swooningandstepbacks 's review for:

Where You're Planted by Melanie Sweeney
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
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