☀️“My ambition is to live a life that makes me truly happy. And I reckon that’s probably the most ambitious anyone can be.”☀️
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Rafe Whitman: Grumpy veterinarian from a wealthy, traditional family that refuses to stop their matchmaking schemes.
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Star Meadows: Free-spirited costume character actor and professional line sitter who believes in a no stress lifestyle with strict no commitment policy.
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Rafe and Star are about as different as two halves of a whole can be, and they are easily one of my favorite book couples of the year! The two start off in a fake relationship designed to ease his mother and sister-in-law’s attempts to find Rafe a wife, but we all know how blurry lines between reality and playing pretend can be.
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This book was full of witty banter, undeniable chemistry, laugh out loud shenanigans, and a whole lot of self-exploration and growth—not to mention one of my favorite plot ingredients, a dash of angst.
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Samantha Young became one of my favorite authors a decade ago with her War of the Covens (previously titled The Tales of Lunarmorte) trilogy, but The Love Plot has cemented her place as one of my auto-buy authors.
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Rating: ⭐️⭐️⭐️⭐️⭐️
Spice: 🌶️🌶️
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Read if you like:
☀️ Grumpy x Sunshine
😏 Witty FMC
🐶 Animal Lover MMC
🤫 Fake Dating
🧲 Opposites Attract
😎 He Falls First
🛌 One Bed
💕 Self-Acceptance
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The love plot will be released on August 29, and I promise you do NOT want to miss it!
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Thank you Samantha Young, Net Galley, and Berkeley Publishing Group for this eARC! I thoroughly enjoyed it.

💘 Mini Book Review 💘

The Love Plot was a more lighthearted romance that what I'd previously read from the author. While I prefer her angsty-er reads, there was a lot to like about this one.

✔️ Grumpy/Sunshine
✔️ Fake Dating
✔️ I Don't Do Relationships
✔️ Opposites Attract
✔️ Protective Over Her

The characters of Star and Rafe are probably the most traditional grumpy sunshine: she is a bit of a hippie while unconventional jobs (like line sitting) while he is... not.

The banter was fun, though leaning a little heightened - the same vibe as Pippa Grant and Lucy Score with zingers back and forth, like a ping pong match.

Overall, a quick and fun read.

Steam 🔥🔥🔥
Banter 🗣️🗣️🗣️
Swoon 💕💕💕

The love plot is a cute story of sunshine meeting thunderstorm. a perpetual optimist agrees to fake date a grumpy vet and like any good romance, feeling start becoming real. they decide early on to real date and that’s when the drama starts. His family doesn’t think she fits in and with her worries about being abandoned, feels like she needs to be what they want even if it isn’t what she wants. It’s a cute story and I’m happy there was no real villain!

I really disliked Samantha Young's book Fight or Flight, but the premise of this one sounded too cute not to give her work a second chance. And, I was pleasantly surprised by how much I was enjoying The Love Plot. For the first 60 percent, I thought it was really cute and recommended my book club put it on their TBR lists. There was a lull and some repetition in the third quarter that kept this from being a 4-star read, and there were some worrying characteristics from the main male character that I found worrying (ez: he kept grabbing the main female character's arms when he wanted her attention or didn't want her walk away) but I was impressed at what a turnaround it was from my first Samantha Young experience. 

Thank you, NetGalley, for an advanced copy of this manuscript.

4.75 Stars / Bianca

STAR + RAFE

Star is the daughter of Hippies. She's 28 years old and working as a costume actor - Disney princess for kiddie birthdays et cetera - and as a line standing person. You know, when you want the new phone and can't be bothered to stand in line for hours? That's what you pay Star for.
She has a great group of friends and she loves her life.
Enter Rafe. He's the super hot uncle of the girl she's being a Disney character for. And he does not like Star at all it seems.
But he offers her a job. Play his girlfriend in front of his constantly matchmaking mom and sister in law. Has to be better than to stand in line for hours in the rain.
Right?!

LET THE FUN TIMES BEGIN....🤣

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Adorable!
That was so cute and funny and sparky and arguey and a bit sad but just so very FUN!
The fake-girlfriend trope is not really anything new. We've read those books dozens of times before. But we love them, right? And this was a Sam Young book so I had to read it no matter what it was about... and I just loved it!
Star is so sweet and cute and fun and positive.
And Rafe is so not any of that. LOL!
But he's thawing with Star's help. And she's growing into her real self with his help.
So adorable to watch!
I really enjoyed reading this.
I wish Sam would've put a bit more puppies in it. Rafe is a vet but you hardly notice it. There are definitely not enough animals in here. I wanted more doggy cuddles or something.
But still. Great rom-com with some serious moments.

