Unfolding Flowers

I recently gave a friend the to-date pages of the sequel I'm writing, for her feedback. She was one of my first readers for The Flower Eater, and was always very eager to read more of that story, so I was curious to see what she'd think of the in-progress sequel (which I guesstimate is 1/6th complete at this point).
Good news: she likes the beginning of the sequel, especially the erotic scenes (good to know, because those are fun but tricky to write) AND she loves the last scene written so far, where the real drama begins. Encouraged by her approval, I'm hoping to amp up the speed of my writing. I've had some real-world distractions, but now that the snow is gone and the outdoor flowers are forming and flowering, I hope my imagination will push the flowers of the sequel out onto the pages to blossom properly.
I've also gotten some very positive feedback from a professional agent on the sequel's opening pages. Spring's optimism is in the air.