This read more like women’s fiction than romance. I’m unsure why it’s being marketed as romance? The writing is lackluster and it took me ages to finish.

Bloom Where You’re Planted by Darby Baham marks several firsts for me. It’s the first time I’ve read Darby and also the first time I’ve read a Harlequin Special Edition imprint. As such, I really had no idea what to expect. All I can say is…If Darby Baham isn’t on your author reading list, then she NEEDS to be. But wait. I’m getting a little ahead of myself.

Bloom Where You’re Planted is the standalone second book in Darby’s Friendship Chronicles series. The book title and series title are truly perfect in that the series chronicles the friendship of four friends, and the book title has a powerful meaning.

Bloom Where You’re Planted is the self-discovery journey and love story of thirty-year-old Jennifer “Jenn” Pritchett and her boyfriend Nick Carrington. The two have been together for three years, but their relationship has started to lose its spark and excitement. Jenn can telegraph exactly how their evenings together are going to end and everything just feels routine; same old same old, and a little boring. Jenn is also at a crossroads in her career. She’s been a third-grade teacher for several years and while she loves the kids, she doesn’t necessarily love the job. It doesn’t help that Jenn sees herself as the boring one in her friend group, where everyone else seems to have exciting careers that they love, along with adventurous and passion-filled love lives.

I honestly loved this story from beginning to end. Darby shows the strong friendship bond Jenn shares with her friends, while also showing the characters’ love of fashion, shoes, and food. Yes, I believe you have the right to get upset with her when the characters are eating all of this amazing food from real restaurants. Bloom Where You’re Planted definitely brought a heated passion I wasn’t expecting. It was like reading a Harlequin Desire book on steroids. Talk about holy hotness. But what I really, really loved about this story was the relationship Jenn and Nick shared. Yes, they had their struggles and moments of miscommunication and not communicating at all, but they were real. Their thoughts and reactions were genuine, and they each had to look at themselves and see what they wanted for themselves and each other. Things for them weren’t and aren’t always pretty but I loved watching them evolve.

I’m looking forward to going back and reading the first book in the series, The Shoe Diaries, and also reading the next book, London Calling.

~ Favorite Quotes ~

“Sometimes we just need to say how we’re feeling, with no judgment or attempt at understanding.”

“Everything is possible.”

“Leaping just means you have a greater chance for falling, but if you never step out of your comfort zone, you don’t get the greater chance for soaring, either.”

“Every woman needs a pair of shoes that helps her stand up tall on the days it’s hardest.”

The story is shared from Jenn's point of view
Her feelings of being left behind and something missing, too,
Lead her to try therapy, to help her know what to do.
And she begins her journey to something new.

It is about Jenn's journey trying to decide
What she really wants, including not to hide.
It is about learning to consider what you really want in your life,
Learning to communicate with others and coping with strife.

She compares her life to that of her close friends
As three approach thirty she can no longer pretend.
She needs to figure out how to make more of her life chances
But definitely doesn't want to throw away her current romance!

It is a very different look at relationships and chances
As well as including some existing romances.
The problems caused by communication breakdown
Are enough to cause anyone to frown.

To me this is more 'Women's fiction' than romance,
A look at relationships and taking a chance.
For my complementary copy, I say thank you,
A different read and this is my honest review

First off, this isn’t at all what you’d expect from a category romance. It’s much more fiction with strong romantic elements, as a good chunk of the book is Jenn figuring out the rest of her life. With that being said, it’s a thoughtful and sweet book about figuring out what you really want from life. While this is the second book in a series, I read it as a standalone.

On the surface, Jenn has it all: a great group of friends, a long-term boyfriend, and a good job. But while she loves her third grade students, she doesn’t feel like she’s fully using her degree. And after three years, her relationship with Nick seems like it’s fallen in to a rut. Lately, it seems all he does is work or sleep, with none of the passion they used to have. Plus her friends all seem to have these wonderful jobs and amazing experiences while… Nick took her on a beer tour (and she hates beer). With nothing in her life going right, Jenn’s forced to confront her insecurities – are she and Nick just going through a rough patch, or does she need to make real changes in her life?

