Planting Hope

Can digging and weeding, planting, and pruning equal love?

Nursing is Holly Cooper's vocation, and her sanctuary, until she witnesses a murderous attack during emergency surgery. Her childhood fear of never belonging resurfaces. Untethered, she's following music festivals down Australia's eastern seaboard, sometimes working as a nurse, sometimes as a volunteer.

Reclusive gardener Christopher (Kit) Silverton needs a nurse for his half-finished research project: the therapeutic power of gardening. In plain English, can digging and weeding, planting, pruning, hacking, or any one of those activities help kids to heal after domestic violence? A survivor himself, he knows what it's like to live with pain, guilt, and relationships that end in tears.

When Kit's partner, and on-site nurse, is injured, she suggests her granddaughter, Holly Cooper, as a replacement. Holly has the qualifications, but Kit will need convincing that a pink and green haired free spirit has anything to offer the project.

As the garden develops, passion blooms between Holly and Kit. When security on the site is breached, Kit confronts his worst nightmare. Defending the kids and Holly proves his critics right—violence lives within him. Can Holly overcome her own doubts to prove he's wrong?

Jennifer Raines's books evoke the romance of Nora Roberts' books but set in the sweeping Australian countryside. PLANTING HOPE proves that love can overcome demons and let our true self shine through. Don't miss this story that blooms like a garden of hope.