Tansy, a single mother wants to recover her life by herself without help from her ex-fiance or any other man. Finding that her efforts to establish a new life for herself and her daughter have been literally drowned by a hurricane, puts her in a awkward position. She really needs the help, but is too proud to ask for it. When the library branch that she manages is also closed due to the flooding, she finds a way to muscle herself and her team of librarians into sharing space with the local botanical gardens and their rough, non-nonsense manager. After several miscommunications, her feelings for Jack and his for her run through a roller coaster of emotions. Their relationship manages to blossom despite obstacles along the way.

I am not a typical romance reader but wanted to see how the author would treat a librarian as her main character. The plot is predictable and the sex scenes didn't really add anything to the overall experience of reading the story. The secondary characters of Omar and Amy are handled well and I would have liked to see more of them. Only for true romance genre fans who look forward to predictable happy endings.

Took me 0.5 seconds to decide I wanted to read this book. Librarian meets plant nerd? Always yes.

This was a lot of fun. Apparently Melanie had some struggles writing this one but it flowed so beautifully to me. I understood why she said that after mentioning in the acknowledgments that this story was inspired by her own experiences with Hurricane Harvey. Reading that her community came together to support her local library and botanical gardens made this story feel more real than it already did. I really felt like I was watching a movie while reading this. There was so much attention to detail on the overall experience of living in a town that experienced a 1,000 year flood, AND on top of that add in fun, lovable characters who all have their own unique personalities and storylines? Melanie should be very proud! This made me cry, laugh, giggle - what else do you want in a book?!

Tansy and Jack were such a sweet couple. Seeing them both knock down their walls and work together to fight for the relationship was so inspiring. Seeing Jack with Briar?! I loved their connection and how they bonded so easily. My first book by Melanie and would absolutely pick up another by her.


Thanks to the Author/NetGalley for the ARC!

I already knew going in that this book was going to wreck me. Melanie’s debut, Take Me Home, struck such a nostalgic chord in my heart that I thought I’d never recover, but recover I did - just in time for Jack and Tansy.

Where You’re Planted is a love letter to public works - libraries, parks, secret havens and hideouts of a community; but more deeply a love letter to the helpers - over-exuberant, reluctant, and somewhere in between as well as the spectacularly weird little girl that lives in all of us. This book took my breath away in so many ways, and I simply cannot wait to revisit it again and again. Thank you to NetGalley and Penguin Group Putnam for the eARC of this story in exchange for an honest review.

A touching romance blossoms between a single mother librarian and the botanical garden director. After a disastrous meet-cute during a hurricane, Tansy and Jack find themselves at odds when her librarian is temporarily housed at Jack’s botanical garden. To overcome their differences and work together when budget constraints arise, they must find a way to coexist. This is the main premise of the story.

At its core, Jack is still grappling with the life he wanted with his ex-wife, while Tansy struggles to maintain her independence despite the challenges she faces. The story effectively emphasizes the importance of human connection and the strength of seeking help when needed. The budding relationship between Tansy, Jack, and her daughter feels authentic and is a significant highlight of the narrative. While this is an open-door romance, spicy scenes can be easily skipped if you prefer a more restrained approach. I highly recommend checking out this book.

Thank you, Penguin Group Putnam | G.P. Putnam’s Sons, for providing this book for review consideration through NetGalley. All opinions expressed are solely my own.

I read this book in one day, and just loved it. The premise is that Tansy, a librarian, has to move her library branch to a less than ideal location in the local botanical gardens after a flood ruins the building. In addition, her and her daughter Briar’s house was also flooded and needs major renovation. Briar is also in therapy from the trauma of the flood. Tansy has a LOT going on, and the struggle she has been having as a mostly single mom doesn’t seem to be ending soon. She has neither the time nor inclination for romance. She has made herself into a strong woman and only plans to count on herself.

Then we have Jack. He is the director of the botanical gardens, which is also much in need of restoration after the flood and suddenly he is required to also accommodate the local library. He is all in his head and isn’t open to love (or any of Tansy’s preferences for the library). Though I wouldn’t call this story a grumpy/sunshine, Jack is 💯 a grump. He also has an anxiety disorder, and I relate to him so much. As someone with anxiety and panic disorder, I feel the author did a really good job of showing what it’s like to live day to day with anxiety.

