I absolutely loved reading The Love Plot. Hooked from the very first chapter, I have been unable to put my Kindle down!

I absolutely fell in love with both Rafe and Star, in fact so much that I became so invested in their story and I couldn’t help but feel every emotion they were experiencing. If my husband asked me once what I was smiling at, he asked me a thousand times. I loved the fun side of this story just as much as those hurting heart moments – which I obviously didn’t want Star and Rafe experiencing but they definitely added to the storyline.

I wasn’t so sure about Rafe at first. However, as the story unfolded, I couldn’t stop myself from handing over my heart to him. I found Star’s outlook on life to be refreshing. I hated that she felt she had to change, equally as much as I hate those who thought they could be rude and unkind to her. Life hasn’t always treated her kindly and I feel sorry for those who have missed out on being a part of this fabulous woman’s close circle.

I was not ready to leave Rafe and Star and I hope that this isn’t the end of our time with the couple. I for one would love to see which path Star chooses and if she becomes happy in her career – if she goes there at all that is. Although I do believe her outlook and determination will make it happen. I would also love to have her best friends’ story told as their relationship intrigues me, plus, I would like to get to know them better individually too.

The Love Plot is such a fun and entertaining read. One that I highly recommend.

Oh how I adored this! Fake dating and grumpy/sunshine are two of my favorite tropes and so it’s not surprise why I loves this! The story between Star and Rafe was so well done! I loved how joyful and full of life, Star was. She was so fun and she definitely brought out a softer side of Rafe. I loved how obviously into her he was once they started their agreement. Fake dating quickly became more than that for both of them. The banter, especially from Star, was delightful. I enjoyed learning about Star’s past and how it shaped her. I also really enjoyed seeing her stand up for herself.

I loved the end of the yacht scene and the epilogue! I listened to the audiobook thanks to PRH audio, and as always Savannah Peachwood’s narration was fantastic!

A fake dating, opposites attract, grumpy/sunshine romance?? Yes please! I really enjoyed The Love Plot. It was fun and super sweet. I definitely need to read more from Samantha Young. Her writing keeps me invested from start to finish!

I loved Star so much! She is a free spirit who isn’t afraid to be herself. She had a big heart and oh my gosh she was funny. She always had a book with her which was relatable. We love a bookworm MC! Then there’s the love interest, Rafe! He (and his family) annoyed me from time to time but overall I did like him. He was a bit of a grump but definitely a cute one. He works as a vet and was amazing at it. When he brought the dog home to watch him overnight…my heart melted!

The romance between these two was a special one! They come from completely different worlds. Star grew up with hippie parents who were absent a lot. Rafe comes from a very wealthy family. It was interesting to see how well they fit together despite their differences. This book did a wonderful job discussing how you should and shouldn’t change during a relationship. I really loved how they helped each other grow. Star was there to encourage Rafe to look at things from a new perspective & Rafe made sure Star knew he would always be there for her.

I truly loved this book! I cannot wait to have a copy for my shelves!

Star Shine Meadows, her name alone tells you she is going to be the sunshine in this grumpy sunshine romance, and she does not disappoint! She is carefree, fun-loving and happy to go where the wind takes her. Her sunny disposition made for a great read because you never knew what she was going to do next. And then you add in Rafe, who is pretty straight-laced and grumpy, and you know she just has to mess with him. Their banter is highly entertaining and then when they end up in a fake dating situation you just know good times are ahead. This was a fantastic romance that had me rooting for Star the entire time! The Love Plot comes out August 29th, so make a note to read it now, because this is one you won’t want to miss! ☀️

Thank you Samantha Young, Berkley and NetGalley for providing me with an advanced copy. 🥰

3.5 STARS

I found myself hooked and enjoyed the majority of the book. The hero is a swoon worthy vet and the heroine is quirky and living life. I did struggle towards the end. So it left me with mixed feelings. I did have fun most of the ride, but walked away not as satisfied, probably a me thing.


