As Love Blooms
1913. Tessa Gregory has studied horticulture and wants to work for the St. Paul, Minnesota park system. Rejected by the superintendent because of her gender, Tess meets gardener Reese King, who sees Tessa’s designs and realizes he and Tessa can help each other. Tessa dresses like a boy, and the two create a garden with Tessa’s plans. Romance blooms between adventurous Tessa and grounded Reese. Meanwhile, Tessa’s widowed Aunt Sam begins dating an old friend, but the two are on opposite sides of the woman’s suffrage movement – can love overcome such a divide?
The theme to this story is “don’t keep secrets from your loved ones” as Tessa, Reese, Sam, and even minor characters are all holding something back. When the secrets are revealed, they seem minor and not worth the tension they have been building. Although light on conflict, this Christian romance is flush with good-hearted, understanding characters worthy as role models. As Love Blooms is the third Gregory Sisters book (When Love Calls, While Love Stirs). Knowledge of the other stories is unnecessary. Readers who enjoyed the romances of Tessa’s older sisters will be pleased with this installment.
