#2. Also, the curve between the b’s stem and the flourish is a bit abrupt.

The direction the flourish comes off the b is contrary to how a scribe would pull a flourish from a lowercase b. That's why it seems off. You could have it come into the downstroke of the b from the natural direction of writing (R to L; Top to Bottom) and still loop around to center the flourish. That being said the first sample is better; in that the top and bottom flourishes work together better.

Thanks Stephen. Good observation on the directional aspect... I'll look at some ways to work the flourish in from right to left. Cheers!

Have you tried connecting the bottom terminal of the S around to the bottom flourish? It could help tie things together even more. And maybe consider ball terminals on the flourishes too? Or some other strategy to bring a bit more unity to the style.