I voluntarily read an early copy.

Star Shine Meadows is the definition of a free spirit: she's 28 and works two uber flexible jobs - character actor (e.g. Disney princess stand-in at kids birthday parties) and line sitter. Basically, she has the freedom to "inhale" books while at work (line sitting) or bring joy to the hearts of children every day. IOW: She's the sunshine.

Rafferty (Rafe) Whitman is a hot vet who's also the scion of a wealthy family. He's currently being harassed by his mother and SIL to date their friends. When he meets Star, he's dismissive and mean - but he's also really hot. So when he tells her he'll pay her $10k per month for six whole months to pretend to be his committed girlfriend, she agrees. IOW: he's the grumpy.

Maybe we just weren't in the right mood for this one. Look, we love our tropes, so we can't really complain when a book leans in. That said, we don't unconditionally love a setup - we have to love the way the author pulls it off. And something about this one didn't work for us. We think it has to do with Rafe's whole schtick. He's romance hero material because he's rich and has a trust fund, but he works hard at a passion project. He's a little fuddy duddy but he loves that Star calls him on his BS. He apologizes when he does something wrong. These are all good things, but they didn't add up to a person - they added up to a romance hero. It doesn't help that the book is written first person from Star's POV entirely, so all we see are Rafe's actions. Since we don't see his inner conflict (or any of his inner motivation at all), he's just this kind of perfect guy.

YMMV - we're primarily historical romance readers and prefer 3rd person dual POV whenever possible, so we were starting from a disadvantage. Sadly, The Love Plot never managed to get past our defenses. If you love contemporary, especially a first person single POV, then this might work for you, but even cute dogs, Dua Lipa, and the Eagles couldn't save this one for us.

This objective review is based on a complimentary copy of the novel.

5 stars!

This is such a gorgeous read! A funny, romantic, utterly charming opposites attract story with two absolutely fantastic characters in a fake romance. I laughed and swooned, and I felt so much for these two, and I absolutely loved their story.

Star Shine Meadows is the daughter of hippies (no real surprise there). She is a free spirit, kind, honest and open, an optimist who sees the best in everyone and everything, and she lives her life on her own terms. She knows she is seen as flighty and a bit of a hippie, but she is fiercely intelligent. She speaks from the heart, she does what makes her happy, and makes no apologies for any of it. She’s an absolute delight, and I love her!

“Just because my life doesn’t fit into your idea of what a life should be doesn’t mean it’s bad.”

Star meets Rafe while she’s entertaining as a Disney princess at his niece’s birthday. He’s a grumpy a-hole who clearly thinks very little of her career choice, so when she is working at her second job as a line sitter (being paid to wait in line for a client), she calls him out and gleefully embarrasses him.

Rafe is intrigued by bright and bubbly Star. He is an uptight veterinarian, from a wealthy family who incessantly pester him about his single status and are constantly setting him up with single socialites. He’s desperate for anything to keep them off his back, so he hires Star to pretend to be his girlfriend for six months to give him a break.

It’s fantastically entertaining watching Star enter Rafe’s world. She is a breath of fresh air in the midst of the wealthy, stuck-up elite. She doesn’t hide who she is and she is proudly outspoken, yet she’s an absolute sweetheart and is always polite, and Rafe loves every moment of it! The book is written entirely in Star’s POV, so we’re never too sure of what Rafe is thinking, but there are meaningful looks and hints dropped that had my heart bursting with anticipation of what was to come!

“I’m glad this is working out how you hoped.”
He met my gaze. “Oh, it’s definitely working out better than I’d hoped.”
I stared at him. What did that mean?

While it’s a little awkward to begin with, Rafe and Star soon find their groove, and they’re so good together. You can feel the attraction between them, and I was cheering as all of that chemistry between them comes to its inevitable climax.

"He closed the distance between us, cupping my face gently in his hands. “I don’t want to fake this anymore when for me…this is very real, Star.”

