Wildflower: A Novel

by Becky Jenkinson

A magical florist journeys from the kingdom’s capital to its wild woods to fulfill an unusual request, and stumbles upon friendship, conspiracy, and the buds of new love in this debut cozy fantasy.

The book contains hand-drawn floral sketches inside!

Cursed from birth to always tell the truth, magical florist Felicity “Fliss” Farrow chooses her words carefully to avoid trouble. But when she receives an anonymous request for a mysterious flower, her search leads her directly into trouble’s to Willoh Vane.

Fliss knows the outcast—yet teasingly handsome—sorcerer is rumored to have used dark magic to corrupt the northern forest five years ago. She’s witnessed the resulting feud with Prince Bastion, whom her best friend, Card, is soon to marry. Despite her divided loyalty, Fliss reluctantly accepts Will’s help with gathering rare flowers and finds herself increasingly drawn to him.

As the royal wedding approaches, Fliss fears the flowers she’s delivered are intended for a sinister purpose. But when her warnings are ignored, can she and Will save the kingdom from disaster, and ultimately discover what Fliss has sought for so long—the truth.

Genres: Fantasy, Romance, Cozy Fantasy, Adult, Romantasy, Cozy, Queer

Kindle Edition

Expected publication June 16, 2026

Reviews

[jenny reads a lot · Rating 4 out of 5]

The banter in this is SO GOOD!

Wildflower is a lovely cozy romantasy set in a queer normative world with epic banter, interesting magic, and enough stakes to keep you interested!

The cursed FMC gave me Ella Enchanted vibes, although their curses are quite different, being cursed to tell only the truth has gotten her into some interesting situations!

Definitely one to check out when you’re in need of a warm hug. That final climax scene had me bawling my eyes out!

Whats to love…
- queer normative world
- interesting magic and world (the FMC has plant magic!)
- found family
- trans love interest
- BANTER IS BANTERING
- laugh out loud funny
- complex characters
- TENSION!
- slow burn

What might not work for some…
- this is cozy, maybe even bordering on a little too cozy for my usual tastes. The stakes were enough to keep me interested but I think you’ll need to be in the mood for cozy to really enjoy this one!

🌶️- fade to black

4.25⭐️| IG | TikTok |

[BookishKB]

🌼 Wildflower 🌼

📖 Bookish Thoughts
I’ll be sharing my full review closer to publication date.

📅 Pub Date: June 16, 2026

📝 Thank you to Del Rey and NetGalley for the advanced digital copy. All thoughts are my own.

[Zoe Holborn · Rating 4 out of 5]

Thank you to Netgalley for sending me an E-ARC

2026 is the year of cosy fantasy

Wildflower is a well written debut novel that blends fantasy, romance and whimsy perfectly.

Felicity ‘Fliss’ Farrow can only tell the truth which is more than a minor inconvenience when she starts to fall for the kingdom’s worst enemy. But when the pair are forced to stop a plan to ruin the royal wedding, Fliss learns that she’s more than her curse and that some people will always see past it as well.

This gave me major Ella Enchanted vibes. Paired with the mix of botanicals and magic, this was a fast paced read that blended everything perfectly and didn’t fall into any of the typical tropes. I can’t wait to see what Becky Jenkinson writes next

[Clare · Rating 4 out of 5]

Wildflower by Becky Jenkinson is a tender, emotionally rich read that lingers long after the final page.

This story is deeply character-driven, focusing on growth, healing, and the quiet bravery it takes to face both your past and your future. Jenkinson’s writing is gentle yet impactful, with moments that feel raw and heartfelt without ever tipping into melodrama. I especially loved the way relationships were explored - messy, imperfect, and very human.

While the pacing was a little slower in parts, it ultimately suited the reflective tone of the story and allowed the emotional beats to land with more weight. The themes of resilience and self-discovery were beautifully handled, making this a rewarding read for anyone who enjoys thoughtful, emotional fiction.

Thank you to NetGalley and Del Rey, Random House for providing me with an ARC of this book in exchange for an honest review.

A truly touching and meaningful book. 🌸

[Jazz · Rating 5 out of 5]

Thank you for giving me the opportunity to read this fabulous book. What a cosy and captivating read! I was hooked from the start and by the end I was on the edge of my seat when things got heated!! I adore Will and was so pleasantly surprised to see this book represented the LGBTQ+ community! I loved it!

[terezija ♡ · Rating 4 out of 5]

3.75, rounding up to 4 <3
Such a cosy read! There was so much of it I enjoyed and the premise is so good.
I loved Fliss so much, the writer playing around with her sentances because of her curse was so interesting and fun.
Wills reveal was really unexpected but appreciated, I felt like it took the story to somewhere I did not expect it to go.
What I found really confusing is the world, because the e-arc did not contain a map I found the layout of the kingdoms and the places the characters were going to so confusing and it ruined alot of the immersion.
You can fly thru the last few chapters, all the secrets getting revealed and everything getting solved was such a satisfying thing to read about.

[Hannah · Rating 4 out of 5]

Felicity Farrow is a magical florist. And she’s cursed. Forced to always tell the truth means always carefully choosing her words, avoiding overhearing things that can put her in a predicament, and being avoided by most of the townsfolk. But life hasn’t made her bitter. Fliss is kind, smart and doesn’t back away from a challenge. She is always there for her best friend Card and her fiancée, prince Bastion. Even if that means crossing paths with Lark, her *awful* ex.

One day, Fliss receives an anonymous request for a mysterious flower. The hunt for this flower leads her straight to the towns outcast: Willoh Vane (my new book boyfriend). Fliss and Willoh quickly bond over adventure, doing the right thing and… well, each other! Willoh knows how to treat a cursed girl right, and Fliss doesn’t care about scars whatsoever.
Pretty soon, shit hits the fan and dear Lord, I held my breath more than once! The “stabbing incident”, the prison break, the possession… Cozy left the building there for a while! And then we learn the true reason for the trouble in the north, the broken friendships within more than one generation, and the true need for those mysterious flowers… For a little while I did not think there was the possibility for a happy ending.
And just like that, all these little details throughout the story come together. And it turns out that *love* is the answer.

