This is the story of Star Shine Meadows (yes really!) and Rafe Whitman. Star is a free-spirited person who's life goal is to be happy. She works as a professional costume character and a line sitter. Rafe, a surly veterinarian, hires her to be his fake girlfriend, so his family will stop attempting to matchmake for him. She is caught off guard when she starts to have feelings for the surly man who is working his way into her heart and life.

Rafe and Star definitely have chemistry and Samantha Young does and excellent job writing this, including the banter between the two. They both don't want a relationship for their own reasons, and come with baggage from their past. I liked watching both characters become more comfortable with the other and becoming a better version of themselves. I loved the grumpy/sunshine trope in this and thought it was a great execution of it.

Star is definitely one of those "quirky girls", but it seemed to work for her. She was so secure with who she was and owned it. I loved how much she learned about herself throughout the book. Rafe didn't start off the book on the right foot with how he was toward Star, but he truly redeemed himself. I thought it was great that Rafe accepted how Star was and lifted her up. He didn't want her to change for anyone, but herself. The family and found family were well developed and the characters added to the book in so many ways.

This was a good book with great fake dating, grumpy/sunshine vibes and was a fun, quick read. Thank you to NetGalley and Berkley Publishing Group for a copy of this book. All opinions are 100% mine.

4.25/5 ☆

💗 grumpy x sunshine
🐾 fake dating
💗 opposites attract
🐾 NYC setting

The Love Plot was such a fun and swoon-worthy rom-com that I couldn’t put down. This story follows Star Meadows, who’s a free spirit juggling two jobs. She’s happy to live her life free of stressful ambitions, and jobs or relationships that would tie her down. So when she meets her complete opposite, veterinarian Rafe Whitman, while dressed as a Disney princess, she can’t help but try to get under his skin. Rafe finds Star obnoxious, but as a woman willing to do “odd jobs” for money, he offers to hire her as his fake girlfriend to get his overbearing family off his back. But pretty soon they realize that opposite 𝘥𝘰 attract…

While this was mostly a lighthearted and entertaining read, I think what I loved most about it was the deeper message in the book. Star’s main goal in life is to be happy and happy looks different for everyone. She’s open-minded and accepting, and I loved her for it. She’s a heroine I strive to be more like. Before meeting Star, Rafe had such a narrow-minded opinion of how people should live their lives. Meeting Star forces him to realize that people find joy in different things, and a person’s status shouldn’t be defined by the job they have, where they live, or their level of education.

As they spend more time faking their relationship around Rafe’s family, Star and Rafe get to truly know one another. Under Rafe’s grumpy and rigid persona is a big old softy. He falls so in love with Star, and I loved witnessing his transformation throughout the book. And while Star first appears as this self-assured, cheerful woman, she’s hiding insecurities that stem from her chaotic childhood.
Their journey from strangers to fake bf/gf to real lovers was filled with laughter, character development, some serious moments that had me teary-eyed, and so much love. These two were so special 🤍

Thank you Berkley and Samantha Young for an ARC of The Love Plot, which is out August 29, in exchange for my honest review!

She's a quirky girl who's only real goal in life is to live her best happy life and to not get into a serious relationship, he's the hot grumpy vet she meets at a party who she can't help but want to get under (his skin and in bed)... and he's offered her 10 grand a month to pretend to be his gf so his family will get off his back. Star Shine Meadows is the quirky girl, she works as a party princess and a line waiter. At her latest job she spots the very hot Rafe Whitman, a veterinarian who is sick and tired of his family trying to set him up after his previous gf cheated on him. Despite how annoying he finds Star and how much she can't help but want to annoy him and sleep with him, he offers her a deal: pretend to be his girlfriend and he'll pay her 10 grand a month. What starts off as pretending soon becomes very real, but how can they make a relationship work when Star doesn't believe in serious relationships or compromising in a relationship and Rafe is all about monogamy and his entire family is constantly trying to change Star and trying to force her to be someone else. I'll start off by saying this book had potential, however Star was so annoying as a character, I get where she's coming from, she has had a hard childhood that has definitely jaded her views on relationships and monogamy, but she's so hell bent on being "quirky" and "not like other girls" and "not judgmental at all" but it does not come off all that cute. I grew to like Rafe, but he was also super condescending and his family is a mess. Seriously their families were messes and I am happy that both Rafe and Star manage to find a compromise to their lifestyle and their relationship but it was a bit of a rough start to the book. Overall if you like opposites attract and fake dating give this one a go!

