Is there any greater feeling than a book living up to the expectations you have for it? I don't think so. I hoped that Bend Toward The Sun would be the kind of introspective, moody love story that I crave. I am a self-professed angst monster but there have been very few new releases that have really fed me. This book absolutely did! I even almost teared up (one of the highest compliments I can give a book, trust me).

There's a lot that I love here, but one of my favorites is the way Devon uses small actions and gestures to explore how people care for each other. Neither of the protagonists are very good at communicating their feelings with each other so the little things they do to communicate their love become so important. Their journey is less about being able to say those three words and more about learning to recognize the ways the other reaches out. It's subtle, but it packs such an emotional punch. I'm not sure I'll ever look at pancakes and a glass of pulpy orange juice the same way.

This is a quiet book and moves slow in some ways. There's not a lot that *happens* compared to a lot of the so-called rom coms coming out of romance imprints these days. That style really works for me--I get to focus on the characters and their burgeoning relationship without the distractions of plotty hijinks. If that also sounds like your cup of tea, I highly recommend giving this story your time. Of course, it's not perfect. I have a few quibbles (the biggest being diversity on page; other than a passing mention of someone's queer family member we never meet and a minor character described only as "brown," everyone appears to be cishet and white). But I still love it. It gives me FEELINGS.

Content notes: grief, past death of grandmother/parental figure, maternal mortality (Harry is an OB who lost a patient to birth-related hemorrhage), PTSD (Harry experiences flashbacks and panic attacks), parental neglect, past psychologically abusive relationship (Rowan's ex emotionally manipulated and gaslit her), infidelity (not by either protagonist), minor character becomes pregnant and gives birth off-page, reference to past car accident due to driver under the influence, divorce, arachnophobia, on-page alcohol use, on-page sex, descriptions of non-life threatening injuries and blood

Such a good book, I think people are gonna really love this one. Keep me wanting more the whole way through. Thank you!

I think that I might be a little in love with this book. It is so rare to come across something so beautifully written, and that is exactly what Bend Toward the Sun is - Beautiful in so many ways.

First of all, I don't think I'm going to be able to fully express how amazing this book is in words - so all I can say is read this! Do it! Because I'm not sure I've ever read a portrayal of love that hit me quite like this did. The relationships in this book are real, messy, and broken - but also accepting, imperfections and all.

I feel like this book did what so many others struggle to do in going both so deep into the emotional background of the characters while still remaining to be comedic through the banter and chemistry throughout the story. The tension between the characters was always for a reason that made all of the sense in the world, weaving these characters together in a way that felt so vivid it's hard for me to believe these aren't real people.

I think part of it might be because I have never related to a character as closely as I did to Rowan. So much of this book hit way too close to home for comfort, but I loved her so much anyway! I think through loving Rowan's character, and seeing her through the lens of the other characters in the story it made me love a parts of myself, and my story that I have often struggled to accept. I think a lot of people will see parts of themselves in these characters, and I hope they will give themselves more grace because of them too.

This story is magical, and I can see myself returning to it over and over again. Straight to my favorites list it goes!

ARC provided by the publisher in exchange for my honest review.

Thank you NetGalley for providing me with an e-arc! Below is my honest review of this book.

I came upon this book because of Ali Hazelwood's review of it. And let me tell you--it was so worth it.

So, we follow two perspectives: Rowan (our heroine) and Harrison/Harry (our hero).

Rowan is a botanist. She’s working on her PhD so she’s so close to getting to the end of her finish line when shit goes wrong. Her research assistant faked her data, so her whole paper is basically inaccurate. So she becomes really depressed because academia is the one area in her life where she feels most complete.

Enter our hero(‘s family). Harry’s family decides that they want to make wine but no one knows how to take care of plants. Temperance, Rowan’s best friend and Harry’s cousin once removed(?), sends Rowan’s resume to them because why not? Rowan reluctantly accepts working on the farm, and only does so because she can create more data and do research on their land.

Rowan and Harry obviously become very close, but they have different ideas of what they want with each other. Rowan is all for casual relationships and sex with no strings attached while Harry is a hopeless romantic. This causes conflict between them, and you can probably see where the story goes from there.

This book made me tear up, and that hasn’t happened in a long time. It was just so lovely and heartbreaking at the same time.

If you’re looking for a book with:
- academically smart heroine who loves plants and nature,
- a medical hero who struggles with mental health issues,
- a funny as hell cast of side characters,
- a slow burn romance,

Then my friend, this is for you.

