Thursday, August 2, 2012

Wallflower in Bloom: A Novel

From the acclaimed bestselling author of Must Love Dogs comes a winning and witty new novel about a woman who emerges from the shadow of her overbearing family and finds herself “dancing with the stars.” Deirdre Griffin has a great life; it’s just not her own. She’s the around-the-clock personal assistant to her charismatic, high-maintenance, New Age guru brother, Tag. As the family wallflower, her only worth seems to be as gatekeeper to Tag at his New England seaside compound. Then Deirdre’s sometime boyfriend informs her that he is marrying another woman, who just happens to be having the baby he told Deirdre he never wanted. While drowning her sorrows in Tag’s expensive vodka, Deirdre decides to use his massive online following to get herself voted on as a last-minute Dancing with the Stars replacement. It’ll get her back in shape, mentally and physically. It might even get her a life of her own. Deirdre’s fifteen minutes of fame have begun. Irresistible and offbeat, Wallflower in Bloom is an original and deeply satisfying story of having the courage to take a leap into the spotlight, no matter where you land. (from Goodreads)

My Thoughts
Deirdre is surrounded by family whose lives all center on her guru brother Tag. Along with that, everyone she encounters wants to use her as their way to get to Tag. Does anyone like Deirdre just for herself and not her connection to her brother? Her stepping out to do DWTS is going to be a true test of who she is and who she might become.

Every once in awhile I want to just read a simple, fun book and boy, did this one fit the bill. It was light, fluffy, airy - and I mean this as a compliment to the author. Deirdre has a very dry wit and sometimes things come out of her mouth that are just laugh out loud funny. I liked how the author prefaced each chapter with little mantras - sayings that Tag was so well know for i.e. “You don’t have to be a winner to start, but you have to start to be a winner”. She would then fit the saying into the context of that chapter.

Very nicely done, Ms. Cook. Very nicely done.

Thank you to Simon & Schuster, along with Netgalley, for allowing me to read this for an unbiased review.

Publish date: June 5, 2012 (this means you can get it NOW!!!!!)


My rating: 5 out of 5

6 comments:

  1. Hi! Diane from Coffee Novels here;) Now I'm the new follower:D

    BTW, I just nominated you for the Liebster Blog Award. Click here for more info;) http://coffeenovels.blogspot.com/

    Congrats!

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  2. Hi Diane! Thanks for becoming a follower. And OMG - thank you for the nomination. What fun!

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  3. This sounds like a great book! Thanks so much for the review!
    Im a new follower, thanks for following me on my blog. =)

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    1. Hi Melissa! Thanks for becoming a follower! Lisa

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