I couldn't stop reading this one! I had to force myself to go to bed, it could easily have been a one day read for me. The main characters were interesting, but not complete oddballs. The side characters, like Judy, Carol, and Arnette cracked me up. For me, it had the right amount of 3rd act conflict. I did not read any other Willow Cove books, so I went in blind and really enjoyed it. I will be looking for other books by this author.

After a bad breakup, Noah West sells his art gallery, buys a marine sight unseen that he worked in as a teenager, and moves across the country. He ends up next door to Gillian Pritchard - a curvy, strong-willed, pharmacist divorcee - and unintentionally ruins a part of the garden she'd been working on for the local gardening competition. The sparks fly and we all know that it's tough avoiding anyone in a small town like Willow Cove.

This was my first work by Jayne Denker and I thought it was a cozy romance (like a cozy mystery) - sex occurs off stage/behind closed doors in a small town where everyone somehow gets involved. I love the enemies to lovers trope and really enjoyed the plot of this book. However, I know nothing of gardening and kept trying to calculate the ages of the characters (I don't think their ages are given in the book - but I think they are mid 30s). Honestly, this book is just so cozy and a perfect read for someone wanting low spice.

Thank you to Netgalley & St. Martin's Press for the ARC of this book in exchange for my honest review!

This is a cute opposites attract romcom and second to the author's The RomCom Agenda. The banter between the two main characters is fun, but by the halfway mark, I was ready for some progress. You get to see some of the characters appear from the first novel, but this can be read as a stand-alone without any trouble. All in all , if you enjoy romcoms, you'll enjoy this one. 3.5 stars

Thank you, NetGalley and St. Martin's Press, for the ARC, and the opportunity to provide an honest review.

Hedging Your Bets is a fun, enemies to lovers book with relatable characters. When new neighbors get off on the wrong foot, a garden competition adds extra tension. I thoroughly enjoyed the nosey, elderly neighbors and envy the gardening skills of Gillian. I could have done without the 'Inner Bette' component, but all in all it was a heartwarming read.

I had the absolute pleasure of reading hedging your bets. it is the classic goodness of an enemies to lovers romance. It is not super steamy but it's definitely worth a read.

Love this group of characters! A love hate relationship that may just tip all the way over into love! Neighbours competing in a gardening contest! Enjoy the tension

Spice: N/A
Overall: ⭐️⭐️⭐️⭐️


Hedging Your Bets is a slow burn (closed-door romance), an enemies-to-lovers novel set in a small town. It was super cute secondary characters. The witty banter between Gillian and Noah was fun to read. I look forward to reading next Jayne Denker's book. :)

Thank you, St. Martin's Press, St. Martin's Griffin, and NetGalley for the advanced readers copy.

A lovely, small-town, closed door romance with a simple enemies-to-lovers plot!

This was my first work by Jayne Denker (who apparently specializes in low-spice romcoms) and I found it to be a cute and entertaining read. Our protagonists start off on the wrong foot when new house owner, Noah West moves next door to the strong-willed and opinionated Gillian Pritchard and (unintentionally) ruins a part of the garden she'd been working on for the local gardening competition. But as time passes and fiery banter is exchanged between the two characters, sparks fly as well. And well, it's tough avoiding anyone in a small, quaint town like Willow Cove.

There were a lot of colorful side characters introduced throughout the book. From Gillian's big group of friends, to the small coup of old, nosy ladies heavily interested in the characters' love lives, to Gillian's many, many online dates. I believe some of those characters were introduced in Jayne's earlier work "The Rom-Com Agenda" so I'd recommend reading that first to not get overwhelmed with the sudden influx of people (like I was).

While being delightful, I didn't find 'Hedging Your Bets' to be exceptional or unique in most ways. The hatred the two characters seemed to have had for each other felt a bit far-fetched and a lot of the story-line was spent on the two being in denial over their feelings for each other. Still, it was an enjoyable read for anyone looking for a sweet rom-com!

Thank you to Netgalley & St. Martin's Press for the ARC of this book in exchange for my honest review!

Thanks to St. Martin's Press, St. Martin's Griffin, and NetGalley for the advanced readers copy.

Gillian is a pharmacist but in her spare time she gardens. She's been trying to win the town gardening competition for years but has been cheated out of the prize by the town grump. When Noah moves in next door and rips out some hedges, she makes a new enemy.

