It was a cute rom-com, I enjoyed it, but there was nothing that stood out that would make me remember it in a month. Just average. Would certainly read this author again though.

I rated this book as a 4 star on GoodReads two years ago but didn't write a formal review. I am marking the rating to move this off my shelf.

This wasn't quite the story I was expecting and I'm not sure I'm really feeling the direction it took. I've decided to DNF this one, as there are just too many books on my TBR to continue reading one that I'm not really meshing with.

I liked this book but there was major drama. I wasn't expecting alot of this stuff to happen and I'm not quite sure how to feel about it. Would read another by this author.

What a good cute rom-com! This story was not what I was expecting at all... But I really enjoyed the twist that added to this amazing read! Great story overall!

I was thinking this would just be a cute rom-com. Nope. I don’t like stories when either main character is screwing around with more than the other main character and this one went above and beyond that. DNF.
**I voluntarily read and reviewed this book

This book had a premise that I enjoy from time to time, that of the accidental pregnancy and the trials that follow the decision to keep the baby. This one did this trope a bit differently though, instead of one baby on the way, the hero managed to impregnate two women a couple of months apart (some faulty condoms, so not really through being careless). Even though one of the women never really was a threat to the growing relationship between the two main characters (she had met and fallen in love with someone else), of course the strain of having two babies on the way causes some tension in the main couples relationship.

Despite the somewhat “fresh” take on this trope, this book was a bit of a meh read for me. I didn’t really grow attached to the characters, and the story didn’t stand out in any other way for me.
If you enjoy this trope you may want to pick it up for the twist to the story.

I'm a sucker for 'accidental pregnancy' storylines - I love reading the complicated dynamics of how both mom and dad work out their differences and come together to parent their accidental bundle of joy. Not According to Plan is no exception. Fun, witty, complex and a thoroughly fantastic addition to the genre. A great read if you enjoy this type of storyline.

This book just didn't really hold my attention and I set it down after the first few chapters. Maybe I will circle back to it at some point.

Not According to Plan by A.M Madden is just what I needed. This flirty and fun unconventional romance with a pregnancy twist or two is one-click worthy!

This is not what I was expecting. I thought it would be a sweet rom-com but not so much. Just okay.

Many thanks to the author, the publishers, and NetGalley for the ARC. All opinions are my own.

I really enjoyed Not According to Plan. I have read books by this author before and I always enjoy her writing. I would love to read more from her.

Not According to Plan
New to me author --> A.M. Madden.

First things first, the pregnant woman on the cover with the title “Not According To Plan” is a huge draw for me. I am a sucker for any unplanned pregnancy and/or secret baby tropes. They are the song to my happy dance, and I can’t get enough! The quote, “She never expected to be expecting,” had me jumping with delight.

<img src="https://i.pinimg.com/564x/16/43/3e/16433e43e80968b66ae85420dc78dbae.jpg"/>

I know. I know. It’s messed up when it happens in real life, but I can’t get enough unexpected pregnancy in my fictional romance. The reactions from the H(s) when they find out they're either going to be a father or already are one, is something I look forward to with toe curling eagerness.

<img src="https://i0.wp.com/metro.co.uk/wp-content/uploads/2016/02/dad1.jpg?quality=90&strip=all&zoom=1&resize=644%2C465&ssl=1"/>

This story starts off with Jade our strong, independent, female attorney living in New York. And guess what? It’s her Birthday. And what better way to spend the day than in a bar, with your bestie. Said bestie sets Jade up to sing Karaoke with an extremely HOT hero. One thing leads to another WHAM-BAM-THANK-YOU-<b>MAN???</b>

Time goes by and guess what? She’s prego!

<img src="https://i.pinimg.com/736x/4c/05/f3/4c05f34f46e350f8e013228744143347.jpg"/>

Ok, no COVIDs or pandemics in this one folks. Our H & h were responsible adults using protection <spoiler>Kind of… Hero missed the massive recall on his condoms</spoiler>, and tested positive ➕ (for pregnancy 👶🏼🍼🚼) anyways. But you can’t interfere where FATE is concerned. Or Destiny?

