Flowers Fiction

For fifteen years she has been the power behind England's economic renaissance. But this won't help her now. Julia Evans, billionaire owner of Event Horizon, is in trouble. Her husband is missing. Rival companies claim to have acquired an incredible new technology – something impossibly superior to what has come before. So she has no time to notice a single flower, delivered anonymously. But this flower possesses genetic information millions of years in advance of any terrestrial DNA. Is it a cryptic alien message, or a poignant farewell token from her husband?

Pinion, Minnesota: a metropolis of all of 700 souls. Nothing ever happened there - until the mayor of sorts (campaign slogan: "I'll Do What I Can") and a buddy come up with a scheme to put Pinion on the map. They'd heard of a place where a floating image of the Virgin Mary had turned the whole town into a shrine, attracting thousands of pilgrims. And all those pilgrims needed food, shelter, all kinds of crazy things, right? They'd all get rich! What could go wrong? When the dead body shows up, they find out, and that's only the beginning of their troubles - and Virgil Flowers'....

Miss Venus Merriwell has been waiting for her prince to come since the tender age of fourteen. She wants a man who is selfless, academic like her, and free from all the wretched vices her gambler father enjoyed far too much before he left the Merriwell sisters practically destitute. Unfortunately, after a slew of romantic disappointments, there is still no sign of that prince at twenty-three and the only one true love of her life is the bursting-at-the-seams orphanage in Covent Garden that she works tirelessly for.

Giles Renwick, Earl of Lilford, has never made a fool of himself over a woman—until he meets Lady Yasmin Régnier. Yasmin is ineligible for his attentions in every way: not as a wife, certainly not as a mistress (she is a lady!), nor even as a friend, since they vehemently dislike each other. Her gowns are too low, and her skirts are dampened to cling to admittedly lovely thighs. She loves to gossip—and giggle.

As a master of disguise, Thomasina Wynchester can be a polite young lady - or a bawdy old man. She’ll do whatever it takes to solve the cases her family takes on. But when Tommy’s beautiful new client turns out to be the highborn lady she’s secretly smitten with, more than her mission is at stake....

After breaking my heart and publicly humiliating me, I vow to forget his existence. He has other plans, though, and vows to make certain I don’t. The only one I can turn to for help is a man I thought to be my enemy. Drew’s best friend Sebastian who claims to be my brother. He promises me security and protection. But no one can protect me from Drew. The faster I run, the more he chases. The harder I struggle, the tighter his grip becomes.

One late fall Sunday in southern Minnesota, a farmer brings a load of soybeans to a local grain elevator - and a young man hits him on the head with a steel bar, drops him into the grain bin, waits until he's sure he's dead, and then calls the sheriff to report the "accident." Suspicious, the sheriff calls in Virgil Flowers, who quickly breaks the kid down...and the next day the boy's found hanging in his cell. Remorse? Virgil isn't so sure....

Valley U’s hottest QB has heard in detail how I want to climb him like a tree. One viral video, and my life as a wallflower is over. Felix Walters knows exactly how I feel about him—so does everyone else on campus.

Life isn't easy. I've had to fight for everything I've ever owned and it all went out the window with one bad decision. So when I got a letter in the mail telling me my estranged grandmother died and left me eighty acres and flower farm in the middle of nowhere West Virginia, I hopped in my car--which was on its last legs--and drove the thousand miles from Miami. But when I arrived, I discovered my grandma may have been losing it there in the end because she also left the farm to the horrid--but handsome--man next door.

In these stories, inspired by long-lost photographs, the lives of the people in the frame are imagined and then explored, layer by layer. What must have it like to be them? We share the lives of three sisters, brought up in Penang. We hear of what happened to them, and to their Chinese neighbours caught in the tides of war. We see a group of small boys in a Glasgow slum, their young lives stunted by poverty, and hear how life worked out in contrasting ways for them. We follow a young woman's search for love in the unlikely realm of Egyptian antiquities.

