Wallflower in Bloom by Claire Cook
A Touchstone Book
June 2012
Format: Hardcover, 272 pages
First line: My brother was dazzling, as usual.
From the inside cover: From the acclaimed
bestselling author of Must Love Dogs comes a winning and witty new novel
about a woman who emerges from the shadow of her overbearing family and
finds herself “dancing with the stars.”
Deirdre Griffin has a great
life; it’s just not her own. She’s the around-the-clock personal
assistant to her charismatic, high-maintenance, New Age guru brother,
Tag. As the family wallflower, her only worth seems to be as gatekeeper
to Tag at his New England seaside compound.
Then Deirdre’s sometime
boyfriend informs her that he is marrying another woman, who just
happens to be having the baby he told Deirdre he never wanted. While
drowning her sorrows in Tag’s expensive vodka, Deirdre decides to use
his massive online following to get herself voted on as a last-minute Dancing with the Stars replacement.
It’ll get her back in shape, mentally and physically. It might even get
her a life of her own. Deirdre’s fifteen minutes of fame have begun.
Irresistible and offbeat, Wallflower in Bloom is an original and deeply satisfying story of having the courage to take a leap into the spotlight, no matter where you land.
My thoughts: I love Claire Cook’s books – they are the perfect summer chick-lit reading, great for days at the beach or just sitting on the porch. Her books are always light and fun and tend to highlight different and unique careers that women find themselves in.
This time around, she focuses on Deirdre, who is the personal assistant to her brother, a new-age guru. This is not what she intended to do with her life, yet somehow she gets sucked into Tag’s world, as much of the family has – he even has his two ex-wives living on his “compound” and working for him, although indirectly. Finally having enough, Deirdre takes off and after indulging in one too many drinks, decides to use Tag’s popularity for her benefit – to get herself voted onto Dancing With the Stars – I love this show and loved all the scenes with her at dancing practice! From there, she works her butt off, learning a lot about herself and finding out what she truly wants to do with her life along the way.
I thoroughly enjoyed this book – it was a fun, quick read, but comes with a great message – it’s never too late to find yourself and follow your dreams. I will definitely be keeping that tidbit close to my heart! Have you ever read a book that came with a message you felt was something you could live by or maybe the message inspired you to change something about your life?
(I borrowed this book from the library.)
