Dear Ivy, - Paperback

by Shayna Leanne Cox (Author), Camille Elizabeth Watkins (Author), Todd Blake Finley (Honored or Dedicated to)

Have you ever wanted to get something more out of the love stories that you read? Something that remains in your body as your fingertips turn the final page and you just feel as though something is missing in a book's very essence. You read tales of love and relationships but more often than not, they're unrealistic and idealized versions of the strange emotion that we have all experienced throughout our lifetime. Our collection ties together many genres under the overarching theme of love that not only include happy, idealized relationships, but that also unveil the raw truth of how love can leave us. Sometimes family members pass away and that leaves a hole in your heart, sometimes the one you believed to be the love of your life is just another lesson, and sometimes you find that the friend you've known for ages has been your soulmate all along. Love exists in the real world, and our stories reflect the reality of what can happen to those who stumble into its enchantment.

Written by two North Carolina college students, Dear Ivy, is a unique and diverse collection of short stories that explores love in all shapes, sizes, and forms. Within this book, you'll find stories about everlasting love and "happily ever after", while also finding stories about platonic love, friendship, familial relationships, and more. These tales are organized by the Victorian art of floriography, a practice in which flowers are like words, and every blossom has its own message to convey. Each story is titled after a special bloom with its unique meaning that goes on to provide the theme to the story with its namesake. As you read, you'll constantly find the idea that love exists everywhere and within everyone and can be found in all facets of life as it does not discriminate between culture, ethnicity, gender identity, or sexual orientation. Love, as a concept, is realistic, enduring, poetic, and enchanting to many readers, and the twenty-two stories housed in this book encapsulate the concept that has inspired humanity for millennia. The only question that remains is this; would you like to fall into that world with us?