🪻Outcast meets outcast and finds friendship, truth, acceptance and love.
🪻You’re never too young or too old to fix a broken friendship.
🪻 You can heal from trauma, and others can love the parts of yourself that you deemed broken.
🪻 Romantic. Emotional. Powerful.
🪻 Cats.

An early read via NetGalley — feelings included.

[Kenna Nauwelaers · Rating 4 out of 5]

Thank you to NetGalley and the publisher for providing me with a free copy of this book in exchange for an honest review.

This was such a cozy and charming read. From the very beginning, the story felt warm and inviting, and I constantly found myself wanting to keep reading just a little bit more. The pacing was engaging without feeling rushed, making it the perfect comfort read.

I absolutely loved the characters, they were all so endearing and well written. The queer representation, in particular, was handled beautifully: it felt natural and organic, never forced, just simply part of who the characters are, which I really appreciated.

The world-building was another standout for me. The setting was described in such a vivid, almost whimsical way that it was easy to picture everything, creating a truly immersive atmosphere. The magic system, especially the elements based on flowers, felt fresh and original, and added an extra layer of charm to the story.

Overall, this was a very cute, cozy, and enjoyable book with lovely characters, thoughtful representation, and a beautifully crafted world. A comforting read that I’d definitely recommend if you’re in the mood for something magical and heartwarming.

[Iz Leplenko · Rating 5 out of 5]

Wildflower sucked me right in. This debut novel is honestly right up my alley. Beautiful mix of coziness, magic and romance. Cozy fantasy is it for me this year 🥰

Felicity Farrow, magical florist, is cursed to tell only truth and when she starts to fall for the kingdom’s worst enemy things get complicated. How complicated you might ask.. a lot. Conspiracy, broken friendships, new beginnings and much more. I really couldn't stop reading and I can't wait to get my hands on physical copy ASAP.

Thank you to Netgalley for sending me an E-ARC

[Lucia]

Thank you NetGalley for the eARC!

[Sapphyre Haynes · Rating 4 out of 5]

This was such a cute and cosy fantasy. It completely sucked me in. Like another reviewer has said, there was a detail that I did not see coming. I did really like how accepted it was, however for me it did seem out of place. It kind of knocked me out of the cosy and whimsical vibe I was in whilst reading up until this point.
Overall this was a brilliant cosy book.

[Mike · Rating 3 out of 5]

The worldbuilding is not a strength in this one, which isn't unusual in its particular type of current fantasy, but I felt the story was solid.

The character names are a classic "Aerith and Bob" situation, some of them botanical or otherwise nature-related, some of them from various origins in our world (including several from the Bible, in a setting where religion is conspicuous by its almost total absence and where the two brief passing references are to Standard Fantasy Paganism), and some completely made-up fantasy names, with no obvious schema to account for the mixture. The characters themselves mostly feel like mid-2020s people cosplaying (or, in at least one scene, just wearing modern clothing) in a generic ren-faire setting, and the setting itself feels too small, with places that seem like they ought to be a long way off instead being in easy walking distance. The review copy I had didn't have the map yet, but based on the travel times mentioned, the whole kingdom is about the size of the six boroughs of New York City (roughly 35 miles across). And yet a character who has long wished to visit a wonderful library just to the north has never found time to make the two-hour journey by horse (meaning about 10 or at the most 15 miles), and an afternoon's walk from the citadel, which occasionally gets snow flurries, takes you not only to but also up a mountain with a permanent snowcap and blizzard weather. The small size of the kingdom presumably accounts for the fact that, although there's a royal family (consisting of a king, a queen, and two princes), there doesn't appear to be an aristocracy, and both the queen and the older prince's fiancé are commoners.

The flower lore is interesting, though it has an obvious real-world model in the Victorian "language of flowers". It's the most original part of the worldbuilding.

The magic system is largely undefined, and what it can and can't do appears to be driven entirely by what the plot requires.

There's a horse that moves implausibly quietly.

On the upside, even the pre-publication copy I received via Netgalley for review was well edited, apart from the occasional dangling modifier, fumbled idiom or clumsy phrasing, and a few cases where two words that are not synonyms are used as if they are. The emotional beats are sound. The plot is a proper plot, not just a slice of life, and it's driven by the decisions of the characters, some of which are bad ones such as real people make, and they make them for believable reasons. It's cozy in its presentation (after all, it's about a magical florist), but it has stakes and tension and losses and tragic backstory and desperate struggles and a strong climax.

The main character, Felicity, was born with a curse which prevents her from saying anything that isn't the truth. The rules seem to change a bit during the book; at one point she can say something that is her opinion, even if it's not commonly shared, but later on it's as if the very fact that she can say something means it's definitely true. Can't she be mistaken? Of course, this is also the point at which people stop believing her, because she's saying things they don't want to believe.

The queen has been using her as a snitch, which has made her unpopular, but when we see her being interviewed by the queen she's perfectly capable of concealing a lot of information, so that's a tell-versus-show mismatch, what I sometimes call a decal.

Perhaps the biggest strength of the book is that it depicts Felicity's inner life so well. Because she's unpopular for her truth-telling, she tries to be reliable and compliant and trustworthy and non-confrontational and a people-pleaser, and stuffs her feelings down and lets people walk all over her (like her only friend, a rather self-involved extravert who strongly reads "bard," though I don't think he has an occupation other than "prince's fiancé"). All of this starts coming apart quite early in the book, so we're, again, more told about her people-pleasing than we are shown, but it is emotionally accurate to someone who is this way. There are some highly emotional scenes, for Felicity and her love interest both, but they're justified by events and not just the characters being over-dramatic.

Emotionally sound writing balanced by basic and unconvincing worldbuilding and some elements that didn't ring quite true brings this in at three stars. A lot of people who don't demand much from worldbuilding will love it unreservedly, I'm sure.

