A Beauty So Rare by Tamera Alexander

I love reading Tamera Alexander. She does an amazing job of creating such a beautiful scenes that you want to go and visit the places she is writing about. A Beauty So Rare is about a young woman named Eleanor Braddock who has never married and has decided that she never will. Her father is ill so she has to make permanent living arrangements for him and temporarily live with her rich aunt, Adelicia Acklen. Eleanor has plans for what she would like to do for her future but her aunt's plans are much different and her aunt is not a force to be reckoned with. Eleanor hires a poor widow to help her with a project and decides to use her love of cooking to feed the poor widow and her child. What starts out as a simple meal being shared becomes much more and Eleanor begins to see her future changing rapidly. The other main character in the book is Marcus Gottfried. He is from Austria and has come to America to hide from his past and his future, but must return shortly. He has great aspirations to build something amazing while in Nashville and to use his love and knowledge of plants to create the perfect colored flower for Mrs. Acklen. Eleanor and Marcus meet while he is working on the flower for Mrs. Acklen and their relationship grows into something more, but their families plans for them doesn't allow the relationship to go further than just friendship. As time inches closer to Marcus's return to Austria, Eleanor realizes her feels for him are strong but has resigned to that fact that her future does not include a happy married life. She knows he has to leave soon and that he has a surprise for her, but what could it be? Will it be something to help her remember him when he is gone? Thank you to the publisher for the free copy of this book. It was a wonderful read.