Like a Flower in Bloom

For years Charlotte Withersby has worked as an assistant to her father, an eminent English botanist. As she approaches the old age of twenty-four, her father pushes her out into society, swayed by an uncle who believes God's only two roles for women are marriage and motherhood. When one of the Withersbys' colonial correspondents, Edward Trimble, returns to England, he's drafted as the new assistant so Charlotte is free to marry. This suits Edward's plans quite well, since the last thing he wants to do is reunite with the family he is ashamed to call his own.

Though Edward proves himself vexingly capable on the job, Charlotte won't surrender the job without a fight, and schemes with her best friend to regain her position. Perhaps if a proposal seems imminent, Charlotte's father will see his error and ask her to return. Charlotte tries to make headway in her town's social life, but reveals herself to be unaware of all the intricacies of polite society. Though Edward pitches in, tutoring her in society's expectations, she just seems to make things worse. And the more she comes to know of her father's assistant, the more trouble she has imagining life without him. Caught in a trap of her own making and seeing the hopelessness of her prospects, will Charlotte get to keep her work or will she have to cede her heart?
My thoughts: I very much enjoyed this novel! It was full of humor, likeable characters, and some fun history about botanists in the Victorian era. It is such a sweet story of one young woman trying to figure out how to fit into the role of a woman back in that time, when her heart is in the work that she has been doing. I love the social issues that Siri Mitchell brings up in her books! This one also has some fun introvert/extrovert stuff going on.:) All in all, it is a very enjoyable read!
I received this book from Bethany House in exchange for my honest review.