This is a slowburn enemies to lovers romance, and the payoff is pretty great. It’s really well written, with good character development, and the setting of the sort of library/gardens seems like it would be a dream. Both of these characters are written like real people. They are flawed, and they have their blindnesses, but they are both doing their best, and I was really rooting for every single character. I’d LOVE to see a time jump and get Briar’s HEA when she grows up, because I can tell her story would be really great. She is such a delight.

I’ve never read anything by Melanie Sweeney, but I am definitely going to pick up her other book. Thanks to NetGalley and to Penguin Group Putnam for the digital ARC.

Thank you Penguin Group Putnam for my #gifted eARC!

I really liked Take Me Home by Melanie Sweeney so I was excited to receive the ARC! Sadly, I had a difficult time connecting with the characters in this one and I struggled to get through the story.

I would like to try the audiobook when it comes out to see if I can connect better with the characters.

Romance content: open-door

It took way too long to stop actively disliking the main in this one, and even when I tolerated them, I didn’t buy what they were selling. Jack seemed to change too drastically to be realistic and Tamsy just got on my nerves. Just didn’t work for me.

Thanks to Netgalley and the publisher for an ARC in exchange for an honest review.

Where Your Planted is the meet-grumpy story of Jack and Tansy. They meet during a catastrophic hurricane and are later thrown together when Tansy's library, having been destroyed by the hurricane, is relocated to the botanical garden that Jack oversees.

I have lived through only one hurricane myself and have also lost my childhood library to a snow-collapsed roof. These incidents made the scenario of this book easy for me to imagine.

The initial banter between Tansy and Jack was top-tier. I love a grumpy-sunshine trope. Their emotional evolution was also masterful. Even the large cast of side characters was impressive. They were all distinct and they all brought something to the story. That's not always easy to do.

Overall, it was a great read!

Thank you to NetGalley for an advanced copy of this book.

When children’s librarian Tansy meets Jack, she’s at the library rescuing the library birds during a hurricane. He’s there to close up the botanical gardens and rescues her. Later that day, he rescues her and her daughter from their house by boat. And both hope that will be the last they see of each other. But when the library is rehomed at the botanical gardens, Tansy and Jack discover maybe they’re better together than they are separate.

A gardener and librarian love story? I am definitely the target audience. Where You’re Planted is a lighthearted, joyful, and romantic that’s a perfect addition to a cozy afternoon with a cup of tea. It’s not quite sunshine x grumpy, maybe more like feminist x capable-yet-ally-man? Either way, it was sweet and heartwarming, with a reasonable amount of personal development required on both sides without too much miscommunication trope. Recommend for romance lovers who are garden-inclined.

4 stars. ARC provided by Putnam via NetGalley.

Very sweet story - great characterization and a slow-build start to a romance. I appreciated both characters having emotional baggage that made them somewhat reluctant to get involved and fully trust each other - their own personal lives were well established separate and apart of their dynamic as a couple. I look forward to reading more from this author!

Perfect enemies to lovers yearning and sweetness where she runs a County library and he runs a public garden?! More civil service romance novels please! I loved loved loved this absolute dream of a story.

Thank you NetGalley and Putnam’s for the advanced reader copy 🌱📚💕

So many are going to fall had for this book. It's about recovering from a natural disaster, the power of found family and love.

I'm a sucker for a librarian heroine so I for sure wanted to give this a try. I mean she's trying to salvage her library y'all how is that not admirable? I really loved the characters here. Tansy felt so real to me. She struggles but she tries and I found that to be an admirable trait. Her character reminded me of so many women in my life and I think other readers will too. Jack is the softest man I've read in a while. He's just a grumpy sweetheart. Tansy and Jack start out as enemies to lovers with the best banter. The tension between them was so good! I was yelling get together already so many times haha. These two are also for the grumpy x sunshine lovers.

I really liked the setting too. I felt like this could have been my town. I was able to picture it clearly.

Wonderful, heartwarming book!

This book is SO GOOD!! I fell in LOVE with Take Me Home when I read it last year, and honestly I’ve been thinking about it ever since. Hazel and Ash have such a special place in my heart! And Tansy and Jack are right next to them!!! This was everything I was hoping for and MORE! I’ve had the arc for a little bit, but Jessica Joyce mentioned it in her newsletter and if there’s one thing about me it’s that I WILL be taking a recommendation from her! and as ALWAYS she was right. Jack is so soft and sweet and he is GRUMPY but there is so much going on behind the scenes and Melanie really wrote him SO WELL!

