Hedging Your Bets is enemies to lovers and closed door romance done right. I was so excited to get the arc for this book and to head back to Willow Cove to catch up with the characters from The Rom-Com Agenda and get Gillian's story. This was a really cute fun read and added some more characters from the small town who all enjoyable and of course updates on people from the previous book. I'm giving this one 3.5 stars rounded up to 4! I want to thank NetGalley and St. Martin's Press for the arc in exchange for an honest review.

Thank you NetGalley & St. Martin Press for allowing me to review this book.

⭐️⭐️ (2)
🌶️ (1)

Perfect if you like:
👩🏼‍🌾 Small Town
👩🏼‍🌾 Gardening
👩🏼‍🌾 Enemies to Lovers
👩🏼‍🌾 Opposites Attract
👩🏼‍🌾 Neighborly Feud
👩🏼‍🌾 Third Person Dual POV
👩🏼‍🌾 SLOWWW Burn

My thoughts:
I had a hard time getting through this book. I had to put it down and come back a few times. All the tropes are right up my alley. Perhaps it’s the fighting between Noah & Gillian for almost 3/4 of the book. There was not much chemistry between the two.

The side characters were so cute! I loved the old ladies and their gossip circle. Total golden girl vibes! I want more of them throughout the book. Or maybe another book from Willow Cove of the ladies setting up other couples!

Let’s talk about side character Louise and her corruption at her job. Homegirl is willing to lose her career over a garden?! 🙄

I really liked the cover art and title. Definitely draws in people’s attention 🫶🏼

Gillian and Noah are unexpected neighbors and enemies after Noah moves in and interrupts Gillian’s garden planning. Though, in their small town, and especially their own side by side houses, it’s hard to stay away.

Noah needed a new start after a bad breakup, which made this an interesting gender-swapped “finding yourself in a small town” romance. Because Noah and Gillian started out as enemies, Noah toed some lines of animosity that I was really concerned about (name calling, complaining about a woman). It never got too bad but it never quite left my mind. Other than that, Gillian and Noah had good banter, and Gillian was amazing. She was such a badass and Denker incorporated modern dating apps in a realistic way.

I quite enjoyed this book. I am a huge fan of the enemies to lovers trope and this one did not disappoint. I loved the Hallmark vibes with a touch of sass. I love that Gillian was written as an independent, strong, sassy, curvy woman and I love Noah's snarky attitude but sweet demeanor. The wit and banter was amazing and there were several moments I found myself laughing out loud.

Hedging your bets by Jayne denker. When Gillian and Ben become neighbors. They both see only flaws. But as time goes by they find the perfect person for them

Hedging Your Bets was a sweet romcom, small town, opposites attract, happily ever after book.

I found the first half didn’t draw me in a lot and I sometimes had to remind myself that I had this book on the go. The second half I found much more enjoyable but struggled with the whole garden competition, maybe I just couldn’t relate to it, not being a gardener or competitive.

The characters were likeable, especially the meddling neighbours. [small town old ladies who meddle are the best]

If you’re a fan of gardening or small town competitive gardening you’ll probably really enjoy this romcom. It was a unique take on bringing two people together.

Thank you to NetGalley St Martin’s Press for the complementary ARC for my honest review.

This book was an amazing sequel into the town of Willowcove and that amazing group of friends! I could NOT stop laughing at all the hijinks. I love this series and can't wait to see who gets their HEA next but this one makes me want to leave my life in the city behind and move to a small town. It's beautifully written and watching the characters bloom is irresistible to put down! I highly recommend giving this series a shot!

Thank you to St. Martin's Press and Netgalley for the opportunity to review an advanced copy.

This was a cute, easy read. I was quite enjoying the first third of the book, although both main characters were acting like hotheads a little too much - I questioned whether any actual humans would act the way they were acting. When some conflict was introduced via a stereotypically villainous character, and the pair was put into a completely manufactured and ridiculous conflict situation, it completely lost me. Just way too silly a plot and not at all believable.

I think this will appeal to readers who enjoy cozy mysteries, small town stories, and low stakes plot lines. For me, I prefer deep interpersonal connection and conflict, and this did not deliver on that - all very surface level.

Cute romance with a fun gardening theme!

I enjoyed this novel a lot more than expected because of the witty banter and character development. I read the whole thing in two sittings because it was highly addictive and fun. Gillian and Noah were super cute together and I enjoyed how Noah took time to listen to Gillian and her struggles, unlike so many of her previous dates.

