Where You're Planted by Melanie Sweeney
on July 8, 2025
Genres: Fiction / Romance / Contemporary, Fiction / Romance / Romantic Comedy, Fiction / Women
Pages: 384
Format: Paperback
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Single mom Tansy Perkins only has room in her life for her daughter and her library. And maybe the next book to add to her collection. But after a catastrophic hurricane severely damages her library, she’s forced to temporarily move her branch into the adjacent county botanic gardens, where Jack Reid—the world’s grouchiest gardener who rescued her and her daughter from the flood—happens to be the assistant director. Jack has always preferred plants over people, having built a strong track record of avoiding relationships ever since his divorce six years ago. So, Tansy and her quirky band of bookish colleagues’ encroachment into his carefully-kept territory is a little more than irksome, especially when it means sharing his already-scarce resources. When Jack and Tansy are tasked with working together on the spring festival, they have no choice but to call a truce. And soon their newfound professional partnership gives way to a deep intimacy that they’ve both been silently craving. But Tansy has lost too much to risk her heart, and Jack has sworn off real love. When an opportunity arises for funding that both the library and gardens need, will their loyalties lie with the futures they’d always planned for, or the new spark they’ve found with each other?
The second book I have read by Sweeney, and she is quickly becoming one of my auto buy authors. I adored the pairing, the way Jack was with Briar and him having to grapple with his past was incredibly poignant. My nits on this book were that Tansy held onto her “I don’t need no savior” act for a little bit too long. I know that’s kind of the point of the grand gesture, but Jack tried the grown-up way (talking and clear communication) multiple times with her first before the grand gesture and she didn’t relent. That got a little old for me.
I rated this novel four stars. I thoroughly enjoyed this and will be added her to my future buy lists! Also, after some research I found that this plot was slightly based on a true story that happened with a library after hurricane Harvey. I think that is so commendable for the people involved who worked hard to ensure their community could still have the joys of a library. It is so amazing that Sweeney is brining attention to this because we often look away from places that have been hit by hurricanes, but the aftermath is just as important as the storm.
English (US) · 