[Ifa Inziati · Rating 2 out of 5]

Fliss was born with a difficult curse: unable to tell lies. She needs to tailor every word she utters for her (and people around her) benefit. She masters this since she was small, so besides being a flower magician she also has a not-so-secret job as the Queen's rat, informing her everything that happens in the Citadel. But when the secret involves the Prince's nemesis whom she happens to fall in love with, how long she can hide the truth, and how will she save the kingdom and protect her loved ones from the magician who cursed her?

I had a mixed feeling towards this book. Firstly, I really like the flower magic system and the cozy vibe. I'm a sucker for botanical magic and I enjoyed every time Fliss finds new, rare flowers. The description of how they look like and what they are capable of in terms of Fliss' flower magic is what I looked forward to when reading it. Secondly, I was also intrigued by Will and Ruth's healing magic that goes hand in hand with Fliss' one. At first Will's pet name for Fliss, 'princess', comes as somewhat jarring since he addresses her that when at their first meeting, but then I got used to it.

Despite it all, I wasn't really into how the conflict is handled. It felt like something simple described in a complicated way, which resulted in many unnecessary twists and turns. The adults rarely act like adults, blaming the children and making them bear their consequences. The children in question are actually 19, but they are barely adulting at that point and with modern writing style that often reminds me of YA novels (even though this is marketed as adult fantasy), I was not convinced that they are equals. The adults can solve their own problems without having to harm the children.

Some scenes do point out that this book caters to NA audience, however when reading I felt like this is YA with upper YA scenes. Maybe because the adults' unfinished business is rather immature so it affects the whole reading experience, or maybe the Gen-Z terms incorporated into the fantasy worldbuilding felt like this is something that the younger generations would relate to. I disagree with some books that are categorized as YA when it's clearly for adults, but this one might go straight into YA and not necessarily Adult. Not for the reading ease with present tense first person's perspective, but for how the story is engineered. The conflict is simple, the worldbuilding is easy to understand and leaning towards alternate version of modern world (short trip in a vast, varied terrain), and the mixed-up language depicts more on how teenagers speak today instead of full-on adapted from another time period associated with fantasy stories. Those elements make this book feel very YA to me.

Also, as someone with a truth curse, Fliss is way naive than I expected. She goes traveling for rare flora that she knew she could handle it better than whoever request it but instead she hands them safely for a couple of coins. She would've saved it for herself and searched for its use and protected it. Why didn't she question the mysterious buyer? She must have thought first that the person behind it must be someone powerful and intelligent and very potentially capable for lying.

Wildflower has some enchanted elements that make it suitable for YA fantasy readers. However, it was not particularly for me, and I'm sure many would like it more for its cozy environment and beautiful description. Thank you to the publisher and NetGalley for providing an ARC of this book.

[Emily Capri · Rating 5 out of 5]

Thanks to NetGalley for the ARC copy!

Set in a cozy fantasy world, Felicity Farrow is deeply passionate about flowers and works as a magical florist in her and her mother's shop. Felicity was cursed from birth with the inability to lie and has spent her life trying to navigate this. This has left her lonely and without any real friendships outside of her childhood best friend Cardamine. 

I absolutely adored this book! I was intrigued from the first page honestly. I really loved the way flowers were described immediately in such a beautiful way. Articulating how they're more than "just" flowers and what they can mean, the messages they can send, what they can do. This theme all throughout the book was so beautiful and not something I've seen before. You could really feel the passion Felicity had and the love she felt for her flowers and the role they/she plays in people's lives. 

I found that the whole premise of Felicity being unable to lie was done really well. The way we saw her play with wording, the different ways she'd worked out how to tell the truth but limit the amount of information she gave or the intricate ways she got out of revealing certain things was so clever and written well in my opinion. She was also so passionate about her work and cared so deeply about it. She was surprisingly such an incredibly strong, courageous, fearless character filled with such integrity, empathy and passion. 

I found the characters to be easily loveable honestly. But oh my, THE DIVERSITY! I was not expecting that and it brought me the most insane amount of joy!!! The world was littered with queer characters, non-binary characters, trans people. The big royal wedding that was a huge focus throughout the book was two men deeply in love and getting married. But the way it was all done is what I loved the most, because it was just....normal. None of this was treated as anything special, it was all just another part of life. As a queer, non-binary person, this made me so happy. I want to see diversity but I also don't want or need it to be flashy and centred. It was done beautifully, it was all so natural and genuine. 

I don't normally cry in books but this one made me tear up a couple of times towards the end for various reasons. The events leading up to the ending were filled with so many emotional moments and moments I was holding my breath throughout. I felt the ending was done well and the author did a good job of tying everything together. 

While the story was often quite light with jokes and discussions of pretty flowers, there were still serious topics like discrimination, classism, the food and resources issues and death/grief. 
 These were all handled with respect and in my opinion allowed the reader to learn many real life lessons from these topics. I also loved how we saw relationships in the book where people ended up with a partner who truly, fully saw them for everything they were and loved them deeply for it. 

I absolutely adored this book and will be 100% recommending it to anyone and everyone I can. One of my favourite book series is the Emily Wilde series by Heather Fawcett and this book really reminded me of this series in the best ways. 

Fantasy, magic, queer characters/diversity, beautiful flowers and an FMC with more strength, passion, integrity and courage than expected. What's not to love? 5⭐️

[Lemurkat · Rating 4 out of 5]

A super-sweet, cozy fantasy with fairly high stakes and romance. A lovely read, as long as one doesn't focus too hard on the world building.

The main character, Felicity, is a florist, and she's cursed. Her curse? She cannot tell a lie. As such, she's been turned into the Queen's informer, and the other townsfolk cannot trust her. A dedicated people pleaser, Felicity tries to do what's best, and just wants people to like her. Her best friend is engaged to the Prince, and they're in the throes of planning a royal wedding. Meanwhile, Felicity is tasked to find three mysterious flowers, flowers that guide her directly into the path of both the rebels, and the renegade mage, Willoh, who has previous history/conflict with the prince.

Each chapter is delightfully illustrated with a different flower, and its traits, which generally relate somewhat to the content of that chapter. All adding to the whimsical charm. Willoh, the renegade mage, is your typical cozy fantasy love interest: he's charming, a little bit smug (he smirks a lot) and, obviously, deeply misunderstood. He also loves his mother, and tries to stay out of the way of political conflict, despite the fact he's become something of the royal's scapegoat.