*Thanks Netgalley and Berkley Publishing Group, Berkley for sending me an arc in exchange for an honest review*

The Love Plot by S. Young, published by Berkley Publishing Group Berkley, is a full length, stand-alone novel with cross-overs to previous books.
A delightful read, literally unputdownable. A cover to cover in one sitting read that gives all the feels.
Star Shine Meadows is a woman who goes with the flow. The line sitter and character actor for hire is a happy go lucky girl who grew up with hippie parents.
And the total opposite we find in the male main character. Rafec Whitman, Dr. Vet. and happily single has a family who came from money and wants him to settle, have a girlfriend at least.
Yup here you go along with the storyline. Why not hire a pretend girlfriend. Easy said and easy done. But then the mutual attraction starts making things difficult.
An opposites attract romance that had me in knots laughing out loud, that made wanted to hugh the characters, wanted me to be in the story.
An excellent read, 5 stars.

The Love Plot is a warm and funny romance in which a determinedly independent hippie girl meets a kind-hearted veterinarian. It’s a spirited read loaded with personality and humor, and it’s bound to make readers smile.

Star Shine Meadow is, if you couldn’t tell by her name, the child of hippies who eschews commitment in favor of freedom because of her parents’ terrible relationship. She also hasn’t committed to a single career, but rather works part-time jobs to maximize her sense of liberty. She’s paid to sit on lines for rich people who want the latest exclusive gig, and she also plays costumed characters like Disney princesses for children’s birthday parties. Star plans to travel the world someday, and works with that in mind. While performing at a birthday party dressed up as Merida from Brave, she’s instantly attracted to a handsome veterinarian, whose orderly, job-dictated life is the exact opposite of hers.

Dr. Rafe Whitman just wanted to make an appearance at his niece’s birthday party without any fuss, but instead he finds himself bantering with the woman hired to entertain the kids. He realizes, suddenly, that Star might be the perfect way out of his family’s nonstop nagging. He’ll pretend to settle down all right – with Star, who will in turn receive the benefits of travel and more cash than she’s making as a line sitter/party actor.

Star expects this to just be another gig in her gig-rich life. But neither she nor Rafe expect emotions to intervene and bring them the possibility of true love. But can Star ever allow herself to settle down?

The Love Plot is a sweet contemporary romance with a sense of humor and a sharp eye for modern foibles. It’s grumpy meeting sunshine and lower class meeting upper class, and there are a lot of comfort-read tropes going on here, but Young delivers them well and with sparkle.I enjoyed Star a lot, and though some might dislike her commitment-phobia, it does come from an organic place. Her enjoyment of her freedom and conflicted feelings about wanting a committed relationship and job track are relatable. Rafe is (overly) grumpy and organized due to his background, but he learns how to unbend with Star.

Star has to deal with a lot of nonsense attached to her parent’s marriage; her mother, Dawn, constantly runs off and and is completely unreliable if ever Star's dad, Arlo, or Star need her. Arlo, meanwhile, comes off as sweet, befuddled, and terminally hooked on Dawn even though she doesn’t give a rip about the life they’ve built. Star must come to terms with her Dawn-based baggage if she wants to move on with her life, and the book does not skimp on how much it hurts to confront a parent about their recklessness. If you don’t enjoy stories featuring parental conflict, this definitely won’t be the book for you, and even though Rafe’s relationship with his folks is much kinder than what Star goes through with Dawn, it’s still very hectoring.

I really liked that when Star tries to change herself to fit in with Rafe’s staid family, he’s appalled and wants the real, sunshiny Star back. That’s a nice touch.

The book in general is fun and spicy and a good story about growing up and finding your path. The Love Plot worked for me, and I think it’s going to work for a lot of folks who long to learn how to reclaim their destinies from parental expectations.

I made the mistake of starting this book after dinner and ended up sacrificing precious sleep to finish because I was unable to stop reading. I loved the characters of Star and Rafe so much that I needed to see how their story ended. This was an enjoyable love story that kept my attention while also causing me to laugh out loud several times. I would recommend this one to all the romcom lovers out there, especially if you l9ve witty banter.