You do learn quite a bit about the academia life, botany, and other medicinal stuff. I also feel like the side characters are flushed out well enough that they all have their own personality.

Another positive about this book is that the break up (mostly) makes sense. The couple gets back together fairly quickly, but I liked how the explanation for the breakup just shows how complex people can be and how your upbringing really guides how you view your life.

Would I recommend this book? Hell yes!!!

5/5 GIANT GLOWING STARS ⭐⭐⭐⭐⭐ (I LOVED IT)

Words cannot describe how heartwarming, and beautiful, and wonderful, and marvelous this debut novel is! Devon's elegant writing perfectly encapsulated the human experience of love and loss.

Rowan goes to work at a vineyard owned by the family of a friend's friend while Rowan works on writing her dissertation as an article to hopefully be published and further her academic career. Harry is a physician who just lost a patient, and he goes to his family's new vineyard to heal. Their chance meeting blossoms into more.

I was hooked on Rowan's and Harry's relationship from the second they met. The courtship, the anguish, the desire… There was a beautiful balance between plot and character development, and it's a carefully crafted love story you can tell Devon put her heart into.

I want to say more, but I can't say what I loved so much without giving the plot away, because it was EVERYTHING.

This book means a lot to me. I see a lot of myself in Rowan, but I think she was funnier than I am 😆. And the love Harry has to give is reminiscent of my husband. This is a novel I plan to reread because it just made me feel so happy. I couldn't put it down (seriously, my husband made me go to bed every night), and I would wake up thinking about Rowan and Harry and what might happen next.

This novel is the reason I'm going to keep digging into the Romance genre, and I'll be first in line to buy Jen Devon's second novel (should it come).

Thank you St. Martin's Press and Netgalley for access to this ARC. Thank you Jen Devon for writing this wonderful book!

Our past experiences shape who we are today and it's so hard to not let those experiences affect who we're going to become and our relationships.
Rowan had heartbreak and had to discover her passions and life on her own. Thank goodness for great friends such as Frankie and Temperance.
Harry's life and upbringing couldn't be more different than Rowan's. He grew up in a large close-knit family full of love and laughter.
Harry's parents decided to buy a vineyard to open up a bed and breakfast in their retirement. The land required a lot of work and someone with knowledge and expertise of the land. Rowan, with a PhD in botany was the perfect person for the job.

I adored the characters and fell in love with Harry and his family. Rowan is strong, knowledgeable, fiercely independent and at the same time so vulnerable.
Each person has their own set of challenges and struggles in life and Jen Devon did an amazing job of weaving together a wonderful and relatable story of friendship and of fighting for love.

Thank you Netgalley and St. Martin's Press for the opportunity to read and review this book.

Bend Toward the Sun is a deliciously angsty book featuring messy, grieving characters. There's a yearning for two people unable to resist each other's magnetic field. I loved it. I'm happy to be introduced to Jen Devon! I think Harry and Rowan's stories will stay in my heart for a long time! I'm looking forward to reading more from this author!

Love the author’s prose. Great depth to the characters, witty dialogue, and very original plot line. 5 stars!

Thank you St. Martin's Press for the opportunity to read this early.

From reading reviews and the premise for this book, I thought it would be an easy win for me. Unfortunately, I didn't connect with the writing, especially with the character interactions/dialogue which didn't feel natural to me. I liked the setting and the premise, but not enough to continue on with the book so I chose to DNF.

My 3 star rating is based off of the first 25% of the book that I read, to me 3 stars is "i liked it/it was fine". There was nothing bad about it, just wasn't for me. Clearly it's a 5 star read for many others.

Sometimes there is that powerful connection between two people and they heal each other. I loved this story
Many thanks to St. Martin’s Press and to NetGalley for providing me with a galley in exchange for my honest opinion.

Perfect for fans of Ali Hazelwood. Jen Devon created a world in which I didn’t want to leave. I’m ANXIOUSLY awaiting for what I hope is going to be a sequel for TJ and Duncan!!!

While it is not appropriate for my students, it IS appropriate for my friends and coworkers. I loved this book!

Rowan has a PhD in botany, she also has a way of guarding her heart after a broken romance several years before. Harrison is a doctor that is broken due to the loss of a patient and a marriage. She has been living on a friend's couch. He has just arrived at his family's vineyard.

