Jayne Denker makes gardening a blast with her latest release ‘Hedging Your Bets’.  I never thought I would say that gardening was a joy until I read this book, and it made me wish I had my own garden.  The backstories that these characters had were great and building up each character was nicely done.  The side characters around town were also done exactly right so they were not too much and really added to the character of the town. What was also nice to see was the lead female in this story being a plus-size woman.  There are not a lot of books that have that and those that do and do it well are even more rare.  Jayne was able to make Gillian strong and someone to be relatable.

‘Hedging Your Bets’ is really the best Romantic Comedy book that is out right now and is an enjoyable book to get you over the post-holiday season feeling.  This book had me laughing and smiling throughout the book and the best part of the book is that there is no third act breakup!  In fact, Gillian and Noah got even closer in the third act and it was so great to read.

Jayne has written a Rom-Com that needs to be on your TBR.  ‘Hedging Your Bets’ gets a solid 4 ½ stars.  Even if you are not into gardening you will love this book.  The sizzle rating isn’t there but there is a spark to start something.  This all adds up to a great book and if it was a movie it would be a PG-13 rating. ‘Hedging Your Bets’ is out now and available where you get your books.

I love a good enemy to lovers rom com but this one, unfortunately, fell a little short for me. I did like the characters and it was a decent read, just won’t make the list of favourites.

Hedging Your Bet promises a delightful escape into a world where flowers bloom, sparks fly, and hearts mend under the warm sunshine of small-town meddling. If you crave a feel-good romance with a dash of sass, gardening passion, and enemies-to-lovers closed-door heat, this might be your next literary bouquet.

Tropes:
Gardening
Small Town
Meddling
Plus Size Heroine
Enemies to Lover

I enjoyed the gardening and plus-size representation this had to offer. Arc received from the publisher; all thoughts and opinions are my own. I have purchased my own copy.

Fairly predictable rom com but it was still a good read that I enjoyed it. It was also a quick read.

I loved the Rom-Com agenda so was excited to return to Willow Cove and the same cast of characters. Gillian has been divorced for a few years now and despite being on the dating apps, has not had much luck in the romance department. After numerous lackluster dates, all Gillian wants to devote her spare time to is her garden. Enter Noah West, her new next-door neighbor. Oblivious to Willow Cove's gardening competition, Noah decides to rip out the hedges on his property, effectively ruining the backdrop of Gillian's garden and creating tension. Despite this animosity, they both are attracted to each other. When the 2 end up going head to head in the gardening competition sparks begin to fly..

(3/5 stars) I was once again fooled by the cover of this book (I DNF'ed the author's previous book (The Rom-Com Agenda) too and totally didn't make the connection when I requested this book based on the cover alone). It took me FOREVER to get into this book and I'm sorry to say that I still wasn't feeling it. The pacing is slow, the animosity between the two MCs was unbelievable. It looks like other readers are also commenting that it took them until at least half-way into the book for things to actually pick up, and I just can't wait that long, sorry 😩

Sweet, low conflict contemporary romance between two new neighbors who start off on the wrong foot. I enjoyed all the plant/gardening talk, and the small town setting in the 1000 Islands area. I read Hedging Your Bets without reading the first book in the Willow Cove series and it took me a few chapters to keep track of the friend group side characters.

Overall, this story fell a little short for me. I'm all for size inclusivity but it feels like we are reading a shory about the main characters weight rather than an impactful romance with built characters. The book starts off and stays pretty slow.
Spicy level: closed door.
Thank you to St. Martin's Press & Net Galley for the ARC in exchange for an honest review of content.

Entertaining and enjoyable romantic comedy. An engaging couple with a sweet enemies to lovers story. Intimate scenes are behind closed doors. If not for the "f" word, this would be a "G" rated book. The small-town atmosphere was a bonus, especially the older ladies. Many delightful characters. Thanks to the publisher for providing a copy via NetGalley. My review is voluntary.

