Hurt by her former fiancé Clifton Davenport, new flower shop owner Emme Matthews is working hard to establish a successful business and provide for the three-year-old child she is raising. Financial woes plague her, and she is forced to accept a floral job for a special dinner at the Davenport plantation. Not wishing to upset the event, Emme stays behind the scenes, only to learn the dinner is to announce Clifton’s engagement.

Plantation manager Clifton Davenport harbors deep regrets. Two rash decisions not only pushed the family business near bankruptcy but cost him his first love—the girl he knew as Mary Elaine Matthews. She has moved on and so must he. Ironically, his impending marriage to the daughter of a Brazilian oil magnate might be the salvation of the Davenport legacy and the answer to Emme’s indebtedness.

Shocking news forces Emme and Clifton to face not only their past but the love they left behind.

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Set in a small, Florida town, I could almost feel the humidity and smell the flowers as Sally Jo Pitts described the plantation and flower shop in And Then Love Blooms. Having grown up in a northern area dotted with Christmas tree farms, it was hard for me to imagine them in Florida, but with the help of Pitts descriptions (and a couple of Google image searches), I found it easy to imagine myself there.

As for the plot, if you enjoy sweet, no-frills romance novels, I think you’ll enjoy the first in the Hamilton Harbor Legacy series. Though it was slightly predictable (and there was one time when I wanted to slap some sense into Emme), it also grabbed my attention from the beginning. Even though I’d figured out what would happen, I wanted to see how it would happen, which had me picking the book up again and again.

If you’re looking for a fun, light read, And Then Love Blooms by Sally Jo Pitts delivers.