Thank you to St. Martin's Press, Jen Devon, and NetGalley for the Advanced Reader's Copy in return for an honesty review.

Rowan is trying to figure out her next steps in botany when she goes to house warming party, plays a massive game of hide and seek, and meets Harry, a physician, and coincidentally his parents just purchased the house that they are celebrating. Harry's parents are planning to turn this new property into a working vineyard and bed and breakfast; however they need someone to help with the plants. Rowan just happens to know about plants. Throughout the story you follow the multiple POV between Rowan and Harry. You follow the characters and how they learn to love, learn to have patience, overcome past trauma, learn to grow together, and so much more.

I enjoyed this book, it took me a little bit to get into the book, but once I did I wanted to see how it ended. The ending fell a little flat for me, I was expecting more and felt like it was just done. I enjoyed reading about Rowan and Harry and following their love story, however, Rowan's stubbornness was too much for me sometimes.

I hope Jen Devon continues to write stories for Harry's family, I would love to read more about them!

Thank you to St. Martin's and NetGalley for the review copy. All opinions are my own!

BEND TOWARD THE SUN is an emotionally heart-wrenching, atmospheric romance. Rowan's and Harry's relationship grows in fits and bursts through the seasons on the land that Harry's family is cultivating under Rowan's guidance as a PhD Botanist, With thorough page=time and attention to detail, Devon paints a picture of a lush, idyllic, vivid near-utopia, and I was throughly swept away. While my heart ached as Harry and Rowan struggled profoundly to communicate in a way the other could understand, to unpack their mutual traumas and painful backstories, and have patience and trust for one another, I felt Devon rewards her reader with a thoughtful, generous happy ending that thoroughly unpacked those struggles and gave Harry and Rowan a well-deserved, swoony happily ever after..

3.5 stars rounded up*

This really was very charming.
While I tend to read a bit of romance, I recognize that most of it is pretty cheesy or otherwise not fantastic. I like the genre for the fun of it, not for any literary genius. Anyway, this book was a lot more. It was serious and contemplative and swoony and so forth with the adjectives. You got the feeling that this was not the author's first time writing something like this, or that at the very least they must have lived through some of it to be able to capture the emotions of the moment. Just really darling.

Thank you to NetGalley for the advanced reader's copy.

Why I Decided to Read This:
This was definitely a bookstagram made me read it book. I saw the cover, and immediately knew I wanted to read it.

Plot:
Rowan just got her PhD and is working on her manuscript when she gets offered a job to help set up the Brady's new vineyard. Harry has recently retreated to his family's new vineyard because he needs to emotionally take a break from his job as an OBGYN. There is instant attraction between the two, but where Harry wants to be in a relationship with Rowan, she is just emotionally unavailable to be in one. I enjoyed the plot of this book, and thought it was interested that both of the main characters were doctors in their own way.

Brief Thoughts:
I was really enjoying this book; however, about halfway through, I picked up a different book and just was in a huge reading slump after reading that one. So, I did find it difficult to get through the last half of the book. That said, I still really enjoyed reading it and there was honestly no fault to the book, it's just I have been having a bad month of reading.

Characters:
Rowan has a botany PhD and has a lot of emotionally issues from her childhood and abusive relationships. Harry lost a patient in L.A. and is now running from that to his parent's house. I did like both the characters, and I liked that Harry was the one who was pushing the relationship but still gave Rowan the time she needed.

Writing Style:
This was written in third person and switched between Harry and Rowan. I thought this was very well written, especially for a debut novel.

Likes:
- The Relationship Timeline: I liked that this book took place over many many months. It wasn't a fast paced relationship by any means, and I enjoyed that a lot.
- Laugh Out Loud Moments: This book definitely had some laugh out loud moments, like the donkey and pancakes noises.
- Unexpected: There were actually several parts in the book that were so unexpected, and I really appreciated that.

Dislikes:
- The Relationship: I know I said above that I liked that the relationship took place over several months, but I honestly wish that I would have seen more of it. I felt like the book mainly focused on the meet-cute, the big conflict, and then the resolution. I really wish I would have gotten a little more insight into their every day life together.

Recommendation:
I do recommend this book! I think this was a great read and really enjoyed it even though I was in a reading slump in the last half of the book.

What’s in This Book & Trigger Warnings:
- STEAM
- Open Door Romance
- Drugs
- Death
- Doctor
- Cheating
- Car Accident
- Banter

Such an amazing debut novel from Jen Devon! This book had me hooked from the first page until the last. Packed with love, loss, growth, amazing family dynamics and a bit of 🌶! I loved every bit of this book and hope we see more books in this world!