Yet another Lucy Score win! Score has a knack for giving the reader a well rounded, quirky, lovable heroine that everyone can't help but love, which we see in Sun Shine Meadows. Even the grumpy and, of course sexy veterinarian, Rafe, can't help but see her optimism shine.

Highly recommend, if you love a HEA filled with laugh out loud inducing banter, fast paced plot, and thought provoking conversations about being true to yourself.

Honestly, I could NOT deal with the hero of this story. He was so mean and hateful! I like a grumpy hero like the next girl, but he was simply too much. He disrespected Star at every moment, i couldn't finish the story.

Writing was nice, so I'm not knocking every Samantha Young, but this was not for me!

I really enjoyed this one! It's got great banter, some spicy chemistry, and growth of the characters! Star is the free spirit that you can only smile about while reading opposite Rafe who is a veterinarian grump. These two both grow so much within their relationship and themselves and it was lovely to read!

I don't know whether Samantha Young's writing has gotten worse or my taste has just changed, but I wanted to DNF this several times throughout the course of the novel. I only pushed through to write this review.

The writing is extremely basic, the kind where the audience has its hand held through every single thought and emotion. There's no depth. The characters themselves were ridiculous, and there was never a point where I was like, "Yes, this makes sense." No chemistry, just two wildly different people thrown together without any real connection being built.

I used to really love Young's books (Much Ado About You, Fight or Flight, etc) but lately they've really let me down.

Star Shine Meadows is an incredibly free individual. She works multiple jobs that are as unique as she is. Rafe is a veterinarian who enjoys his job but is very much a structured by the book kind of person.

When they meet at Rafe's niece's birthday party, it is a complete disaster due to the fact that they are total opposites. Star thinks it's funny to needle Rafe with the knowledge that she would never see him again.

Of course they do meet again and Rafe says that he will pay Star to pretend to be his girlfriend at family gatherings to prevent them from constantly nagging him to find someone.

The more time they spend together, the more they see each other for who they truly are.

This is such a fun opposites attract romance. It also has grumpy sunshine fake dating and some spice. What's not to love.

Thank you to NetGalley and Berkeley Publishing for an arc of this book an exchange for an honest review.

I'm always a sucker for the grumpy one-meets-the-sunshine-one trope, and this one was fairly swoon-worthy. Both main characters have baggage, but they grow into better versions of themselves together, and I adored that.

The Love Plot was an adorable romance with the perfect amount of banter between a total grump and a ray of sunshine.

Between that trope and the fake dating... I was bound to fall in love with the characters and the plot. A truly adorable, banter-filled romance. Star Shine Meadows, a free spirit desiring to be as happy as possible, is caught off-guard by her intense attraction to veterinarian (and certified grump) Rafe Whitman. When Rafe hires her to be his fake girlfriend to get his matchmaking family off his back, the two opposites find that they may not be faking falling in love.

LOVED THIS BOOK!

Thanks to NetGalley and the publisher for a digital copy of this book in exchange for my honest opinions.

This was really fun! Definitely not going to top any of the best of the year lists, but if you like mildly spicy contemporary stories with a hallmark bend, it's palatable.

The Love Plot was a really strange mix of hit and miss for me. I enjoyed it, but I didn’t love it as much as some of Samantha Young’s other books. Star, a free spirit on a quest to live happily, meets grumpy vet, Rafe, and can’t help but push his buttons. When they cross paths again, Rafe makes a very lucrative fake dating offer, and Star can’t refuse. It isn’t long before real feelings develop for both of them. Rafe doesn’t want a casual relationship and Star has never had a serious one, so they have some hurdles to overcome if they have any chance of making it.