The book is very charming, but it is somewhat weak in the world building: distances seem extremely small. One of Felicity's flower quests lead her up a snow-covered mountain within what appears to be only a few hours walk, and all the key landmarks appear to be within only a few hours travel. Then again, maybe the folks that dwell in the citadel prefer to stay in the citadel. It didn't bother me overmuch. Attitudes appear to be very modern, especially in relation to same sex marriage, and gender affirmation surgery and aftercare. Language seemed to sway slightly towards modern slang, with terms like "ex" and "kid" being banded around. None of this was particularly problematic, it's a fantasy kingdom, after all.

Healing seemed to be a mix of slow medical means, or extremely quick magical means - making you wonder why the magical side wasn't employed more often. There didn't seem to be any particular rules around magic (except dark magic, which always came with a price) - it seemed to be capable of doing whatever the prose needed it to do at the time. Nothing too extravagant, but also a convenient way to surpass many small hurdles.

Felicity's truth-telling started off based on what she believed to be true, but later it appeared that if she could say it, then it must be true, which seems like an amazing power to have. She also proved to be quite adept at talking around the truth when she needed to conceal things, and it made you wonder why she had become such a snitch.

Also, for a cozy-adjacent novel, there is a fairly gruesome bit in the middle, where one of the characters suffers a pretty ghoulish injury. So it's not all flowers and young love.

Overall, it's a cute debut novel. It's charming, and kept me reading far too late into the night, and I enjoyed the banter, and Felicity learning to stand up for herself.

[Dotti · Rating 4 out of 5]

Wildflower is a queer cozy fantasy novel following a young florist cursed to always tell the truth. Our main character, Fliss, has a tangled web of allegiances; her mother who keeps secrets from her, her best friend whose fiancé might have some secrets, and her queen who abuses her curse for information. When Fliss comes in contact with the greatly-despised wizard Willoh, she learns that maybe all is not what it seems.

This book had a lot going for it. The fantasy setting and Fliss’s characterization was very cozy and engaging. Fliss’ situation, “always cursed to tell the truth” created a lot of interesting narrative challenges that the author was able to explore. Her relationships, her job, and her self-worth are all very tied into her limitations; even her internal monologue is very sarcastic, but she is unable to express that to anyone other than the audience. The romance was well developed, with good banter and trust between our characters. Will is a compelling love interest with solid backstory of his own, and the side characters are given enough depth to be interesting (with maybe the exception of Card, who often felt more one-note). There were multiple levels of queer representation, which was a nice addition to the story while giving characters full arcs.

The pacing was good in this story, and the conclusion was excellent. I thought I knew what to expect (thank you Ella Enchanted) but was pleasantly surprised.

The magic system in this book is a little thin and undefined, with our main character having some kind of miscellaneous botany magic that only works on plants. The rest of the magic building seems to be a standard spells-create-magic system, though it’s not thoroughly explored. There seems to be a Library that Magic is studied, in addition to spell books, but also magic is able to be innately controlled, and there are dark magic and curses of unspecified varieties? At one point a character says that the inability to do magic completely is very rare, but we very rarely see anyone outside of a few specific characters using it.

This book has a lot of cozy elements, but there are still multiple not-so-cozy things: murder, violence, stab wounds, prison breaks, systemic oppression through propaganda and more. Those reading this book should enjoy the lovely descriptions of flowers and their meanings and also know that they might experience a little bloodshed.

Altogether, this was a fun book with a lot of good things going for it. I enjoyed myself, the story was very accessible, and I really felt drawn in. It wasn’t as cozy as some other books in the genre, but there were moments that definitely leaned into the cozy fantasy moniker. This is definitely worth a read.

The story contains some heavy kissing but no explicit scenes. There are multiple LGBT+ characters in this story, including in romantic scenes.

A big thank you to Del Rey RandomHouse for this advanced reader copy. All thoughts and opinions are my own.

[Carol · Rating 4 out of 5]

I have received an ARC of this book in exchange for an honest review, thank you!

Oh, Willoh Vane, the man that you are.

Wildflower is a story about a young florist, who is cursed to only tell the truth. When she starts receiving commissions to find some mysterious flowers of great power, she starts to realize that people closest to her may be hiding dangerous secrets.

Wildflower falls more on the cozy side of fantasy, but it doesn't lack danger and action. The plot is nothing I haven't seen before but that's not necessarily a bad thing - it still kept me glued to the book, curious to see where it was going. In the end, while it wasn't prefect, the plot was engaging and I had a lot of fun reading it.

When it comes to the characters, I didn't love Fliss at the beginning, but she had a strong character development and really grew on me. However, the strongest character in the novel to me is Will. He has every quality I used to love in the old YA love interests without being a complete asshole on top of it. His interactions with Fliss were a delight to read and they had a lot of very charming banter. I loved him from the moment he opened his mouth. Unfortunately, the rest of the characters are a bit of a mixed bag. The biggest offender was Card, Fliss' best friend who could compete for the worst friend of the year reward. He was engaged to Bastion, who wasn't much better but at least with him I could see some valid reasoning for such behavior. Card has zero excuses for treating Fliss the way he did. The Queen and Fliss' mom were terrible people as well. When Fliss' mom finally reveals the origin of her curse, I was at a loss of words. Morgana, aka the sorcerer who'd cursed Fliss was just kind of there and I feel her motives were kind of packed into the story last-minute. Before that she was simply a very one-dimensional villain and after we don't see much of her. I also liked some of the guards and Pidgeon, I wish some people got bigger consequences for the stuff they'd done and some things felt glossed-over and rushed.

The book reads really fast but the writing style is a bit clunky in some places. We got some really repetitive bits like Fliss constantly saying how clumsy she was and repeating how she literally can't lie. Like, we get it girl. The clumsy girl trope overall makes me roll my eyes and I don't really see why are we still doing it.