But while Star is ready to dive on in to explore all of that mad lust, it’s Rafe who actually wants more. He’s truly falling in love for the very first time, and I loved seeing him fall so hard.

“If it were just a blinding attraction, I’d fuck you right here in this elevator.”
And now my nipples were hard.
“But it isn’t. I have real feelings for you. So I can’t do the casual thing. I’d just be asking to get hurt.”

This is such a gorgeous story – not only a sweet, heartfelt (and seriously sexy) romance, but as we watch Star trying to fit into Rafe’s life, we follow her journey as she navigates a whole new world and figures out her place. While I’m a romance girl through and through, I loved Star’s personal journey just as much as I did the romance. I admired her, and I felt so much for her as she struggles between maintaining her individuality with falling in love for the first time and trying to fit in somebody else’s life. Her search for happiness is so beautiful to watch, and though they do struggle a little bit finding their way, Rafe is there and supporting her through it all, and I loved watching these two find their happy ending.

I could not help but fall madly in love with Rafe and Star, and this book has so many beautiful messages. For so many reasons, I loved it so much – 5 stars.

Shine Meadows just floats through life. She is a professional costume character actor and sitter. While at a party, she meets a grumpy birthday girl's uncle, and even though he's hot, she decides to mess with him.

Rafe Whitman is a veterinarian, and he's excellent at what he does. However, he's not really a people person. His family bothers him often about settling down and getting married. After meeting Star, he offers to pay her to be his fake girlfriend at family gatherings.

This was a cute fake dating, grumpy sunshine story.

This was such an adorable fake dating, grumpy sunshine, found family, he falls first story that also gave the characters so much self- discovery. I thought it played out well and had a great story line that kept you sucked in the entire time and wanting more. I was sad to say goodbye to these characters and close the book because I felt so involved in it! Definitely recommend this if you enjoy these tropes!

Love it!!

Thank you soooooo much netgalley, the author and the publisher for the advanced review copy if this book💗
"I voluntarily read and reviewed the book. All thoughts and opinions are my own.”

The Love Plot was cute! Star was an absolute delight and Rafe was adorably grumpy and their chemistry was so good. I enjoyed the opposites attract, fake dating tropes. There were some resolutions that seemed too easy towards the end but overall, this was a solid read.

This is such a great romance! The grumpy/sunshine trope done so incredibly well. I loved how opposite the characters were, yet their relationship was believable and so sweet. I would recommend this to any romance reader. It had everything you want in a romance novel!

This was overall a cute read. The developing romance between the two main characters had the warm and fuzzy moments we all crave in a romantic comedy, however I think I expected more sparkle in the last half of the book. I did feel like the plot flattened out a bit after a fast paced story and lots of spice and while I flew through the first half of the book, the pace shift made it a little challenging to finish the second half. However, I did enjoy Rafe’s character development and the opposites attract theme.

I always love rom coms, especially by Samantha Young’s, they are always so fun and this one really had great chemistry between the two characters who couldn’t be more different.

This was a cute grumpy x sunshine, fake dating romance in NYC. I enjoyed Star who had a hippie Disney princess personality who is content with her life. I love animals in stories so Rafe being a veterinarian helped to pull me in, even if he is a socially quiet guy who just wants to be left alone by his SIL and mother.

Thank you so much for an advanced copy of The Love Plot!

I really enjoyed this book. Once I was invested in the story, I could not put it down. I liked that this was a romance (definitely an open door romance with some good steam), there were a lot of other elements at play in the plot...specifically, the side effects of people pleasing. The main character, Star, is wonderful as she is! Albeit, a bit immature IMO on her long-term goals, but she's getting there. She's living a life with one goal - to be happy, and she's okay with how she's getting there! Enter Rafe, a fake dating trope, and one heck of an irritating family. Rafe was the grump to her sunshine, and their balance was perfect. There were some elements of insta-love, but let's be real...I can't say no to a hot vet, and this story gave me a hot vet in spades (hello, spin-off book about the other vet? Owen?).

