A Gardener's Guide to Love and Loathing

by Chelsea Pennington

Annie has a plan. She’s going to finish her PhD in applied mathematics and get an industry job that will finally make her parents proud. The only time she takes a break is to care for her plot at the community garden. It would be the perfect stress relief – if it weren’t for Jude.

Jude couldn’t care less about what people think of her. This is especially true of Annie – why should she care about the opinion of someone who tried to get her kicked out of the garden but keeps pretending like she’s innocent?

When someone starts stealing plants from the garden, the two women are forced to work together to catch the thief. It seems like the worst idea in the world…until it isn’t. Between a competition at the farmers market, a late-night stakeout, and far too many pizza rolls, they unexpectedly find themselves becoming friends – and maybe something more. But as it becomes clear that the thefts are part of a larger sabotage plot, they’ll have to decide how much trust to put in each other and what they’re willing to sacrifice to save the garden.

Genres: Lesbian

Unknown Binding

Reviews

[Sapphic Bookshelf]

If you enjoy dislike to love sapphic romances, you should check this out! While Annie and Jude had some flaws that led to issues in their relationship (and what first made them dislike one another), they do both grow a lot over the course of the book! There’s some cute moments between the two. And as someone who wants to get into gardening, I liked seeing the garden aspect come into play into the plot.

Pub Date: March 25th, 2025

Thank you to the author for a copy of this eARC.

[Julie · Rating 5 out of 5]

Rating: 4.5 stars

I was lucky enough to read an early copy of this book, and thoroughly enjoyed it! The romance is compelling, with the combination of loathing and a little bit of a mutual crush. I loved the main characters, and there were some fantastic side characters as well!
I felt very akin to both characters in different ways, and we love a main character with tattoos 😅

The little mystery element was so much fun, too! The story has great pacing and fantastic scenes - a date in IKEA is such a fun idea!
Highly recommend to all of my friends who enjoy a sapphic romance 🙌 this one should definitely be on your radar!

[Jen Woodrum · Rating 5 out of 5]

This book was so cute! Sweet romance, flawed yet lovable characters, and a very wholesome plot. I was rooting (ha) for Jude and Annie the whole time, and I didn't want the book to end!

[Haley Thomas · Rating 5 out of 5]

Cute as hell! I’m not a huge romance reader and sometimes cringe at the tropes but this really worked for me. Very pure story but stops short of saccharine. I liked all the characters. It had enough plot and stakes to keep me invested but was still a lighthearted read.