Happy publication day!!! I read Jayne Denker’s book Rom-Com Agenda as an ARC last year and fell in LOVE with her style of writing and the characters. Lucky for me, I got Hedging Your Bets as an ARC and BOY was I pleasantly surprised to realize the female main character was my favorite side character from Rom-Com Agenda!!

Gillian is a plus sized, strong lead character, but has the same insecurities I’ve dealt with as a woman in a bigger body too. I could really relate to her and loved seeing her grow!

Noah is a lovely male lead and I can’t complain about their banter! I just adored everything about this couple!

If you plan to read this (which you should!), make sure to read Rom-Com Agenda first!! You won’t regret it!

This book was cute, but a bit blah. The main characters had good chemistry, but they were so uninteresting alone. It almost felt like something was missing, or that the author was hinting at some underlying issues but didn't feel confident in writing about them.

For example, there are several lines that hint at the MMC having ADHD or something similar, but nothing ever comes of it - just a few off-hand comments about his inability to focus. And the FMC has dealt all her life with prejudice about her body size - even going so far as to having the 'villain' of the story actively hate her due to her 'developing' at 15. To be honest, I 'developed' at 9/10 so I fail to see it happening later as being a reason for a grown woman to hate on a teenage girl, but I digress.

I think the story would have benefitted by delving deeper into either aspect, and how it affects their relationship - because both clearly did. Instead it focused more on the garden contest - and not even in a metaphorical way, although it really did try.

The story had lots of potential; it just failed to hit the mark. That being said, I did enjoy the side characters very much, and thought the descriptions of the FMC's many blind dates to be amusing. For those two reasons I am giving this book three stars instead of the two I think it really deserves.

Enjoyable enemies to lovers romance placed in small town scenery.

I read a lot of romances so after reading the blurb, I've expected a litte different story. In general I enjoyed it but something was missing to me. Plot twist and story line was well thought but, I couldn't dive in, the book sucked me in very late - maybe around 60%. There were push and pull between main characters, BUT smth was missing.
Author created great tension between them, but I really needed a little more spice to feel emotions bewteen Gillian and Noah.

Jayne Denker’s Hedging Your Bets is a cute enough Enemies-to-Lovers romcom centered around feuding neighbors whose competitive sides come out during a gardening contest. It’s a decent story and Gillian and Noah are both likable but I actually waited several days before deciding how to rate this one. The issue is that over the last week or so I read a couple of other romcoms featuring the same trope which I enjoyed more and didn’t want to make a snap judgement, directly comparing it to those other reads. So after sitting with this one for a few days now I do think this one is better than average so I’m hitting it with 4 stars. I’d like to thank St. Martin's Press, St. Martin's Griffin, and NetGalley for the opportunity to read and review an eARC of Hedging Your Bets.

https://www.amazon.com/review/RSAUPX50FKIR4/ref=pe_1098610_137716200_cm_rv_eml_rv0_rv

This one was a bit too slow paced for me.

It’s marketed as an enemies to lovers rom com, but we don’t get to the actual romance until we are more than 3/4 through the book.

The feuding went on for far too long, and it felt filled in by Gillian’s dates that didn’t really add to the story as a whole.

I did enjoy the characters and their stories, but I think it could have focused on the gardening and their bonding over that instead of the awkward spats that they would have.

*I received a free ARC of this book in exchange for an honest review*

This was a sweet, cute little romcom. I enjoyed it, and I would recommend it to romance fans who aren't looking for spice. The chemistry was pretty good, and I enjoyed the enemies to lovers storyline. Ultimately, a fun byut forgettable read.

A charming and entertaining read. I loved the town of Willow Grove and it’s characters.
Many thanks to St. Martin’s Press and to Netgalley for providing me with a galley in exchange for my honest opinion.

This was a sweet closed-door romance about 2 semi-older people falling in love after they've been burned before. I really liked this story! I would recommend to others as it's a wonderful romance novel.

My only critique is about Noah. I felt like he was mostly grumpy at first, but that his character was so much more evolved.. we seemed to only find out more about him later, and we learned about Gillian and her character right away as the townsfolk described her to Noah as a way to combat his negative feelings towards her. But as Noah was the new guy in town, there was no one (except his uncle, who also jokingly talked up Gillian and not his nephew) to talk about his backstory except for Noah himself, and we didn't see much proof in the pudding until after he admitted to his feelings towards Gillian.

Hottie Noah West moves next door to firecracker Gillian Pritchard, who is really into gardening, especially the local small town competition. When he mauls her plants bordering his property, it's WAR!