JACK AND TANSY! The perfect grumpy/sunshine duo!! With their perfect little sidekick Briar!! I loved everything about all three of their stories! They were so complex and thought out and seeing everything unravel was so beautiful. I loved how Tansy was teaching Briar that they were independent women!!! Even if sometimes it was to their detriment, but the sentiment IS important! And Jack is the SOFTEST MAN ALIVE!! And seeing him fit so seamlessly into Tansy and Briar’s lives??

And not to mention the tension?? The BANTER! The kind of enemies to lovers banter was SO GOOD! From the start Jack and Tansy have such good chemistry!!! And the fact that they really could go full relationship mode for a week and then be done?? CRACKS ME UP! I love them deeply and honestly I’m going to have to read this one again!!

not only is this book beautiful, it also showcases how important libraries are! Which is so important and so prevalent. Throughout the book Tansy is fighting for her library and she never stops!! She helped build a community and she wants to continue especially after the hurricane! By the end, seeing everyone also rallying for the library warms my heart and I hope we can all do the same for our libraries!!!

Thanks to Putnam for the ARC in exchange for an honest review!!

Thank you so much to NetGalley and PENGUIN GROUP Putnam | G.P. Putnam's Sons for giving me access to this ARC!
Where You're Planted by Melanie Sweeney is going to be released on July 8th. After a hurricane forces single mom Tansy to relocate her damaged library to the county botanic gardens, she clashes with grumpy gardener Jack, who once rescued her and her daughter from the flood. Despite their differences, they must work together on the spring festival, leading to an unexpected and undeniable attraction. But when a crucial funding opportunity pits their dreams against their growing feelings, they must decide if love is worth the risk.
I tried several times to get into this book, but I just couldn’t. The MMC wasn’t just grumpy—he was unnecessarily mean to the FMC from the start, which immediately pulled me out of the story. If I can’t understand the attraction or feel the tension, the romance just doesn’t work for me.

Ahhhhhh!!! I loved this book so much! It’s EVERYTHING I wanted it to be and more. The characters in this novel are fantastic! Their personalities and personal struggles, their love for community, especially the public library, and their love for their friends were perfection. I loved the easy flow of this story and the writing kept me picking this one up any spare minute I had. This contemporary romance is sure to hook any romance lover and even packs a little heat which I wasn’t against either. I will be recommending this one left and right ahead of its release and long after!

I thought the characters were very relatable and liked how they realistically let one another into their life and complimented one another. Love the found family aspect of it. Behind all his grump, the MMC is someone we all hope to find…a man who loves deep.

Tansy is a librarian whose life gets turned upside down by a hurricane in Houston,TX. The library floods and they have to move into a shed at the botanical gardens. The grumpy assistant director (and plant lover), Jack, is not happy about the new visitors and is dealing with his own issues also.
Both have to work together on a plan to get funding for their respective jobs, and they come to a truce even if there are some qualms on both ends.

I remember exactly where I was when Hurricane Harvey hit. It was a disaster for so many Texans, and this story gave us a look at what it may have been like for some people.

This story was a little on the slow side for me, but I really enjoyed the growing connection between Tansy and Jack. Tansy is a single mom just literally trying to stay afloat, and I really felt for her. One thing that was kinda eh for me was her “I don’t need help” mentality. Like sis please take all of Jack’s help when he’s offering lol. I really loved seeing Jack open up, because he was very closed off to any relationship after his divorce years ago. This mentions infertility issues, and it hurt my heart when there was any mention of it with Jack.

This was a cutesy &heartfelt spring read.

Thank you Netgalley for the arc!

3.5

I really enjoyed Melanie Sweeney's previous book, Take Me Home, so I was excited to give her upcoming release a read. While Where You're Planted was good, it just didn't quite reach the same level as Take Me Home, in my opinion. The characters and story were well-written and interesting, but I didn't feel the pull to keep reading. I wasn't invested enough to see what would happen next.

I'd definitely read another book by the author.

A beautiful story that emphasizes community and a swoon worthy enemies to lovers romance. This book was a treasure, a treat, and a delight. I laughed. I felt the feels. I’m so glad I read this book.


I voluntarily read an early copy.