Reviewed by Emma Crowley
The race to save the vintage flower van is on!
Flowers are Florrie Appleton’s life, so when her beloved Aunt Ada passes, and she’s swiftly issued with an eviction notice and told to vacate Rose Cottage, shutter her Vintage Flower Van business, and leave behind Ada’s gorgeous gardens, she’s devastated.
But Florrie is not one to go down without a fight, even if the developer she’s taking on is run by Tom Houston, the man who broke her heart at uni all those years ago.
Tom may have had the upper hand then, but Florrie has the whole of Heartcross behind her now, and as history has shown, there’s nothing this tiny Scottish hamlet can’t accomplish when they band together…
Many thanks to Harper Collins UK via NetGalley for my copy of The Vintage Flower Van on Love Heart Lane to review and to Sharon for having my review on the blog.
I didn’t want to start this book and that’s because I knew that it was the last in what has been an incredibly wonderful series that has caught the attention of so many readers and for very good reason. But another part of me couldn’t wait to get stuck into the story as I have adored this series from book one and have followed it religiously always excited for each new book. I know that I am always in for a read filled with charm, friendship and community spirit.
Love Heart Lane is the perfect antidote to everything going on in the world today as you are guaranteed pure escapism and a pleasurable number of hours reading time. This may be book fourteen but it’s like an homage to all the books that have gone before it and you will be easily be able to follow along. It was wonderful to see all the old characters make an reappearance as well as some new faces and it felt familiar and comforting to return to a setting and a community in which Christie Barlow has once again created a story that had me in it’s thrall from the very first word.
The Vintage Flower Van on Love Heart Lane opens with a sad occasion as the residents of this very special village have gathered for the funeral of Ada Jones. Ada’s vintage flower van which stood outside Rose Cottage for so many years had been a focal point for everyone and held a special place in the hearts of many. For as long as anyone can remember the gardens have been filled with fabulous flowers and colour and subsequently sold in the van and all lovingly cared for and tended to by Ada. But now she is gone and her great niece Florrie, herself a florist, hopes to continue on the many traditions established by Ada. At the funeral Florrie lays eyes on someone that she hasn’t seen in 8 years and instantly many uncomfortable memories are stirred up. Images and memories that she has done her best to quash? Just why has Tom Houston shown up at Ada’s funeral especially as the last time she saw him, he had completely humiliated her and ruined her life. He left her broken hearted, hurt and confused and she still seethes with the anger created by his betrayal. Why all of a sudden has he appeared in Heartcross and at a time when she is extremely vulnerable due to the death of Ada? Really, she is not ready to deal with him at this point but it seems things are about to get a lot more complicated than she had bargained for.
Florrie had made a promise to Ada that she would always keep the flower van in business. Ada had been such a huge inspiration in Florrie’s life so much so that she became a florist herself and now has her own shop at Buttercup Barn which in it’s own right is very successful. Keeping both businesses running will be a juggle but Florrie is more than up for the challenge and wants to keep Ada’s memory alive. But when an eviction notice arrives at Rose Cottage giving her a month to pack everything up and vacate the premises and to leave the flower van where it is Florrie’s whole world is thrown into chaos. It seems the property and van had only been rented by Ada for all those years but Florrie had never known any of this and she is even more shocked to discover that Tom’s construction company is behind it all. It seems the past is coming back to haunt her in more ways than one and right from the outset the reader can’t help but be on Florrie’s side and have an intense dislike for Tom and his actions. The lease can’t be transferred and if the property doesn’t stay in the family it will have an affect on business as the flowers are grown in the gardens.
From this point on, the reader sees an incredible fire ignite in Florrie. She is determined not to go down without a fight as there is a beautiful love story and lots of history associated with Ada, Rose Cottage and the Vintage Flower Van. Having this story of the past link in with the present was wonderful and only added to the charm of the story. Sixty years of passion and devotion to flowers and nature can’t go down the drain and Florrie rallies the troops and starts a campaign to keep the van open. She knows she is facing stiff opposition against a company the size of Tom’s but things are getting personal and even though she doesn’t wish to have any interactions with him or to rake up the past she soon comes to learn that she needs to face things head on. Heartcross is a community which doesn’t stand for wrong doing or unfairness and that’s exactly what is happening to Florrie. I loved how the troops rallied around her and the publicity campaign swung into action gathering lots of attention on social media. At a time of need the villagers stick together and this is shown here with every turn of the page and I adored it all as it just gave me that warm fuzzy feeling inside. I felt it was the best of the characters and the setting coming to the fore once again as it has so many times before and I never grow bored of it at all.
Florrie wasn’t going to take things lying down and she threw her heart and soul into everything. She is hell bent on winning the Flowers in Bloom competition one last time which Ada has won for countless years and everything that Ada had worked so hard for well she wasn’t going to let it be demolished to make way for modern housing. The van soon becomes iconic and a tourist attraction in itself and Florrie thinks maybe Tom and his company may very well change their minds but it seems they too are hell bent on destroying something that is valued by so many in the community.
Tom was someone who I think was trying to say something to Florrie at several points when they did meet and that chemistry between them still existed but Florrie was so angry that she didn’t give him a chance to explain things. Slowly, my initial opinion of him started to change but there were points where I thought oh come on please just be honest with her. Don’t be beating around the bush and also do the right thing and save the cottage and van. But really I should have trusted the process and realised that Christie had everything carefully plotted out and had plenty of twists and turns to come which had me reading all the more quicker to see how things would pan out.
I loved seeing all the characters from previous books feature one again. I had enjoyed and devoured every one of their stories and it was brilliant to see the Heartcross family coming together once again when needed. There are too many characters to name here but suffice to say seeing their names mentioned one again did inspire happy memories of being with them on their journeys. Florrie’s story only added to what has been an extraordinary series and I was rooting for her from beginning to end. Whether it all works out for her or not you’ll have to read this delightful, entertaining and amazing story for yourself.
All good things must come to an end and I am truly gutted that Love Heart Lane has reached it’s conclusion. The only consolation is that Christie has a new series coming, Puffin Island, which will be published in September. If it is anything as brilliant as Love Heart Lane then readers are in for a real treat. Thank you Christie for such a fabulous series that has brought me endless hours of reading pleasure and will forever be one of my favourites. You did yourself proud with this last book and that ending was pure perfection bringing everything full circle and connecting so effortlessly back to book one. Readers will finish this book with a tear in their eye and also a smile on their face. It’s true what they say once you visit Love Heart Lane you will never want to leave and I didn’t. In years to come I know I will go back and read the series from beginning to end but for now I will let the characters take a step back and I will remember fondly the wonderful times I spent in their company. All I can say if you haven’t read any of these books is why on earth haven’t you? They never disappoint and The Vintage Flower Van on Love Heart Lane was everything I could have hoped for in the final book and much more.
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