Review: Jennifer’s Garden by Dianne Venetta

Jennifer is getting married to her fiancé Aurelio and she wants nothing more than to get married in a beautiful garden like her parents did. Her mother is dying and she wants to give her this final gift. Unfortunately her backyard is filled with dirt and anthills – not very romantic. She gets a recommendation from a good friend for a fabulous landscaper but when Jackson arrives she’s more than a bit put off by him. You see Jackson had been bartending at her friend’s house just the night before. How can a bartender be any good at landscaping? She’s positive he’s just more of a gardener who mows lawns for a living. She doesn’t need a lowly laborer, she needs the best of the best and Jackson’s unprofessional appearance tells her that he’s not good enough to get the job done the way she wants it. She’s extremely condescending and rude and sends him on his way despite the fact that she’s hard pressed for time in completing the project. You see Jennifer’s mother is dying and she wants her mother to see her get married in her wonderful garden backyard.

Jackson is a pretty easy-going guy but he’s more than a bit pissed at being sent on his way for not being good enough. The lady had sent him on his way without even talking to him about the backyard! His friend Michael who recommended him to Jennifer talks him into doing the job and Michael talks Jennifer into giving Jackson a try.

Jennifer isn’t convinced that he can do the job but decides to go for it since she’s losing time every day. What Jackson does to the backyard and his visions for what the garden will look like are shockingly wonderful. She sees, every time she returns from her cardiology practice, that Jackson has made true headway into turning her backyard into a sanctuary. As the time goes by Jackson and Jennifer become friends and end up talking daily. They become connected in a way that neither of them expected and eventually Jennifer realizes that she can’t marry Aurelio when she’s having these thoughts and feelings about Jackson.

This book was an interesting study in preconceived notions. Jennifer was at first and really throughout a lot of the book, a snob. She looked down on those who were not as elite as herself although she really didn’t think she was that way. She took one look at Jackson and decided that since he had been bartending there was absolutely no way he could be a good landscaper. It was ridiculous. When she received the drawn renditions of what Jackson would do with the backyard she assumed that he had used some sort of template or that someone else had drawn them because there was no way that Jackson could have done it. Frankly I almost stopped reading at this point. Jennifer was a hard nut to crack and I didn’t like her or her thoughts for a lot of the book. She was very fearful of putting her feelings on the line with Jackson but she ended up growing personally during the book so I’m glad I continued reading.

Jackson was a really great guy. He was a bit of a free spirit and very philosophical about life which was a bit off-putting for me at first but he ended up being my favorite character. We didn’t get to hear much from Jackson – mostly his interactions with Jennifer – but what I saw, I really liked.

The writing in the book was very good and I would definitely read more from this author in the future.