I liked that this story showed it was okay to not know who you want to be when you grow up. Kids are so often pushed down a path too early to understand the repercussions, and Star's character showed it was a journey, not a destination. I also love how supportive Rafe was of her, and how he truly wanted someone to balance him out...not another carbon copy of his family. Rafe showed Star he was there for her in every situation, and when she pushed him away, he gave her space but he always came back for her. I loved him! (And Star).

I did get really irritated with Rafe's family, especially his brother and sister in law. I felt like his brother's bad actions were explained away with the age old "he's a man and he's having a bad time at work, so he's lashing out" trope, which I hate. And, his sister in law Pippa was quite possibly the worst human being in the world. And Star's parents? Grade A jerks, even though Arlo got a little redemption. I grew very frustrated very quickly with them and their treatment of both Rafe and Star. I also was frustrated with the writing at times because it seemed stilted.

That being said, I ultimately enjoyed this book a lot! I rated it four stars, but it was probably more like a 3.5 star romance (but I don't do half stars)...so four it is!

Rating: 4⭐️

In the Love Plot, a quirky character actor fake dates a grumpy vet. While I enjoyed the differences between the two main characters, once they admitted their feelings, the story got a bit boring and predictable.

Samantha Young does the grumpy/sunshine trope so well! I am always left satisfied reading one of her books and I thought this one although a tad short was really fun and sexy.

Rafe and Star are opposites, she’s a bohemian free spirit and he’s a reserved vet looking for his family to butt out of his business. An opportunity arises for Rafe to use Stars services as a birthday party actress to get his mother and sister in law off his back by hiring star to be a stand in girlfriend.

Fake dating is always fun to watch play out and I adored the juxtaposition of these two characters and their families and I thought they complemented and brought out the best in one another.

A solid romance, definitely will be recommending.

The Love Plot was a bit of a rollercoaster ride for me. At the beginning, I found Star to be annoying and unrelatable. But once I got to know her, I just wanted to wrap her up in a hug! My favorite aspect of The Love Plot was the tension between Rafe and Star. I liked that there was a little bit of a slow burn between the two characters. Once they finally got together, I started to lose interest in the story ☹ I wasn’t a big fan of how the last 20% of the story played out for Star. Overall, this was a fun and quick read. Thank you to NetGalley and Berkley Publishing Group for the arc.

This book was simply ahhmazing. I loved it so much I couldn’t stop reading it. Not only was the romance entertaining and fun, but the heroine, Star, definitely became my bestest fictional friend in the entire world.

The Love Plot starts with Star meeting Rafe at his niece’s birthday party where she’s dressed up as Merida. The two get off on the wrong foot but the two end up meeting again later and they eventually decide to fake-date. Rafe needs his family to get off his back and Star needs the money Rafe is paying her to go on a road trip.

This book is chocked full of all the romance tropes readers enjoy including grumpy x sunshine, class difference, a quirky heroine, and a stern veterinarian as the love interest. Star and Rafe are the unlikeliest of couples yet the author did an amazing job of convincing me that these two belonged together.

My only real complaint about The Love Plot was that it just felt a bit over-the-top especially when it came to Star. Her parents were the absolute worst and I feel like this girl could not catch a break. Coupled with what happened with the dog toward the end of the book, I was just ready to slap some sense into Star but that’s sometimes how real life works.

As for all my dog lovers out there, you’ll enjoy The Love Plot because there are so many great doggie moments in here. We see Rafe at work as a veterinarian including him bringing dogs home with him to monitor them. It’s just so stinking cute and then there’s also the major climax of the story which features an unfortunate incident with a dog but it’s just so undeniably cute.

On the whole, The Love Plot was incredibly adorable and while it wasn’t as dog-heavy as I mentioned, I do think it’s a great one if you’re a dog lover. It’s also a nice one if you’re just looking for a sweet and fun contemporary romance.