Lily Chen owns Petals & Promises, the coziest flower shop in Maplewood. She creates stunning arrangements. Knows every flower's meaning. Brings beauty to people's lives through blooms and petals.But Lily doesn't do weddings. Not anymore. Not since her own wedding fell apart five years ago. She'll do birthdays, anniversaries, funerals. Anything but weddings.Then Ethan Brooks walks into her shop needing flowers for his sister's wedding. Ethan, her high school sweetheart. The boy she loved at seventeen. The man who broke her heart and moved across the country without looking back.Now he's back in Maplewood. Successful architect. Still devastatingly handsome. Still making Lily's heart race after all these years.And he needs her help. His sister's wedding is in six weeks. The original florist quit. The family is desperate. Will Lily please, please make an exception?Lily wants to say no. Wants to protect her heart. Wants to avoid Ethan and all the feelings he brings back.But his sister was Lily's best friend once. Before everything fell apart. Before Ethan left. Before Lily's own engagement ended in heartbreak.So Lily agrees. One wedding. Six weeks of working with Ethan. Then he'll leave again and she can go back to her safe, quiet life.Except working together brings back everything. The chemistry. The connection. The way Ethan always made her laugh. The way he looks at her like she's still the girl he loved at seventeen.They start talking. Really talking. About why he left. Why she never followed. What happened to the dreams they shared.Ethan admits he left because he was scared. Scared of small-town life. Scared of never achieving anything. Scared of becoming his father—stuck and bitter and regretful.Lily admits she stayed because she was scared too. Scared of the unknown. Scared of leaving her family. Scared of choosing dreams over safety.They were both scared. And they both lost each other because of it.As they plan the wedding together—choosing flowers, designing arrangements, creating beauty—something blooms between them. Old feelings. New understanding. Second chances.But Ethan's life is still in Seattle. His architecture firm. His career. Everything he built.And Lily's life is here. Her flower shop. Her community. Everything she chose.History is repeating itself. Someone has to sacrifice. Someone has to choose. Someone has to be brave.The wedding approaches. Decisions loom. Can they find a way to have both love and dreams? Or will fear win again?BLOOMING HEARTS is a heartwarming flower shop romance about second chances, healing old wounds, high school sweethearts reuniting, learning to be brave, small town charm, and discovering that sometimes love deserves a second bloom.Perfect for fans of flower shop settings, second chance romance, childhood sweethearts, emotional healing, small town love stories, forced proximity, and happily ever afters that prove it's never too late for love to grow again.