Rowan agrees to work on Harrison's family vineyard to complete a paper she had begun and has not been able to complete. She is going to ignore Harrison because she is not interested in any form of relationship and has been told by others that he is, and he seems to be in to her. He, on the other hand, is very interested and knows she is the one for him, he just has to make her understand.

I could not put this book down. I had to take their journey with them to see if he would win and they would be together, or if she would win and this would be a one night stand, or maybe two night stand, and nothing more! I was given the opportunity to read this book by NetGalley, in exchange for an honest review.

This book was fabulous.
It is a beautiful story that me me feel all the feels.

Rowan is a botanist who is undecided in life. She meets up with some friends and they play a game of hide and seek that turns into a life changing event. Enter Harrison Brady, an OB/YN who has just come back to his family home. Once me meets Rowan he is gone.

This story is very well told, the pacing is great and the writing is beautiful. There are so many well written lines about love that at times it found myself crying.

This story is one that should be read by all those who love romance.

Thank you to NetGalley and St. Martin's Press, St. Martin's Griffin for the opportunity to read this wonderful story in exchange for an honest review.

Thanks to St Martin's Press and Netgalley for the ARC. I wanted to really love this book but I had a hard time getting into the story. The romance was beautiful and achingly honest but the middle dragged a bit for me. If you are into botany, that adds a wonderful aspect to the story.

This book is beautiful and achingly emotional in the best way. The writing is immersive and I will be handing this book to everyone I know.

Thank you for this ARC! I really wanted to love this book. However, it did fall flat for me. It took awhile to get into the story and I just was not invested enough in the characters. As a science teacher, I did love all the botany references and STEM representation! It seems many others enjoyed this book, so I would still recommend it if you like romances and multiple POVs.

This book had so many great things in it! I absolutely connected with this book in such a beautiful way. I love a good romance story and Rowan & Harry had it all. The story is captivating in its details and beautifully written. As an MSW, I deeply appreciated that mental health was highlighted. I feel that too often, men particularly, suffer from the stigma attached to mental health struggles. I highly recommend this beautiful and heartbreaking romance to anyone out there looking for a great read!

3.5⭐️ There was a lot I liked about this book but some pieces that prevented me from giving it a higher rating.

When Rowan’s doctoral thesis does not get approved, her plan is to spend the next year fixing her dating and resubmitting her work. However, after attending a party at the Brady family vineyard, and being impressed with the farm, Rowan’s best friend encourages her to take a job helping take care of the vines. Unlike Rowan’s family, the Brady’s are a loud, loving and large crew who are all working together to make this dream winery come to life. There, she meets Harry, one of the siblings, who is home taking a break from his life as a doctor in LA. It is instant attraction for both Rowan and Harry and the chemistry is undeniable. Still, Rowan has difficulty with trust and Harry has some own trauma from his past that haunts him. As the two open up to each other, their complicated but beautiful relationship begins to unravel.

What I loved: I enjoyed the small-town vineyard setting and learning about the field of Botany/ makings of a successful winery. The supporting cast- Rowan’s two best friends from college and the entire Brady family- added so much warmth, humor and emotion to the story. I assume some of these characters will be the stars in future books, and I can’t wait. I also loved Rowan and Harry’s witty comebacks and inside jokes. It kept me on my toes!

What’s not making this a 5 star reads for me was that there were a lot of ups and downs, arguments and miscommunications between Rowen and Harry that made it hard for me to fully enjoy the book. While this made the course of the relationship “realistic”, knowing it was not always rainbows and butterflies, I often found that the self-sabotaging behavior went on for too long. At 30+ years old, I think Rowan and Harry could have spoken more rather than have large periods of time where they avoid and ignore one another. The amazing ending did make up for some of these feelings, and helped me understand why the author did what she did, but my heightened angst and anxiety as I read did impact the overall experience.

Read if you like:
-Instant attraction but slow burn romance
-Supportive and big families
-Vineyards/ wineries
-Botany
-A strong cast of side characters
-Anxiety rep
-Dual POVs

Thank you St. Martin’s Press and NetGalley for this ARC in exchange for an honest review.

I liked the beginning and loved the last few chapters. But I was bored in the middle. I guess I’m finally getting tired of the storyline of the woman who had some childhood event that makes her put her walls up and isn’t able to let someone love her. Thank you to NetGalley for the chance to read this book early.

I was given a copy of this book for my honest review.
This was a beautiful story. It shows that no matter what kind of damage has been done to you in your past, when you find the person who can make you “whole” you can overcome that damage and become a better person.