Blooming — Ruby Loren

What do you do when the future isn't a bed of roses?

Lydia has spent three years of her life working on what now seems to be a worthless degree. Every job she applies for needs years of work experience and she has precisely none. The only spark of hope comes when her boyfriend, Jake, manages to land her a role as a gardening volunteer at Heathley Park and Gardens, but when she meets the head gardener, Scott, her hopes are crushed.

Far from being the opportunity of her dreams, Heathley Park and Gardens is one big nightmare! Will she ever be able to prove to both Scott and herself that she should be taken seriously as a gardener?

It doesn't help that someone has a vendetta against the Heathley gardeners. A vandal is running rampant through the park and gardens and unless they uncover the culprit, Heathley could be just one scuttled boat away from a lawsuit!

Lydia is about to discover that love, life, and landscape gardening, is far from being a bed of roses.

A new edited edition of this book was released in July 2017.

Please note, this book is written in British English and contains British spellings.

Important note from the author:

When I wrote this series I did it because I wanted to tell a story about a country park and gardens and the gardeners who worked there. I knew it was going to have all of their lives' drama, triumphs and failings in and that it would span a significant year within the main characters' lives.
Unfortunately, when it comes to categorising these stories, it gets a bit more tricky. Each book has a different slant and while they tell a continuous story, you can also read them individually. That means if you see a book leaning towards a genre you're not as big a fan of, you can certainly skip ahead. While I always weave mysteries into my plots (I love cozy mysteries!) these book are a bit different from my usual stories. The mysteries span more than one book and there are multiple strands of within the whole series.
I've done my best to list the main themes within each book, without giving anything key away.

Genres:
Blooming: Drama, romance, British humour and satire, coming of age, and a mini-mystery.
Abscission: Drama, coming of age, British humour and satire, the start of a mystery.
Frost-Bitten: Drama, Christmas, mystery, romance, British humour and satire.
Blossoming: Drama, mystery, romance, British humour and satire.
Flowering: Drama, mystery, romance, British humour and satire.
Fruition: Drama, mystery, romance, holidays, British humour and satire.

Romance: Please note, while the romance is never explicit, it is suggestive at times.
Language: Very mild language occasionally used.