I spent the weekend before last visiting family in the Columbia River Gorge, where rain showers and cool breezes reminded me of what Spring is supposed to be like. Guess what greeted me when I came home to the Arizona desert? Bright sunshine and blazing heat. The temperatures have been a little milder this week, but even still, our pool has been a popular place for family and friends lately!  *Sigh* While Spring in Arizona is nothing like the Pacific Northwest's version, it does bring the promised blossoms to add much-needed color to our parched, dry landscape. I know very little about flowers, but I am grateful for the cheery pops of pretty they bring. 

Today's Top Ten Tuesday prompt is appropriate for the season here in the U.S.: May Flowers. It's a choose-your-own adventure topic to celebrate Spring. I'm going to stay pretty basic and highlight ten books on my TBR list that have a type of flower in the title. I think I'll even be able to make it without repeating any of them. We'll see. I also just realized that they're all historical fiction. Does that genre lend itself more readily to flower-y titles? Interesting...

As always, this fun weekly meme is hosted by the lovely Jana over at That Artsy Reader Girl. Click on over to her blog to join in the party!

1. The Elusive Truth of Lily Temple by Joanna Davidson Politano—Private investigator Peter Driscoll has been hired to locate a priceless, legendary sapphire which is allegedly in the possession of silent film star Lily Temple. In an effort to get close to her, Peter enlists Lily's help with a case. As the two grow closer, their partnership becomes increasingly dangerous, not just for their physical well-beings but also for the state of their hearts.

2. White Rose by Kip Wilson—This historical YA novel revolves around Sophie Scholl, a real German woman who created a resistance group while she was in college called The White Rose to fight against the Nazis in non-violent ways. When their clandestine activities are discovered, Sophie and her fellow collaborators find themselves at the mercy of the very group they're trying to destroy.  

3. Under the Tulip Tree by Michelle Shocklee—At 16, Lorena Leland dreams of achieving fame and fortune by becoming a writer. The crash of the stock market in 1929 dashes her hopes as well as those of Americans all over the country, causing widespread unemployment, poverty, and depression. Desperate to help her family financially, Lorena takes a job interviewing the formerly enslaved for the Federal Writers' Project. As she grows close to one of her subjects, her eyes are opened and her heart expanded in ways she never could have predicted.

4. The Lost Girls of Willowbrook by Ellen Marie Wiseman—Sage Winters has been grieving the death of her twin sister for six years. When her resentful stepfather reveals the truth—Rosemary, who was always a little different, didn't die but was actually committed to the Willowbrook State School (a real institution that was eventually closed down because of the horrendous abuses that were committed there), from which she has just disappeared. Furious and determined to find out what happened to her sister, Sage gets herself committed to the school in order to find answers.

5. The Magnolia Palace by Fiona Davis—This dual-timeline novel centers around the Frick mansion, a real Gilded Age home in New York City that was turned into an art museum in the 1930s. In 1919, a down-on-her-luck artists' model is thrilled to land a position as the secretary for Helen Frick, the daughter of Henry Clay Frick, a wealthy robber baron. The longer Lillian is in the family's employ, the more she learns about them and their secrets, putting her very life at risk. Fifty years later, an English model arrives at the Frick mansion, now an impressive art museum. When she stumbles upon a series of messages hidden within the museum, she is led on a hunt for not just a concealed treasure, but also possibly the solution to a decades-old murder.

6. Lilac Girls by Martha Hall Kelly—Three women are at the heart of this World War II novel. Caroline Ferriday is a New York socialite who works at the French consulate. Kasia Kuzmerick is a Polish teen whose position as a courier for the resistance puts her in danger every day. Herta Oberheuser is a doctor who takes a job with the German government in order to escape her desolate life, only to find herself trapped in a position she's not sure she wants to be in. The three women's lives intersect when Kasia is sent to a concentration camp. 

Incidentally, this is the first book in a trilogy, all of which have flower titles.

7. The Wings of Poppy Pendleton by Melanie Dobson—On a night of celebration in her family's Thousand Islands castle, 4-year-old Poppy goes peacefully to bed. In the morning, she is nowhere to be found while her father's dead body lies in the smoking room. Eighty-five years later, Chloe Ridell lives on the island, where she is working to preserve the environment and breathe fresh life into her family's candy shop. When a young Pendleton relative shows up on her doorstep, Chloe is thrust into a search for answers about what happened to young Poppy so long ago.

8. Peony in Love by Lisa See—I can't find much in the way of a plot summary for this novel, but apparently, it's a ghost story set in 17th Century China.

9. The Lavender Garden by Lucinda Riley—As the last person in her family line, Emilie inherits a magnificent chateau and vineyard in the south of France. Along with the property comes a tower of debt and a mountain of secrets. Desperate to know what became of Constance Carruthers, a British woman who worked as an undercover agent in Paris during World War II, Emilie starts digging for answers in her new home.

10. the next book in the Myrtle Hardcastle mystery series by Elizabeth C. Bunce—I have to cheat a little in order to get ten different flowers on my list, so just go along with me here...Each of the installments in this entertaining middle-grade historical mystery series has a title that includes a play on the name Myrtle: Myrtle, Means, and Opportunity; Cold-Blooded Myrtle; In Myrtle Peril; etc. I'm not sure when the next one comes out, but I know it will have a "Myrtle" title when it does.

There you are, ten books on my TBR list with the names of flowers in their titles. Have you read any of them? What did you think? Can you think of any others I need to read? What spin did you take for your list today? I'd truly love to know. Leave me a comment on this post and I will gladly return the favor on your blog.

Happy TTT!