Review: The Love Plot by Samantha Young

I received this book for free from the author in exchange for an honest review. This does not affect my opinion of the book or the content of my review.

The Love Plot by Samantha Young
Published by Berkley Books on August 29, 2023
Genres: Adult Contemporary Romance
Pages: 352
Source: the author
Format: E-galley
My Rating:
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Blurb:

There’s a magnetic attraction when a happy-go-lucky gig worker agrees to a fake relationship with a rich, uptight New Yorker in this steamy romantic comedy from New York Times bestselling author Samantha Young.

Star Shine Meadows is all about freedom, thanks to the hippie parents who raised her. Juggling her jobs as a professional costume character actor and a line sitter, she believes in no expectations, no stressful ambitions, and no-strings-attached relationships. So when she meets a birthday girl’s grumpy uncle while working a princess party, she can’t help but needle him. She’ll never see him again, and honestly, he’s pretty hot.

Rafe Whitman may be a veterinarian with a great bedside manner, but that doesn’t mean his patience extends to anyone with opposable thumbs. His family will not stop nagging him about finding “the one,” so when he runs into obnoxiously cheery Star again, he makes her an offer: He’ll pay her more than she would make doing her odd jobs if she’ll pretend to be his girlfriend at family gatherings. She can stop sitting in line waiting for someone else’s new phone, and he’ll get his family off his back.

When the tension between them heats to a breaking point, Star’s desire for “no strings” is tested against Rafe’s staunch stability. They say opposites attract, after all….

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AUDIOBOOK – https://geni.us/theloveplotaudio 

My Review

I was hooked from the start of this one! I adored Star right away! Rafe had the perfect grumpy start to her all sunshine all the time! And of course at first it was easy to think she was the one with the right attitude toward life. Once her family background got more clear, it was easy to see that maybe she was also projecting and using that attitude in unhealthy ways after all.

There was so much about Star that I adored and totally connected with. When she says at the beginning that yes, she has the app she can read with on her phone, but prefers her e-reader, I was agreeing 100%!!! And all about being comfortable and doing what she likes. But then when she decided she was going to give the relationship with Rafe more of a real try and starts almost conforming to what his family seems to expect, that sucked. I did get it though, it’s so easy to start taking what seems to be the path of least resistance. However, Rafe’s reactions and the way he felt about it, just made me love him more. Although maybe he could have spoken up, when he said that he knew it wasn’t any of his business what she wore or did with her body, again, just swoon at how perfect he was.

Then there was his family. I wanted to love them, but there were some things that damn! I guess Pippa wasn’t family by blood, just by marriage, but when someone suggested that Star needed to change her name? WTF!!!!!!!!! I was a little upset Star didn’t put them in their place at that point. However any of the drama in this wasn’t what normally appears to me as being drama for drama’s sake, well except for maybe with her friends at the end, that did irritate me a bit. Otherwise what happened between Rafe and Star made sense, and progressed in a way that I felt was natural/realistic.

I adored this book so much. It was grumpy-sunshine trope at its very best, which makes sense as it was written by one of my all-time favorite authors, one who I feel is the top in the romance world!