Orange Blossom will be the penultimate title in Sarah
Daltry's bestselling New Adult romance series, Flowering. The reading order and
information about the other titles follows.
Title: Orange Blossom
Author: Sarah Daltry
Cover Design: Shoutlines Design
18+ New Adult Contemporary Romance
Release Date: April 4, 2014
"I’ve
never understood a year. A year was always a measurement of something bad for
me. A year in my father’s
prison sentence, a year since my mom’s
death, a year left of school before I could get far, far away from here. Now,
as I look down the end of my college career, with only a little more than a
semester to go, a year seems like something magical. It has been a year since
Lily chose me, since she sat with me on the old swing set and made a decision
that I was worthy of her. And every minute of the entire year has been better
than the last."
You already know their stories: Lily, the perfect
princess, always living someone else's life. And Jack, the broken boy, who had
stopped believing in hope. Somehow, though, they found each other and what was
one night blossomed into a love story.
Now, a year later, Jack and Lily are dreaming of the
future. Despite all of his promises to himself that he would never be indebted
to anyone, Jack makes a new promise - this time to Lily - that he will be there
for her forever. But when life unravels for them, he starts to pull away, and
Lily worries he's out of reach for good.
When Jack does the unthinkable, Lily is left destroyed.
Is it possible to have a happily ever after? Does love ever really save anyone?
Listen to the Playlist or watch the Trailer!
Series Reading Order: Forget Me Not, Lily of the Valley, and Blue Rose can be read in any order. There is some crossover in scenes between the titles, but each stands alone as one character's story. Star of Bethlehem is a direct continuation from Forget Me Not and Lily of the Valley. Orange Blossom and Ambrosia (releasing June 6, 2014) assume readers have read the other four titles and read as sequels. In essence, the first three are #1, Star of Bethlehem is #1.5, Orange Blossom is #2, and Ambrosia is #3.
Title: Forget Me Not (Lily’s Story)
Author: Sarah Daltry
Cover: Shoutlines Design
18+ New Adult contemporary romance
This is a coming of age story, but it isn't always sweet and innocent. If dirty talk, bedroom toys, and threesomes offend you... this is not your book.
"No one tells you when you start school just how
homesick you will be, or how hard it will be to start life over with no
direction and no friends or family. No one says that becoming your own person
is terrifying."
I never wanted anything but Derek, my brother's best
friend. When I chose a college, it didn't seem to matter that he would be an
hour away. We could survive it. After all, we were in love. But almost
immediately, things change between us. I blame myself. Maybe I'm just not sure
how to be a girlfriend and independent.
Life seems to be getting away from me - and then there's Jack,
the guy down the hall. He's rude and vulgar and my parents would be shocked by
him, yet every single time I see him, I feel like I'm being pulled toward him.
It's physical, sure, but there's something in Jack's eyes - and I want to know
him.
I know I don't always make the right choices, and I'm the
only person at fault when everything falls apart. How do I tell Derek, the guy
who was supposed to be everything, that I don't feel like fighting for him
anymore? And do I run to Jack, when I know his past is way too much for me to
handle when I've just turned 19? Finally, where do I end up in all of this? Can
I be more than just someone else's idea of what I should be?
Title: Lily of the Valley (Jack’s story)
Author: Sarah Daltry
Cover: Shoutlines Design
18+ New Adult contemporary romance
Jack's story isn't pretty. He's suicidal, depressed, and
he uses meaningless sex and alcohol to survive. However, the story is about
finding light in the darkness, but sometimes the road there isn't always easy
to walk.
"No one tells you about pain. They tell you that it
hurts, that sometimes it's consuming. What they don't tell you is that it's not
the pain that can kill you. It's the uncomfortable numbness that follows, the
weakness in your body when you realize your lungs may stop taking in air and
you just can't exert enough energy to care. It's the way taste and color and
smell fade from the world and all you're left with is a sepia print of misery.
That's when the shift starts - the movement from passive to active. I fall
asleep, hoping that the morning will bring back the pain. At least the pain is
a thing."
I'm a plague, a cancer. My mom is dead - and my father is
in prison for it. I survived high school because college was my way out. I
needed to escape, to get away from my family and the people who tortured me,
but it hasn't grown any easier.