This is a slow burn, enemies to loves book with some fun small town charm. I enjoyed the neighborhood gossip grannies especially because they actually meddled to save the day. The romance was too slow for me. I also found some aspects to be too far fetched or unbelievable. Still a fun and quick read!

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Overall 4/5 star for me this rom com style book! While it was a slow start for me, once I got hooked I was hooked. I enjoyed the silly plot and the characters nonchalant ways. I will say the book does discuss some more serious topics like the social view of being female. I enjoyed our main characters journey through enemies to lovers and was satisfied with the HEA. I loved the gossiping old ladies and the hint of whimsical with our ghosty. Overall had a good time reading!

4/5 stars
0 chili peppers (closed door romance)

3.5 stars.

Heding Your Bets was a slow-burn, enemies-to-lovers romance, emphasis on the slow. Coming off a bad breakup, Noah sells his business and moves across the country to start over. He buys the property next door to Gillian. They butt heads over the hedge dividing their properties. I liked Gillian. She is extremely comfortable in her own skin and manages to bounce back quickly from a string of bad online/app dates. Noah, too, was easy to like once you ignore his growly entrance into the story. I wish they’d gotten together a bit sooner as I adored the book once they finally did. Denker does an amazing job showing the couple fall for one another. I found it particularly refreshing that Noah comes clean about why he entered the gardening competition and how maturely Gillian handled it all.

***Thank you to NetGalley, St. Martin's Griffin and Jayne Denker. I voluntarily read and reviewed this book. All opinions are my own.***

Don't they say that usually when people really like each other they usually antagonize each other a lot first? I enjoyed seeing Noah and Gillian come together and work on their gardens. I loved the blue haired neighbor ladies and all their "help!" This was just a fun read!

This was my first official ARC! I did not read The Rom-Com Agenda prior to this, but now I need to. It is set in the same universe/ group of friends.
Enemies/ rivals to lovers where tbh HE falls first. Dual POV - which is my fave, I love seeing both sides of relationships and falling in love lol. I really enjoyed this! Loved the banter and female main character so much. The representation of plus sized women is always my fave. Also the gardening rivalry was HILARIOUS to me. Small town, closed door romance with rivals to lovers and a sprinkle of found family.

"Hedging Your Bets" is an adorable enemies-to-lovers romcom.

Closed door romances are normally not my favorite, but the banter between new neighbors, Noah and Gillian, as they battle and bond, over an annual small town gardening competition, is great.

I enjoyed Gillian's journey of being a plus size FMC navigating the dating scene. The trio of older neighborly women was also endearing.

Overall, this was a quick, fun, lighthearted read. It would make for a great Hallmark movie! 3.5 stars, rounded up to 4 for the banter.

Spice: 🌶️
Overall: ⭐️⭐️⭐️💫

Thank you St. Martin's Press & Netgalley for the free digital ARC in exchange for an honest, and unbiased, review.

Thank you Netgalley for the ARC!

This was an adorable quick read. I loved the banter between Gillian and Noah (the name of all good book boyfriends!) This was a typical enemies to lovers without real spice. I usually miss it but not in this book. I can’t wait to come back to Willow Cove

If you’ve ever experienced the horrors of using a dating app this book will make you chuckle! The heroine was a strong lead. Having Bette Davis in your ear through times of self doubt help. I liked Gillian she definitely took the bad dates in stride but kept trying, Noah moving to town for a new start helped him through his struggles as well. It’s tough being the friendless new kid on the block. Their love/ hate was fun to watch play out.

It was a really cute read. Something I would expect from a enemies to lovers romance. The banter was cute. I LOVED Inner Bette I thought that was a nice spin. Something I don’t see too often in books. Well, not the ones usually read.

I would like to see this as a Hallmark movie. I think it touches off the bases those types of story’s have. There’s a gardening competition, the handsome rival, a past incident, some insecurities, a head strong female, and a great community.

I love a good romance, and this one was wonderful! It had witty banter, and lovable characters. I was rooting for them the whole way through!

“Hedging Your Bets” is a rom-com by Jayne Denker. I must ask - how adorable is that cover? (The answer is very!). This is the second book in the Willow Cove series, but can be read as a stand-alone book. This book has two neighbors who go from enemies to lovers in a small town. This was an enjoyable read - a bit predictable and not earth shattering, but enjoyable.

Gillian as worked hard to achieve her goals of winning the local gardening competition. Noah is new to town and ruining all her plans. What starts as a feud between neighbors blurs into a relationship of mutual help respect and love. This is a closed door romance with a charming happily ever after in an even more charming town.