Anyways… Max. He’s our Hero. He’s dreamy, buff, and says and does all the right things. I just wish he got a different story because there is one teeny weeny little itty bitty… <b>big giant massive catastrophic monumental clusterF#@K</b> of a “complicated situation” that happened before our H & h got together.

Basically (please don’t read if you don’t like spoilers) <spoiler>H got his good “friend” pregnant! And now he got our h pregnant too. He’s going to be a father to two babies, who are due around the same time, with different mothers. But it’s <i>ok</i>, his “friend” is happy with the unplanned pregnancy, and is planning to marry another man who is totally cool with meeting her and committing to her with another man’s baby cooking in her oven. He's totally fine with the H being super involved and stuff. Oh no… I’m not skeptical at all.</spoiler>

If the above^^^ situation had been different, I probably would have enjoyed the story much more. That kind of “complicated situation” is just not for me. Writing was good, story was definitely interesting, dialogue was present (a little dry and to the point). Can never go wrong with more witty banter. Just wish there was less reminiscing/pondering. Many paragraphs full of repetitive thought processes could be skimmed.

<img src="https://img.buzzfeed.com/buzzfeed-static/static/2020-02/4/6/asset/cc89ab79be1b/anigif_sub-buzz-5799-1580796245-4.gif"/>

<i>***Special thanks to NetGalley, Entangled Publishing, and A.M. Madden for sharing this ARC COPY with me in exchange for my honest review***</I>

Overall Rating → <b>3.5 STARS</b>
Love Triangle? → <spoiler> no </spoiler>
Cheating? → <spoiler> no, but H got another women pregnant before meeting h </spoiler>
Heat/Language Level: Rated G, PG, PG-13, R, NC-17 → <spoiler> Rated R </spoiler>
HEA → <spoiler> yes </spoiler>
Would I recommend? → it was "ok"
Would I re-read? → maybe
Would I read more from this author? → yes. She seems like a solid author, the story just wasn't my preference.

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I had a hard time getting into this story. It just didn't capture my interest and I was glad when it was over.

Not According to Plan was one of the first books that I have read in the genre of Accidental Pregnancy and it was interesting. This one had a lot of complicated situations and characters. Sure it had plenty of romance and chemistry but it also had TWO unplanned pregnancies, complicated family dynamics and an ending where I was conflicted. I enjoyed it, read it really fast and would definitely read the author again; just not entirely sure that this romance genre is for me.

Jade, a successful lawyer, is persuaded to go out and have a one night stand to shake things up in her predicable life. And of course, she winds up pregnant from that one night stand. What she couldn't know is that Max, the father, has also gotten another girl pregnant, and while they are no longer a couple., Max has already started making plans to relocate from NYC to Miami to be a part of his soon-to-be child's life. Now with babies in two different locations, how will Max choose? Jade and Max eventually become a couple, but Max's indecision about splitting his time with his 2 children was very frustrating. And of course, it puts most of the burden on Jade who not only is upending her life to have a child, needs to decide if she gives up her whole life in NYC just to make life easier for Max. I didn't love that! While I very much felt for Max's predicament, Jade was the one making all the sacrifices it seemed. Not my favorite book, but decent read

Full review appeared at Reader's Edyn on 04/25/20

Jade is a career-driven, workaholic. One of a few women brought into the law office and vying for the junior partner position, she doesn’t have time for any fun. All she does is eat (when she remembers), sleep (once she collapses from exhaustion), and right back to work – a glaringly opposing lifestyle to that of her best friend, Amy, an erotic romance author. If their careers are a complete contrast, their personal lives are even more so. Jade may not need an angel on her shoulder because she keeps herself on track just fine, but she does need the devil in the form of Amy, coaxing her outside of her confining box once in a while. Knowing her responsibility in their friendship, keeping Jade from becoming too straight-laced, Amy dares her to do something crazy for her birthday. After much deliberation, she finally capitulates and has the best sex in her life with Max. But it’s right back to the buttoned-up workaholic … until she realizes she’s pregnant. Max is more than supportive, but he’s got a lot going on as well. He promises to be there for her, but with everything she is trying to accomplish and all of Max’s irons in the fire, Jade is less than confident that there isn’t a distaster waiting up ahead. And even with the odds stacked against them, she begins to hope they could have a future together. With her job losing a lot of it’s luster recently and Max filling her head with possibility, could this workaholic have another option? Because enjoying her baby, Max, and taking a break while she figures out if this is the direction she still wants to head in seems more like an unattainable dream.

