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Ebook322 pages4 hours
Wallflower in Bloom: A Novel
By Claire Cook
Rating: 3.5 out of 5 stars
3.5/5
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About this ebook
From the acclaimed bestselling author of Must Love Dogs comes a winning and witty new novel about a woman who emerges from the shadow of her overbearing family and finds herself “dancing with the stars.”
Deirdre Griffin has a great life; it’s just not her own. She’s the around-the-clock personal assistant to her charismatic, high-maintenance, New Age guru brother, Tag. As the family wallflower, her only worth seems to be as gatekeeper to Tag at his New England seaside compound.
Then Deirdre’s sometime boyfriend informs her that he is marrying another woman, who just happens to be having the baby he told Deirdre he never wanted. While drowning her sorrows in Tag’s expensive vodka, Deirdre decides to use his massive online following to get herself voted on as a last-minute Dancing with the Stars replacement. It’ll get her back in shape, mentally and physically. It might even get her a life of her own. Deirdre’s fifteen minutes of fame have begun.
Irresistible and offbeat, Wallflower in Bloom is an original and deeply satisfying story of having the courage to take a leap into the spotlight, no matter where you land.
Deirdre Griffin has a great life; it’s just not her own. She’s the around-the-clock personal assistant to her charismatic, high-maintenance, New Age guru brother, Tag. As the family wallflower, her only worth seems to be as gatekeeper to Tag at his New England seaside compound.
Then Deirdre’s sometime boyfriend informs her that he is marrying another woman, who just happens to be having the baby he told Deirdre he never wanted. While drowning her sorrows in Tag’s expensive vodka, Deirdre decides to use his massive online following to get herself voted on as a last-minute Dancing with the Stars replacement. It’ll get her back in shape, mentally and physically. It might even get her a life of her own. Deirdre’s fifteen minutes of fame have begun.
Irresistible and offbeat, Wallflower in Bloom is an original and deeply satisfying story of having the courage to take a leap into the spotlight, no matter where you land.
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Author
Claire Cook
Claire Cook wrote her first novel in her minivan when she was forty-five. At fifty, she walked the red carpet at the Hollywood premiere of the adaptation of her second novel, Must Love Dogs, starring Diane Lane and John Cusack. She is the bestselling author of eight other novels and divides her time between the suburbs of Atlanta and Boston.
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Reviews for Wallflower in Bloom
Rating: 3.5727272727272728 out of 5 stars
3.5/5
55 ratings9 reviews
- Rating: 3 out of 5 stars3/5Deidre has played second fiddle to her whole family her whole life. Working for her charismatic brother, Tag, doesn't help matters very much. After she runs off to LA to follow her dream of dancing, Deidre's life takes some more confident turns. Although I thoroughly enjoyed Cook's family dynamics (as always), I had trouble buying into the whole DWTS premise.
- Rating: 4 out of 5 stars4/5In a word, cute. I own several of Claire Cook's books but I've not read any of them yet... I can't pass up the covers, they are always just so so... cute, they pull me right in. However, I read this one and I loved Claire's wit and storytelling, I smiled quite a bit.Anyhow, this book was about a girl, Deidre (Dee), who is a personal assistant and so much more to her famous brother, Tag. She feels like a wallflower, unnoticed, overlooked in life. Then one day, in a fit of rage, she had a little too much to drink and registered herself in a Dancing with the Stars contest and used her social networking skills to promote herself. I won't tell you how this turns out but Dee is starting to get noticed and she likes it.Light enjoyable beach read. Definite recommend.
