"For the Roses" by Julie Garwood

★★★★★

Makes me laugh every time

This truly is one of my absolute favorite, never go without, must-have-in-my-library-always books.  

This is a story of 4 boys who find a baby in the trash who come together as a family for the little baby's sake to make sure she has a good life. They make a life for themselves out west when the past comes knocking on their door many years later. 

This is probably the fifth time I have read this book, though the last time I had read it was many years ago. When I picked this book up again, I immediately felt reminiscent of when I read it as a teen & that was just the prologue. 

The thing I love most about this book, other than the well-done writing and plot that (1) has no holes in it, (2) a story that isn’t stagnant or has me saying, ‘can we please move on?’ and (3) answers everything that is mentioned so you aren’t left wanting, are the characters and their dialogue. I literally laugh out loud throughout this entire book. You can feel the love and respect the brothers and sister have for each other. I don’t think I’ve ever read any book that expresses this kind of palpable love. I even got so exasperated by a character’s behavior I literally sighed, shook my head and my husband laughed at my reaction, which I of course considered an opening to vent about the character! Lol.  You can’t help but feel the full gambit of emotions with this book & even though I knew what was coming up in the story (since I have read it so many times before, not because it was predictable), I was still so engrossed I couldn’t put the book down! I had to keep reading. I was still mad, happy, sad, and shocked while reading this book and ultimately just fell in love with it. 

Don’t let the fact that it is a romance put you off. It is not a simple boy meets girl, fall in love, have sex, fight, and eventually just can’t be without each other kind of story. It would be an insult to even try to put it into the same category as those types of romances. Not only do the main characters have depth but so do the supporting characters. This book has multiple little stories that run alongside the main story, without impeding the overall plot or being too much packed in. The author let this book run its course without fear of the page count as well, which just makes it perfect. 

Another aspect I thoroughly enjoyed were the letters at the end of each chapter, providing yet another, and rather unique, look into the Claybornes’ lives. 

I will forever recommend this book.  

On a small side note, Julie Garwood ended up writing 4 more books after this one that were focused on the brothers, called the Clayborne’s Brides Series: One Pink Rose, One White Rose, One Red Rose and Come the Spring. I will let you know my opinion on these books at a later date. I can’t wait to read them again! ​​