In Sarah McCoy's The Baker's Daughter, the main character is Reba Adams, a writer who lives in El Paso, Texas. Reba dreams of going to California but has not capitalized on her vision yet: "I thought I'd start here and eventually make my way to California—L.A., Santa Barbara, San Francisco." She has yet to leave Texas, however. Now here's where I had some issues with the book. I had some trouble understanding the motives behind some of the characters. First, Henry, the heir to Wharton House, is sort of horrible. He leads Olivia on and traps her in a loveless marriage and only seems to be looking out for himself. He doesn't seem to understand why what he's doing is wrong and he sort of manipulates Julia's grandfather to get what he wants. Even though I liked the love story between Henry and Lidia, it made it a little hard to fully support their love story as Henry was just generally horrible. Lucinda Riley can truly spin a tale and frankly, after reading Kate Morton's novels, which are essentially tragedies, it's refreshing to read a story told in the same vein but with a more uplifting ending.

Hothouse Flower by Lucinda Riley | Goodreads Hothouse Flower by Lucinda Riley | Goodreads

Taking you on a captivating journey through time and place, Hothouse Flower is a moving story of love, heartbreak and hope. Language is trite (I literally threw the book down when one character decided "she could not allow herself to love again"); and as though the author doesn't trust that the dialogue between characters conveys the proper ideas, each exchange is followed by a few lines redundantly summarizing what everyone meant and felt.

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But what bugged me the most are those stupid dialogues. I haven't read so much bullshit in a very long time. Seriously, people don't talk like that. Especially not, if they know each other. And what made me laugh out loud are sentences like "I hope I am worth enough for you", from a person living in 2010. Oooooookay. This was so much crap! Bullshit at its best, to be precise. Seriously, I expected so much from this book, like a great family saga, with some romance and some interesting plot. And in the end, I didn't get anything but crap! Here is where The Baker's Daughter truly shines. Elsie and her parents run a bakery in Garmisch, Germany, a city where Gestapo soldiers raid houses and residents fear for their lives in the worst days of World War II. McCoy renders the bakery especially well. I could smell, see, and taste the breads and sweet treats. My mouth still waters thinking about them. Goodies aside, the bakers move this part of the story. At seventeen, Elsie is being courted by an SS officer who is closer in age to her father than to her. She does not love him. Rather, Elsie adores Hollywood movies and is more concerned with keeping a secret that could get her and her family killed. Julia, the protagonist has just had her world thrown upside down. Devastated and mostly catatonic, she stumbles upon a mystery of the noble house she grew up by. So at this point, the story takes off. We're introduced to a bevy of characters, including Harry, Lord Crawford. Oh man, was this guy unlikeable or what? He marries this largely affable girl, Olivia, whom he hurts repeatedly. One second, he's possibly gay and is found kissing one of her male friends. No harm, no foul. It turns out he was confused and professes to Olivia that he loves her and wants to do right by her. She gives him a second chance and the reader is treated to a few paragraphs where the couple are basking in their new love. Then he goes off to war and falls in love with a 17 year old in Thailand, then makes plans to be with her and leave his wife because apparently, he never loved her. I'm sorry. He was an selfish asshole. Anyway, it turns out that Julia, remember our modern-day protagonist, is his granddaughter. Turns out, he unknowingly left the 17 year old pregnant. I think this book would have been better had Harry been more likable.

Hothouse Flower by Krista Ritchie, Becca Ritchie | Waterstones Hothouse Flower by Krista Ritchie, Becca Ritchie | Waterstones

Wharton Park holds a special place in the heart of Julia Forrester, a world-renowned concert pianist. As a child, Julia spent time there since her grandparents were long-time employees of the Crawfords and lived in a cottage on the grounds of the manor. Her grandfather grew exotic orchids and made Wharton Park famous for the rare flowers; her grandmother, Elsie, was a lady's maid. Their devotion to the manor parallels that of the servants of Downton Abbey for the Granthams. Julia's summers at the estate were dreamlike: "The tranquility and warmth of the hothouses—sitting snugly in the corner of the kitchen garden, sheltered against the cruel winds that blew in from the North Sea during the winter—stayed in her memory all year."