My gripes would be the pacing and supporting characters. The first half of the book felt a little empty, most of the main events happened later (as they should lol) but the set-up felt a little too slow. Additionally, there were wayyy too many side characters. It was hard to remember the elderly neighbor trio and Gillian’s friends for who they were because they all felt very similar.

Also I didn’t know this book was a part of a series until I finished and looked it up lol. Can definitely be read as a stand alone.

This one wasn’t one of my favorites but I’m sure others will enjoy! It was a slow start and it I had trouble staying engaged. I wish the characters held my attention more.

Thank you to NetGalley and St. Martin’s Press, St. Martin's Griffin for this complimentary ARC in exchange for my honest opinion.

This was a cute story about Noah and Gillian who are neighbors competing in a garden competition. It was a little slow getting together, and I didn't always feel the chemistry between them. But it was a fun story.

I wasn’t a fan of this story. It had the potential to be really good however this fell flat to me. So far every story with a curvy female lead has the character be written in a way that makes her come off as a redemption story from being screwed over. I want her to just be a character that’s curvy and that’s it. This story ties her weight to her divorce which is a real life thing that happens but I would have loved if she could have just been who she was and that’s that. I also didn’t really fall in like with Noah and the relationship just felt boring to me. Again this just wasn’t my cup of tea unfortunately.

hedging your bets is a small town, slow burn, romance novel. I thought this book was cute, but I thought it was a tad slow. there's slow burn then there's sloooooow burn. if it's not done the right way, I can get bored with slow burn romance books.

the enemies to lovers just didn't do it for me. it was just noah and gillian being jerks to each other. i just felt like they didn't have any chemistry.

i think that this is a good book to start out with if you're just getting back into reading romance novels! i adore the cover and the title

Adorable romance is my genre right now. I love a good "enemies to lovers" trope. However more time could have spent on Noah and Gillian's relationship and less on their friends (maybe save that for a series?). Overall, I recommend this to those looking for a quick enjoyable romance read.

I really enjoyed Hedging Your Bets, I loved the enemies to lovers. I enjoyed the curvier FMC, and the found family aspect.

I definitely enjoyed the fact that there was no third act break up.

As a romance reader, one of the things I struggle with the most in the genre is when the love interests finally get together, and then everything is (briefly) destroyed when a conflict comes up that could have been easily resolved had these characters just *communicated with each other*. So imagine my extreme delight when the plot of Hedging Your Bets gets around to having one lover reveal to the other a secret that could destroy everything... and instead of flouncing away lover #2 receives the information pragmatically and helps lover #1 come up with a solution. Finally!! A romance with functional adults at the center!!

This is the second book in Jayne Denker's Willow Cove series, and I'm really hoping for at least one more -- she's created a group of characters that are so easy to fall in love with and root for, and a chance to spend more time in this lovely little town with this lovely little group of people would be so nice.

Thanks to NetGalley and the publisher for the chance to read this one early!

Hedging Your Bets was a sweet, small town, closed-door romance. Gillian, a long-time resident of Willow Cove is serious about her garden—and serious about winning the gardening competition. When grumpy Noah West moves into the house next door, and starts pulling out a hedge that borders their properties, sparks begin to fly.

I enjoyed this enemies-to-lovers and forced proximity rom-com, with a fun supporting cast of characters (especially the neighborhood busy bodies).

Thank you to Netgalley for the advanced readers copy. I recommend this book for readers who enjoy a clean rom-com with plenty of slow burning sizzle

This was a sweet, very cozy, closed-door romance. Gillian is a pharmacist who loves competitive gardening. Noah is her hot but cantankerous new neighbor.

There was no deep dive into characters, but it was entertaining. I especially appreciated that Noah actually confessed to Gillian about his deal with the evil Ms. March. Too often when reading romance, I find myself yelling (in my head), “just tell her/him, already!

If you’re looking for a cozy distraction, this one is for you.

Thank you to NetGalley and St. Martin’s Press, St. Martin's Griffin for this complimentary ARC. Opinions expressed in this review are completely my own.

I had read the first title in this series and jumped on the chance to read more by this author. I really enjoyed the enemies to lovers, forced-proximity (neighbours) story of these two gardeners!

His spur of the moment decision to move across the country complete with house purchase and new job didn't take into account his beautiful, curvy, pharmacist neighbour. With her sights set on winning the gardening contest this summer he was an immediate thorn in her side as he ripped out hedges separating their properties.

The sequel is done almost perfectly in the sense that you get little doses of the other characters we met in book #1, but there's also a lot of focus on the star duo which I appreciate.

This was a nice romance. I didn’t connect as much as wanted to with the characters. I felt Noah was a little too broody and quick to anger.. I loved the small town setting!