In the aftermath of a challenging divorce, Gillian Pritchard ventures into the realm of online dating, yearning for a fresh start at love. However, her tranquil life takes an unexpected turn when Noah West, her new neighbor, disrupts the idyllic garden she has meticulously nurtured. The initial tension between Gillian and Noah introduces a compelling dynamic, adding depth to their evolving relationship. While the novel's early chapters lacked a certain spark for me, the latter half unfolded with a sweetness that compensated for the initial shortcomings. The genuine progression of emotions between Gillian and Noah, both scarred by past heartbreaks, resonates authentically, steering clear of the predictable third-act breakup trope.

Returning to the fictional town of Willow Cove, the author skillfully crafts a narrative that explores the delicate balance between animosity and budding romance. The nuanced character development allows readers to witness Gillian and Noah's gradual transformation from adversaries to potential soulmates. Despite the slight detraction in the beginning, the absence of a contrived breakup in the final act is a refreshing deviation from conventional romance tropes. While this installment may not have reached the pinnacle, the prospect of another romance in the series leaves me eager to delve into the author's next literary venture.

Thank you for the eARC to the Publisher and Netgalley!

dnf at 25%
i was soooo bored! i was one quarter of the way through the book and the “couple” had interacted 3 times, talked bad about each other multiple other times and i just truly didn’t care about them at all.
i didn’t realize the relationship circumstances of the people when i requested this ARC and i just don’t enjoy this specific circumstance.
i was just so bored and not looking forward to spend 4 more hours to finish this book.

Thank you to NetGalley, St. Martin’s Press and Jayne Denker for this ARC to read and review!

This was such a fun and funny enemies to lovers, closed door romance. I loved Gillian and Noah and watching their neighborly feud full of witty and snarky banter! The supporting characters in this are great too … especially the neighborhood gang of retired busy bodies! I literally laughed out loud at the loser dates that matched with Gillian from the dating apps and all the antics with the garden gnome were entertaining! The small town gardening competition with full on blackmail from the town villain gave the story a little twist of good vs. evil … but she gets hers in the end! This is a nice light romcom for when you feel like reading something to get you in the springy, love is in the air mood!

I didn’t think was possible to out do The Rom-Com Agenda but here we are with Hedging Your Bets by Jayne Denker!
I loved being back in the small town of Willow Cove with Gillian and Noah.
Cute, fun and lighthearted, couldn't get any better than that.
Denker’s writing is crisp and funny, the characters are fully engaging, and the story is delightful.
I adored this enemies-to-lovers romance story.
A small town, neighbors romance who are competing in a garden competition.
This is a solid rom-com and readers of this genre should enjoy this book.

Thank You NetGalley and St. Martin's Press for your generosity and gifting me a copy of this amazing eARC!

This was so adorable! It had a few parts that were a little bit of a miss for me but overall, I had a good time reading it and will be recommending it!

After enjoying The Rom-Com Agenda, I couldn't wait to get my hands on Hedging Your Bets. However, this installment of the Willow Cove romance series fell flat for me.

What Worked For Me
Once the story got started, I found I liked the couple. The banter was great. I also liked that the couple communicated like adults.

The small-town atmosphere was fantastic. Willow Cove is fantastic. I loved this about The Rom-Com Agenda, too. The elderly, nosy neighbors were perfectly meddling. They up'd the comedy level quite a bit. The other side characters are also great. Exactly what I expect of a small-town romance.

What Didn't Work For Me
The story took too long to get going. There is a whole "dating montage" that the female main character goes through. Each date is terrible. The men are terrible. They do and say terrible things. I did not find it enjoyable at all. It felt unnecessary to make them all fat-shaming jerks.

I found the reason for the couple being enemies unbelievable.

The male main character has some super cringy monologues.

Perfect for fans of:
Dual POV, Dual Narration
Small Town Romance
Closed Door, Low Spice
Enemies to Lovers
Competition
Cute, Nosy Elderly Neighbors
Gardening/Nature

Thank you to NetGalley, St. Martin's Press, and St. Martin's Griffin for an advanced copy in exchange for an honest review.

Too cliche, tried way too hard to intertwine too many concepts / themes. Didn’t want to finish this one

I will not be giving feedback or posting a review until the Boycott of SMP ends and they give an adequate response to the demands.

Thank you Netgalley for the ARC. This was a lovely, small-town, closed door romance with an enemies-to-lovers plot. Low spice but everything nice. This was adorable but I felt like I needed a little more chemistry from the main characters.

The storyline was cute--two neighbors feuding over garden spots and hedges while fighting their attraction for each other. I really liked the character of Noah. He was willing to apologize and willing to help Gillian out when one of her many dating explorations turned out to be awful...again. I loved that Gillian was a pharmacist and wasn't willing to take any guff off of men who thought she just "helped out the male pharmacist". That's a pretty unusual profession for a woman in a romcom.