► THE LOVE PLOT was such an adorable Rom-Com.
Adorable and funny and sweet and sparky and sexy and a bit sad and all the great things!
It was also a bit of a find yourself, BE WHO YOU WANT TO BE, don't let anyone change you or tell you what to do thingy!
Run to your nearest bookdealer for your own Doc Rafe - this one is MINE!

4.5 stars

You know those books that you read a couple of pages and immediately get sucked into? That's how the Love Plot was for me! This was a super quick read and I loved every second!

What I loved:

- All of my favorite tropes: Fake dating, opposites attract, grumpy/sunshine
- I really loved Star and her personality. I really appreciated the fact that she was 100% her true self and stood up for herself as well.
- Samantha Young's writing style is extremely fun for me. I can visualize everything she writes and it feels like I"m there
- Rafe. You can't help but love Rafe AND he's a veterinarian? I also loved seeing his personality unfold as Star got to know him. The character development of both Star and Rafe was incredible.

If you're looking for a fun rom com, give this one a try!

Opposites attracts & grumpy vs sunshine -- Eternal optimist Star is so determined to live in the moment it turns out she's fleeing facing the impact of her past. When she meets super hot and uptight Rafe, she's forced to challenge how she experienced love growing up. A lot of disconnect between Star's belief in polyamory and her own feelings of possessiveness and jealousy, neither of which are healthy emotions in a relationship.

A sweet and funny romance with a lovely grumpy hero and a sunny heroine. Star and Rafe are a fun couple with a true meet-cute and a host of classic tropes.

3.5

at times feels cringey and/or rushed, but overall, isn’t bad. the moments that star kind of just threw things out there (about herself or her friends’ relationship, for example) to shock people were probably my least favorite. the story held my interest, & i liked most of the characters.

#netgalley

I have been such a fan of Young’s books for a while- her books are so easy to get hooked into and this was no exception for me. The Love Plot was spunky and full of fun romance tropes! Star was a VERY quirky character and although I didn’t fully vibe/resonate with her, I appreciated her uniqueness. I loved the first half of this more than the second half, which if you have read it, you understand the shift in nature. While I enjoyed the couple, the family made me so infuriated that it made me want to stop reading since it ruined my enjoyment of the book. In the end, I felt like there were some unresolved issues that didn’t feel concluded. Still, I will pick up all future books by Young, this one just wasn’t my favorite.

Read this if you want:
-Fake Dating
-Quirky characters
-Grumpy/Sunshine
-Self-discovery journey

Thank you to Berkley and Netgalley for giving me a copy in exchange for my honest review!

This is a quintessential contemporary romance with fake dating, witty banter, and likable characters. I would love to be friends with either the male or female MC, and I loved the little circle of people that they surrounded themselves with. Bumps and miscommunication ih this one are fairly mild until the climax, so the stress level before your HEA isn manageable. Recommended for any library that serves adults.

Star Shine Meadows is a free spirit thanks to the hippie parents who raised her. She juggles two jobs, a costume wearer, and a professional line sitter. Little does she know the uncle to the little girls party shes at will end up being her boyfriend. When Rafe Whitman proposes a fake dating relationship with Star, she reluctantly agrees. He just wants his family off his back to find a wife, and she needs the money he’s willing to pay. When things eventually heat up between them, they realize fake dating isn’t the way to go. Who says opposites don’t attract?

This was such a fun grump/sunshine fake dating romance! I absolutely loved Star and Rafe. Star was the epitome of her name and always shined so brightly. She was just so wonderful that I loved everything about her, even her ridiculous name. I absolutely loved why she was named Star Shine Meadows to. Rage was also wonderful, and such a grump! Star was exactly what he needed in his life. Also the whole “I’m rich but want to work” thing that Rafe had going on really worked. I mean, I wish my vet looked like him. Together Star and Rafe were perfect. I even enjoyed the little bit of miscommunication that occurred. It was actually really sweet and very relatable. I was also pleasantly surprised with the amount of spice, yes it wasn’t a ton, but it was the perfect amount for the plot.