Max is completely thrown when Jade tells him about the baby. He’s not precisely upset. Excited, in fact. He’s wanted Jade since the first time he saw her at his gym, but was unable to uncover her identity. Thinking he’d never see her again, then acting on his brother’s ridiculous scheme to pair him up with her at Kismet Karaoke, now he’s having a baby with her. But he’s also got a baby coming with his best friend. In another state. At the other end of the country. Stupid recalled condoms. He had absolutely no idea. Plus, he’s opening a new gym and the grand opening is right around Jade’s due date. He knows they have a special connection; that once in a lifetime thing everyone searches for. The circumstances are definitely less than desirable for their fledgling relationship, but Max is determined to make things work with Jade. He’s been given a chance with her and he will not waste it. He’s also got to work around the fact that her family isn’t exactly being supportive and that’s without the knowledge of all the alarming details of his life. How will they react when they find out about his other baby? But Max can’t overly stress about that. He’s got to focus on Jade, his babies, and his new gym – and pray for a miracle that everything comes together while he desperately tries to juggle it all.

I have to admit that initially when I realized that Max was expecting two babies with two different women within a few months of one another, I wasn’t sure I’d hang in there with the book. It all seemed a bit too much. Max really does have a ton going on in his life and I myself began to envision a train wreck of the worst sort headed directly for this couple. But then I began to get to know Max and Jade a bit more and while I was a bit annoyed by the fact that he created this situation in which he had to split his time up so carefully, I found myself cheering this couple on. Jade has been in a power struggle at work since probably the first day she arrived. The chauvinistic partners of the firm do not value her – only the time she frees up for them by pulling such a heavy load. She’s only a woman, after all. And they are the names of the business. Ugh. I disliked them from the beginning. Basically, she needs a change but isn’t going to allow herself that thought, let alone realize how necessary such a step is, so she forges on in seeking junior partner. Amy, as carefree and worry-free as she seems, is intelligent enough to see what Jade won’t and forces her to let loose once in a while. This baby presses on Jade, causing her to refocus her attention on some of those niggling thoughts in the back of her brain that she has so far been able to lock away. Max is in very much a similar situation. Not as far as being a workaholic in a sexist job, but in splitting his time in so many directions, desperately trying to be everything to everyone. He’s always been that way. So having two babies with two women is something he thinks he can simply force to bend to his will. Maybe not so simply though because babies never act according to plan. 😊 Working in his favor is the fact that Tracey (baby mama 1) has found who seems to be the love of her life. They were only ever going to be friends and their baby was an accidental consequence of one single drunken night. Tracey and Max always knew how things would play out with them and the baby, so there is no love triangle here creating a hot mess. Tracey and her boyfriend, Tristan, actually seem like damned decent human beings. Basically, there are a lot of factors that come into play in this sudden reality for our main characters and a lot of self-reflection must take place. Regardless of whether they are able to come together and make their relationship work, they have a responsibility to their baby to figure out their own lives so that they can provide the best life possible for this tiny life they created.