“I’m not saying I want exactly what you all have. Just that I look at you, and I’m like, man, these girls are out here taking on the world. And honestly, it’s hard for me to say this, but sometimes I just feel left behind. Like I have no story worth telling.”


This book is told solely from Jenn’s first person POV, which wasn’t an issue for me as I loved her voice. She’s a California girl who moved to DC (by way of Howard) and she loves the city. She’s an amazing teacher but is frustrated by being constantly late to nights out with her friends after spending hours cleaning her classroom or planning. And then there’s her relationship with Nick. She loves him and appreciates all of his good qualities while still at the same time recognizing that the passion is, well, completely absent. What else is a girl to think when cuddling on the couch means he’s asleep before the opening credits have even finished? But trying to bring it up to him (when he’s awake) results in denials and explanations about work. Are they really as good a fit as she thought?

A big part of Jenn’s change is her friend group. Reagan and Robin were her friends since college, where, along with Reagan’s friend Chrissy, they attended Howard together. Reagan later folded Rebecca into their friend group as well. Their friend Chrissy died about a year ago, and the friends are all struggling to deal with their grief in their own ways. Even with that, they’re constantly there for each other, whether that’s picking the correct shoes for each date or planning a joint birthday party. While initially it seems all Jenn does is compare herself to them negatively, once she learns to harness each of their strengths (whether that’s clothes shopping or talking through what her dream job would be) that’s when she truly starts forming a new idea of how she wants her life to be. Part of that is that Jenn takes her friend’s advice to get therapy, which is shown on page, and I loved that her therapist was also a California girl who went to an HBCU.

Overall, this is a good book about a woman redefining her life, with lots of support from her friends (and therapy!). It was a wonderful warm hug, and I’ll definitely be picking up the first book in this series!

I received an advance review copy of this book from NetGalley. This does not affect my opinion of the book or the content of my review.

For folks who like a little more relationship-focused storylines intertwined with the romance bit, this is it. I like how Jennifer articulates her romance problems with Nick. This is the second book in the series featuring successful women who know what they want in life and love.

Bloom Where You’re Planted was not what I expected…and not what many faithful category readers will expect either. It is, however, not a bad fit for category romance or the Special Edition line, in my opinion, as while it does deviate from the “typical” setup in a lot of ways, the romantic arc is still central, albeit in a different way.
From the moment I read the blurb, Jennifer’s story resonated with me, as I’ve also felt feelings of being left behind as people in my life move on and make plans without me, and I’m struggling to keep up. I felt joy upon seeing her come to terms with her insecurities and blossom in her own right.
As for the romance, I love that it’s about a committed relationship where they have issues and the story sees Jennifer and Nick navigate them in tandem with Jennifer’s personal journey. While “relationship in trouble” stories aren’t uncommon, they are still less common, and it’s definitely not a plotline I’ve seen from a Harlequin category (although I’m very open to being proven wrong on this).
It’s a really sweet, heartfelt, and insightful book (it’s even interspersed with quotes related to “blooming” and personal growth), and while it is a rather atypical release from a Harlequin category line, it’s definitely worth giving a chance.

I know that we're just kind of having to accept that some romance titles are really walking that line of women's fiction, but I really wasn't expecting to encounter that in a category. It's not that I didn't like this book, because I did mostly enjoy it, but this very much felt like Jenn's journey. Bloom Where You're Planted is a single POV from Jenn's perspective as she navigates feeling like she's fallen into a rut in her life. She feels like she is the boring friend and that her relationship is lacking the spark that used to exist. So, this is a relationship in trouble story that is different than any I've read before and it doesn't really follow a "traditional" romance ARC. I think I'm mostly just surprised that a Harlequin Special Edition is where I got this change up.

What I did love about this book is that there is on page therapy! And the friendship content is great and I do love seeing a woman go after what she wants. And ultimately, I believe in the HEA so that's always good.

When I think of romance, I think of books just like this one, that gives all the feels and satisfies every romance junkies' heart. This is a perfect books to snuggle up with on any day.

Excellent second book in Banham’s The Friendship Chronicles . I really enjoyed it. The pacing was a bit slow. It that’s ok because character development was great