Jenny Kane

After her father’s sudden death, Maddie wants to continue his dream of expanding their small nursery into a larger gardening center. Instead, her sister, a co-owner, wants to sell it so she can buy her dream house. Maddie is determined to move forward with her plans even as her sister is just as determined to sell. Maddie’s new solicitor seems to want to help her, and may even be interested in a relationship with her. But into this mix is the threat of a mega chain of gardening shops which may just put Maddie out of business before she really gets started. This well written novel captured my interest from the very beginning. The author deals with the relationship between the sisters, and with the husband trying to offer the best advice he can to resolve the issue. The sister is always trying to keep up appearances to mimic her longtime and successful, but not terribly nice, friend, and she must decide whether she ought to or not. Other serious issues are brought up in the book, which make it a novel of substance despite the romances that are blooming in the the flower shop. This novel is peopled with delightful and complex characters, and I look forward to reading about them in the next book in the series.… (més)

I did not know this book is part of a series when I requested a copy. Despite this I was able to follow along and picked up the back stories for most of the characters. I cannot say that with many other self claimed stand-alone books from different series. After reading Another Glass of Champagne, I do want to know more about the town, especially Amy and Jack story. Maybe I will go back, and read the other books. The story takes place in London, but it feels like it is in a small town where everyone knows almost everyone. The friendship among the characters are tight. The book focus more on Jack, but it also tells the stories of the others. The characters are in different stages of adulthood, and their stories are all interesting.

In the first several minutes, I thought Anna Parker-Naples is narrating with a very heavy British accent. I was scared that I might not be able to understand the whole book while multitasking. However, I got used to the accent pretty quick and had no problem with it afterward. Another thing I should mention, it's hard to differentiate which female character is talking except for Helena, she has a high pitch voice that sounds like a brat. She does use a different voice for each characters, but they are very similar. Other than that, I like everything else. Good pacing. Good tempo.

4 out of 5 stars
Received a free audio CD set from AudioBook Jukebox in exchange for an honest review.… (més)