Darling Daffodils Farm, Brittanee Nicole (Review by Samantha Tiernan)
Rating: 4.0/5 Stars
Aspiring pastry chef Tally Darling is back in her hometown for the first time after her father passed away. Tally is only here in the off season and has a job lined up in a Nantucket bakery when summer rolls around. Her family runs a flower farm where they take flowers to the farmers’ market and host weddings during wedding season. When she arrives at the farm, she is surprised to find that her father has hired a farm hand (Jesse), and he is occupying her old bedroom. And her mother is staying in one of the cabins on the farm and not in her childhood home. Tally suspicious of why all this is happening since she has been away.
Jesse just happens to be a cowboy and a lot older than Tally. Jesse is running the farm now and he doesn’t like Tally at first. Jesse is determined to convince his sister and his nephew to move in with him so he can build a stable life for them on the farm. Tally showing up completely derails his plans. Jesse signed an NDA with Tallys parents before her father passed so he cannot tell her why things have changed on the farm. Jesse also promised Tallys father that he wouldn’t try anything inappropriate on his daughters. Tally doesn’t trust him as she can tell that he is keeping secrets from her. But Tally is there to help so she is forced to follow what Jesse tells her to do around the farm. They try to stay out of each other’s orbit, but the chemistry between them is undeniable.
Tally will do anything to help her parents farm, so she starts baking in their family kitchen and selling pastries at the farmer’s market. When a bridal cake gets accidentally ruined by a broken refrigerator, Jesse begs Tally to please make a cake. Tally has no formal culinary training, so she is nervous at first but puts her head down and gets to work. She makes a beautiful cake that goes viral on social media. Tally starts questioning if she is ready to open her own pastry business and does not have to go to Nantucket.
Jesses promise to Tallys father becomes increasingly difficult to keep when Tally is everywhere – baking cupcakes, making homemade dinners for him, wearing revealing sundresses, and spandex when she goes off for runs. Their attraction to each other is undeniable but Jesse has been burned before by previous relationships. This was such a cute small town charm romance and had me laughing out loud. This was a 4-star read for me! Thank you NetGalley and G.P. Putnam Sons for the ARC read.
