Sunday 2 March 2014

The Plan By Qwen Salsbury


I love Emma. I love Alaric. I love Emma and Alaric. This story and it's characters were quirky, funny and full of wit!

I was a little apprehensive in the beginning, with the format, but I grew to love it and it eventually had me laughing as we moved through the chapters. This is definitely an office romance to talk about! I enjoyed this story for the most part, until they actually got together and I felt the fire in Emma and the coldness in Alaric both fade and thaw respectively. That seems to be the theme of most stories these day, or maybe it's just the excitement that accompanies the build up.

There was a lot of reverse therapy within this novel. Your usual romance novel roles were reversed and the pineapple nods got hilarious as we progressed. I loved that Emma got control in the bedroom and I love the role of Alaric Cannon outside of the bedroom. I believed him and felt that connection when he got to not think about anything and just relax in the arms of Emma.

He wasn't your usual billionaire playboy. He was just another, but well off and respected, member of staff. He never strayed from his character even when he was "courting" of sorts Emma. He is so good at being aloof and sterile that  I can't seem to see him as anything else. He wears douche well! I never expect his reactions and he surely knows how to keep me guessing. At every turn he makes a right instead of the obvious left.

Emma is your usual sarcastic, take no prisoners female  and I adore her inner monologues and narration. The only thing that could have made the flow of this story better was to have more POVs from Alaric. I was never bored and couldn't wait for the next interaction between Alaric and Emma.

I never understood the point of the initial "plan" of this novel but I am glad for the recon work and the outcome. The build up and result was hilarious and fun to experience. I must commend the detail and time taken to explain and navigate the world of business, office relations, mergers and law. I was never confused and was actually interested in the business side of this novel more than I was with the bedroom scenes.

Speaking of, I feel like too much comedy was taken in the bedroom. Due to the writing style, it came off as comedy than passionate bedroom scenes. The heat was missing for me. It all seemed mechanical.

Where conflict is concerned, there wasn't much. This is a novel of comedic proportions and so even the serious moments were lightened with levity. I would have liked more back story from Alaric and Emma, as well as, to see them interact as a couple in the work place. I was actually waiting on the cliche romance novel ending. Baby, house, marriage ... in other words, I wasn't ready for it to end. Take out the sex scenes or make them better and I would surely read double the current pages. (260 pages)

This is a one read novel that will have you laughing and hanging on to every page. Even filled with a few cliche romance novel technicalities, this novel is more than an office romance. It's funny, interesting and highlights some real instances of office romance and camaraderie. The revolving door of assistants? Maybe not so much.

For what it lacked, it made up for in banter, sarcasm and a really well spent business trip. I was hooked to the pages of this novel and loved every minute I spent with Emma and Alaric. I really hope we get a continuation novella or something more on these two, because I probably miss them already :)

https://www.goodreads.com/book/show/20554511-the-plan

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