One flower market.
three decades of Buried Secrets.
Six lives uprooted forever.
Sometimes, uprooting the thorn-filled past is the only way we bloom…
TESSA LEWIS is set to embark on a Big-Time Career and marry Toronto’s fastest rising lawyer, who loves her to pieces. But life wasn’t always sunshine and roses, and when a visit to a flower market from her childhood sparks fragmented memories of the mother she lost too soon, Tessa puts her entire future on hold to work there, determined to come to terms with her past.
At the Blue Iris Flower Market, everything is blossoming except the rag-tag crew, each hiding deep scars of their own. When Sam, the beloved but troubled man in charge, takes off and leaves the market reeling, Tessa and her unlikely new friends come face to face with their hardest truths, uprooting lives carefully cultivated — and just maybe, unearthing everything they’ve ever wanted.
Told from multiple perspectives, The Blue Iris is an intricately woven story of love tested beyond its limits, chosen family, and the beauty that grows in letting go.
2025 International Book Award, General Fiction
PenCraft Spring ’24 Best Book
Feathered Quill Silver Winner
NYC Big Book Awards Distinguished Favourite
BookLife Editor’s Pick
Kirkus “Get It” Pick
OR ASK AT YOUR NEAREST BOOKSTORE/LIBRARY
Praise for The Blue Iris
Such a unique and heartwarming story about found family. As a huge fan of multiple-POV stories, I thoroughly enjoyed diving into each of these well drawn characters, and watching their fears and hopes converge in a wonderful flower shop I wish I could visit.
-Tracey Lange, New York Times Bestselling Author of We Are The Brennans
A story of found family, impossible romances, and the ghosts of the past, The Blue Iris is a riveting page turner as stunning as the blooms that fill the shop at the heart of the book. Haunted and haunting, it keeps you guessing even as you cheer for Tessa and the broken but irresistible makeshift family she builds for herself. A story of growing up and deciding who you really are, it’s an unforgettable tale of roots in more ways than one.
-Grace O’Connell, Author of Be Ready for the Lightning
Stone debuts a gorgeous literary novel with a nostalgic aesthetic and themes of complex friendships, family trauma, and healing through self-discovery . . . Stone’s writing is rich and evocative, digging right to the difficult emotions under the surface . . . she deftly utilizes a multiple narrator format, offering a deeply intimate look into each character’s trauma and how it shapes their interactions (and) real emotional depth for characters of both genders. . . the novel’s emotional current, showing broken people whose lives become better when they care for and forgive one another, carries through powerfully.
–BookLife (Editor’s Pick)
“In Stone’s deeply moving, tender, and original tale, a young woman leaves her big-time career opportunity behind to work in the Blue Iris Flower Market in order to come to terms with her traumatic past. … Stone imbues her characters with such depth and personality that by the time readers turn the last page, they feel like they really know all of them. Heightened emotions, palpable romance, and just the right amount of tension keep the pages flying. Stone delivers an intricate exploration of love and friendship with grace, resulting in a story that’s as heartfelt as it is poignant. Stone is a writer to watch.”
–BookView (Gold Recommend Rating)
A gorgeous novel — Stone brilliantly captures the power of optimism, the allure of memory. Readers will fall in love with the Blue Iris Flower Market and the vibrant cast of characters they meet there.
-Stacy Bierlein, Author of A Vacation on the Island of Ex-Boyfriends
Riveting, soul-searching, and full of heart. A spectacularly told story. … Stone’s layered characters leap off the page: the cast is vividly drawn, and their struggles feel entirely authentic. The no-nonsense approach to both Tessa and Will’s relationship and the former’s struggles with her past trauma is refreshing, while subplots about love, passion, friendship, chosen family, and letting go add nuance and poignancy to the affecting story. Told in multiple characters’ voices, the narrative is riveting, with shocking surprises unraveling at a steady pace. The plot’s top-grade tension grows taut as Tessa works herself up to take the hard decision. Readers won’t want to put this down.”
–The Prairies Book Review
This is a special book. Rachel Stone has crafted a narrative that touches both the mind and the heart, carried along by some of the most memorable characters I have encountered – complex, relatable, and very, very human. She writes honestly and clearly, with a delicate lyricism that lingers well after the final page is closed, and in so doing, she shines a light on our common challenge of finding the place where we truly belong. The Blue Iris merits a place in the company of books to be read, reread, and cherished.
-Greg Fields, Award-Winning Author of Through the Waters and the Wild
A fascinating novel that follows a young woman’s story as she faces her past and discovers a new future . . . Rachel Stone has penned an incredible work with complex, unique characters and an absorbing love story. Readers will love its engrossing storyline and unexpected ending.
