The Confidence of Wildflowers

Product Information

Now, I do mention in my vlog that there is something that happens and is very spoiler-y, but it can also be a huge trigger for people. Therefore, as I mentioned in my vlog, I am leaving a spoiler here for those who have death as a TW:

However I did think that some scenes were rushed that should have been more detailed since they were important to the development of the story. Overall, I know that this book won't be for everyone because Micalea pulls out ALL the stops for this novel--and some people wont be able to handle that. However, I still adore this book with all my heart even though it is currently laying in pieces. From that moment I couldn't care less about the couple, I just kept reading because I hate giving up the book (I learned my mistake). I didn't feel their passion, everything happened absurdly fast, and the heroin started to irritate me more and more.salem was looking after forrest, and he's been told not to swim in the pool unsupervised, but after an argument with his dad who promised to build him a treehouse but hasn't gotten around to it, forrest jumps into the pool and drowns. i hated this twist so much, i will never understand plot twists like this, it just felt so unnecessary, adding trauma just for the sake of a cliffhanger??? That is a huge trigger for me personally but that's not the reason I gave this 1 star. Here are more reasons:

Thayer and Salem’s relationship started out as this professional neighbor relationship that grew into friendship and slowly turned into something more. It was unexpected and slow moving but their attraction was explosive and you felt it when they were close to each other. But with an age gap and Thayer being a newly divorced single dad, what does that mean for their future relationship? Will they finally give into Temptation? Loving Thayer isn’t a choice. It just is. Loving him is natural, automatic, just like my body’s need to breathe air.”There was sadness through some part of the book, but in the end everything was alright. Their love was just epic. I am glad that somehow Thayer was the instigator of the love this time and that he decided to be happy once one for all. After all Salem was his one and true love. We’re smiling. We’re thriving. That’s the true test of a person— the beauty they’re able to find in the simple things. In the wildflowers that bloom and blossom freely. In the bees that pollinate our earth. In the sound of the wind rustling the leaves. Those are the things that matter. This. Us.” This is such a beautiful but heartbreaking story of two people who find their other half. This story doesn't shy away from the cruelties of the world we live in, Salem and Thayer are people who keep getting dealt horrible cards in the game of life. Salem's response to the tragedy at the end of this book was so off. I could not understand her rationale at all. It boggles the mind and that's not even taking into consideration the very last bomb dropped as the cliffhanger. Caleb stepped up to the plate because you NEVER TOLD THAYER. THAYER JUST LOST A CHILD. God this idiot

The love-story itself was... just no? There was no spark (hell, there wasn’t even a little microscopic twinge), no chemistry, and the whole plot was just a succession of embarrassing moments and equally embarrassing dialogues (and actually unspeakably embarrassing thoughts from our brilliant contradiction of a MC). And it was just so BORING. Gah. thayer is the new grumpy neighbor of salem who’s in his early 30s and on top of that a single dad to his 6 year old son. when salem breaks trough his walls we can see him being extremely protective and sweet to her i was swooning the whole time. that man made her, her own personal gym in his basement and fired someone for talking disrespectful to her. double swoon. he was so adorable and them being all domestic and shit with little forrest was so wholesome.the EXACT same thing happened in Malum: Part 1 by amo jones and it made me so angry i couldn't get over it, and then the same thing happened here. There is also foreshadowing about Thayer not knowing how to be a girl dad (when he gets a puppy for Forrest) and this of course directly connects to the fact Salem had a baby girl.

So much of this book didn’t need to be there and added nothing to the story. (Also a problem in book one but I was willing to let it go) But by the end I was just mad at myself for wasting my time.

Series Reading Order

After that cliffhanger waiting a week felt like an eternity. So, you can imagine how stoked I was to get my hands on this one. The beginning was very slow. The real story truly starts at like 30% mark, other than that you just get to know Salem a little bit better. The romance in this book was cute but I thought personally that The love interest didn’t act his age most of the time which made him seem younger and idk the age gap less noticeable. also, i find it Coming to the plot; it starts off with a new neighbour moving in- Thayer Holmes, 31 years of age, the single dad to a precious boy (you immediately adore)and he's divorced and the love interest. Salem (our main character) is 18, goes off to introduce herself to Thayer and kinda forcefully. The two warm up to each other in coming days.