Thank you to NetGalley and St. Martin's Griffin for the ARC in exchange for my honest review.

Bend Toward The Sun is such a beautifully written romance novel and I was instantly swept away by Rowan and Harry's story! This is a very character-driven book; Rowan and Harry are very interesting characters, both of whom are dealing with issues from their respective pasts and their story is very much a journey of healing. Their relationship felt so real and natural to me, and I loved seeing how they navigated all the different obstacles that were in their paths.

This book also has a very strong found family theme and all of the side characters are extremely well-developed. I truly hope that this is a series, because I need to know more about what happened between Rowan and Harry's mutual friend Temperance and Harry's brother Duncan!

I highly recommend picking this one up if you're looking for a swoony, heartfelt romance - you won't be disappointed! (I'm actually kinda amazed this is a debut novel; the writing is beautiful and it's almost poetic in places!)

everyone, this. this is romance. I can't even begin to express how badly I have been yearning this straight-up, complete romance. it’s giving me the uneasiness when the hero understands he is doomed to be in love with the heroine, it can even be a dreadful moment of helplessness when it comes to love. i felt the joy, the heartbreak, and the confusion of those last few seconds before giving your heart to someone else. srsly, we don't need referrences to pop culture or inside jokes for a romance book to be good.

Rowan is a botanist, an introvert who thinks socializing is exhausting and believes that love is dead. #mood she came from a broken family and her only family was grandma Eddid. she learns everything abt plants from her late grandma’s journals🥹 she welcomes the chance to bring the grapes back to their former splendour when an academic setback forces her to take on the restoration of an abandoned vineyard of the Brady’s, where she meets Harry or Harrison, a mysterious Brady brothers who encounters her during the Team Tag game. he has a loving and perfect family but the thing abt harry is that he is not in a good state of mind, after losing a patient in his first residency year. they did not anticipate meeting each other on an abandoned vineyard of the Brady’s. here, we get to see how these imperfect characters develop their relationship. I really like that both characters are open and communicative but not in a perfect, soft way that is becoming so popular currently. Sometimes it was selfish, righteous, and flawed. Sometimes it was uncomfortable or entirely breathtaking. The fact is, the dynamic feels very realistic to me.

plus, I like the book's slow pacing. It's slow because that's how it should be. I love spending time reading Rowan's perspective on matters relating to nature, plants, and her connection with Harry. there’s absolutely no reason to hurry their story. and this book gives the impression of lounging on your balcony during a downpour. or walking around the meadows on a nice sunny dayloved this loved this!! i didn’t even realize that this is a debut!! good angst. thank you netgalley and st. martin’s press for giving me the arc inexchange for an honest review!!

This was a DNF for me. I just could not engage with any of the characters. I made it to 25% and had to put it down.

5 STARS!!! I WAS NOT prepared for the incredibleness of "Bend Toward the Sun." It is one of the most beautifully written books I have ever read. I was hooked from the very first chapter. Mark my words: Jen Devon WILL be a household name SOON. I guarantee it.

This book has everything. It's angsty. It's profound. It's gorgeously written with well-developed characters (even the secondary ones). It will make you giggle and guffaw. It will make you cry, and it will break your heart. It will make you yearn for a love so deep that you can taste it. It will make you blush. It will make you scream. It will make you feel things you didn't think your frozen heart could feel any longer (just me? oh, ok).

The chemistry between the main characters, Rowan and Harry, is sooooooooo palpable and so tense and so crazy good that I felt like I constantly needed to read this book next to a fan to cool me off. Their first interaction hooks you instantly and slowly builds through a roller coaster ride of emotions. Holy cow. Jen Devon writes so vividly that her story came alive in my mind. The sights of lush earth and cold winter evenings, the sounds of bustling nature and playful bickering, the taste of aching and longing and sweat, the feel of damp dirt under my fingernails, the metallic smell of blood, and the scent of grapes and farm animals and freshly baked cookies...I *FELT* this book in every way imaginable.

As soon as I finished reading "Bend Toward the Sun," I *immediately* wanted to turn to page one and start it all over again. What a stunning debut for author Jen Devon. St. Martin's Publishing Group would be crazy not to give her a 100-book deal. It deserves every single word of praise it has gotten!

Thank you to NetGalley, the author, and St. Martin's Publishing Group for providing me with an ARC copy of this book! All opinions are my own, and I was not compensated in any way for my review.

