It All Started With You, a review by Shelley

posted in: Shelley | 0

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IT ALL STARTED WITH YOU
Debbie Howells

Boldwood Books
Publication Date: June 23rd, 2023
294 Pages
Goodreads | Amazon

I have read and loved three other books by this author. In this one, our main character, Frankie, opens up a flower shop and learns some lessons along the way. Frankie really grew as a character and a human being in this story. I loved her friendship with Honey (I have a cousin by that name!) and how they supported each other. Honey too goes on a journey of self-discovery and changes some things she doesn’t like about herself…Strong women helping strong women, I loved that!

As I mentioned, Frankie opens a flower shop and I enjoyed the way the flora was described, I could picture the way they looked and imagine how they smelled, it was visceral. The author is obviously very knowledgeable about the running of a flower business and the plants themselves. You could tell she once did this for a living.

This novel is poignant, very touching and laugh-out-loud funny at times. There is much sadness in the plot but in the end also some healing and a lot of hope. Frankie finally learns what’s really important in life thanks to her new friend Lulubelle and her son Cosmo. I really connected to the characters and felt their pain as my youngest son was ill when he was little and spent a lot of time in the hospital. I enjoyed reading about Frankie as she slowly becomes self aware, it’s a wonderful trait for a person to have. I look forward to reading The Shape of Your Heart by this author, it was released in February and is sitting on my “to be read” shelf.

Thank you to NetGalley and the publisher for the Advance Readers Copy.

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