I don't pretend that I'm a good person. I drink far more
than I should, and I use my best friend, Alana, because together, we thrive on
destroying each other - as well as the parts of us we hate. I don't believe in
love, but sex is fun and it also makes me feel something.
The morning I see Lily, the beautiful princess who smells
inexplicably like strawberries every time I see her, I realize I'm in trouble.
I should hate her. I want to hate her, because the alternative terrifies me.
However, as she continues to crash into my life (often literally), I can't
avoid feeling something that is the one thing I swore I would never feel. I
can't fall in love, because people like me don't live in a world where love
saves anyone.
She just won't go away, though, and I don't know if I can
keep running. The voices and the darkness hover over me and they threaten to
bring me back to the safety of my hate, but the stupid scent of strawberries
lingers on the horizon, as something like hope.
Title: Blue Rose (Alana’s
story)
Author: Sarah Daltry
Cover Design: Shoutlines Design
Warning: This book deals with topics of abuse and may
trigger reactions in people who have experienced those things in their own
lives. It remains a story about healing, but it's not always an easy journey.
"Four. My life has been shaped by four people. Four
men, to be more specific. My father, my stepfather, my best friend, and my
boyfriend. The first two shaped it in horrible ways, but what I am, who I am,
is all because of four men."
Over the last twenty years, I've learned how to keep
secrets. It doesn't really matter, since everyone already seems to think they
know everything about me. So I hide. I avoid confrontation, I treat Xanax like
a magic pill that will make it all go away, and I become everything they think
I am. A slut. A whore. Nothing but trash.
I can only name two guys who have ever made me feel like
I was more than that. Jack is my best friend and I've loved him since I met
him. Now, though, he's in love... with someone else, and I guess I need to get
over him. Somehow.
And then there's Dave. The guy I never gave a chance. The
guy I used almost as much as people used me, because I wanted to pretend I was
someone worth loving. Two years have passed since we last spoke, but I don't
know how to stop thinking about him.
My new therapist is making me face my past, and she tells
me that life inevitably changes without our permission. I believe it, but I
know what I am. I hear what she's saying to me, and I want to try again with
Dave, to help Jack find joy, to love myself, and to move on. I just wonder if
anyone can do that, really.
Title: Star of Bethlehem
Author: Sarah Daltry
Cover: Shoutlines Design
18+ NA contemporary romance
This is a holiday novella-length story that follows
Forget Me Not and Lily of the Valley.
"With you, Jack, it was the first time I ever felt
real. It was the first time anyone looked at me and saw substance. It was the
first time I wanted to make someone see me."
Jack: New Year's Eve. I've somehow managed to get here, and
now I'm wearing a hideous and unreasonably itchy sweater, because I want to
impress Lily's family. I want to do anything for this girl who has made me
believe in second chances.
Lily: The house is beautiful and shining with light, but
it feels empty. At least until Jack gets here. I know how desperately he wants
this - a family, love, a home. If I can be the person who can give it to him,
it's all I need, but I hope I can keep him from seeing how hollow it all really
is.
About the Author:
Sarah Daltry writes about the regular people
who populate our lives. She's written works in various genres - romance,
erotica, fantasy, horror. Genre isn't as important as telling a story about
people and how their lives unfold. Sarah tends to focus on YA/NA characters but
she's been known to shake it up. Most of her stories are about relationships -
romantic, familial, friendly - because love and empathy are the foundation of
life. It doesn't matter if the story is set in contemporary NY, historical
Britain, or a fantasy world in the future - human beings are most interesting
in the ways they interact with others. This is the principle behind all of
Sarah's stories.
Sarah has spent most of her life in school,
from her BA and MA in English and writing to teaching both at the high school
and college level. She also loves studying art history and really anything
because learning is fun.
When Sarah isn't writing, she tends to waste a
lot of time checking Facebook for pictures of cats, shooting virtual zombies,
and simply staring out the window.
Sarah has also written Bitter Fruits, an urban
fantasy romance, and Backward Compatible, a gamer geek romantic comedy.
Author Social Media Links:
Website: http://sarahdaltry.com
Twitter: https://twitter.com/SarahDaltry
Pinterest: http://pinterest.com/sarahdaltry/boards/