The Confidence of Wildflowers

Product Information

No, instead she marries the ex boyfriend she cheated on with Thayer, let’s him raise Thayer’s daughter, married him knowing Caleb loves her more than she loves him, and is still in love with another man the whole time they’re together. Salem’s character is amazing. She has been through so much and to see how strong she is, is incredible. There was NO GROVELING from the heroine’s side. Meanwhile the hero did lots of cute things in the time they were apart that showed he still loved her. thayer is the new grumpy neighbor of salem who’s in his early 30s and on top of that a single dad to his 6 year old son. when salem breaks trough his walls we can see him being extremely protective and sweet to her i was swooning the whole time. that man made her, her own personal gym in his basement and fired someone for talking disrespectful to her. double swoon. he was so adorable and them being all domestic and shit with little forrest was so wholesome. The pace is slow at first but once you get accustomed to it, you start to enjoy it. The way it's written might feel slightly odd, but it is written from the POV of an 18 year old so it does make sense. It was an addicting read. I devoured it in a day. The plot on the surface seems simple enough but the characters is what bring depth to it.

There was sadness through some part of the book, but in the end everything was alright. Their love was just epic. I am glad that somehow Thayer was the instigator of the love this time and that he decided to be happy once one for all. After all Salem was his one and true love.

The Confidence of Wildflowers Book PDF Summary

Now, I do mention in my vlog that there is something that happens and is very spoiler-y, but it can also be a huge trigger for people. Therefore, as I mentioned in my vlog, I am leaving a spoiler here for those who have death as a TW:

Other big pain points are behavior of the main character. Every time someone else is going through something painful she runs away. For example - Mom shares bad personal painful news and Salem storms off rather than comfort her. Boytoy has tragic incident and she runs off to someone else to comfort her. In real life when someone you love is hurting you wouldn’t abandon them the way this story writes. No offense to Caleb, but you're her mom. I don't just mean that in the DNA sense. You're the one who's stayed at home with her and all that. Besides, he works long hours. I don't think he can be as stable for her as he'd like to think he can be. He's being selfish. Seda needs to be with you, and he can have her some weekends."That is a huge trigger for me personally but that's not the reason I gave this 1 star. Here are more reasons:

Salem has stayed away for years - concentrating on raising her daughter. She married and divorced her high school bf (Caleb) who stepped up to be the father her child needed and to be a husband Salem could have gotten if she had never met Thayer. you never planned on keeping seda a secret??? Really? I’m supposed to believe that when she thinks someone else is her dad? SHES never heard of Thayer? The way the two loved each other, I had thought Salem would fight more for Thayer (the guy was grieving ffs). But I can't wait to see how they move past with this in the sequel. Some of the scenes were catastrophically, bury-my-head-in-the-sad, genuinely unbearably, cringe. I wish I could say they were the good kind. *They were not*.

Series Reading Order

One of the strengths of The Confidence of Wildflowers is Micalea Smeltzer’s ability to craft characters who resonate deeply with the reader. Salem, our fearless protagonist, possesses an old soul wrapped in a youthful exterior. Her resilience and optimism shine through as she faces life’s challenges head-on. It’s impossible not to root for her as she discovers the power of unconditional love and gains confidence in the path she’s chosen. Salem’s character journey is both heartwarming and inspiring. And after all this, after she finally tells him the truth at 30%, nothing really happens for the final 70%. It’s basically one long epilogue. No angst. No conflict. Nothing. So it was really all for nothing. Which makes me wish that this story had ended in book one and I could have avoided all this unnecessary drama and frustration. i really wanted to love this but ultimately the choices the author made did not work for me, but they might for you if you want an emotional book. And, I’m sorry (I’m not), but how, just how, was Forrest’s character LIKED?? I can understand the appeal of a child (I can’t), but every sentence he spoke was so clearly thought by an adult that it was just so hilarious😭😭. Our brilliant MC repeatedly praises the little human’s intelligence (that does appear to exist in some sentences) only for him to say: “What did she mean about my dad cheating on her? Were they playing a game and he cheated?”..... 😭GOD, the way his intelligence appeared only when the author thought it convenient, and otherwise reduced him to a blabbering, brainless prop, was atrocious. At least be coherent to the character itself😭.

Now, before you read this review, refer to my review of the first book to understand this better: (if you haven't read the duet)I don't want to delve too much into this story seeing that this is a duet but I do have a few things I need to say. First off after reading this book, it should've just been one book only. This felt extremely unnecessary and the only thing that I felt was my blood boiling and utter disappointment. I was rooting for this story so damn hard and even though we got an HEA, I feel like it could've been in the first book as an extended epilogue. Nothing really happened and this only made me not like one of the main characters but I feel like everyone was trying to overlook a lot of things and make that person feel better OVER AND OVER AND OVER AGAIN.