All in all, if you are a fan of cozy fantasy, I think Wildflower is one of the better ones I've read. It has some issues but in the end, I can overlook it for the interesting characters, cute romance and a fun time overall. It reminded me a little of the Regency Faerie Tales series in a way that it was a cozy romance that still focused on plot and not just vibes.

[Gie · Rating 3 out of 5]

2.6/5

Wild Flowers gives off a very classic “Shoujo Manga” vibe.
A naive, self-righteous heroine who somehow doesn’t realize she’s beloved by everyone, paired with a charming, misunderstood, flirty, and powerful male lead. I can see this being quite popular with YA readers who want a cozy, low-stakes, straightforward romantasy.

The plot itself is simple and fairly predictable, but it has its charms.

I actually liked the beginning more than the end, even though the ending has more drama and action. Some of the later scenes felt a bit cringey to me, and I definitely experienced secondhand embarrassment while reading those parts.

The opening is much calmer and slower, but I found it more interesting and atmospheric.

I especially enjoyed the setup with the mysterious client requesting rare flowers from Fliss, and the journey of tracking them down. Her adventures, meeting new characters, and discovering places beyond the citadel felt genuinely cozy and charming.

One detail I really loved was the chapter ornaments. Each chapter begins with a lovely flower illustration with a bit of floriography. It’s a cute touch that fits the theme and adds to the reading experience.

That said, I struggled with the characters. The characters often felt shallow, and at times their choices didn’t feel believable, especially when they risk their lives to solve problems with motivation that boils down to “it’s the right thing to do” or a weak backstory. That wasn’t convincing enough for me, and sometimes it felt more like convenience for the plot.

The further I read, the more I disliked Fliss, the FMC. She constantly acts before she thinks, causes trouble, and rarely feels held accountable. Yes, she has a good heart, but repeatedly throwing herself (and others) into danger without a plan quickly became frustrating. Many situations could have been avoided if she paused to think and plan.

I’m also pretty tired of the “damsel in distress” trope, and it shows up a lot here. Fliss is frequently in danger, often because she has no plan, or because she’s always falling, injured, or otherwise helpless, and it got old. I found myself tired of how often she’s calling for Will, demanding he save her or fix the mess she’s in (or caused).

Overall, I’d recommend this to readers looking for a light, cozy romantasy with a little spice who don’t mind a more naive/juvenile tone. I can’t say I loved it, but it worked fine as a palette cleanser after a heavier read.

Thank you to NetGalley and Del Rey for the ARC in exchange for my honest review.

[Alyssa Garza · Rating 2 out of 5]

2.25/5 stars - DNF @ 74%

Thank you to NetGalley and Del Rey for an ARC in exchange for an honest review.

There were several reasons I ended up DNF’ing this book but the two main issues were: the writing style and the characters

There were a few things I liked though! The intro was great, I loved the vibes, the setting was cute, we get to meet our main characters and we’re going on some adventures while looking for the rare and mysterious flowers. It felt calm and put together, but that kinda dissolved later on.
The chapter ornaments were cute, I loved the drawings of the flowers, especially as they were integrated into the story later on.

This book has a neat and simple premise with a cute, naive heroine and a charming, misunderstood male lead, definitely something I could see in young adult/new adult romantasy, or really connecting with a younger audince.

On my issues, specifically with writing style, Jenkinson can write beautiful backgrounds and scenery but her character exposition is shallow, she over explains in a tell-not-show way, and her writing is very young-adult toned that makes me constantly forget that I am reading an adult novel until the characters do something Very Adult and I get shocked. There were multiple scenes where I was forcibly told how a character was feeling with very point blank explanations rather than allowing the characters to show their feelings in a more natural way, or at least more subtle. It led me to disconnect with the story because I was most spoon fed everything.

On the characters, I have many more complaints. Specifically, my biggest beef is with our FMC Felicity, or Fliss. She has the body of a 20-something year old but the maturity and attitude of a 15 year old who just experienced her first breakup. Fliss shifts wildly between temper tantrums and acting like she is unable to process any emotion at all to declaring she is an adult (“You can’t control me mom!”) to then actually acting like an adult (little bit of spice in her romance). She is constantly throwing herself into danger and then having to rely on other people to save her ass after she made an impulsive move with literally no thought behind it, whilst simultaneously wishing everyone would stop hating her. It was fine earlier on in the story, I enjoyed her search for the flower but the more we moved through the plot and interacted with more characters, I was just so done with everything. I surprisingly didn’t have much issue with our MMC Will, he was just kinda there though since we didn’t get much perspective from him as we did from Fliss. Card and Bastion though are just shallow characters that we also don't get mcuh insight into. They're almost antagonists but not really, just there to provide some friction.

Overall, I would recommend to someone looking for a lighter read, with a little bti of spice that does not mind the young adult tone that this book gives off, maybe new adult. It very much did not work for me but I am not everyone and I was unable to finish it so maybe there is something more hat can draw people in.

[Meryl · Rating 2 out of 5]

2.5 stars

Wildflower pulled me in with that beautiful cover and how the premise sounded whimsical and magical. I loved the floriography from the get go and the way it was woven into the worldbuilding — but if you have a bit of knowledge of the language of flowers, you might get a sense already of how each chapter will go. The rest of the worldbuilding landed weak for me, and I was also unfortunately not invested in the rest of it nor the characters.

I can't say I was charmed by the other characters. Overall there were many instances where their actions and dialogue felt a bit juvenile for me, but if I understood correctly, they're in their early 20s, so maybe that's a factor. It also threw me off when it seemed like this world was set in some medieval era, but there was modern slang or vibe slipping in. Note that I read an ARC though, so I don't know if this will change in the final copy.

One plot point that really threw me off was that revelation on Will. This tidbit is not an issue for me as a reader, just that when I reached the reveal, it felt like I was imagining the wrong character all along and thus made me feel bad about it. I think after that point on, I struggled to connect with the rest of the story, because I misrepresented the character and imagined somebody else in my head. Plus points for the representation though.