This was an amazing debut - Jen Devon packs so much emotion into this book. The writing is beautiful, and it's angsty without having over the top external factors driving the angst. Rowan and Harry are two grown adults who are immediately drawn to one another, but each have issues they need to work through in order to get our of their own ways to make their relationship work, and I loved it. Also, three couples were set up for future books and I am dying for all of them! This book is also for anyone who loves big families in their romances - Harry is one of six kids, who along with their parents were excellent side characters. Definitely recommend this book and will be looking forward to books from Jen in the future!

Rowan is good at not letting people in. She's got everything she needs. A PhD in botany, two best friends and casual nights when she needs it. But she's covering up a traumatic past including a mother who didn't want her and a fiance who broke her. When her post education plans doesn't go the way she wants, she finds herself on an old vineyard and spends the year fixing it up.

The vineyard comes with a bustling family who includes Harrison Brady. Harry is a doctor & lost his first patient. Unable to cope, he comes back home to his family to take some time off to try and heal. One thing about Harry is, he loves hard and fierce.

When the two come across each other, the attraction between them is undeniable. Spending days working together, their feelings become hard to ignore but Rowan works to keep it casual between them. How much longer can she keep denying it?



This book is getting a rep for making you cry, breaking your heart, and then putting it back together. Jen does an exquisite job of describing the characters' surroundings. The book is set on a vineyard, and the way she details the plants, the flowers, the smells, the people. It's incredible. At first, it was a little overwhelming but soon I was hooked and was relishing the vivid detail of being in the woods or inside the greenhouse.

It's a slow burn y'all. I repeat, SLOW BURN. Rowan and Harry are both dealing with trauma and don't realize the other is helping them heal thru it. The pull between these two is inexplicable. They each do small gestures for each other declaring the love they have for each other without even realizing it. It's a whirlwind of emotion; playfulness, sadness, passion & desire. A passion for the plants around them & for each other! I loved Harry's family and the way they took care of each other, Rowan included while she struggles to accept what's it's like to have a loving family, because she's never experienced it before. It's set as a dual POV so you get to hear from both Harry and Rowan. Every page was mesmerizing.

⭐️⭐️⭐️⭐️ 4/5

I was hooked right from the beginning of Jen Devon’s Bend Towards the Sun. I mean, a cold open with a game of Team Tag aka Hide-and-Seek for adults, got my heart racing, especially when it’s paired with immediate sexual tension. Sign me up!

This story was so much more than your typical romance. It was about learning to love, learning to have patience, overcoming trauma, and so much more. This novel was an immensely slow burn romance that had my pulse racing and gave me emotional whiplash. It had a found family that I immediately wanted to be a part of and the most beautiful setting I have had the pleasure of imagining in a long while. And to top it all off, it had - PLANTS. When I say I want a greenhouse one day, I’m not lying. Even more so now after that glorious finale!

If you pick this one up, let me know! I’m dying to talk about it!

Bend Towards the Sun will be published on August 8, 2022.

Thank you to Jen Devon, St. Martin’s Press, and NetGalley for an eARC of this book in exchange for an honest review.

This is such a wonderful, somewhat old-school romance but with less misogyny and sexual harassment mistaken for lust. It offers top-level angst, great character development which I greatly enjoyed.

I absolutely loved the coziness and comfort of the a tight-knit family that have each others back that is at the centre of this story. Rowan is basically an orphan heroine who gets adopted in the hero's family without even realizing it.

This is exactly the kind of contemporary romance I love - strong internal conflict, no artificial drama, great character development. We really see the MCs on a journey towards each other.

At the start of the book both Rowan and Harrison are at a rough spot, each of them dealing with their own trauma and hurt. While I liked both of them, I have to say we get slightly more insight into her background and why she is acts the way she does now and this made feel closer to her than to him. With him, it's different - there is a major traumatic event that happened recently and he is recovering from it but we do not get much about his childhood/other events besides that single one. It's only toward the very end that me get more insight into him and why his relations with the rest of the family are the way they are now.

The angst is exquisite and I loved every minute of it. A major plus for me in this romance is the fact that things happened slowly, over the course of a full year. Yes, the attraction between Rowan and Harrison is almost instant from the moment they meet and they do get together well before the year is through but their relationship grew over time. And they both needed that time together and away from each other. Harrison is at a really bad place both physically and emotionally when he met the heroine and we see him gradually heal, we see him getting control over of his depression and panic attacks. It's slow and painful but he get unreserved love and support from his family (and Rowan).