If you love small town romances with quirky supporting characters, and a very grumpy meets sunshine, this might be the book for you. Noah West has uprooted his life after his longterm girlfriend breaks up with him, On a whim, he buys the marina in the small town where he spent summers. He also buys an elderly woman's fully furnished house. His neighbor, Gillian, is also single. Although they are both immediately physically attracted to each other, they can't stand each other for most of the book. Noah tears out part of Gillian's yard when she's trying desperately to win the town's gardening contest. These two are really mean to each other for more than 75% of the book, so you really have to be patient to get to the romance. Once they become friends, the book becomes sweeter, There's a subplot where Noah is facing an extortion scheme that seems a bit over the top, but this is a Romance, after all. Nothing in this book is terribly surprising, but if you are looking for a Romance that finally becomes cozy at the end, I recommend this one.

Thank you NetGalley for the digital ARC of this book.

I enjoyed this book and really liked the characters. I loved the small town feel of willow cove, with the nosy old ladies and the garden competition. I want to learn more about the different friends in the group and explore their relationships... for me it was the side characters that made the book - Delia and Gray, Uncle Manny, Jenna and Ben, the nosy old lady neighbors. I thought that Gillian's dates gave some good insight into her and her insecurities but man, did I want to hit some of them! I am happy I am not trying to date with dating apps!

Thank you to Netgalley and the publisher for sending me an e-arc in exchange for an honest review.

2.5-3 stars

I thought this book was okay. There wasn't anything special or great about it, to make it stand out from all the other romance books. The way that the author kept spouting that it was okay that the fmc was fat because she was a healthy fat, did make me want to stop reading at some points because everyone deserves to be loved/respected/whatever whether they are "healthy" or "unhealthy". Overall, this book was a very quick to read, closed door romance.

Thank you to @netgalley and @Stmartinspress for a free copy of this book in exchange for my honest review. Thank you to @dreamscape_media for a free download of the audiobook.

I wanted to love this enemies to lovers romance, but in the end, it was just fine. The writing was good, but the storyline just seemed bland to me. The book was still cute and I would recommend it to people who prefer a mild spice read.

3 stars

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This was such a weird and quirky story. Never have I read a book where a garden competition is the center of the drama. It was a quick read/listen, and was really fun.

I received an advance copy. All thoughts are my own.

This book was so cute! It took me a while to get through it, but that's no fault of the book. I haven't been in the romcom mood BUT the banter and antics kept me giggling and the love story was so sweet. Noah and Gillian start off as neighborhood rivals feuding over their respective lawns ahead of the town-wide garden competition. But of course, as any good enemies-to-lovers novel does, their feud only serves to bring them closer together. They each come with their own baggage from prior relationships, and it gave a lot more dimension to the story rather than being all light and fluffy. Overall, I loved it and will continue to read Jayne Denker's books!

Gillian likes her life. She’s a successful pharmacist, taking care of her neighbors in the small town of Willow Cove. Divorced and finally ready to find a new relationship, she tries the dating apps, only to find multi-level marketers, doomsday preppers, and men who can’t be bothered to include her in their conversations. But she thinks the guy is out there, and she believes she’ll find him. In the meantime, she has her backyard garden. It won third place in last year’s garden competition, and after lots of planning, Gillian is planning on winning this year with her English garden.

Noah just moved to Willow Cove, and he quickly upset his new neighbor by ripping out the hedge that separated their property. Immediately, his new neighbor Gillian came out of her house and yelled at him for ripping out his own shrubs. They were on his property, after all. He does notice that she’s gorgeous, but she is way too attached to those boring hedges, so he doesn’t understand why she went so crazy about them. Until he went into town. Everyone he talked to took Gillian’s side, knowing how much her garden means to her. So Noah decides to apologize to her, complete with a cute garden gnome to give her garden a little interest.

Needless to say, the gnome didn’t go over well.

Meanwhile, Noah takes a closer look at the books for the marina he bought. He hadn’t taken the time to go through everything closely before he signed the papers. He had just wanted to create a new life for himself. After his girlfriend in California asked him to move out, he packed up and moved across the country, to the place where he spent his summers with his uncle Manny. Noah bought a house and bought the marina, looking to build a future far away from his heartbreak.

It turns out that he owes the town a lot in back taxes. Like, a lot of money. Far more than he has to offer them. He goes to the town treasurer to try to talk to her, try to work out a payment plan or something, but he hits a brick wall. Louise March is the treasurer and also the head of the gardening club. She is the lead judge for the gardening competition, and she will do anything she can to keep Gillian from winning. Including offer Noah a chance to “win” the competition, in exchange for some lenience in paying the back taxes.

