The Scent of Gardenias by Lorraine Haas – Review by Shelly Kittell

The Scent of Gardenias by Lorraine Haas
My rating: 5 of 5 stars

Oh my goodness, this story was beautiful. A coming of age for Margaret during tough times. Her father tried hard to keep her under his thumb but couldn’t because Margaret was pretty strong willed. She though she was making bad choices after losing Eugune to the war. Two more failed marriages and the death of her sister and a few other losses and misadventures, Margaret is pissed and ready to get back on her feet. She is wanting to be a good role model for her daughters. The story is just so beautifully written. The flow is smooth. The characters meld together. Her father is so overbearing and its interesting to see that some of her choices, such as Joe, end up being like her father. The main question of the story is can she forgive? That’s hard to answer because I’m not sure that I would want to forgive my father for that kind of behavior. But her brother Edsol is such a good soul and he’s like the good angel on her shoulder, right there to remind her to forgive. The characters are so well developed. You have good ones like Eugene and Franny; to bad ones like Joseph to her father. You felt like you knew them because you could just feel them as you read. It’s hard to describe but you felt like they were people you knew. I still can’t decide about Leland. He did what was good for June at the time but as a mom that kind of irks me. This is a fantastic story that I would give more than 5 stars if I could. You need to read this. Hit that one-click, you know you want to. I highly recommend this story.

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