bloom where you are planted

Lucy Bernstein loves her job as a florist, but it doesn’t offer her a lot of money for things like rent. So when she loses her small London apartment, she has no choice but to move in with her old college roommate Raja, who lives in a warehouse space with 7 others. Lucy isn’t sure about all the roommates, but she can’t pass on the low rent. Raja assures her that it’s a good place to live, and everyone is pretty busy most of the time. But one weekend a month, they all stop what they’re doing and get together, each roommate taking a turn at the planning.

Lucy moves in and starts to make friends with her new roommates, but the last one she meets is Henry. Henry is a photographer who spends most of his time on the road. He finds himself in a different European city, photographing a venue for a month before coming home for a couple of days and heading back out again. But as soon as Lucy and Henry meet, there is a definite spark.

But Lucy just got there and doesn’t want to upset the chemistry of the group. And Henry is spending all of his time traveling because he’s tired of London and looking for a new place to live.

The Warehouse Weekends bring the roommates together as they laugh and eat and drink, each month a new activity, personal updates, encouragement and personal growth, and plenty of teasing that makes them all feel like family. But that spark between Henry and Lucy glows brighter the more time they spend together. Lucy wants to get to know him better, but she’s worried about that impending deadline. Henry has a date already in mind when he wants to move out of the apartment. He just has to decide on a place. And none of the places he’s thinking about is London.

Meanwhile, the flower shop where Lucy works is struggling. It’s a small shop, just Lucy and the owner Renee and a part-timer. Lucy wants to take on bigger projects, to help with the finances that she knows are tight. Renee is getting older and moving more slowly. Lucy tries to keep things going as best she can, but she worries that the shop will end up closing. Will Lucy figure out a way to save her heart and her job, or despite her new warehouse family, will she find herself heart-broken and out of a job? Or will she figure out how to grow roots and bloom like the flowers she loves so much?

Weekends with You is a lovely slow-burn romance set in London, where the chaos and peace come together to create a harmony of a backdrop for this beautiful love story. Author Alexandra Paige has crafted a debut novel that is heart-breaking and sweet, nuanced and moving. This is a romance that will stand tall on the shelves next to beloved authors and be right at home.

I tried to zip through my reading of Weekends with You, but I just couldn’t do it. As much as I wanted to find out what happened with these characters, the nature of this book was to slow me down and make me savor each scene. It was almost meditative, as it drew me into this London warehouse, into the flower shop, into the lives of these young people as they make plans and chase dreams and fall in love. This is a book to be savored with a favorite cup of tea or over a long weekend. This story just seemed to demand my full attention, and it was worth every slow moment I spent in the pages. Highly recommended as a balm to this crazy world.

Egalleys for Weekends with You were provided by Avon through NetGalley, with many thanks.