The Bouquet List by Barbara DeLeo – a Review

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Description:
He’s #5 on her Bouquet List. Tall, dark…and completely forbidden.

After a too-close call with death, Yasmin Katsalos is checking some things off her Bouquet List—things to do after you thought you were going to die. Fun fashion choices? Check. Purple hair and a cute diamond nose stud? Check, check. Now she’s on to item #5: a flirty fling with a man who’s tall, dark, rich…and totally out of her league.

And restaurateur Lane Griffiths definitely fits the bill.

Lane isn’t just out of Yasmin’s league. He’s also her brother’s best friend and therefore off-limits. Now that they’re working together on renovations for her family’s wedding hall, however, Yasmin has plenty of opportunities to bewitch, bother, and boldly seduce. He’s reserved. She’s relaxed. The only thing they share is a spark of attraction that’s too strong to resist. But is Lane just another item on her bouquet list… or has Yasmin found something on her list that will last?

Review:

The Bouquet List by Barbara Deleo is the brush with death, life changing story of Yasmin Katsalos. Yasmin has always been the good daughter. Doing what she is supposed to do and following in her families strong Greek traditions. But while away in Borneo working on her PHD she contracted dengue fever. After almost losing her life she decides to construct a “Bouquet List” – the female version of the bucket list. It is a list of things she wants to do after she thought she was going to die.

The list begins with her getting a nose piercing and dying her hair purple. She is determined to live her life the way she wants to with no regrets. And although some of the things on her list scare her beyond belief, she is willing and determined to fulfill each and every task.

Yasmin is back home at her parents place and content on helping them get their struggling wedding hall / restaurant back on track.   But she soon finds out that her mother has run off to Greece and her father will need her more than ever right now as he is heading to Greece to bring his wife home. Yasmin is up for the challenge of updating and renovating the wedding hall. That is until she meets who she will be working with to get this feat taken care of.

Lane Griffiths is an up and coming restaurateur, who her father has asked to oversee the wedding hall / restaurant renovations. Turns out Lane is best friends with Yasmin’s older brother Nick. They have been best friends for years. But even though she knows she shouldn’t be thinking of Nick’s best friend this way. She is bound and determined to make Lane her number five. But will this ruin Nick’s and Lane’s friendship? And does Yasmin even care if it does?

I loved Yasmin’s character from the moment I started reading about her. Her new found love of life and determination to live her life her way and not back down from what she believes in, left me excited and filled with wonder as to what she was going to do next. Yasmin’s family has stumbled yet they are strong in their beliefs and traditions. And with her back you just want to know if everything can be repaired in their lives.

Her free loving way of life combined with Lane’s rigidity and quest for order was the perfect combination of two characters. There were times that I wanted to delve more into Lane and explore the way that he is – with that being said – I fell head over heels in love with the two of them. Yasmin was able to pull Lane out of his rigid shell and allowed him to explore the type of man he wants to become.

As the relationship grows Yasmin begins to check things off of her list. That is until Lane happens across it. In an act of pure emotion, Lane explodes after reading number nine and the relationship changes from that moment forward. Will they be able to reconcile? Will Lane let Yasmin explain the what and reason why behind her list? Or will he allow it to hurt him and close himself off to her forever?

This book was like a warm, sweet slice of apple pie that leaves you wanting more.

Reviewed by Erin

Copy provided by Publisher