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Rating: 
Summary: There are better books to spend money on.
Review: I'm a Catherine Anderson fan, but she pretty much dropped the ball on this one. Frankly put, it was dull as all hell. I dragged myself through the first 300 pages, then gave up completely. The characters never seemed to evolve past line drawings -- Kate loves her daughter. Zack is very understanding. That's okay characterization for the first fifty pages, but when there isn't much expansion on those themes a hundred pages after that, things start getting stupifying.
Anderson has written other books featuring women who were victims of abuse, all of them gracefully handled. I suppose that Kate was her first try at writing a heroine like this, and it took her a while to get it right. She got the maternal love down pat, but Kate was practically an invertibrate when it came to spine or spunk. Zack was a one-note wonder, and there's not much more to say about that. I can't remember the last time that I've been as absolutely bored out of my gourd by two lead characters. They were written as nice and likable, but reading about them became a chore.
Save some money and avoid it, unless you need a cure for insomnia.
Rating: 
Summary: A Typical Anderson Story
Review: If you are looking for a sweet love story with some angst and heartbreak, this book is for you.
Kate Blakely is a widow of 6 months with a 8 year old daughter. She is trying to make ends meet on her farm since her husband has gone missing. But she is finally free since her husband was a religious fanatic who was abusive to Kate and their daughter Mandy for years, mainly because Kate was too beautiful and a woman.
Zacariah McGovern moves next to her on is own homestead and notices the lovely widow and Mandy right away. At times Zach is a little to dark and angst filled but still understanding and wanting to help Kate whenever he can. But Kate wants nothing to do with him. She has secrets such as what really happened to her husband and his brother Ryan who becomes as fanatical as her husband was. He wants to marry Kate who refuses, but if she doesn't do what he wants, he will take away Mandy. Kate has to try to keep Mandy away from harm and herself while battling her new feelings for Zach.
Things comes to a head between Zach and Kate which moves the story along. The love scenes are minimal but in a way that mkaes sense and shows how two damaged people can grow and rely on each other.
If you are an Anderson fan and like Americana themed books, check out this book that was one of her firsts.
Rating: 
Summary: My favorite by Catherine Anderson
Review: This is her best work. It's the only book I ever finished, and then immediately reread - the same day. Excellent. You can still find it in some libraries.
Rating: 
Summary: A Memory Souvenir. -- The biggest of 4 stars.
Review: With many books, once I turn the last page, the story's image disappears. Within a few days, I have forgotten the book's foundation. This is not so in Catherine Anderson's "Coming Up Roses." I think the child in this harrowing tale will live in my memory forever. Kate Blakely and her daughter, Miranda, endured personal hell for five long years. An agonizing world controlled by a heinous man - a perverted man to whom Kate Blakely had regrettably married. A man unsoundly motivated -- by his own interpretation of the Bible. Joseph Blakely perceived his wife and daughter as `Handmaidens to Satan' - sent by the evil one to tempt him into sin. Zachariah McGovern is the neighbor around whom Miranda builds a castle of dreams. In Miranda's eyes, this man is her hero. A man who ranks right up there with the fairies, the elves, and the mystical unicorns from her mother's fairytales -- he is the stuff of magical wishes. Zachariah McGovern is a god sent. Through the pages, the author has drawn striking character sketches. Kate Blakely is a gentle, loving woman -- the victim of a life mistake. Anderson drafts Zachariah McGovern from her masculine template - brawny men who are everything wonderful. And little Miranda Blakely is divine, the star of the story. This cast and their lives make remarkable reading material. What are the problems? The conclusion wrapped up too nicely, too methodically. These are two wounded souls who would not come back from the brink of destruction so easily -- no matter who the hero is. Secondly, Zachariah's tragic past was an unnecessary side story. Still, this is a forceful well-written story. Grace Atkinson, Ontario - Canada.
Rating:
Summary: A Memory Souvenir. -- The biggest of 4 stars.
Review: With many books, once I turn the last page, the story's image disappears. Within a few days, I have forgotten the book's foundation. This is not so in Catherine Anderson's "Coming Up Roses." I think the child in this harrowing tale will live in my memory forever. Kate Blakely and her daughter, Miranda, endured personal hell for five long years. An agonizing world controlled by a heinous man - a perverted man to whom Kate Blakely had regrettably married. A man unsoundly motivated -- by his own interpretation of the Bible. Joseph Blakely perceived his wife and daughter as 'Handmaidens to Satan' - sent by the evil one to tempt him into sin. Zachariah McGovern is the neighbor around whom Miranda builds a castle of dreams. In Miranda's eyes, this man is her hero. A man who ranks right up there with the fairies, the elves, and the mystical unicorns from her mother's fairytales -- he is the stuff of magical wishes. Zachariah McGovern is a god sent. Through the pages, the author has drawn striking character sketches. Kate Blakely is a gentle, loving woman -- the victim of a life mistake. Anderson drafts Zachariah McGovern from her masculine template - brawny men who are everything wonderful. And little Miranda Blakely is divine, the star of the story. This cast and their lives make remarkable reading material. What are the problems? The conclusion wrapped up too nicely, too methodically. These are two wounded souls who would not come back from the brink of destruction so easily -- no matter who the hero is. Secondly, Zachariah's tragic past was an unnecessary side story. Still, this is a forceful well-written story. Grace Atkinson, Ontario - Canada.
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