Reviews - Where You're Planted

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105 reviews for:

Where You're Planted

Melanie Sweeney

3.96 AVERAGE

millhousethecat's review against another edition

3.75

emotional funny sad tense medium-paced

Plot or Character Driven: A mix

Strong character development: Complicated

Loveable characters: Complicated

Diverse cast of characters: No

Flaws of characters a main focus: Yes

Meet Jack. Jack doesn’t have any time for your nonsense.

Meet Tansy. She is nonsense.

But after a devastating hurricane rips through Houston, and the library where she works, Tansy is about to become Jack’s nonsense.

Jack is the director at the Botanic Gardens, adjacent to the ruined library. When the gardens are back up and running, Tansy and her staff are offered a small shed on the property in which to run a very pared down version of the library. No one is happy, but everyone has to make do.

Jack is perhaps the grumpiest grump you’ll ever meet, and he certainly doesn’t want Tansy setting up story time in his garden or encouraging scavenger hunts along his paths. Kids, amirite?

And yet she does.

This accidental collaboration brings the community together - until funding can be found and assets separated.

But somewhere along the line, Jack’s heart starts to show fissures as he spends more time with both Tansy and her daughter, Briar.

However, Tansy doesn’t want or need to be saved, and her fierce independence can also be seen as stubborn and difficult, and pushing Jack away feels safer.

Despite him swearing off love after heartbreak and her inability to trust, it soon becomes apparent that Jack and Tansy might find just what they need in each other.

For fans of grumpy/grumpy (fight me - they’re both grumps!), forced proximity, a man who falls for a mom and her kid, plus kittens, search no more!

Sweeney gives background that this is based on a true story - the hurricane, destruction, and shared space - which only makes it sweeter.

The characters will grow on you, messy though they may be, and in the hands of Sweeney, flawed people face tough situations with grit and communication. There’s wit and swoon and spice and banter. And hard earned love. I do wish Tansy had let go of her “I don’t need a savior” complex sooner, but it did lend itself to a delightful grand gesture.

The found family vibes are strong here - throw in a cute kid, and there’s a lot to like.

Vibe check: The Hating Game and The Grump Whisperer.

the_cover_contessa's review against another edition

5.0

emotional funny hopeful reflective fast-paced

Plot or Character Driven: Plot

Strong character development: Yes

Loveable characters: Yes

Diverse cast of characters: Yes

Flaws of characters a main focus: Yes

Thank you to Penguin Group Putnam/G.P. Putnam's Sons and NetGalley for providing me with a copy of this title to read and give my honest review. The opinions expressed here are my own.
I fell in love with Melanie' Sweeney's writing with Take Me Home. I could not put that book down. As soon as I saw she would have another title, I stalked NetGalley to request it. I may or may not have squeaked when I was approved.
Sweeney's writing, her character voices, her build up of chemistry between characters, and her flowing and fluid descriptions keep me engrossed in her writing from the beginning of her stories until the end.
This particular story is personal to the author (as per the note she wrote at the end). It focuses on loss after a natural disaster and how people deal with that loss. It also shows the devastation attached to such disasters. This story is filled with heart, found family, and healing after trauma. The entire story shows the resilience of those who are forced to recover from such trauma, what they do when they are presented with circumstances beyond their control and how they come together to heal.
Tansy prides herself on being an independent woman. She doesn't want hand outs and she truly does not want anyone to take care of her. These things make her feel beholden to those who present them. She chooses to embrace her struggles, leaning on her own tenacity and determination to persevere despite her circumstances. The hurricane she encounters is not her first bought with struggles in life, but it upends her and her daughter to the point of making them both feel worried and scared. But her stubbornness often puts her in situations that can be self-sabbotaging.
Enter Jack, a grump if I've ever met one. A man who has faced his own struggles in life and has chosen to be more of an isolationist rather than embrace those around him. His surliness keeps him at arms length from people, despite them trying to nudge their way in. But when he does love, it's fiercely, as you can see with his sister, Amy, and his best friend, Omar. There is nothing he would not do for them. When his life collides with Tansy, he's not sure what to make of her. They butt heads from the get go, making enemies of each other. But that does not preclude them from forming feelings for each other. Try as they might, they just can't seem to stay away.
I absolutely adored all the side characters in this book. Kai, with their freeness. Irma with her want to maintain her youngness despite others worrying for her at her age. Melanie, who has a penchant for saving things, animals in particular. Briar, Tansy's daughter, who wiggles her way into Jack's heart, despite his rough exterior. Ivan, who is Jack's right hand man and the only one who Jack is willing to share anything with. The entire brood is one big found family with so much love you can feel it coming off the page. The way these people support and uplift their friends is something else.
Sweeney kept me enthralled from the first chapter when the storm looms and Tansy is out rescuing birds and has her first encounter with Jack. You could see the sparks right then and there. And, while the book is certainly focused on the romance, that is not the only thing that is happening. We learn about libraries and parks and how they are important to communities. We see the struggles such places have to stay open, to have enough funds to ensure those in the communities can take advantage of the programs they have to offer. Sweeney shows their importance in healing communities and bringing people together in times of need.
This book pulled every emotion out of me. There were parts with amazing banter where I was laughing out loud. But there were also parts where my eyes burned with tears I didn't want to shed in public. And then there were the times my chest felt tight because I could feel the characters panic when things were turning bad.
Sweeney creates characters and a story where all the imperfects become perfect. Where the differences in people become their assets. Where you see how important communities and being open minded are essential to health and growth. Where you realize you can be self-reliant but can also accept help from others because they want to feely give it, not because they want anything in return. It's about taking care of yourself, and others, and finding balance. This story is real and raw, full of humanity and heart. It will stick with me for a long time. I will gladly read anything Sweeney writes.