Pluses: a lot of their banter was hilarious, and the side characters are a real gas. Especially the old women. The romance develops pretty much as romances do, buuuuut.....

While I think the author meant to be fat-sympathetic, there are moments when it get cringey, and I was pushed out of the story by the underlying fat phobia, which seemed to come out of nowhere.

We do get a happy ending, but it wasn't the smooth read that I'd hoped for.

- Small town
- Quirky neighbors
- Enemies to lovers
- Banter
- Fauna fiasco

I adored the Rom-Com Agenda, so I was excited for the follow up story. Featuring Gillian from the group of friends tasked with Eli's makeover, this cute story was a true delight.

Based in the small upstate NY town of Willow Grove, which is more of a seasonal destination, Gillian is dipping into the dating world slowly, but is more focused on making her garden first prize worthy. She is still stinging from placing third in last year's gardening contest. She has a plan in place, which is ruined by her new next door neighbor, Noah, who decides to remove the hedges from his yard that were the perfect backdrop for the colorful flowers Gillian was planting.

Although Noah is smoking hot, this floral affront will not be tolerated and Gillian directs her full rage upon him. Noah is attracted to Gillian, but doesn't understand her attachment to the hedges. But when Noah somehow enters the gardening contest, will there be an ongoing battle between neighbors?

This is a closed door romance with lots of banter (which I love!). I am looking forward to more from this author.

In one book you're going to take some enemies to lovers, add a dash of hilarious banter, some red hot tension, and one adorable gnome and prepare to fall in love. Jayne Denker has never made gardening sound so perfect for meeting your soulmate. I'm a sucker for the enemies to lovers/ rivals to lovers trope because the build up and almost fight against acknowledging the chemistry and attraction just puts me under a spell.

Set in an adorable small town, Gillian is getting her feet back into the dating pool after a not so pleasant divorce while Noah is starting over and somehow gets off on the wrong foot with his new neighbor. Filled with characters that make you laugh and want to cry. this tight knit bunch are just one aspect of the lovable story. There's the perfect level of arguing and quick-wit comments between the two to build that tension up. We've got a dual POV story-line to really deepen the connection with both characters and we even get just a bit of scandal and drama within the town.

A perfect 'wishing it was summer already' read to break up these winter blues and warm you up with an adorable romance.

Gillian is a pharmacist in the adorable small town of Willow Cove. She loves her community, friends, and garden, and she is determined to win the first-place trophy in this year’s garden contest. The only thing missing in her life is someone to share it with. It’s been years since her divorce, and after much cajoling from her friends and the group of retired ladies in her neighborhood, she decides to try out the dating scene. Multiple dating apps and massively failed dates later, Gillian is starting to lose hope in finding someone extraordinary.

Meanwhile, Noah West needed some significant change in his life. After his relationship with Corinne fell flat, he decided to sell his business and move across the country to the small town where he spent several summers of his adolescent years. He buys the marina where he worked as a teen and expects his new direction in life to be smooth sailing. Unfortunately, he starts on the wrong foot with his neighbor, Gillian. He soon discovers everyone in town adores Gillian, and he’s just made himself more enemies than just his next-door neighbor.

Hedging Your Bets is a cute, enemies-to-lovers, small-town rom-com. The gardening theme and community competition were fun, and I loved Gillian’s spunky personality. Gillian, the FMC, is plus-sized, and while this is a theme of the novel, it isn’t the main focus. I appreciated Gillian’s no-nonsense attitude toward other’s unwarranted opinions.

While I enjoyed this overall, it was kind of just average to me. I don’t have any big complaints, but nothing felt overwhelmingly unique or special, either. I gave this 3.5 stars but rounded up to 4.

I switched between the audio and ebook versions. I listened to at least 75% of the story and liked the narration. I loved that there were two narrators, one for Gillian’s chapters and one for Noah’s.

Thank you @dreamscapemedia, @netgalley, and @stmartinspress, for the gifted ALC and ARC.

I love enemies to lovers! It's one of my favorite troupes because it creates some hilarious moments in addition to the romance. I quickly fell in love with Gillian and Noah though. This book made me laugh and I think anyone looking for a cute romantic comedy will love it!