If you are looking for a fun grump/sunshine romance book then I hope you grab a copy of this one August 29th! It is worth the read.

Additional links will be added closer to publication per the publisher.

ARC given in exchange for an honest review.

The Love Plot by Samantha Young

The Love Plot is a grumpy/sunshine fake dating story. This book sucked me in from the first page. Star is an easy going free spirit whose only goal in life is to be happy. So when given the opportunity to fake date a grumpy stranger in exchange for the money she needs to travel she takes it, despite having no experience with being in a committed relationship. Rafe is a serial monogamist who just wants to be single and focus on his growing veterinary practice without his family trying to push him into a relationship. He decides a fake girlfriend ending in a bad break up should buy him some time from it.

First off, let me just say Rafe is everything. The fact that Young wrote the grumpy hero without making him an overbearing alphahole was refreshing. I loved everything about his character. Star prides herself on being this kind easy going person but struggles a bit with who she really is and who she wants to be when put into new situations. I'm sure there will be some debate over how she acted vs how she claimed she would act if put in these situations. But if think that's what I loved about it so much. The fact that sometimes a string of small decisions can have as much of impact as making one big one.

Overall this was a solid story with great characters and a different take on these tropes. This is up there among my favorite of Samantha Young's books.

This was a fun, opposites attract, fake dating story that gets a bit TOO steamy later on and caused the last part of the book to drag a little bit.

Samantha Young can do no wrong whether it be writing a steamy and emotional romance or a romcom like this one. I devoured it! I love a fake dating trope and this one was top notch. I'm not surprised either because Samantha is a pro at writing romances that will make her readers swoon!

I have never read this author before, or a character with quite a free spirit like Star’s.

I adored this.

We have Star, who lives her life by her own rules- and maybe a little by those from her self-proclaimed “hippie” parents. Her greatest ambition is simply to be happy, and on that thought, I’m taking notes.

Sunshine-ey Star meets grumpy veterinarian Rafe at his niece’s birthday party (she’s dressed as Merida, one of her unconventional work gigs), and he immediately insults her.

What she does when they run into each other next still makes me laugh when I think about it. The result? Rafe asks her to be his fake girlfriend to get his mother and sister-in-law off his case. They’ve been thrusting eligible women at him like beads at Mardi Gras.

Add fake dating between two completely opposite people, and you get an absolutely perfect combination of spice, tension, and complementary characters who bring out the best in each other.

As far as outlooks on life, I loved seeing Rafe actually listen to Star, and I also enjoyed seeing Star’s healing and growth. The character development and slow-burn romance is simply perfect. I would listen to a course from this author.

I loved this, and will be looking to this author’s backlist! Rafe and Star are absolutely couple goals— I cannot get their lovely story out of my head. It’s stuck in the best way possible.

I am pre-ordering, and highly recommend that you do too!

This book started so strong. However, once the main couple was together, the male protagonist exhibited some troubling, controlling behavior. It seemed really out of character to the person he was at the beginning of the book. It was a sign of his love, but instead if came across as major red flags for his personality. Other than that major drawback, it was well written and patrons should like the story.

Rating: 4/5
Warnings: difficult family dynamics, parental abandonment
Steam: 3.5/5
Tropes: fake dating, grumpy sunshine, forced proximity, spicy cinnamon

Thank you to Berkley Romance for this advanced copy in exchange for my honest opinion. The Love Plot will be released on August 29th, 2023

Things I loved: Rafe was such a grumpy to Star's sunshine attitude. I really loved how Rafe did not take any of Star's bs, he knew her so well and communicated effectively. I loved how much Star was 100% herself and I loved her goal to just be happy. The book was such a trope filled book but it was done so well! The sweet pets. All the humor and banter kept me laughing. Well written steam.

Things I didn't care for: Star was so unkind to herself, we understand the backstory of why and we had some character growth...but I wish it wasn't all of a sudden near the end.

This might be my new favorite Samantha Young book and I can't wait to own it!

Love, love, loved this title! Some of my readers fell Young can be a hit or miss author, but this is definitely a hit! I can't wait to recommend it. My back-to-school teacher readers are going to love every minute of it!

I’m a huge Samantha Young fan, so this one did not disappoint. It has lovable characters, fantastic dialogue and nice spicy scenes. All the things one could possibly want from a Romance.