the antics of the siblings!
Fun read
A fun romance set in a family flower shop. Some interesting twists that kept the plot moving toward a satisfying ending. Good escapism!