War took her husband. Her second marriage broke her heart. Her third brought the mob to her door. Nothing could break her spirit.

America, the 1940s. Desperate to escape poverty and her domineering father, Margaret Rose elopes with an older man. Then America enters World War II. Her husband’s ship is torpedoed, and Margaret is left a widow with a baby on the way. But her painful journey has only begun.

After a second marriage ends almost as soon as it begins, Margaret is left divorced with two children in an era that shows divorced women little mercy. Determined to build a future she can count on, she makes a heartbreaking choice: she leaves her children with her parents and heads to New York to train as a nurse.

In New York, she marries a third time, believing she’s finally found the life she dreamed of, only to discover a dangerous secret: her husband’s ties to the mob. She flees back home to Florida, but it's no safe harbor either.

Waiting tables with little but grit to hold on to, she refuses to let life break her, until a group of women enter her life and open a door she never dared imagine: a new life.

•     Historical fiction spanning WWII and the years after

•     Strong heroines and single mothers who refuse to give up

•     Family drama, dangerous secrets, and second chances

•     Stories inspired by real women’s lives

•     Heartbreak with a hopeful ending (keep the tissues close)

Inspired by the author’s mother’s true story, The Scent of Gardenias is a sweeping, heartfelt novel of a mother’s love, a woman’s reinvention, and the courage to start over as many times as it takes.

Start reading The Scent of Gardenias today, and share it with the woman who taught you to be brave.