Edgar does not cheat in flower shows. He might use a magically enhanced serum, but anyone could do that. It's not his fault the other competitors don’t know magic exists! But when the Ivy House crew goes to the pre-show to support him, it becomes clear that someone should've been watching Edgar much more carefully. What he's done is way worse than overgrown flora. While Jessie is dealing with that, she gets a shock as she discovers photos of her ex with his girlfriend…turned fiancée. And while the flood of emotions can be ignored, the desire to show off Austin on social media is not.

Nothing will ever be the same again. Having successfully averted a mutiny and the near-discovery of the Exit Plan, the White Flower II's new captain is now in charge of fulfilling that plan to its end, and there's only a little more than a month to prepare. But there's a problem—Tesko doesn't want to deliver the terraformer to the pirates as agreed. She wants it for the geroo, and she will not take no for an answer. But it's not as simple as kicking the pirates out, as both crews need each other. For now.

Francine Thwaite has lived all her fifty-five years in her family's ancestral home, a rambling Elizabethan manor in England's Lake District. No other living soul resides there, but Francine isn't alone. There are ghosts in Thwaite Manor, harmless and familiar. Most beloved is Bree, the mischievous ghost girl who has been Francine's companion since childhood. When Francine's estranged sister, Madeleine, returns to the manor after years away, she brings with her a story that threatens everything Francine has always believed.

China, 1957: Chairman Mao has declared a new openness in society. “Let a hundred flowers bloom; let a hundred schools of thought contend.” Many intellectuals fear it is only a trick, and Kai Ying’s husband, Sheng, a teacher, has promised not to jeopardize their safety or that of their young son, Tao. But one July morning, just before his sixth birthday, Tao watches helplessly as Sheng is dragged away for writing a letter criticizing the Communist Party and sent to a labor camp for “reeducation”. Once again, Tsukiyama brings us a powerfully moving story of ordinary people facing extraordinary circumstances with grace and courage.

Twelve-year-old Georgia assumed she would one day be the last Restorationist protecting art from evil forces. So she was thrilled when her cousin Vincent finally joined the family calling. But Vincent’s flashier Gift makes Georgia feel like a sidekick rather than a hero. And things only get more complicated and perilous after he willingly steps into the heart of danger. Will the remnants of the Restorationists’ society fracture under the pressure of the Distortionists’ schemes? Or is Georgia’s Gift really enough to rescue her family, the art world, the Restorationists—and save the day?

Since her divorce, Emily Lucretia—affectionately known as the flower lady to the people of Cemetery, Indiana—has been focused on her flower shop and taking care of her aging aunt and uncle. Her love life is hardly the centerpiece of her busy days. Saul Culver, the town’s favorite bachelor and owner of the local barbecue joint, has been interested in Emily for a while. But as much as Emily knows about flowers, she can be a little oblivious to her own appeal. Saul is determined to show her just how special she is.

Gavin Leonard is the worst. He lives in the best party house off campus at Valley U, overrun by jocks galore. I live next door, watching Jane Austen adaptations with my sketchbook in hand. He stays on his side of the fence. I stay on mine. Now we're accidentally on a camping trip together, but there's only one tent left. Gavin Leonard is the worst. And he's the last guy who broke my heart.

Virgil's always been known for having a somewhat active, er, social life, but he's probably not going to be getting too many opportunities for that during his new case. While competing in a fishing tournament in a remote area of northern Minnesota, he gets a call from Lucas Davenport to investigate a murder at a nearby resort.

I've lived in the mud quarter my entire life, watching as the fireguards came every five years to select the prettiest girls to go to the Seat to start new lives. They get it all: husbands, houses without a speck of dirt, and enough food that hunger wasn't a constant pain in your belly. This year, it's my turn. The dragon that forces our kingdom to cower under our magnificent dome and hide behind stone walls hasn't shown any signs of leaving.

Property developer Vivien Young thought she’d finally rebuilt her life. After a messy divorce, she’s returned to her childhood sanctuary, the grand Georgian home she now shares with her ageing father. Landing the contract to redevelop the Valley Park housing estate feels like the icing on the cake – a chance to prove she can succeed and keep her floundering business afloat.