What I really liked was that Noah was super supportive of Gillian and the important things she did in life. I think that was the main emphasis of the story for me.

Thanks to St. Martin's Press and NetGalley for the gifted copy. All thoughts are my own.

Thank you to NetGally and the publisher for this eARC in exchange for an honest review.

Overall, this was a very cute, closed door romance set in a small town with a fun enemies to lovers plot. The burn was slow, and I really enjoyed the buildup to our MC's finally getting together.

What took me out of this one was the constant mentioning of Gillian's weight. At first, the references to weight vs. health and men pointing out a fuller figured woman's eating habits did not take me out of the story. However, these references became so off-putting that I would end up skipping entire paragraphs/pages just to escape them.

Was this still an sweet story with really great banter? Absolutely. But is it a book I couldn't put down? Unfortunately, no.

Gillian is looking for love after a devastating heartbreak and broken marriage. Only she seems to be looking in all the wrong places...online. Noah is running from his old life and stumbles back into Willow Cove, the town he spent some summers. But when he is blackmailed into entering a gardening contest, he makes an enemy out of new neighbor Gillian.

First, I love Willow Cove. I fell in love with it in Denker's last novel and was so excited to see her revisit it! Gillian finally gets her love story in this one! She's such a great character. Literally the entire town lovers her...well mostly.

Noah was a great addition to the cast of characters in Willow Cove. He's unbalanced and searching for something that even he doesn't know what it is. It's really great to see him finally finding it as the book moves along.

All of the characters from The Rom-Com Agenda are back in this one, and while I loved seeing them again, I did miss some of the group banter that I loved In TRCA. But, I can't wait to read the next one!

All in all, a cute romcom, with body positive vibes and plants!

Thank you to the author, publisher, and NetGalley for the gifted copy. All my reviews are honest.

Enemies to Lovers? Yes, please. Oh, how I loved the frustrations between Gillian and Noah. At times I even laughed out loud. And that poor gnome stuck in the middle... Side characters in the form of close friends and meddling biddies round out this rom-com perfectly. I read it quickly and enjoyed every minute.

I received an advanced copy of this book. All opinions are my own.

it was...fine. it was a book that i read. it was bland and boring but it was still cute. the plot of the whole gardening thing…was weirdly incorporated.

Hedging Your Bets was a laugh out loud rom com, but I had a hard time staying interested in, because I didn't care for Gillian's character. She was difficult and not very friendly, and I had a hard time putting her and Noah together.
I loved the storyline. The dates that Gillian went on were so funny and made me laugh out loud, but all of that couldn't help me get over my dislike of Gillian.

This sucks.

I’m sorry

But this book review is not going up. I can’t in good conscience promote a book published by a company that allows a person in their marketing team who spews vile and hateful things.

Both Netgalley (when I reached out for guidance) and St Martin’s press (in the MONTHS that they have known about the situation) have been silent on the issue.

So I will be silent about this book.

If all my friends are not welcome at the table, if they aren’t safe at the table, why would I want to be there?

Gillian and Noah have a knack for annoying each other but they also have fantastic chemistry. Compromise is the lifeblood of any relationship.

Rating: ⭐️⭐️⭐️💫 (3.5)
Steam Level: 🔥🔥 (closed door scenes)
Trigger Warning: brief mentions of fat shaming and divorce

Now that she's recovered from her divorce, Gillian Pritchard is trying out online dating in the hopes of getting a second chance at love. When Noah West moves in next door, he becomes an instant thorn in her side when he threatens the beautiful garden she's cultivated in her backyard. As Gillian dates one disappointing prospect after another, Noah keeps weaseling his way into her life. But it seems that Noah isn't as bad as she first thought, and soon Gillian begins to develop feelings for him. Maybe the man she thought she hated is really her true love in disguise.

After reading this author's debut novel, I was looking forward to heading back to the fictional town of Willow Cove for another sweet romance. I liked the sort of enemies vibe between Gillian and Noah and how they slowly overcame their initial dislike of one another. Unfortunately, the beginning was just missing something for me, which kept this from being a 4 star read. The second half was really sweet and had some great interactions and a natural progression of feelings between Gillian and Noah. They each had difficult breakups in the past and had to trust that their feelings for each other were genuine. And I liked how there wasn't a third act breakup! I'm pretty sure we'll be getting one more romance in this series, so, even though this one fell a bit short, I would love to read the next book by this author.

Thank you Netgalley and St. Martin's Press for providing me with an ARC of this book in exchange for my honest review.

It was cute and funny. The initial snarky banter was pretty good!
Probably won't remember about this for days to come.


Thank you Netgally & Publisher for the arc in exchange for an honest review.

This was a cute small town, enemies to lovers romance! The book gave off a cute and cozy vibe throughout which is always nice!