If you follow my reviews, you know that I have a new-found appreciation for the toggling POV approach within books. Such is the case for this book. But rather than an added bonus for this book, I would call it a necessary addition. With two individuals that lead such different lives and are now bringing a baby into the world, the switch between Max and Jade’s personal thoughts, turmoil, and actions had to happen. I can’t even begin to picture how difficult the story would have been to follow if everything was presented in third person POV. One super fun aspect was the fact that Max is one of a set. A set of three. Three identical triplets. Lordy! They may all look alike, but they couldn’t be more different in personality. Despite their dissimilarities, their sibling rivalry and brotherly love was a joy to experience. I’m sure I wasn’t the first to wonder how the triplet factor might influence each of the pregnancies, nor will I divulge the outcome. The family dynamic for Jade is completely different from Max’s and even though things are quite a bit more serious in her life, there was still a bit of levity provided in small things such as their names: Jade, her sister is Sapphire, and her mother is Ruby. I, myself can completely relate to Jade’s predicament as far as her family’s reaction to her pregnancy news. Let’s just say there were several similarities between Jade and myself in that respect. And my own personal shout out is to Max’s obsession with curling! Yes! I feel the exact way that Max does. It is my favorite winter Olympic sport, second only to ice skating. Ms. Madden either harbors like feelings or knows someone who does. Either way, my face lit up when I came across that fun addition to the story. Sure, there is quite a bit of heavy within these pages, but Ms. Madden does a fantastic job of balancing the serious with the lighthearted. Max is just about as perfect as a guy can get – imperfectly perfect would be a better description. I admire his determination to take care of his responsibilities while trying not to fail at any of it – even knowing that at some point something would have to give.

Overall, this is an engaging and entertaining read. Some will not be able to get past the fact that the male lead has two babies coming with two women in two different states within a matter of months. Even I was unsure if I’d be able to get past that crazy plot twist. And if you think you will get hung up on that detail, do this book a favor and just skip it. That said, I am glad that I stuck things out and even ended up relating to several aspects within both Jade and Max’s lives. I believe that many readers will be able to relate to at least some portion of either Max or Jade’s lives, which creates a bond with characters that cannot be faked. Ms. Madden also does a great job of bringing in both of Max’s brothers in just the right amount. Just enough to want to see more, and not nearly enough which left me hoping they’d get their own stories. Selfishly, their books would also likely allow me to revisit Jade and Max and I’d love to see how things were going for them down the road a bit. And let’s not forget Amy. She’s fun and quirky and reminds me of several of my friends all wrapped up in one. A story for an erotic romance author – especially given her outspoken, fun-loving personality – oh, the possibilities! When it’s all said and done, this is a story of two people who ultimately find themselves in one another, discovering everything they never knew they wanted is right in front of them. They are so caught up in the direction their lives were headed that they lost sight of who they truly were and it took this unexpected turn of events to shove them off course and allow them to recalibrate where they actually wanted to be in life. If that is not relatable, no matter the details of the circumstances, then I do not know what is. This romantic comedy took me on a memorable ride encompassing every emotion at one time or another. But beyond that, as my first experience with Ms. Madden, it made me a believer.

Kindle version provided by NetGalley/Entangled in exchange for an honest review.

4.5 Stars

Not According to Plan is the latest stand-alone novel by A.M. Madden and it was soooo good!
It had a little bit of everything-some comedy, some hot as hell bedroom scenes and whole lotta romance. I had no idea how it was all going to play out but what I can say is I really enjoyed the ride!

Jade and Max were both fantastic characters. They both were focused on their careers and didn’t have time for love. But when they meet, sparks fly and all bets are off. The chemistry between them was undeniable. What happens though when one night changes everything...

Not According to Plan was an enjoyable read! I loved the characters and the storyline so much! Highly recommend reading this book!

This book title could not be more apropos for this pandemic life. There isn’t a pandemic in this book but it does have my favorite troupe, accidental baby/secret baby. One night after a magical karaoke contest is about to change Jade and Max Navarro’s life plan, for the better or the worse? Only time will tell!

Not According to Plan is Jade & Max story filled with fun, sizzle and insta-attraction .Who would of thought that a karaoke bar night out could change your life! This couples one night hook up has now resulted in the rest of their days not going according to plan . A surprise pregnancy has now left them so many decisions and choices. This couple has me so frustrated . I wanted to grab the and just talk some sense into them but eventually I just simply fell for them ! It was a quite and entertaining ride with Jade and Max.
~~Michele McMullen ~~