"It was brand new. Just like I wanted my life to be."

I am not a plant person. I often tell the story about how I thought about majoring in Biology so that I could become a nurse but knew I would never pass botany because my college only offered it at 8 am. The combination of an early morning class and plants?? That was enough to make me re-think my career plans.

But this book, Hothouse Flower and the Nine Plants of Desire by Margot Berwin, is about so much more than the plants!

Meet Lila Grace Nova. She is a recently divorced ad exec who is ready to start her life over. She meets a man, who sells her a plant. A tropical plant, a bird-of-paradise. And she will never be the same. Lila's misplaced trust leads her down a path with which she is very unfamiliar. Follow Lila as she leaves New York because of her guilt and strange feeling pulling her to the Yucatan Peninsula in Mexico. Her journey is an educational excursion about the plants that comprise the elusive, mythical 9 plants of desire. At the same time Lila's on a spiritual path to rediscover who she really is.

I didn't want to put this book down! I woke up in the morning (all 2 days it took me to read) and felt that I had to read a chapter before getting up to start my day. I needed to know what was going to happen with Lila, Armand, Sonali and Diego.

Everywhere this book is being described as Eat, Pray, Love meets The Orchid Thief. This book is due to be published on June 16, 2009. The film rights have also been purchased by Julia Roberts and she plans to star as Lila. This book is definitely not one to miss!!