Anderson in Bloom: A Novel

Anderson in Bloom by Jennifer Dugan is a lesbian second-chance love story about Andy and Nicky, two former child stars. The two had a relationship growing up together in Hollywood. They were also in love. Andy, the FMC, leaves Hollywood due to a horrible agent. And she is heartbroken by the end of her relationship with Nikki. She follows her love of flowers and lands a great job working in a flower shop. There she creates again, this time spelling the story of love, forgiveness, and grief with the language of flowers for her customers. There she blossoms and grows. One day she looks up to see Nikki. Seriously. In THE flower shop!! And Nikki's writing a memoir about child star life and struggles. Which includes Andy. Will Andy trust Nikki again? Or does Andy choose herself again? This book made me feel ALL of the feels. The yearning. The depth. The true hard decisions that must be made as we age. An important second-chance love story that questions what is most important in life? Our own path? Or finding someone to join paths with? What are we willing to risk for love?

Thank you to Harper Audio and Avon for the ALC! Celebrity romances aren’t usually one of the tropes I automatically go for, but I thought it was well done in this case! I also really enjoyed that they were both kid/teenage stars and one stayed in Hollywood/the industry and one didn’t. I also loved getting flashbacks to their initial teenage friendship that led to their love and first round of their relationship, while also wondering what exactly happened that led to the split years ago. The audio production was good (single narrator). There were times when I had to re-listen to bits of dialogue because the voices for both FMCs were a little similar at times but that might have just been a me issue. 90% of the time it was fine though!

Anderson "Andy/Anne" Ducharme + Nikki Colletti Anderson in Bloom starts off with us meeting Anne/Andy. She is working in a flower shop in Maine. & honestly, the first chapter had me hooked because who's ex just shows up where they work at 3,000 miles from where they originally lived. I was curious to find out why Nikki was in the shop and what her intentions were. Andy had left LA because it all became too much. She isn't built for a life like that and being a child star & with all of the bad stuff that happened to her (Nikki not being sober, her manager taking her money) I don't blame her for leaving. Once Nikki figures out that its Andy she keeps coming back until Andy gives her the opportunity to explain why she's in Maine and what she's doing. It's been five years and people change. This is shown throughout this book. Andy has a hard time allowing Nikki to show her she's changed because she is so angry about how they ended up not being together. But their love is stronger than Andy ever imagined. She gives Nikki a chance to prove to her she isn't the same by allowing her to be her friend and help her with the book. This book kept me up because I needed to see how Nikki had changed and honestly, who wouldn't love to date a celebrity (hello!). Nikki's intentions were clear and Andy just had a hard time looking past who Nikki used to be. Until a conversation is had with her friend Regan. Regan kind of puts things into perspective and I really loved the supporting…

Anderson in Bloom is a is a sapphic romance that involves two former teen stars (who were also girlfriends) reconnecting later in life. One had stayed in the industry and became very successful, the other shied away from fame and rebuilt her life in a flower shop across the country. Once they reconnect, they try to work through their past and heal old wounds. Tropes: second-chance romance, small town, fame This was my first book by this author. Overall, it kept me entertained and interested. It wasn't terribly angsty and it was a nice, easy listen. I struggled throughout with trying to understand and get behind Andy, one of the MCs. She was never likable to me. Even though the other MC, Nikki, was arguably the one I was supposed to dislike (at least initially), I found myself really pulling for her more - and questioning if Andy was good enough for her. I think I would have given it a higher rating if I could have connected more with the MC. I would definitely read another book by this author, as I found her writing and pace to be on point. An audio version of this book was provided to me by NetGalley, thank you! This was also my first book that was narrated by Rebecca Mozo. I thought she did an excellent job and I look forward to listening to more of her work.

I requested Anderson in Bloom because the cover drew me in immediately, and I had no idea just how much I’d fall in love with the characters and this story! AiB is the first Hollywood (or adjacent) setting I’ve read, and I thought that Andy really did a great job of showing the unglamorous side of it that you don’t often see. She was the embodiment of having to make yourself more palatable to keep getting jobs, to keep making money, and to be relevant in the acting industry, even if it’s to your own self-detriment. I felt so connected to Andy (despite never working in that scene) feeling raw, exposed, and vulnerable as she took us through those early years and described how they broke her down and the demise of her relationship with Nikki. I thought the story moved so well into framing Andy’s new life in Maine with Regan and Johnny and her little found family and really set us up to understand just how isolated Andy feels and how desperate she is to move on from her past life, even though she’s not actually healed from it. When Nikki took the leap and showed up, I was skeptical that Andy would immediately take her back, and I was so grateful that Anderson in Bloom really took its time to slow-burn into that second-chance romance. Even though they did have that instant chemistry again, I loved watching Andy and Nikki do a good amount of yearning for each other, a lot of groveling and apologizing, and only then did we finally get rewarded for that patience. Nikki and Andy’s…