One flower market.
three decades Seeded With Secrets.
Six lives uprooted forever.
Sometimes, uprooting the thorn-filled past is the only way to bloom…
High achiever Tessa Lewis has finished graduate school and is set to embark on a Big-Time Career and marry Will Westlake, the adoring lawyer from Toronto’s most powerful family. But her life wasn’t always sunshine and roses, and when an unexpected encounter at a flower market sparks disjointed memories of a mother lost too soon, Tessa pauses her future for one summer to work there, determined to come to terms with the past.
But the Blue Iris Flower Market is blooming with chaos now that Sam, the beloved but troubled man holding it together, has disappeared, leaving the rag-tag crew reeling. As Tessa struggles to find footing among her constantly clashing, wildly dysfunctional coworkers, all are brought face-to-face with hard truths they’ve been desperately outrunning, unearthing deeply rooted secrets, meticulously cultivated lies, and just maybe, everything they never knew they wanted.
Told from multiple perspectives, THE BLUE IRIS is a hope-filled, exquisitely rendered story of the family we choose, love tested beyond its limits, and the beauty that grows when we finally learn to let go. A BookLife Editor’s Pick, Kirkus “Get It” Pick, NYC Big Book Awards Distinguished Favorite, PenCraft Spring ’24 Best Book, and winner of the 2025 International Book Award.
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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, offering…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)
“Deeply moving, tender, and original…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 is a writer to watch.”
–BookView (Gold Recommend)
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, 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. Readers won’t want to put this down.”
–The Prairies Book Review
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…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’ Favorite (5 Stars)
Rachel Stone’s narrative is like walking through a lush garden. …With each chapter, her rich cast of characters take root, grow, and evolve, Tessa most of all (as she) 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. 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. 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 . 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.
–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
Lush, poetic and brimming with emotional undercurrents, (this) story will speak to hearts that know the pull of land, love and loss. In the words of Seamus Heaney, “And catch the heart off guard and blow it open, capturing how this story sneaks up on you—softly, then all at once.
– Lacy Fewer, Author of Yankeeland
-Lacy Fewer, Author of Yankeeland
A stunning portrayal of found family, love, and the bravery required to forge one’s own path. Infused with sincerity and empathy, (Stone) 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 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..”
– 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 . . . a genuine, tender, and absorbing read with a lovely ending.
-The International Review of Books (Gold Review)
(A) must read for many reasons … you will be transported into a world where past influences present, past and present collide, and hope can be re-planted in the heart. 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 (Reviewer’s Choice)
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Rachel Stone 