–Readers’ Favourite (5 Star Review)
In The Blue Iris, Rachel Stone shines as a gifted wordsmith. Her narrative is like walking through a lush garden; our senses explode with the beauty in her vivid descriptions. With each chapter, her rich cast of characters take root, grow, and evolve, Tessa most of all. Hers is a difficult journey–to ground herself in truth, she must peel away the façade that has sustained her. Tessa learns a lesson important to each of us: when we let go of dying things, it frees us to hold fast to that which nurtures us. The Blue Iris is an engaging, unique novel of love and chosen family—the best kind.
-Carla Damron, Award-Winning Author of the The Orchid Tattoo
The lives of five employees of the Blue Iris flower market in Toronto are so tightly intertwined that when one moves, another is impacted, and their story moves forward as well–especially when the handful of outside characters’ motivations also come into play. It’s truly brilliant plotting and character development.
-Kathleen Basi, Author of A Song For The Road
In Stone’s novel, a modest Canadian flower shop becomes an arena for romance, heartache, and betrayal . . . it’s a pleasure to watch the little community fight for what matters to them—human connection, how to run a flower business and, when the Blue Iris is in danger of being converted into condos, the shop’s very existence. A captivating read that’s full of humor and heart.
-Kirkus Reviews
From the opening pages, Stone proves herself a master of the concise yet deep character sketch…The reader isn’t just introduced to the Blue Iris Flower Market, they’re drawn to its very essence. Disarmingly honest and intricately revealing, The Blue Iris is a study of life’s fragile beauty, the complexities of human connections, and the resilience required to thrive amidst the unpredictable elements of existence.
–Anthony Horton, Author of Unpaved
The events that both flaw and free the characters and the flower market connections that mean something different to each come to life in a jigsaw puzzle of disparate life choices and influences that proves hard to put down . . . An evocative, compelling read.
– D. Donovan, Senior Reviewer, Midwest Book Review
Rachel Stone’s charming novel, The Blue Iris, captures a group of engaging employees working at a Toronto flower market as they come to terms with their individual pasts and as they contemplate their futures. These compelling characters work together steadily, with humour and occasional friction, surrounded by the beauty of the flowers, and they each confront and slowly resolve their own complicated lives. The Blue Iris is a joy to read.
-Michelle Berry, Author of The Prisoner and The Chaplain
The writing was wonderful and the pace was great . . . I would 100% recommend this book to a friend and could see it making a wonderful book club book with a lot of discussions and perspectives.
– Reader, The Good Book Collective
Rachel Stone has created a stunning portrayal of found family, love, and the bravery required to forge one’s own path. Infused with sincerity and empathy, Rachel develops her characters with a profound sense of humanity. Readers . . . cannot turn the last page without feeling immense grief at having to say goodbye.
– Superstition Review
The nuances of Tessa’s interactions with the staff at the Blue Iris are carefully fashioned, with gentle direction and guidance from Stone that gives each character a brilliantly developed voice. The flower market setting brings this lush story to life, allowing multiple perspectives to bloom across the novel as they grow into one cohesive, stunning storyline.
– The BookLife Prize
(Stone) writes beautiful, spare prose that offers redemptive stories which cause the reader to lean in. (The Blue Iris) has “major publisher” written all over it, yet it was an independent release that can stand up to the biggest titles in the industry. This is one of the most beautiful books I’ve ever had the pleasure of narrating, and if you like realistic fiction with a hint of romance that has realistic characters, give The Blue Iris a try. You won’t be disappointed.”
– G.M. Hakim, Voice Actor and Co-Narrator of The Blue Iris Audiobook
Hope, love, disaster, and sadness mingle through the pages of The Blue Iris pulling on all of the readers’ emotions . . . It’s about ‘blooming’ personalities, where hidden traits—both good and bad—begin to emerge. The story has an eight-person viewpoint, with chapters flicking between them. Tessa slightly dominates the story (but only just). Her life appears practically perfect in the beginning, but as the story unfolds we begin to see the cracks . . . This is a genuine, tender, and absorbing read with a lovely ending.
-The International Review of Books (Gold Badge Review)
(A) must read for many reasons … you will be transported into a world where past influences present, where past and present collide, and where hope can be re-planted in the heart. … The varying perspectives add multiple dimensions to the plot, which at its foundation is about love being tried by fire. The chosen family theme is the perfect way to illustrate how psychic wounds can heal in the right environment and with the right people. … Often, novels offer to lift readers up, but this one actually does. There is healing in the pages if you open your heart and let the life lessons come in.”
– Reader Views (5 Star Review)
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Rachel Stone 