First off, this isn’t a fake dating story really, so that threw me a bit. It’s one of the things that left me feeling that there were too many things going on in this story. Star is unconventional. She had complete shit parents that left her traumatized in regard to relationships and family. She has a close-knit trio of friends that she considers family. She works as a character actor at kid’s parties and a line-sitter. Rafe comes from wealth but turned away from the family business to pursue being a veterinarian. He has a strained relationship with his brother, few friends, and is sick and tired of being setup by his mother and sister-in-law. He has an ex who cheated on him. He has great parents and a wonderful accepting sister. Rafe and Star have chemistry. As people, they do try to be accepting of others and allow people to be who they are. I thought Young did a good job with Rafe’s characterization as the grumpy hero. He’s honest with Star about his attraction to her, and talks about his feelings and shares opinions openly, plus he seeks understanding rather than jumping to conclusions. Star was a harder sell for me. Young didn’t fully convince me that she was a bohemian, free spirit. She certainly marched to the beat of her own drum, and had unconventional jobs, maybe dressed less conventionally than the average person, but her life didn’t really add up. I had trouble believing she could earn enough at the jobs she worked to live by herself in Staten Island and have as much free time as she had. Her friends, so supportive at first, turned on a dime once Star’s life became busier and they disagreed with her choices. Her parents were garbage, such despicable parents that it seemed impossible that Star could have grown into such a positive, energetic person. Rafe’s life made more sense to me, save for his sister-in-law and mother interfering nonstop in his romantic life. His mother seemed so nice, not the meddling type at all. His sister-in-law? She was a piece of work. The way she and Rafe’s brother were written was too cliché for me. When Star didn’t stand up for herself with them, it seemed out of character to me. As for the writing, there was something missing for me. Some details, like the polyamorous relationship or the fact that Star was kind and understanding, were repeated so many times. Once Rafe and Star’s relationship became physical, it was all that was focused on. I struggled once they stopped talking and asking questions to each other. Everything shutdown but their sex life. There was a lot of judgmental moments in the book, making the story feel unbalanced for me. I wanted more character growth than the minimal amount we saw.

***Thank you to NetGalley, Berkley Publishing Group and Samantha Young. I voluntarily read and reviewed this book. All opinions are my own.***

You know what, I don't have anything to say besides that I absolutely LOVED this. It delivered on exactly what it is marketed to deliver. The only thing I don't love is the cover. I'm beyond over the cartoon covers that make next to no attempt to look like the characters. Why the heck is there a corgi in this man's jacket pocket?? It makes his seem absolutely ridiculous. Rafe is a tall, drives an insane car and is Succession-level rich hot who is also a vet. Star is a super sexy hippie trying to figure out her life. This cover reads more like two people who got lumped together for the school play when really the vibe of this book is similar those set photos of Glenn Powell and Sydney Sweeney. You know that ones I'm talking about.

READ THIS BOOK IT IS FABULOUS.

5 stars. When it comes to her traditionally published books, I think this is my favorite from Young, at least recently (and it should be noted I really enjoyed the others too, so this being my favorite is saying something). Grump/ sunshine is one of my favorite tropes, but Rafe and Star were more than just grump and sunshine, they were also complete opposites. While Rafe's family is the Manhattan elite, and he runs his own successful veterinarian practice (is there a sexier career? I don't think so). Star doesn't have a career. She has jobs that allow her flexibility, minimal stress and commitment, and the ability to prioritize happiness above all else. She also doesn't believe in monogamy, which means that Rafe, of course, only engages in monogamous relationships. Rafe ends up hiring Star to be his fake girlfriend to relieve some of the pressure his family is putting on him to settle down. Which means that we have the fake dating trope! But also, a one-bed scene!

Books like The Love Plot are the reason I read romantic comedy. This was funny without being cheesy. The romance was sweet and the banter was on point. There was also a fair bit of steam, which I appreciated. While it wasn't Tessa Bailey level steamy, there were several open door scenes. And I really appreciated that their struggles felt realistic and true to their characters, and not manufactured for drama. Truly, I loved Rafe and Star together. And I loved that Rafe not only accepted Star and her bohemian ways, but loved her for them. All in all, I loved this one and couldn't put it down. Highly recommend.

Thank you so much to Samantha and Berkley for an early ARC.

I liked this book a lot more than I thought I would. I thought I could tell where the book was going but I was presently surprised with where the storyline went.

This one is okay. The romance couldn’t stand alone with out the spice I felt like, which I don’t love in books. That alone makes me give this one a 3 star. The writing was good though but as a romance I feel like the plot should be able to drive more without the spice.

I adored this romcom book! It’s light and a very quick read. I felt like both characters were realistic; they made mistakes and grew by the end. The only reason I didn’t give it a full 5 stars is because it was more simple of a plot line. I definitely recommend for people who love tropes like grumpy/sunshine, bad first impressions, and opposites attract.