I enjoyed the first 1/4-1/2 of the book, when Fliss was collecting the mysterious flowers and going on adventures on her own; though I did have to suspend my disbelief at a good chunk of it because why was she going on these adventures totally unplanned. 😅 She was also covering long, unfamiliar distances... but all in one day. Again, I had to suspend my disbelief and just carried on, even if some of it sounded ridiculous to me.

The final 85% was a bit cheesy and overdramatic to me, the reactions almost felt caricature-ish. Now that I think about it, even some of the characters also felt that way to me, like it was so obvious that they were conceptualized and written a certain way to fill a certain role, if that makes sense. Fliss is the quiet girl determined to prove her mettle and then proceeds to save the kingdom, Will is the love interest who seems cocky but is tender-hearted, Card is the clingy bestie, Bash is the insecure prince, Fern is the overprotective mom, Morgana is the evil witch who just wants to be loved.

Overall, I'd say the book is not terrible, it's just not the kind of writing or chracterization that I enjoy. I think, for a reader to fully enjoy this book, you need to come in with Disney glasses on (fairytale + escapist, clear good vs bad, true love saves the day), even if the premise sounded like Ghibli (nuanced + complex, with characters that have strong agency).

I received a NetGalley offer of an early digital copy from the publisher Del Rey, in exchange for an honest review. Thank you for the copy!

[Paula (lovebookscl) · Rating 2 out of 5]

*Thanks to Netgalley for the early access to the book in exchange for an honest review*

Although the book wasn't my style, I think it might be enjoyed by fans of stories like A Fragile Enchantment by Allison Saft .

It's a cozy book with a simple fantasy world that makes it easy to follow. And it features a straightforward romance between two characters who start off on the wrong foot but develop into something good.

Now, regarding the reasons why this book wasn't for me:

First: the book focuses more on explaining than showing. I was constantly bombarded with information, and I prefer a story that's patient and doesn't tell me everything about the protagonist in 20% of the book.

Second: I never quite understood the book's setting. I thought it might be set in a medieval era (or something similar), but I was thrown off by words like: ASAP, SOS, and hunk (to describe the king hotness).

Third: I wasn't convinced by the relationship between the queen and the protagonist. The fact that the queen uses her to spy when Fliss isn't resourceful, not very observant, is naive, is constantly judging or complaining about something, she is very self-centered, she isn't witty, and doesn't even know how to take advantage of her curse and play with her words (she manages to do this much later in the book, but I feel it's something she should have controlled from the beginning, especially considering that almost her entire life has been affected by her inability to lie). She's not someone who can be a spy (at least in a believable way); she doesn't have the personality for it. And even if she did have those abilities, people can still lie to her and give her false information. I found that plot pointless.

Fourth: The romance… it's the typical romance based on fighting over nothing and giving each other pet names out of thin air without building the relationship first.

Fifth: Continuing with the theme of fighting over everything and nothing, I found it extremely exhausting to have to read about (verbal) fights all the time. Fliss has shouting matches with almost every other character. I found the whole thing immature and lacking any real resolution to the conflicts between the characters. And since the same style of argumentation was used by 90% of the characters, it made me feel like they were all the same. There was no real distinction beyond their names.

[Laura · Rating 4 out of 5]

3.75 stars.
For me, Wildflower sits somewhere between cosy and cosy-adjacent. It has a warm and sweet tone, which stole my heart in the first few pages and fits well within the cosy genre. However, while our main character, Fliss, does discover an alternative and cosier way of living throughout the story, her story does not begin in a particularly cosy setting. Wildflower is not low stakes and is quite fast paced, which means that the moments of moderate-high stakes pass quite quickly, but it also means that there are fewer moments that felt slower and softer.

Regardless, I enjoyed my time with this book. Perhaps not quite as much as I expected: I didn't read it as quickly as I expected, kept finding myself wanting to skip ahead, and didn't feel as emotionally invested as I wanted to be. But it was a delight of a story (and the climactic scene did make me cry, after all), and I don't regret my time with it at all.

The magic system here was both lovely and fascinating; while regular spells seem to exist, flowers can be used in spells as per their flower meanings, and our main character, Fliss, has a particular affinity for this. Fliss is also cursed to speak only truth, and I felt for her as I watched her struggle to toe the line between deception by omission and bluntness.

Fliss is bisexual, and is surrounded by other queer characters. This cast of characters include a gay best friend and his gay fiance, a trans love interest (as we find out), and an ace new friend. While they do form a found family by the end of the book, this is still forming during the events of the story, and so we dont get that found family feeling until right at the end. As such, it was interesting to watch Fliss' relationship with her older friends and acquaintances change and evolve as she slowly developed her sense of self as the result of her experiences outside of her bubble (and her interactions with her new friends).

The last thing I'd like to add is that this book presents an interesting and well-done example of a conflict between those of privilege who are in power, and those who are simply fighting to survive. While I did make note of this a couple of times during reading, it didn't feel too stressful, and I wasn't distracted from the relative light-heartedness of the story.
Thanks so much to Del Rey and Netgalley for a digital review copy of Wildflower! This review is my genuine opinion.

[Pipa · Rating 5 out of 5]

This is a truly wonderful debut and one of the easiest five-star reads I’ve had in a long time.

I was lucky enough to receive an early copy via NetGalley ahead of its June release, and from the very first chapters I was completely hooked. In fact, this became one of those rare books that kept me up far too late at night because I simply couldn’t put it down. It has a cosy, comforting atmosphere, but there are enough emotional stakes and narrative tension to keep the story gripping throughout.

One of the things that struck me immediately was the quiet, natural LGBTQ+ representation. This is exactly the kind of representation I love to see - present and meaningful, but never forced or reduced to a character’s sole defining trait. It all feels wonderfully organic within the world of the story.

The protagonist, Fliss, is incredibly likeable and engaging. Her compulsion to always tell the truth makes for such an interesting character trait and adds real depth to her personality. She’s naturally sarcastic and witty, but because sarcasm sits too close to lying, she often has to hold it back, which leads to some genuinely funny and clever moments of banter throughout the book. That balance of humour with deeper emotional themes works beautifully, especially as the story also touches on grief and the loss of loved ones.