- Rating: 4 out of 5 stars4/5My personal harbinger of summer landed on my desk recently--Claire Cook's latest book "Wallflower in Bloom". Cook's strength is writing about women who, for one reason or another, are reinventing themselves. Humor is another of her great strengths, so her stories will first make you laugh, and then make you think "I could do something like that". It's no wonder she has legions of friends/fans who think of her like a sister. This time around, she introduces us to Deirdre, who works as a personal assistant for her motivational speaker/musician guru-esque and very charismatic older brother, constantly on the go and with no life of her own--she just makes his life seamless and smooth. The resentment about this has been growing for years, but overflows after an argument with her brother over a friend of his (who just happened to kiss her) and the news from her on again/off again boyfriend of ten years that he's getting married because his current girlfriend is pregnant. So one night she mixes herself up a blender full of Ben&Jerry's and vodka and signs on to her brother's social media sites (which she takes care of for him) and asks all of his fans to support her as a last minute replacement on Dancing With The Stars. And they do. This book is completely hilarious and pretty much impossible to put down once Deirdre starts her training. In between the slapstick, there are gentle touches on body image, weight, confidence, family and more. Once again, Cook tells it like so many women know it (only with more laughs), and this book will delight her fans, and no doubt earn her some more.
- Rating: 4 out of 5 stars4/5Ms. Cook, you've done it again! I love your stories and characters. This is a fun storyline and I want to be BFFs with Diedre.
I recommend you check this out - Rating: 4 out of 5 stars4/5Good entertainment and good story. The only thing I didn't like was the way the brothers and sisters spoke to each other like they were still 10 years old. That part wasn't cute or funny, as it probably was intended. It was just not believable and a little odd. Besides that it's a very entertaining story and I liked it.
- Rating: 4 out of 5 stars4/5While it took me a little bit to get into this book, I found it to be a compelling page turner. I had a love/hate relationship with the main character Deirdre, well hate is not quite right more like "sorry".Deirdre is the do it all girl/personal assistant for her motivational speaker/musician guru. She is extremely bright girl with very little self esteem.The book will give you some really good chuckles, and you will be cheering her on in some of her antics! At other times you will be in tears for her. I loved how she went about getting herself on DWTS!! Once we start our journey there we find Deirdre starting to bloom.Don't miss this great summer read, and have a box of tissues handy for your tears from joy and sadness!I received this book from the Publisher Simon & Schuster, and was not required to give a positive review.
- Rating: 4 out of 5 stars4/5As usual, Claire Cook know how to make you laugh in “Wallflower in Bloom”! I listened to the audio version read by Cassandra Campbell which I love as well – so perfect for the part.
Love the way Claire always has her strong women characters inventing themselves and the wonderful journey along the way, full of obstacles and stepping stones. The sense of humor in all her books make them fun to read or to listen to and inspires you to be your best!
Bringing in DWTS was so cool, as Deirdre has lived in the shadows of her famous brother Tag, and uses social media to get her the spot on the famous show. You will be delighted with this one, as all of Cook’s funny tales and full of adventure! - Rating: 1 out of 5 stars1/5I’ve read and enjoyed chick lit. This isn’t one of those chick lit books.
Deirdre Gibson is the personal assistant and social media genius behind her older brother, Tag’s, rise to fame and fortune as a new-age guru. She is unsure, lacks confidence, and is certain that any guy who shows interest in her must be just trying to get to her brother. When her brother interferes once too often in her personal life, she abruptly quits and in a vodka-fueled stroke of inspiration starts an internet campaign to get her voted onto Dancing With the Stars (where, of course, the producers agree, just to get her brother to come on the show).
There is nothing likeable about these characters. Deirdre is obsessed with how fat and unattractive she is, and what mess she’s made of her “non-life.” Frankly, she’s right. She’s about 33 and riding her brother’s coattails. I wanted to shake some sense into her and tell her to grow up. Her brother isn’t much better, speaking in ridiculous platitudes and trying always to be the center of attention. Their sibling rivalry and dialogue is what I’d expect from 9-year-olds. A usual scene consists of his backhanded insult and her responding with “I know you are, but what am I?” Seriously … I’m not making that up; that is really what the dialogue is like in this book. Oh, and did I mention Cook’s penchant for dividing a sentence into individual words for emphasis. Drove. Me. Absolutely. Crazy! The “crisis” that leads to her epiphany is ridiculous and the ending is saccharine. Blech! - Rating: 3 out of 5 stars3/5A fun book to read about a woman who works for her new -age guru, famous brother as his media, events planner who has no life of her own and zero self esteem. Plus her brother treats like dirt. It's about family relationships like with your parents and your siblings.The novel is filled with expressions or chiasmus, self depraction humor from Diedre herself.