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Book Review: Elly in Love by Colleen Oakes
Chick Lit Review

Book Review: Elly in Love by Colleen Oakes

I received a copy of this book in exchange for an honest review.
Summary:
Curvy wedding florist Elly Jordan has had quite a year. First, she had to design her ex-husband’s wedding to the mistress who split them up, and then she broke up with the hottest musician this side of St. Louis. Three months have passed since then, and now Elly is primed for what promises to be the best wedding season of her life.
Encouraged by her loyal friends (and one pushy coworker), Elly considers opening a chic flower boutique uptown when BlissBride, a popular wedding reality show, asks her to design the wedding of a famous—make that infamous—celebrity. Elly is about to get everything she ’s ever wanted, when a stranger shows up at her store with a request that changes every aspect of her life—including her budding relationship with deli owner Keith. As she
struggles to stay calm in the midst of growing chaos, Elly will learn the true meaning of love and sacrifice.
Filled with the heart, humor, and horticulture that made Elly in Bloom a bestseller, Elly in Love welcomes readers back to Elly’s big, beautiful, and messy life.
Review:
I have been looking forward to the sequel of Elly in Bloom for some time now, so I was super excited to get this on my Kindle. Once again, the writing and descriptions are vivid and crisp, easily drawing readers into the story. There was a fun element of the celebrity wedding that Elly is the florist for, but it’s the romance that gets featured heavily. There’s also another dimension added with the mysterious stranger that shows up at Elly’s door, which added another layer to the novel. A book I really enjoyed, I hope you can read both Elly in Bloom and Elly in Love – or just look at their beautiful covers!
4 stars

July 8, 2014
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CLP Blog Tours Book Review: Elly in Bloom by Colleen Oakes
Chick Lit Review

CLP Blog Tours Book Review: Elly in Bloom by Colleen …

Colleen Oakes is now on tour with CLP Blog Tours and Elly in Bloom. Elly Jordan makes a new life for herself after catching her husband in bed with another woman. She flees from Georgia and ends up in St. Louis, where she finally stops running and decides to stay. Along with the help of new friend Kim she opens her own flower shop, as flowers and creating masterpieces from them has always been her passion. Two years later Elly and her shop Poises is thriving, and she thinks she might be finally moving on from her past. But when she takes on a wedding that would not only allow her to pay off her apartment but boost her business exponentially, Elly comes face-to-face with the people she was trying so hard to forget.
I really enjoyed Elly in Bloom, and just loved the writing and the crisp descriptions that made me feel like I was a part of Elly’s world. Elly is a pretty comical character, who has a knack for being klutzy and talking too much. But she is very loveable, someone whose past clearly left a huge mark on her, and I commend her for uprooting herself like she did and trying to start over and stand on her own two feet. I imagine that could not be easy! There is a romance in the story between Elly and Isaac that left me in stitches from time to time. Their whole relationship was just awkward, but it made it that more funny to read about. Snarky Teenager was actually one of my favorite characters because of her spunk, and Kim was such a good friend to Elly that is was impossible not to love her. A very cute read with such an adorable cover, and I recommend!
4 stars

April 2, 2013
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On Tour: Elly in Bloom by Colleen Oakes
CLP Blog Tours

On Tour: Elly in Bloom by Colleen Oakes

Colleen will be on tour March 25-April 15 with her novel Elly in Bloom The #1 Kindle Bestseller in Contemporary Fiction!  Surrounded by lush flowers…

March 22, 2013
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Future Tour: Elly in Bloom by Colleen Oakes
CLP Blog Tours

Future Tour: Elly in Bloom by Colleen Oakes

Colleen will be on tour March 25-April 15 with her chick lit novel Elly in Bloom Surrounded by lush flowers and neurotic brides, chubby 32-year…

February 19, 2013
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Blog Tour Sign Up: Elly in Bloom by Colleen Oakes
CLP Blog Tours

Blog Tour Sign Up: Elly in Bloom by Colleen Oakes

Surrounded by lush flowers and neurotic brides, chubby 32-year old Elly Jordan has carved out a sweet little life for herself as the owner of Posies, a boutique wedding florist in St. Louis. It’s not bad for a woman who drove away from her entire life just two years ago when she found her husband entwined with a red-headed artist.

Sure, Elly has an embarrassingly beautiful best friend, a terribly behaved sheepdog and a sarcastic assistant who she simply calls “Snarky Teenager”, but overall her days are pleasantly uneventful. As a bonus, her new next door neighbor just happens to be an unnervingly handsome musician who has an eye for curvy Elly. Just when she feels that she is finally moving on from her past, she discovers that an extravagant wedding contract, one that could change her financial future, is more than she bargained for.

With the help of her friends, staff and the occasional well-made sandwich, Elly bravely agrees to take on the event that threatens to merge her painful history with her bright new life, and finds herself blooming in a direction she never imagined.

Elly’s voice, both charming and hilarious, will appeal to those readers who have been looking for a new voice in chick-lit, and will give women of all sizes the realistic heroine they’ve been waiting for.

Quote about the book: “Colleen Oakes is a crisp, intelligent new voice in chick-lit fiction, adept at handling both a character’s inner and outer world. Her dialogue is brisk and clever and her plotting is a smooth invitation to keep turning pages…” – Andrea (Ande) Waggener, Author of Alternate Beauty

January 1, 2013
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