Rating: 3🌈
I know this author by her wonderful paranormal Ghostly series so when I saw this story I picked it up.
Unfortunately it had lost the many elements that make the series so special and its characters so engaging. Best Laid Plans is a contemporary romance that’s sweet and predictable.
Uncle gets custody of his niece by tragic circumstances. Finds out his sister never told the father of his niece about her. Contacts that man, who immediately loves the kid, huge family loves her, they fall into an instant rushed relationship, events happen, they move in together. The end. All so quickly that you blink and the timeline has them getting engaged.
While this isn’t unusual in contemporary romance, these characters have little depth and less chemistry. We don’t get much history that adds to the plot or understanding of the sister. So it doesn’t really encourage the reader to connect with the story or characters in an emotional way.
Except that as a dog lover, I found myself disagreeing with many aspects of the narrative that concerns the puppy and the dynamics of the family/character interactions. Honestly, having a father threatening to put a puppy outside unless a two year old eats her vegetables? Just no.
If you’re a fan of this author or contemporary stories, there’s other books out there that I find I would recommend reading instead of this one.
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Blurb
Conner never thought much about being a father, at least not until a stranger showed up in his office and tells him he is one. It had been years since he dated the guy’s sister, but he won’t deny the possibility that Kayla is his child.
Dave just wants to right the wrong his sister made and give Conner a chance to be the father he never knew he was. While mourning the loss of his sister, he’s also angry she never told Conner about the baby.
As the two try to figure out how to handle the mess his sister left them, the men form a friendship and a bond as they try to make the transition as easy on Kayla as they can. What they didn’t expect was the feelings that spending so much time together might cause. Working through the maze of emotions, they struggle to not only keep Kayla’s heart safe, but also their own.
- Publication date: July 14, 2023
- Language: English
- Print length: 205 pages
Scattered Thoughts and Rogue Words 