Julia Forrester has many happy memories of a childhood spent at Wharton Park, playing amongst the exotic flowers her grandad cared for. Daisy Calloway is eighteen. Finally. With her newfound independence, she can say goodbye to her overbearing mother and continue her modeling career. Next stop, Paris. Fashion Week begins with a bang, and Daisy uncovers the ugly reality of the industry. She wants to prove to her family that she can live on her own, but when everything spirals out of control, she turns to Ryke to keep her secrets. Plot twists range from predictable to absolutely ridiculous. One in particular toward the end was just totally absurd, negating whatever redeeming qualities the novel had maintained up to that point. No explanation about the set of adult bones by the accident so the reader believes her husband truly dead. Mane knyga sudomino dėl pavadinimo, nes pats auginu orchidėjas. Ir knygoje iš tikrųjų buvo kalbama apie jas, nes jos buvo auginamos Vorton Parko šiltnamiuose. Tačiau man labiausiai patiko Olivijos ir Hario istorija, nes ji turi LGBT prieskonio. Nenoriu išduoti kas ir kur, bet mažytis gay vibe‘as yra.

Hothouse Flower by Krista Ritchie, Becca Ritchie

It is worth noting that Hothouse Flower was republished in 2012 with the title of The Orchid House just so that any confusion with readers thinking it might be a different story, when this is not the case are cleared up straight away. Although the central theme of a family saga set in a country house spanning from the 1930's to the present day is far from an original one, this one is different. It has such a multi layered story to tell us with so many stirring and compelling love stories, secrets and surprises to share I stayed awake far too late at night reading this as I was engrossed. Extremely well written the story flows beautifully, period and locations are credibly described and the characters feel realistic. The situations that they face are ones that we are all able to empathise with from generation to generation. Certainly one of the best family sagas of the genre that I have read recently. Riley reminds me of Kate Morton, and I also see traces of Downton Abbey. If you are a fan of either, I recommend this novel. It is easy to understand how The Orchid House took Europe by storm. I predict the same will happen in the United States. Two new novels are a welcome addition to this fairly recent development: The Baker's Daughter by Sarah McCoy and The Orchid House by Lucinda Riley. Both books have a similar feel yet are very distinctive. Both feature strong, memorable heroines and move from our own time into a past we cannot even begin to contemplate. Yet these women must; if they do not, then they will never get on with their lives. Modern-day famous pianist barely subsisting and starving her way through recovery from a hinted-at horrible tragedy (which isn't actually told until 1/4 of the way through the book after I had ripped about half the hair off my head in frustration)The other issue that I had was everything that happened with Julia's personal life. I don't want to give anything away so excuse me for being vague. First, it just seemed a crazy that it would happen in the first place. I almost wished that it would have been left out of the book because aside from making Julia really sad, I don't think it added anything to the book. McCoy has done meticulous research for The Baker's Daughter. The best example of her diligence is Elsie's older sister, Hazel, a participant in the Lebensborn Program. This was part of Germany experiment to perpetuate the Aryan race by producing blond-haired, blue-eyed German children with high morals, exceptional intelligence, and an unbreakable bond with the state. Hazel, in effect, had babies for Germany and had to give them up. Lebensborn was real, and McCoy accurately portrays this chapter in German history. Daisy Calloway is finally eighteen. With her newfound independence, she can say goodbye to her overbearing mother and continue her modeling career. Next stop: Paris. Fashion Week begins with a bang, and Daisy uncovers the ugly reality of the industry. She wants to prove to her family that she can live on her own, but when everything spirals out of control, she turns to Ryke to keep her secrets. And then he receives a distressed call from a girl in Paris—a girl that he has never been allowed to have.