Overall, I'd say this book is worth a read. It's a bit reminiscent of Gone With the Wind, but nowhere near as compelling or epic. But it's an interesting love story and family drama. Oh, and there's mild spoilers below, so don't read much further if you don't want a few things revealed.

I think my own values sort of made me impatient with this book. The book treated Mary's choice of Somerset, her cotton farm, over Percy, her "true love," as a mistake. Er, yeah, I couldn't really be too devastated about it. Personally, I think finding fulfillment and purpose in a career can be just as satisfying and is just as valid a choice as becoming a wife to the man you love and bearing his children. Which isn't to say that I don't love a good romance - really, I live for romantic stories - but I just can't bring myself to believe that it's a mistake to value a career and passion for land and work over being a housewife.

And also, I kept wondering, if he loved her so much, and if the Warwick men love the Toliver women so much, why is it even an issue? So what if your wife has to spend a few more hours at night tending to a farm instead of being there to greet you with cookies when you come home from work? If they really loved and understood the women, wouldn't they understand how important the land was to the women? I didn't get it, and it kind of frustrated me throughout the novel.

The characterizations in the book seemed a little...urgh. Most of the women seemed really petty (Lucy, Mary's mother, Rachel's mother) and they all seemed to place WAY too much emphasis on inheritance and legacy to the point where it seemed a tad contrived and unrealistic. Percy was supposed to be this really dynamic character, but I was never really that enamored of him - I felt like most of what he had going for him were his dashing good looks - I actually preferred Ollie, his loyal and jovial and eager best friend. One of the biggest problems I had with this story was that so much hinged on the romances - two generations of it - but I felt like it was more told than shown. I kept being told that these people are falling in love with each other, but it's so sudden that I don't get my favorite part of romances - the actual falling in love. It's like they meet and BAM! they're instantly attracted to each other and meant to be together. Even in epic love stories like The Notebook or Titanic, there are scenes showing the characters getting to know each other and having fun together and falling in love. I feel like those scenes are missing in Roses, and the novel suffers for it.

Finally - the whole roses bit? Kind of cheesy and trite. Roses are way, way, way overdone as far as symbolism goes, and this book isn't even subtle about it. So that was annoying.
But I did like the book, and I'm a fast reader, so I wasn't much put off by its length. If you like romances and family drama, you'll probably like this book. If not, skip it.