Moonberry Lake: Book 2
Publication Date: September 24, 2024
As far as hidden talents go, Delphinium Hayes is blessed with one of the more unique ones. With the slightest passing whiff, she knows someone’s most admirable or weediest characteristic. This peculiar perception never fails to give her an advantage in life—until she meets two men who turn her world upside down.
Mason McCormack has agreed to help her with a group of seniors who have taken over her flower shop as their hangout. But his assistance is not without its price, and Delphinium agrees to compensate him with beautiful bouquets that seem to possess a bit of dating magic.
Elliot Sturgis, director of The Gardens Assisted Living Facility, is determined to discover why a group of his residents keeps sneaking over to Delphinium’s shop to play poker in the walk-in refrigerator. He soon finds himself as enchanted by Delphinium as everyone else. But his devotion to following the rules and maintaining order does not endear him to the shop’s owner.
Sparks fly as opposites attract and love finds a match in Delphinium’s Flora Emporium—even for those who resist it the most.
In Holly Varni’s cleverly quirky novel, The Blooming of Delphinium, Delphinium Hayes, a flamboyant flower shop owner, has a very special gift. She can tell the goodness—or wickedness—of a person by how they smell. For example, if your scent is of roses, you are good at keeping a confidence. If you are humble, your scent is that of lilies of the valley, or if you smell of pink azaleas, you are incredibly generous. On the other hand, if someone smells of onionweed, that signals they are a bully and insist on getting their own way. Liars smell of oleander, and if you smell of wisteria, you are a liar.
While Delphinium’s gift may be unusual, her flower shop has something quite unusual going on itself. A group of senior citizen men have decided to “run away” from their senior care center and take up residence in Delphinium’s cooler to play poker while staving off the summer heat. Not to be outdone, some women residents tag along and soon Delphinium’s back room is filled with errant but well-meaning seniors who add their special charm and laughter. They’re a busy bunch, pulling off many zany antics, keeping Delphinium on her toes while her love for them in return only grows the more she’s with them.
Complicating Delphinium’s life further, a handsome customer continues to visit and buy Delphinium’s masterful flower creations, while Elliot Sturgis, the very direct director of the senior center, solicits Delphinium’s help in getting the seniors back to the facility. The seniors adore Delphinium, and it becomes slowly apparent that Elliott does, too, even though his extremely quiet and reserved demeanor is difficult to read at the best of times. Amidst all the turmoil, Delphinium is desperately trying to save her flower shop from foreclosure.
The Blooming of Delphinium is a special story about a uniquely gifted young lady who steals the hearts of not only the seniors in her flower shop’s back room but of the residents of Moonberry Lake as well.
Powerful visual descriptions are outpaced by pungent and interesting flower fragrance descriptions, and the flowers’ meanings are brought vividly alive throughout. Thoughtful and well-written, with nuggets of deeper meaning planted strategically throughout the book, Holly Varni’s tale unfolds brightly and sweetly.
Splendidly fun, smiles of amusement accompany sighs of understanding in The Blooming of Delphinium, a clever novel of growth, love, understanding, and acceptance. 
Holly Varni is the author of On Moonberry Lake. A native Minnesotan of strong Norwegian descent, she was raised in the Lutheran Church that Garrison Keillor made a career depicting. Though she, her husband, and their three sons live along the Central Coast of California, her beloved Midwest roots continue to haunt everything she writes. She hosts the Moments from Moonberry Lake podcast, where she shares more stories of her beloved characters.
