2 Books for Women's Fiction Fans

by Susan Roberts

Looking for something new in women's fiction? Check out these two books.

Amazon affiliate links are used on this site. Free books were provided for an honest review.

 The Arrangements by Orly Konig  

February 2025; Next Chapter Books; 979-8990690653
ebook, print (322 pages); women's fiction

She’s a wallflower florist; he’s literally a rocket scientist. But Callie and Nate have been best friends since they were in diapers. They’ve seen each other through every milestone and, as long as they’ve got each other, anything is possible … or so Callie believed.

The Arrangements is a cute romance with a lot of information about flowers.  The author starts every chapter with a different quote about flowers - who knew that there were so many quotes that touched on the beauty of flowers!  Here are a few of my favorite quotes:

"The optimist sees the rose and not its thorns;  the pessimists stares at the thorns, oblivious to the rose."

  Kahil Gibran

"Love is like wildflowers;  it's often found in the most unlikely places."

 Ralph Waldo Emerson

Callie and Nate have been best friends since they were born.  Their mothers were best friends and the two kids spent a lot of time together.  Callie's mom became distant after her beloved father left their family and Nate's mom mothered Callie than her own mom.  She owned the florist shop that Callie ran and saw that Callie had a special gift with flowers.  She always knew what the symbolism was of the flowers that she arranged for particular situations.   When Callie and Nate were in college they made a pact that if neither of them were married at 33, they would marry each other.  Their 33rd birthdays are getting close but Callie only sees Nate as her best friend.  When he starts to date someone seriously and starts canceling the plans that he has with Callie every week, she begins to feel really left out and then she begins to wonder what her life would be like without Nate there to talk to, watch movies with and basically do everything that best friends do.  Could there be more to their relationship than just friendship and what happens when they turn 33?

Buy The Arrangements at Amazon

Southern by Design by Grace Helena Walz  

February 2025; Harper Muse; 978-1400345632
audio, ebook, print (368 pages); Southern fiction

Sweet Magnolias meets Fixer Upper in this delightfully refreshing debut about a woman bravely chasing her dreams, building a life on her own terms, and maybe even discovering a second chance at love.

Southern by Design is set in one of the most beautiful cities in the South - Charleston, South Carolina.  The setting and the old houses there are a major part of the story.  

Mack Bishop owns a design firm and is intent on winning Charleston's prestigious Historic Preservation Design Fellowship  - an award desired by all of the design firms in town.  She's also in the process of divorce from her husband..the husband who is the son of her mother's best friend.  To say that her mom is controlling is putting it mildly.  When Mack loses the award, her mother - one of the main charity-driven women in town, gives her daughter a chance to work on a home for the historical society but, of course, mom wants to be part of the project and able to change some of Mack's design plans.  Mack reluctantly accepts the job -- it may be her chance to become a more desired designer in Charleston society but she sure isn't looking forward to working with her mom.  

While she is starting on the historic home, a television network puts a call out for local designers.  This would give her a chance to pitch the home renovation TV pilot of her dreams--one with a historic preservation twist and might just be the way to finally prove herself.  However, she has to keep the TV pilot project secret from her mother, and it's difficult to keep any secrets in a town like Charleston.

Her other mom-problem is that her mom cannot accept her divorce and Mack is beginning to spend time with her new neighbor next door who was the guy she loved before she was married but the relationship ended too early when he got a job in NYC.  To move forward Mack needs to learn to own her professional and personal future without interference from her mother or is her mother really more caring than Mack thinks she is?  Can Mack grow up enough to find happiness in her life - both professional and personal - by following her own path?  

If you enjoy TV fix-up design shows or the City of Charleston, this is a book that you don't want to miss. This is a debut novel by this author.  She has a lot of potential and I look forward to her future books. 

Buy Southern by Design at Amazon

Susan Roberts grew up in Michigan but loves the laid-back life at her home in the Piedmont area of North Carolina where she is three hours from the beach to the east and the mountains in the west.  She reads almost anything but her favorite genres are Southern Fiction and Historical Fiction.   

 

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