Bed of Flowers (Sweetness and Light, #1)

by Erin Satie

[Heather]

A lot happened in this book.  The hero, Loel, accidentally set a fire that destroyed part of the town.  After failed attempts at reconciliation, he went off to sea.  Things didn't go well for him there either.  He ended up coming back to town after his parents' death.  Everyone in town still shuns him and gossips about him.

Bonny is the daughter of a merchant whose business was ruined in the fire.  She encounters Loel when she goes to ask him to lend some of his family's books to her lending library.  He says no so she assumes he is as horrible as ever.  But, she notices that he is living in just a few rooms of the house and appears to be spending most of his time in a greenhouse where he is cultivating rare orchids.

Bonny is beautiful.  You know how I know that?  It says so, over and over and over again and in case you forgot it will tell you again soon.  Seriously, way too much on the "Bonny is beautiful."  She has recently gotten the richest man left in town to finally propose in the most insulting way possible.  This will help her family fortunes.  Now, the town outcast Loel is telling her that things aren't always as they seem.  He is planning on puncturing her worldview by pointing out the dark side to her fiance.

I liked this book.  I think this is the first historical romance I've read where marrying into the gentry means that the heroine will be financially worse off than before and she will be shunned.  Nothing gets magically better.  The town is still full of judgmental busybodies who cause trouble for everyone. 

I'm looking forward to the next book in the series that will focus on Bonny's co-conspirator in the lending library and favorite runaway, Cordelia.This review was originally posted on Based On A True Story