Another element I loved was the use of the language of flowers throughout the novel. Each chapter opens with a different flower and its meaning, subtly foreshadowing the events that follow. It’s such a thoughtful and creative device, and it adds an extra layer of symbolism that enriches the reading experience.

The magic system is also fascinating and adds another layer of intrigue to the world Jenkinson has created. It feels fresh and well thought out, and it integrates naturally with the emotional and thematic elements of the story.

What makes Wildflower particularly impressive is that this is Jenkinson’s debut novel. The writing feels confident, polished, and beautifully paced. It never feels like a first book. By the time I reached the ending, which was both satisfying and emotionally resonant, I was left genuinely amazed that this is the author’s debut.

Overall, Wildflower is a cosy, heartfelt and thoroughly engaging fantasy filled with warmth, humour, and thoughtful representation. Becky Jenkinson is clearly an author to watch, and I can’t wait to see what she writes next.

[Carole GUENAT · Rating 5 out of 5]

*Thanks to Netgalley for the early access to the book in exchange for an honest review*

4.5/5

An amazing cosy fantasy, in world pretty much out of the time.
This is such a nice, heartwarming and heartfelt story.

The story of Fliss, the lonely girl cursed to always say the truth is a long road to discovery of embracing your strengh and weeknesses, followed by some nice little love story that makes you root for them.

-Fliss : I loved Fliss, her internal monologues and the love and respect for flowers, it gave the story an amazing background that transport you in a world as colorful as the cover. What's interesting about Fliss is that she is growing all the time, she's still the clumsy girl at the end of the story but she's learning from that clumsiness and some of the bad choices she makes.

- Other Characters : They were really well discribed in their characters, physical appearence and smell, which was a really nice addition ! Card and Willoh very enjoyable all the way. Bash is nice too, I would have just wished that he did something at some point and that he doesnt stay a witness of his own story. All the other are great, the guards, the parents, it's a nice group of people all adding to the story.

-Story : It unfolds in a very progressive way, people are changing, things are happening but it doesn't feel rushed, it feels normal. I didn't think at any point : why is that happening here. It was a cohesive story all in all. As some other people said, a detail came at some point that was unexpected, but not in a bad way. I liked that part, I just wished it would have been added more into the story to make more of it and not it being just a detail.

-I like the idea of the evening and how events unfolded. It was honestly a nice resolution to most of the questions and pretty cool action scene. I would have loved a bit less cheesiness from some part of it. It was a bit too much at some point but still, i get why it was written like that, it's more of a personal taste and other people might really enjoy that part so i was not that bother by it.

I loved the book and was unable to put it done from the first day. It's an awesome story, very well written and thought about and a nice cosy ride in fantasy world. I couldn't recommend it more !

[Annie Deo · Rating 3 out of 5]

Pretty straight-forward fantasy - this reads like it's on the younger end of the YA spectrum with the 'tell, don't show' variety of writing. Characters explain a lot of their motivations in an info-dumpy way to make sure the reader is keeping up; people are also constantly overreacting in a very exaggerated manner, especially quick to fire up and get into furious spats out of nowhere. There's not much subtlety here (a rebel reveals themselves to be a rebel with no hesitation at disclosing this to a stranger from the citadel, like...c'mon now).

The plot was interesting and had me invested in finding out what went down years ago and how it affected the current shenanigans, but wow did I lose a lot of respect for Felicity's mother, holy shit she was kinda terrible for her role in the tragedy and it's never acknowledged how shitty her character was. Morgana could have been interesting, but she was just so one-dimensional and her name was also very on the nose.

I did appreciate the LGBT+ representation - there's a prominent gay romance between Felicity's best friend and the prince, as well as a surprise late revelation that Will is a trans man that I thought was pretty cool for how underplayed that was. Everything else was very telegraphed, but this was just subtle rep.

The cozy vibes really appealed to me, I enjoyed the flower magic Felicity wielded, although the world-building was pretty sketchy. I just went with the flow and didn't analyze the magic system too closely. It did bother me that the author used contemporary language ('you guys', 'okay', 'ASAP', 'babe' and so forth) in this fantasy setting, but again had to just roll with it.

I don't know that I really liked many of the characters - Card was an awful best friend honestly, Bash wasn't a major character, Will was kind of generic love interest and Felicity was so self-sacrificing and insecure that it irritated me. But the plot was lively and engaging enough that I kept going anyway to see how everything was resolved and I don't regret the time spent on this even if it wasn't really spectacular.

[The Nightwatch Desk · Rating 4 out of 5]

Since the day she was born, Felicity “Fliss” Farrow has been cursed to tell the truth. She’s also a florist with the ability to enchant flowers.

Fliss receives an anonymous order for a plant that she's never heard of before. So, she enters a section of the local forest that's known for growing rare fauna. There, she meets Willoh Vane, a sorcerer who's rumoured to have poisoned the land. The two keep crossing paths while Fliss digs up a garden of secrets and lies.

🌸Adult Fiction
🌼Queer Romantasy
🌺Florist x Sorcerer
🌻Cursed Heroine
🌷Trans Love Interest
🏵️Magic Flowers

'Wildflower' is a charming queer romantasy with an outlaw love interest and a cursed heroine. Each chapter opens with lovely artwork of different flowers and includes their meaning.

Fliss has been ostracized by her community. No one trusts her not to share their secrets with other people. She's lonely, naive, persistent, and needs to do a better job of biting her tongue. I enjoyed the way that she connects information and emotions to different flowers.

Will has also been cast out by his community. He's smug, caring, and easily the best character in this book. Most scenes with him were engaging and he's the main reason that the romance blooms. He makes a lot of mistakes but also takes responsibility for them.

Overall, this is fast paced, with enough action to always keep things interesting. The setting is like something from a Disney or Pixar fairy tale movie. It has the energy of a cozy fantasy novel while keeping the stakes high.

This book's biggest flaw is that some parts struggle with too much exposition, clunky conversations, and broken sentences. But it improves a lot after the first quarter.

Sometimes this felt more like upper young adult fiction. It would be interesting to read it again as a graphic novel. If you enjoyed ‘Ella Enchanted’ then this might be perfect for you.