kerrireads's review against another edition

5.0

emotional hopeful inspiring lighthearted medium-paced

Plot or Character Driven: A mix

Strong character development: Yes

Loveable characters: Yes

Diverse cast of characters: Complicated

Flaws of characters a main focus: Yes

meganobrien419's review against another edition

4.0

emotional hopeful lighthearted medium-paced

Plot or Character Driven: A mix

Strong character development: Yes

Loveable characters: Yes

Diverse cast of characters: No

Flaws of characters a main focus: Yes

swooningandstepbacks's review against another edition

5.0

funny hopeful inspiring medium-paced

Plot or Character Driven: A mix

Strong character development: Yes

Loveable characters: Yes

Diverse cast of characters: Yes

Flaws of characters a main focus: Yes

Perfection!

Maybe I’m biased because I grew up in Tansy’s world and can vouch for everything from the hurricane fears to addictive Shipley’s donuts, but this book just checks every single one of my romance boxes. Just go ahead and add Jack Reid to your list of book boyfriends now because he IS the grumpy bossy hot plant daddy you need. Whether he’s rescuing flood survivors in his boat, arguing over available space for the library’s storytime that won’t involve his gardens being trampled, or crushing hard for the whirlwind self-reliant librarian Tansy, Jack is is the distant rugged outdoorsy type personified.

Jack and Tansy’s disaster-cute involves him saving her not once, but twice during a hurricane, fueling their animosity towards each other when Tansy’s library branch sets up as a pop-up inside Jack’s botanic gardens. As all romance readers know, friction creates sparks that fly when conflict turns into chemistry. Surprisingly, the catalyst is Tansy’s daughter Briar. God I loved seeing her and Jack together. Kids can be such a miss in books, but Briar latches on to what’s safe and this translated into the most natural relationship between her and Jack. From the beginning I wanted their relationship just as much as I wanted a physical relationship between Jack and Tansy.

Melanie Sweeney writes perfectly imperfect characters so well. Tansy has had to provide for herself and Briar and is terrified that she might need rescuing—the thought of having to trust her career, her home, her child and her love life to another person makes her feel vulnerable in the most excruciating way. Tansy keeps the circumstances of her flood-ravaged home hidden from coworkers and has difficulty asking for help, even when it’s freely offered. In the same way, for all his surliness, Jack panics at the idea of public speaking. He has stopped living for himself since his marriage ended, under the guise of not being a “relationship person.” He doesn’t open up easily to his sister Amy and has wrapped his heart in caution tape, not even considering the idea of dating.

This book has the absolute best chemistry. Partially it stems from it being quite awhile since either Tansy or Jack have been intimate with another person, but also because when they allow themselves to give in to each other, it just unlocks a part of each of them that needs to be seen, touched, and loved. This translates into scorching hot sex. Having an uninterrupted week of all-the-orgasms ™️ should be part of every couple’s getting to know you phase.

I think the other thing I really enjoyed was how plausible the entire story felt. There were no big bad enemies, although Tansy’s relationship with her ex is at time frustrating. I found myself laugh-crying at Amy’s meeting Omar, I literally looked up videos about bee sex while reading (IYKYK), as well as what the paper bush plant looks like. Anytime an author can create such a vivid sense of place in my head, it just draws me closer to the characters that exist there. The library and botanic gardens were this for me. I can say without a doubt that the romances Sweeney writes are full of humanity and heart. I cannot wait to read more from her in the future. I received an early copy from Putnam. All opinions are my own.

Rating: 🌟🌟🌟🌟🌟

Steam: 🪭🪭🪭

Jack

Smells like: Hard work and sweat, dirt and sunscreen, the crispness of a tomato plant

Tansy

Smells like: Lemonade in your tea, airy line dried linen, paperbacks and pencil shavings

Content Warnings

bricrowder's review against another edition

4.0

emotional funny inspiring lighthearted reflective relaxing medium-paced

Plot or Character Driven: A mix

Strong character development: Yes

Loveable characters: Yes

Diverse cast of characters: Yes

Flaws of characters a main focus: Yes

Thank you to NetGalley and Penguin Group Putnam: G.P. Putnam's Sons for the chance to read an advanced copy of this sweet and charming romance. I loved the characters single mom and librarian Tansy and Jack, the gruff botanical gardens director. They had a prickly start, and then it grew to romantic tension and then to love. The two are forced to work in close proximity to each other after a massive flood destroys the library on the outskirts of the gardens. Temporarily, they move a few librarians and resources into a space inside the gardens. As Tansy and Jack's romance builds they both must navigate their individual issues with not relying on others and being closed off and not open to love.
The story was cozy and light to read. The gardens setting was relaxing and picturesque. I enjoyed the perspectives changing between Tansy and Jack. Tansy's best friends and librarians were funny and entertaining. This was a lovely story of community, found family, and being able to be self-reliant but also allow others to help support and love you.

danidsfavereads's review

4.0

emotional funny lighthearted reflective medium-paced

I enjoyed this one. It’s a rivals to lovers, single mom story. But there’re more to it. It was sweet but also the banter is excellent. I liked seeing how these characters moved from fighting each other on everything to understanding each other to more. Seeing them work together to help the library and gardens. Just a sweet book.

Thanks PRH Audio for the early copy.