I loved this book. I couldn't put it down. Great place and storytelling. A sad and heart wrenching emotional story with a positive message

I want to thank Netgalley and the author for gifting me the ebook. A really good historical fiction novel that takes place during WWII. Recommend

I truly understand the hardships faced by people growing up during and after the great depression and WWII era. Many families lived well below the poverty line and opportunities for women alone, not to mention single women with children were practically non-existent. I truly felt for Margaret and understood her desire to get away from where and how she grew up. I do not fault her one bit for wanting a different, better life for herself, a life that did not involve marrying a man she didn't love because her father ordered her to. What I did find an issue with in this story is that despite the consequences Margarite faces from her many hasty decisions, she never seems to learn and grow. It seemed to me she so desperately wanted away from home that she was willing to jump on whatever the first thing to come along was as long as it got her out of her childhood home.
Be it married to three different men she barely knew or living a life of lies fabricated so she could train in New York to be a nurse. To me she was not a likeable character, the sympathy I felt at the beginning quickly faded as I felt she used men to get what she wanted, she lied to everyone about who and what she really was, then when everything would blow up and the lies catch up with her she played the victim and it was poor me, why me, what am I going to do now. Try taking responsibility for your actions, quit lying and using people and maybe things will go better for you.
I understand it was a different world for single mothers back then than it is now and I do not mean to make light of the real struggles women in these situations faced. I know the odds of them succeeding were over-whelmingly stacked against them and I do feel for them. It is just the way Margarites character was portrayed it rubbed me the wrong way. I found her spoiled, narcissistic, whiney and just irritating. I could not connect at all.
It is a good story, loosely based on the life of the author's mother and I do sympathize with all the obstacles she had to overcome. It is a interesting story, just wish the main character was more likable. I am sure I am in the minority and most will love this hard-luck story, it just wasn't for me.. I would give a 2 star rating, but that isn't fair, despite Margaret's unbecoming character the story of single mothers in a time when all women faced oppression and dominance from males in all aspects of their lives is one that needs to be explored. This I did find interesting and it goes a long way in redeeming the book for me, raising the rating to 3 stars.
Thank you to Books Go Social and to Net Galley for the free ARC, I am leaving my honest review in return.

I wanted to like this book as the blurb caught my attention. However, as I started the book, it peaked my attention but I soon lost interest in the story. The story was slow going and I’m sure the story eventually picks up but I wasn’t sticking around to wait.

The Scent of Gardenias by LorraineHaas is a story about a young woman in the 1940s whose family is living at or below the poverty level. Her father is abusive and makes his many children do what he says or else.

Margaret Rose is a strong-willed girl who goes against her father’s demands and marries an older man who is in the Coast Guard. Shortly after, WW II begins and she is told that her husband has perished when his ship is torpedoed. The grieving widow finds that she is pregnant and with no money coming in has to live at home.

She tries to train as a nurse, but she endures many tragedies and misfortunes. I felt so very sorry for this young woman as she struggled to keep her life and children together. It seemed that she was given more obstacles than anyone should face. Although I found the novel well-written, it was a downer to read. It left me feeling very sad.

Beautiful emotional retelling of one woman’s life story by her daughter. I’m so glad the author was inspired by her mother’s story and wanted to put it on paper.

Margaret Rose is a strong and likable female lead but so many other female characters in this book are strong as well. As the novel progresses, you can even see the true strength of her mother, even though Margaret wants to live a life different from how she was raised. I truly loved this story and recommend it to anyone who normally reads historical fiction or if you’re looking for a break from your usual genre.