Rowan melted my heart and I wanted to give her the squishiest hug, Her sense of loneliness and being on her own is so acute, it jumped from the pages straight to my heart. Her fear of making a potentially wrong decision with no safety net to back upon was almost palpable to me. And it really stood out in comparison with the care and support Harrison got from his family and he mostly took for granted.

There is a third-act break up but it very much made sense in the overall plot. Rowan had to do the biggest grovel to win Harrison back and his family was right there for her and I loved that.

Now, after all that praise, I admit there were some plot twists towards the end that didn't work for me and I felt they were unnecessary and over-the-top. The emotional intensity and conflict between the MCs were strong enough without these added complications.

Still, the story is highly readable, flowing easily, great setting (a big close-knit family trying to revive a neglected vineyard they bought), awesome family and close friendships, love expressed with small gestures.

I'm very much looking forward to more books in the series. I am excited to see a bunch of secondary characters get their HEAs

CW: grief, parent neglect, ex-partner emotional abuse, loss of a patient, anxiety attacks (graphic, on page), depression

This book!! I didn't really know what to expect. I only knew one or two people who had read it. I had heard it was emotional and that just made me nervous. But it was so very good.

This story of Harry and Rowan is a slow burn, longing filled emotional ride. Both dealing with their own personal trauma but also looking for something more and new, they meet at his family's new vineyard. She is hired to rehab the plants and he is recovering from a tragic loss. Their discovery of each other and finding their way to love through hard stuff is page turning and holds your heart while you are reading.

The set is lovely. The family and friends are just amazing. I can't wait to get more of them in future books (I hear there will be more!). The only part I didn't like was that I put off reading it for so long.

If you liked Every Summer After, Katherine Center, Float Plan or Kate Clayborn, this is likely a must read for you.

4.5/5

CW: death of a patient, death of a grandparent (mentioned), negligent parent, blood, panic attacks, gaslighting, divorce/separation, cheating

I would like to thank NetGalley and St. Martin’s Press for providing me with a free e-ARC of this book in exchange for a fair and honest review.

Stuck at a crossroads after her dissertation plans are put on hold, Rowan McKinnon finds herself agreeing to serve as a plant consultant to restore a vineyard for the Brady family’s new winery. She comes across Harrison “Harry” Brady, an obstetrician dealing with his own struggles after losing a patient. Both addressing the pains of their pasts, Rowan wonders if she’s ready to commit to somebody.

While not quite a rom-com, Bend Toward the Sun is a mature, rich romance novel that will leave you wanting more. You can instantly feel the connection between Rowan and Harry within the first couple of chapters and Devon does a really good job of capturing their swoon worthy love story.

This book definitely has a similar aesthetic to Where the Crawdads Sing, so you’re really going to have a good time if you enjoyed that book. Rowan’s love for nature is beautifully illustrated in Bend Toward the Sun, so much so that it makes the Brady’s vineyard to be a whimsical place where anything can happen.

Even though Bend Toward the Sun is a bit slow in the beginning, this book is definitely worth pushing through to read. Perfect for readers who want a dramatic romance similar to Where the Crawdads Sing, Bend Toward the Sun is definitely a book to look out for.

Insta-love is not a trope that usually works for me, but after a slow start, I really got into this one! It definitely had super spicy scenes that I loved!

Thanks to NetGalley and publisher for an advanced copy in exchange for honest opinions.

Thank you to Netgalley, the publisher and the author, for an ARC of this book, in exchange for an honest review.
The premise of the book drew me in but once I started reading it, I just couldn’t get into it at all.
I wish the author, publisher and all those promoting the book much success and connections with the right readers.

I had heard nothing but wonderful, glowing praise for this book, but it still managed to take me by surprise. This was a beautiful, touching love story wrapped in a love letter to nature and the outdoors. Though I might not have always agreed with them, I was with Rowan and Harry every step of the way and so desperately wanted them to get their HEA! The prose is lush and stunning. This story yanked me in and did not let me go. I cannot recommend this beautiful book more!

This book is so amazing. It took me on an emotional rollercoaster, and I love it (I hate real rollercoasters). Rowan & Harrison's love story was soo soo good, This is a must-read romance book. You will want to cry and smile (the beauty of romance novels). I cannot wait to see what Jen Devon will write next. I love this book.

Bend Toward the Sun - I absolutely adored this intricate, beautiful story that takes the reader through a journey of heart-wrenching emotions and displays the redemptive power of love. I was immediately hooked at Rowan and Harry’s first meeting - two masterfully developed characters who share a connection that truly sizzles. The witty humor and their shared banter makes this book unputdownable. Bonus for the smart underlying botany academic context, making this my new favorite stem-romance!