Life is full of surprises in a winning novel about a girl dreaming big during one unexpected small-town summer. When seventeen-year-old aspiring designer Tahira Janmohammad’s coveted fashion internship falls through, her parents have a Plan B. Tahira will work in her aunt’s boutique in the small town of Bakewell, the flower capital of Ontario. It’s only for the summer, and she’ll get the experience she needs for her college application. Plus her best friend is coming along. It won’t be that bad. But she just can’t deal with Rowan Johnston, the rude, totally obsessive garden-nerd next door with frayed cutoffs and terrible shoes. Not to mention his sharp jawline, smoldering eyes, and soft lips. So irritating. Rowan is also just the plant-boy Tahira needs to help win the Bakewell flower-arranging contest—an event that carries clout in New York City, of all places. And with designers, of all people. Connections that she needs! No one is more surprised than Tahira to learn that floral design is almost as great as fashion design. And Rowan? Turns out he’s more than ironic shirts and soil under the fingernails. Tahira’s about to find out what she’s really made of—and made for. Because here in the middle of nowhere, Tahira is just beginning to bloom.
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0Tahira has always been focused on The Plan. Like every Desi parent to ever exist, Tahira's parents always wanted her to be the best. But there's a catch. Guess who's parents actually supported their daughter's choice to excel in the arts? Unfortunately Tahira's plans come to a screeching halt when she finds herself spending her summer in some small town living in a shed, instead of doing her glamorous fashion designer internship.
Pair the city girl with the small town and there's got to be trouble brewing. But, add in a rude neighbor (who goes by the name Rowan Johnston) who thinks Tahira is just another airhead influencer, and it's a whole different game. But their paths cross when Tahira needs a ticket to fame using the flower-arranging contest in town and guess which rude boy happens to have the biggest green thumb in the neighborhood? Will Tahira bite her tongue and work together with Rowan to get her plan back into place? Or will it just be a total waste of a summer?
That has got to be the most adorable story I've read in a while. The author had me at Desi Muslim MC who wanted to be a fashion designer, but it was the plant nerd with a heart of gold that had me hooked to the book. And his sister. You'll know why if you read the book.
The fact that the author wrote this book so her daughter could read it melted my heart. And you could see the love and the cozy comforting vibes oozing out of this book as you flip every page. Even though I'm not the biggest plant nerd, this just made me want to reconnect with nature. Unplug for a few minutes and stargaze (unfortunately, I don't have a Rowan to stargaze with) and a book like that which moves you to that extent, is definitely an extra special book. I'll probably cherish this story for years to come. Both love stories <spoiler>(Tahira and Rowan's, and June and Leanne's)</spoiler> had me smiling till my cheeks hurt. I'd do anything for a sequel with June as the MC, I'm just saying
Although the story was mostly cozy, the author never shies away from heavy topics. The conversations between Rowan and Tahira about the racial discrimination in their field of work due to being Black and Muslim, respectively broke my heart. The bullying that Rowan's sister went through, the racial microaggressions, they all combined to give a powerful narrative on how we have to work twice as hard in our respective fields of work to get the same recognition the majority race gets. And as a Muslim girl (Muslims are a minority here in SL), I felt like this book could've just played out here. Every scene could fit into a Sri Lankan setting and the dialogues and conversations we would have would be the exact same.
Definitely recommend this book and I've got to thank everyone involved for getting me an ARC of this book through Netgalley. It's got to be one of my favourite approvals so far!
BRB, gotta find myself some T-shirts with plant puns on them!
0So I was very excited when I realized Tahira and Rowan had their own book. I met them in How to Win a Breakup, the story of Tahira’s little sister Samaya. But let’s just say I’m glad I read the other book first. Tahira definitely had a lot of growing up to do and she was a much better person in Samaya’s book than she was in this one. In fact, most of the characters in this book were fairly unlikeable, Juniper being the only exception. She was so pure and sweet.
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