Noah can’t help but feel an attraction towards his neighbor. But she is also completely infuriating. And this is business. If the town tries to collect on his tax debt before he has the money together, he loses the marina and his livelihood. So, putting in a garden is it. He starts clearing out the weeds in his backyard and chooses new plants to go in the beds. But will it be enough to win?

Gillian watches as her cute neighbor works in his garden. He clearly has no affinity for gardening, as he puts sun plants in the share and shady plaints in the sun and protects weeks like they are valuable. She isn’t worried about his winning, as she’s been working on her garden for five years now. But she can also tell that he’s up to something. Can she figure out what’s going on in time to win the competition as she planned, or will she figure out a way to change the game?

Hedging Your Bets is the latest rom com from Jayne Denker, whose The Rom-Com Agenda introduced readers to the charming town of Willow Cove. Now it’s Gillian’s turn to be the friend who finds love there, and this story of enemies-to-lovers is even more charming than the first. Maybe I think that because I’m a big fan of the gardening story line, but these characters are so charming.

I really loved this book. Gillian’s sunny personality meets Noah’s grumpy one, and neither one is the same from the start. There is a sweetness to their courtship, even when it looks like they are just fighting. Gillian and her friends keep the action moving along, as the pages seem to to turn all on their own. Reading this was fun and delightful and lovely, and it made for perfect reading in below freezing temperatures, so I could dream about warmer days with beautiful flowers outside. If you are into gardening or just love a good rom com, then you will want to start Hedging Your Bets as soon as you can.

Egalleys for Hedging Your Bets were provided by St. Martin’s Griffin through NetGalley, with many thanks.

Thank you to NetGalley and the publisher for this ARC in exhange for my honest review.

The first half was a little slow for me but the sercond half did get more exciting. However, during the second half, there were a few phrases there that just gave me the ick. I powered through but it totally ruined the book for me.

overall a 2 star read

Book Review
Hedging Your Bets by Jayne Denker

Rating: I liked it!

This was a pretty medium paced read with a cute storyline. Gillian is a strong, independent, garden loving, pharmacist who frequents the dating apps. Noah is a recently single artist that moves next door to Gillian. These enemies don’t take very long to become frienemies and they also don’t take long to become lovers from there. 😜

There were a few different conflict points in this book but none felt super substantial to me. Gillian is a great plus size rep that has struggled with men in the past because of it, but honestly she was great at being herself. So even that conflict just felt a little light.

I loved the garden competition and the group of nosey old lady neighbors. They were hilarious. Sometimes I felt like there were a bit too many characters to keep track of, but by the end it was easier. I also felt like some of the side characters had storylines introduced but not expanded on. Which is fine, but sometimes seemed irrelevant to bring up.

Read if you like
🌷 Garden competitions & Gnomes
❣️Enemies to lovers
👵🏻 Sassy old lady neighbors
🏡 Small Towns
🚪 Closed door romance

Thank you to NetGalley for this early ARC!

I found this book on NetGalley and the cover absolutely drew me in. I've never read anything by the author, but the gardening, plus-sized heroine, and battling neighbors sounded promising. I received an ARC copy in exchange for an honest review, and as the 2 stars indicates, it was okay.

I had an exceptionally hard time getting into this book. It is a slow-burn, closed door romance, that was less enemies to lovers and more bad first impression that you can't move past. Neither protagonist is particularly likable or relatable, and to me, the entire book would have been better if told from the POV of the chorus of neighborhood busybodies talking about the hot young neighbors. THAT would've made me laugh and keep reading. There was so much potential, and it just fell flat.

However, if the author writes about about Louise Marsh and her rise to power, I'd totally read it.

*ARC Review*

This book was a slow read for me. I just could not get into it. I usually love a small town romance but found this one slow and did not click with the characters. I found the two main characters to be quite annoying and did not really care what happened with them (is that too harsh??). I liked the body positivity aspect of the story and the strength of the female main character. I did not like the extortion theme and found its relation to a gardening competition to just not make sense. This one wasn't for me.