This was a cute rom-com that had plenty of laughable moments, a frustrating slow-burn enemies to lovers romance and a lot of incredible supporting characters. I enjoyed the banter and the characters - but I didn't adore the book. I was frustrated by some of it - I found the dynamic between the main characters hard to believe. They hated one another, but it was kind of hard to not feel as if they were blowing things out of proportion. Their attraction was apparent from early on, but again, they both pretended it didn't exist. It was honestly frustrating. I also found that the focus on her being a healthy weight and therefore deserving love was off-putting. I do not think that health or size should matter when it comes to someone's happiness and how they are treated by others. Yes, you need to be attracted to someone you are dating, but that is personal to EVERY individual...and does not mean that you can make a blanket statement that someone who is bigger/smaller is more attractive. Or healthier. Or deserves happiness more. It just rubbed me the wrong way and took away from the cuteness of the book, in my opinion. That being said, if you are looking for a fun cast of characters, definitely give this a try.
Thank you Netgalley for my advanced reader copy.

Loved this continuation of Denker's other story set in Willow Cove - strong character development and though predictable, a sweet story.

Oh, I love a good enemies-to-lovers with incredible banter and wit! The forced proximity was top-notch as well. I really loved Jayne Denker's writing in this book - I've read her other books as well so this is just added to the list! The settings and details were done so well, that I could perfectly picture everything, and I now want to get into gardening because this was beautiful!

Thank you, NetGalley and St. Martin's Press for allowing me to review this book!

3.5 stars

This has all the makings of a cute closed-door romance. It has a town you will fall in love with, along with a whole cast of characters from the town that give it charm. While I loved that part, I just didn’t feel first the enemies part (it’s his land? Legit how can she pretend even to be that mad?) and then their slow burn romance. In the end I suppose she was with him because all the other choices in the town were so horrible? I liked some of the gardening and that she was a pharmacist comfortable in her body. I didn’t like the blackmail part. If you like small town chaste romances with a gardening element, I would give this a try.

Thank you to the author, publisher, and NetGalley for an advanced copy in exchange for an honest review.

Unfortunately, I DNF this book. In the first three chapters I already felt something was missing and the info dump was tough to keep up with. When a figment of Gillians' imagination said that her neighbor might be gay - I couldn't tell if it was meant in a derogatory way. I gave her the benefit of the doubt and thought "certainly not" and continued reading. I did not care for how Gillian described herself (almost admonishing herself for not being thin), so I decided to look up reviews to see if this changes. Reports said it did not - so I quit reading.

Might be a book for someone else, but not for me.

Thank you to Netgalley and the publisher for the arc. Unfortunately this one was a miss for me. I need to realize that true rom coms (not marketed as even though it's a contemporary romance) are not my thing. I found their becoming enemies rather ridiculous and it felt like we spent most of the book with them disliking each other for stupid reasons. I also found Louise March and her blackmail really dumb. I did enjoy when they came together to work on their gardens. Ultimately I wanted more gardening, more bonding and less implausible outside character actions.
I contemplated DNFing multiple times, and it did get better as it went on, but just was not for me. I'm rounding up to 3 stars because there's nothing wrong with this book, it just wasn't for me.

Rating: 4/5
I received an eARC for my honest opinion.

If you have read The Rom-Com Agenda, you will know that it’s about a small town romcom with a twist. You will see characters that you got to know in that book in this one and see how the other characters are fairing now as well.

I love that this book is a standalone but it’s about the same small-town Willow Cove and with all the amazing characters that I came to love in the first book.

I love small town romances and Denker does a wonderful job with them. I love that I really do feel like I am in a small town with them and that I know all the characters as though they’re my long-time friends. I really enjoyed this enemies-to-lovers romantic comedy that was full of great humor and love.

I thought the plot was done well. You will see where the characters meet up and get to know the town more and see what interest these new characters have in this town, but it is the characters that really make this book great.

I loved getting to know Gillian more, and I really enjoyed getting to know her story. It’s a little sad but honestly, it’s what happens in this world so much with a lot of people that can relate to her. I found her character to be easily relatable and to connect with. I loved her sense of humor and that she never gives up on something that she wants to see come to life. I enjoyed getting to see a side of her that really wanted to hate and ruin Noah’s garden but she couldn’t do it because she is deep down a really sweet person. I thought Denker did a great job with making the chemistry between Gillian and Noah realistic, you can see that they both like what they see on the outside but due to situations when they met the first time it takes them a while to see that they really do like each other and for me it was believable.

Denker is amazing at making heartwarming, fun, great banter, and amazing characters for her books. They’re all relatable, well-developed and will hold a special place in your heart for small town romances.

I can’t wait to see who is next in Willow Cove to get a chance at love.

I want to thank NetGalley and St. Martin's Press for the opportunity to review this book.