Rating: 3.5 stars

“Hedging Your Bets” follows Noah, a recently single guy who moves to Willow Cove to run the marina and Gillian, his next door neighbor, as they bicker, garden together, and ultimately fall in love.

I liked this book overall. I thought the cast of characters were fun and I loved the representation of being a fat woman in the dating scene. However, I feel like the two main characters were not fully fleshed out and Noah’s issue saying I Love You felt sudden and easily worked through.

Hedging Your Bets was exactly what I expected from a cute romcom. I enjoyed the challenges that Gillian and Noah shared and the process getting them to their HEA. The story really captured my attention.First time reading a book by this author but it won’t be my last.

A special thank you to NetGalley and St. Martin's Press & Wednesday Books for an ARC in exchange for an honest review.

Jayne Denker continues her Willow Cove/Thousand Islands universe of the sweet and adorable “The Rom-Com Agenda” featuring Gillian of Eli’s makeover team. Gillian is professionally a pharmacist, but her passion is her garden, something she’s worked on for five years in order to win the competitive annual garden contest. Unfortunately, new neighbor and marina owner Noah initially took a dislike to the property line boxwood hedges that were in his yard, but were part of her “borrowed landscape” garden design of multiple flower beds and romantic spaces. Oops. Even though Noah is immediately mesmerized by Gillian and the town consensus is that she’s a wonderful person, her gardening rage towards Noah makes for awkward neighborly interactions. And when Noah gets conned into participating in the garden contest with an anti-romantic, hard lines, modernistic design, Gillian despises him even more.

This is obviously an enemies-to-lovers romance (low spice) and a lot of time is spent on Gillian’s incredibly awful dating experiences, many which Noah witnesses and cannot understand how she’s found these one-date only idiots. The build-up is funny and sweet; you can’t help rooting for these two and there’s a marvelous cast of supporting characters. It’s an easy and enjoyable book with great small town vibes. 5 stars!

Thank you to St. Martin’s Press and NetGalley for a free advanced reader copy in exchange for an honest review!

Literary Pet Peeve Checklist:
Green Eyes (only 2% of the real world, yet it seems like 90% of all fictional females): YES We have a green-eyed gardener as the main character!
Horticultural Faux Pas (plants out of season or growing zones, like daffodils in autumn or bougainvillea in Alaska): NO There’s immense pressure in a book where gardening is a romantic plot device to get it right!

A cute love story. Gillian is a successful pharmacist and proficient gardener. She is beloved by many and friends with almost everyone in Willow Cove. Noah is an artist/former art gallery owner who seems to have given up on his dreams and makes an impulsive decision to buy a new house and marina in the town he used to visit as a teenager. Noah is also Gillian’s new next door neighbor. Gillian and Noah do not get off to a good start and keep running into each other outside of their homes and all over town. As they reluctantly get to know one another, they each discover there is a lot to like about the other person…

I would say this is more of an insta-lust/slow-burn in disguise as an enemies-to-lovers romance. There are plenty of charming moments throughout the novel and the garden competition plot was lots of fun. I think Noah’s averse reaction to online dating/Gillian’s dating life was strange and it was never explained. I also did not feel Gillian’s Bette Davis hallucinations added anything to the story and may have detracted. Finally, I wish the fabulous neighborhood ladies and town gossips (Judy, Annette, Carol, etc) had more scenes - they were hilarious!

This can be read as a stand-alone though if you have read The Rom-Com Agenda, you will have more backstory on Gillian and her friendship group. Recommended to anyone looking for a sweet romance featuring plenty of meddling albeit well-intentioned friends and neighbors.

Thank you very much to St. Martin’s Press and NetGalley for the opportunity to read an advance copy. I’m looking forward to the next Willow Cove story (Delia’s and Gray’s perhaps?).