Thank you to Netgalley, Penguin Random House, and Del Rey for providing an ARC copy in exchange for an honest review.

[Callie Mo · Rating 5 out of 5]

Oh my god, please excuse me while I recover and try to not be a sobbing mess from finishing this book.

Wildflower is the story of Fliss, a magical florist cursed to only be able to speak the truth, as she gets drawn into a plot of intrigue around the royal family, powerful flowers, and a certain charming sorcerer.

For me, this was the literal *definition* of cozy, cottagecore romantasy. I loved every second of this book. I read it in the span of several hours, because once I began, I knew I wasn't stopping until I finished it. And it didn't disappoint - I was immediately drawn in and stayed fully absorbed through the whole story.

I loved all of the characters - Fliss is a pure delight of floral whimsy, Willoh is a charming, sarcastic, just perfect guy, and I loved watching their relationship develop. It felt so incredibly genuine and real. But more than just their relationship, I adored the overarching theme of love throughout this story - love for family, friends, and for oneself. I also loved the environment, all of the details about the flowers throughout the story made me feel like I was really there, walking through meadows, climbing snowy mountains, and running through forests.

As the other reviews I read mentioned, there is indeed a certain detail that was completely unexpected - but I loved it, I loved how natural and accepted it felt, and I actually didn't feel like it detracted from the story or the overall aesthetic at all. I think the author did a great job weaving it in.

Finally, while looking this book up on Goodreads to write my review, I learned that this is the author's debut novel and that there are only THREE reviews so far. I feel like I'm so early, but I can't wait to see how this novel does at release, and can't wait to recommend it to everyone I know. So, my genuine thanks to Netgalley and to the publisher for the advanced copy!

[NariaS · Rating 4 out of 5]

Every single character has major flaws and it makes for such a great book! The characters and story are so well thought out, by the end you can tell how purposeful every piece of information was.

Fliss was cursed at birth to never tell a lie. The queen uses Fliss's curse to keep tabs on her people and because no one wants their business shared with the Queen, Fliss only has one real friend, Card. Her life starts to change when she's sent to track down some rare and magically powerful flowers. She doesn't know who is making these requests (which makes sense in the book!) and questions what they might be used for. On her journey outside the walls of the kingdom to find these flowers she meets Will (Willoh), a sorcerer with a bad reputation. She finds that she can be herself with him though, and is definitely charmed by the handsome sorcerer! They end up embarking on what turns out to be a dangerous adventure.

I'm not sure I would describe this book as cozy, there were a lot of lives in peril, stabbings, chasing, hardships, and I cried once. That being said, it wasn't really dark either, so maybe more cozy than not?

I enjoyed the pacing, with it getting more tense the last quarter of the book. I ended up staying up WAY past my bedtime to finish it!

This is a closed door romance. I loved Fliss and Will's relationship and I thought the approach to the trans reveal was well done. My one complaint and the reason this isn't a five star for me is because of the modern terminology here and there that took me out of this very magical fantasy world.

Fliss being a florist and having her magic tied to the flowers was fun. Each flower had a meaning which related to their magical property.

I absolutely recommend this book if you're into cozy fantasy type reads!

I received this ebook as an ARC from Del Rey, Random House Worlds, Inklore via NetGalley in exchange for my honest opinion.

[Gabi · Rating 3 out of 5]

*Thanks to NetGalley and the publishers for the ARC in exchange for an honest review.*

Unfortunately, while this book was a generally pretty fun premise, it was so loose on the worldbuilding that I actually laughed in disbelief a few times. The geography of the kingdom (unfortunately the review copy didn't have a map) confused me quite a bit. Our main character, Felicity, walks all over and back home in a day but discovers whole regions she knew nothing about. She walks to a mountain range which is snowing heavier than that it ever snows in the city. She does this without proper clothing or footwear or seemingly taking any food or water with her. She is surprised by how cold it is (and all of this for a flower!). How can this only be a few hours walk from her home?? This situation happens multiple times and was one of the things that made me laugh.

The magic system is also an interesting idea which isn't explored enough. The flower details are all taken from traditional Victorian flower meanings. This isn't necessarily a bad thing, but referencing flowers such as Queen Anne's Lace personally took me out of the story. That flower has other names which aren't influenced by British monarchs, so why use that name?

The characters were good, though the romance progressed really quickly. I did enjoy the exploration of trust and how we can come to expect certain things from people in our lives. The action was mostly pretty good, but the pacing towards the end was a bit stop/start and I think that ruined the tension of the climax.

Overall, it was fun and a decent debut. If the worldbuilding had been explored by the author a bit more, if the timeline was stretched to take into account travelling around the country a bit more realistically, this would have been vastly improved.

[Leanne · Rating 4 out of 5]

Wildflower is an absolute delight from start to finish. Becky Jenkinson has created a world that feels both whimsical and comforting—a place where magic grows in gardens, secrets hide in the underbrush, and a cursed florist with a tender heart finds herself at the centre of something much bigger than she ever expected.

Fliss is such an endearing heroine. Her truth‑telling curse makes her both vulnerable and quietly brave, and watching her navigate the world with such care is genuinely touching. Her love of flowers, her gentle humour, and her longing for connection make her incredibly easy to root for.

And then there’s Willoh Vane—mysterious, sharp‑witted, and far more misunderstood than the rumours suggest. Their reluctant partnership is full of warmth and spark, and the way their relationship grows—slowly, naturally, like something blooming in sunlight—was one of my favourite parts of the book.

The plot strikes a lovely balance between cozy adventure and deeper intrigue. The royal wedding, the anonymous request, the whispers of dark magic… it all weaves together into a story that feels inviting rather than overwhelming. Even the stakes, when they rise, stay grounded in character and emotion.

The hand‑drawn floral sketches are a gorgeous touch, adding to the book’s gentle, botanical charm.

Overall, Wildflower is a warm, magical, and wonderfully comforting read—perfect for anyone who loves cozy fantasy with friendship, mystery, and a tender thread of romance. I finished it with a smile.

My thanks to Becky Jenkinson, the publisher and netgalley for the ARC