Flowers on Main

After reading some heavier subject matter of late, I was ready to dive into the comfort of predictability, and it doesn’t get any more predictable than a romance. Let me state right here, that this is not a bodice-ripper. There are some occurrences that are definitely not of, shall we say, Christian virtues, in case that is a dealbreaker for you, but overall the romance is clean and the bedroom scenes are rare and very subtle. This is much more about Bree O’Brien and Jake Collins, and them learning how to deal with their past.

What I liked about “Flowers on Main”:
The characters – I really just enjoy the people of Chesapeake Shores. They are incredibly idealistic, too good to be true some of the time, and I openly acknowledge that. But I also seek that out sometimes. I want the conflicts to be meaningful without being too deep, because as I said in my opening: I wanted something a little less heavy on my heart. So it’s true, the depth of character is, at times, a bit shallow, but it was also precisely what I was seeking, and darn it if I am not just rooting for these people to get their happy endings at the conclusion of their battles.
I was engaged – I mentioned several times in my in-progress check-ins that this plot was predictable. I had zero issues with that because I still needed to know how this was going to play out. I was invested in the outcome and the path it would take to arrive at its final destination. If you’re looking for something inventive, this isn’t the book or the series for you; actually, it’s probably not a genre for you as a whole, most of the time. But if you’re looking for something comfortable where you just want to see how the story reaches its inevitable conclusion, this one held my interest well.
The setting – I really just want to take up residence in the town of Chesapeake Shores. It is charming and I adore the small town feel of it. I love that everyone knows everyone’s business (odd, as I am a rather private person) but the people have history with each other, which means they also get involved with each other. I love that type of interaction; it reminds me of a seaside version of Gilmore Girls’ Stars Hollow.
There was more to the romance than just star struck love – I am, and probably always will be, a sucker for second chance stories, which appears to be something of a theme in this series. Maybe it’s because I know I have personally messed up in my own relationships that I find something satisfying about two people trying to work through their baggage with one another, whether that relationship is with a family member or a romantic partner or a friendship. We can be thoughtless with one another, breaking relationships in ways we never intended, so I get enveloped by stories of mending hurts and redemption, probably because I want to believe that such things are possible in my own life.

What I didn’t care for:
It was a touch repetitive – I understand that people in general tend to cycle back to an issue over and over. We retell the same stories, we rehash old events, we return to the same conversations over and over. I am ok with that as a process, because it’s real and believable, but in a book, the plot needs to go somewhere, so the cycling through an issue needs to be a vehicle to the storytelling, even if the forward motion is small. There were times it stagnated, and while that’s real life, it makes a book longer than necessary. This wasn’t overdone to the point it annoyed me, but it could have been handled a little bit more efficiently.

This book reads like a Hallmark show — which, of course, it is! And it’s one that I watch and enjoy, which likely contributes to how easily I can picture these characters because I love the way they cast the show and portray the town. I digress, sort of. I actually think that the deviations they made in the show don’t serve the series as well as the way the books were written. I am definitely curious how the other stories will play out in the books, because it’s clear watching the show won’t provide much in the way of book spoilers.