A hot Texas summer, dim-lit honky-tonk bar rooms, a young naïve fledgling go-go dancer and a wild rebel Texas musician sets the stage for this story.Can Darlina Flowers ever hope to fit in to this strange new world and even more important, can she trust Luke Stone with her heart?Luke Stone, a good man who has made a career of bad decisions, falls as completely in love with Darlina as she does … Darlina as she does with him. But is it too late?
Will their eternal unyielding love survive the test of time, distance and iron bars?
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This is the first book of the Darlina and Luke saga. Part memoir and part historical fiction, this book captures the beginning of their enduring romance. Having read the other books in the series, this one held few surprises but did add depth to the love story.
I also found the writing itself to be absorbing. This was Jan Sikes’ debut novel and it reads as such. By that I mean, there’s an innocence in the character of Darlina that is also present in the writing. It is almost as though the reader is not only meeting the characters but also through the writing style, the reader is meeting a new author. I found this intriguing, for it was a story in and of itself. Bravo!
Set during the wild seventies, Flowers and Stone is an insiders look at the drugs and alcohol so pervasive during the freedom era.
Strictly raised Darlena Flowers is free from her parents’ oppressive control and is anxious to experience the Abilene nightlife. Thrilled with a job go-go dancing in a popular night club, Darlena meets musician Luke Stone and immediately falls head-over-heels in love.
Luke is enchanted by the sweet, young Darlena and actively pursues her until she agrees to an affair. He is too jaded to believe in love, but knows Darlena cares for him and worries she’ll get hurt by the band’s lifestyle. He tries to protect her, but trouble stalks Luke and the price is high.
Flowers and Stone is based on a true story, and while I appreciated the sacrifices Luke made for Darlena, I can’t say I approved of the drugs he encouraged her to take, some of the disparaging comments he used when describing Darlena’s anatomy, or the way he ended their relationship.
That said, it’s obvious how much these two care about each other. They deserve their HEA- I just hope they get it!
Flowers and Stone is the first book of the series I read. This fictional novel is based on the real lives of Jan and Rick Sikes portrayed as Darlina Flowers and Luke Stone. The story quickly revealed that the nineteen-year-old girl Darlina fell in love with the thirty-six-year-old country western singer Luke Stone the first time of meeting him. She soon found out he was married with children and seeing another woman, but it didn’t deter her love for him. Luke had drinking and other problems but fell that Darlina was the best thing happened in his life. Luke was in jail for a crime he didn’t commit, but Jan’s love was deep and strong and knew that he was the man she would love forever.
Jan’s excellent writing takes the readers to the scenes and shows the twists and turns of their journey. I look forward to reading the following series.
As I close this amazing book by Jan Sikes, my heart aches for the hand Luke and Darlina have been dealt. Flowers and Stone is an amazing, fast paced story of two people who against all odds have found a true and binding love. The love story they create with one another is heart-gripping, turbulent, and heartbreaking. This is a true story of two souls brought together, soulmates, who were given the chance of true love until society and the justice system decided, differently. As Ms. Sikes quoted in the book, “Every once in a great while, in life, there is a love so strong between two human beings that neither time nor space can erase nor destroy it.” Bravo for Jan Sikes true story she has given us. I’m excited to read the 2nd book in this series, The Convict and The Rose, to see where their journey, their faith, and their true love will lead.