This is a coming of age novel set in America in WWII about a smart and ambitious girl who wants to escape her strict father and farm life. In just a few years, Margaret gets married three times, has three daughters, builds a career and is forced to grow quickly.
The story is very gripping and it's a strong example of how hard those times must have been, even in the US territories where no actual fighting or bombing occurred. Even women like Maggie who wanted a career saw marriage as a way to escape their parents and to have a house of their own, thus often moving from one prison of their own making to another.
I must be honest, there were many times I disliked Margaret, especially when she manipulates Leland into marrying her quickly, telling him she loves him when she doesn't, and then she blames him for the failure of their marriage. I found irritating the fact that she keeps saying she wants to escape her dad's house and be independent, and yet she keeps getting married for the wrong reasons. Yes, the first time she seems to be really in love with the guy (though she marries quickly to move out), but the second and third time? She doesn't love Leland, as mentioned above, and she only marries Joseph because she's blinded by the comfortable life he can give her and her daughters (despite she tells herself she loves him). When she begins dating Joseph, she's in New York training as a nurse and living with flatmates, so she's basically reaching the career and independence she always claimed to desire... so why drop everything to become a wife?
I understand she's very young, inexperienced and naive, but she's no saint and cannot keep playing the victim in every situation. Independence also means taking responsibilities for our own choices and consequences (this obviously doesn't take away the other person's share of responsibility).
So I’m not crazy about Maggie, but since we all make mistakes and are driven by fear sometimes, I understand (but don’t approve) why she makes some choices and why many women probably have done the same at the time.
Regardless my personal feelings for the protagonist, the novel’s good and it immediately drew me in, making me feel like a spectator in a movie theatre, looking forward to the next scene.

This is an historical fiction nove about Margaret, a teenager girl at the beginning of America's involvement with World World II, who is determined to leave her small town and her family's poverty. It follows her life for several years and the obstacles she must face in a time when women didn't have much agency.

Margaret was an easily likeable character who I found myself rooting for. I definitely felt for her throughout the novel, and I thought the author did a good job of showing just how hard it was for women during that time period, especially if you were a single mother. I was engrossed by Margaret's story throughout and learning it was partially based on the author's own mother afterward made it even more inspiring to me. My only complaint was that there were some seemingly important parts of Margaret's life that felt a bit rushed, and I would have liked if they had been fleshed out a little more. Overall though, this was a good book that I would recommend to anyone looking for an inspiring novel about a strong female overcoming obstacles.

So, I finished this book feeling slightly disappointed. I’m glad I persevered with it, as I did almost give up on it due to the stiff characters and their personalities, but I think the story as a whole was worth reading

This coming of age story centers around a young woman, Margaret, during the turbulent times pre, during and post WW2. With dreams of glamor and to have a bigger life outside the small town she was raised in, the novel shows Margaret’s journey of training to be a nurse and then ultimately life as a married woman raising a young family. Based on the real life events of the author’s mothers life, I found aspects of the book fascinating. Facing many hardships, including the terrible treatment by her husbands, Margaret remained focused on supporting the needs of her family and raising her children in an era where women rights were limited.

However, despite the promise of the story, I found the story generally underwhelming. Passages of time were skipped through, moving quickly through events with limited character development, so I found it difficult to build connection or engage fully with the story.

Although not for me, I’d recommend this book to fans of historical fiction who enjoy reading about strong women in history.

in the 1940s. Margaret grows up in poverty with a domineering father. To escape, she .elopes with an older man. But shortly after the US enters WWII, her husband’s ship is torpedoed.. She trains to become a nurse to give herself a future, But her bad luck continues, and discovers she’s pregnant and must quit to have the baby. With no support, she marries again - to a man who takes her far away from home.

Reading about the sheer poverty was heartbreaking. I loved that Margaret was strong and able to overcome so much. Did I always agree with her thoughts and choices? No, but I understood them and I understood her.

I have mixed feelings about this book. I could 100% visualize the background and I felt like I knew Margaret. I thought the story was well told, and truly interesting. But.... I was bored. I was never sucked into that magical reading spot where you can't put a book down. I felt like I was reading a good book, but not experiencing it. If you had taken the book away from me and told me I could not finish it when I was halfway through, I would have been mildly disappointed. I felt as if this book had so much potential, but didn't quite get there..

I do want to thank the author and publisher and #netgalley for providing me with an ARC. This did not impact my review.