Review: Wishing on Buttercups by Miralee Ferrell

Sequel, but works as a standalone

Beth Roberts lives with her aunt in a boarding house in Baker City, Oregon, in 1880. Her aunt wants her to marry well, but she’s happiest when drawing the local scenery—and even more happy when she sells her drawings to a prominent women’s magazine. She has secrets in her past that mean she believes no one would want to marry her. If she could ever trust a man anyway, after what happened before …

Jeffrey Tucker lives in the same boarding house. He’s been a mystery to the other guests, but it now comes out that he’s writing a novel set in a boarding house in the American West … a fact which causes consternation among the residents. Jeffrey is interested in Beth, but finds it difficult to get to know her—something that’s made even more difficult when a handsome stranger arrives in town. And then another one …

Wishing on Buttercups is the second book in the Love Blooms in Oregon series, following Blowing on Dandelions. I read the two books back-to-back, but I think they could easily be read as standalone novels—Blowing on Dandelions introduced Jeffrey, Beth and Aunt Wilma, but the main character was Katherine Galloway, the owner of the boarding house where they live.

I thought Wishing on Buttercups was excellent. I liked the characters, especially the way we got to know some familiar characters in a deeper way. I liked the way the Christian elements of the plot were dealt with (although this was less pronounced than in Blowing on Dandelions). I liked the element of suspense provided by the flashes to Steven and Isabella in Kansas, and I especially liked the end. Almost perfect.

Thanks to David C Cook and NetGalley for providing a free ebook for review. You can find out more about Miralee Ferrell at her website.