Unfortunately, I couldn't make it through this book. The storyline failed to grip my attention and engage me. I am sure this would be a good book for some but it just wasn't for me.

Very good. I was impressed by the heartfelt exploration of unexpected parenthood and complex mental health issues. And reading a romance that focuses on imperfect life plans and unexpected families is always a highlight. "Change of Plans" was a great mix of romance and real life.

This is part of a series but can be read as a standalone. I'm looking forward to reading the earlier titles in the series!

Thank you to NetGalley & the publisher for providing an eARC for review.

The story revolves around chef Bryce Weatherford, whose life takes an unexpected turn when she becomes the guardian of her three young nieces. From the moment Bryce takes on this new responsibility, chaos ensues. Addison refuses to part with her fairy wings, Cecily protests against bathing, and June is a master in the art of defiance. Bryce's dreams of a carefree life outside managing her family and career seem out of reach. Ryker Matthews, a hometown hero who rebuilt his life after a below-the-knee amputation and the loss of his Marine career, also carries his emotional burdens. He finds solace in restoring vehicles but struggles with feelings of loneliness. When Ryker sweeps Bryce off her feet in the grocery store's baby aisle, sparks fly between them. But neither of them is prepared for the curveballs that falling in love will bring into their lives.

What makes Change of Plans truly special is the genuine chemistry between Bryce and Ryker. Their connection is palpable, and their witty banter adds a layer of fun and authenticity to their relationship. The author beautifully portrays their emotional growth and vulnerability as they navigate the complexities of love and family. Dylan Newton's skillful storytelling keeps readers engaged from start to finish. The lighthearted humor, heartwarming moments, and genuine emotions make this novel a truly enjoyable read. The challenges faced by Bryce and Ryker are relatable, and the way they handle them with determination and love is inspiring. There were a few instances where the plot felt predictable, and some conflicts were resolved too quickly. Nonetheless, these minor flaws do not overshadow the overall enjoyment and heartwarming nature of the story. It is a delightful journey of love and family. With its endearing characters and satisfying romance, this book will leave readers with a smile on their faces. Dylan Newton has crafted a feel-good story that reminds us of the power of love, resilience, and the unexpected turns life can take.

Where do I even begin!

I loved the mental health and disability representation in this book. While my knowledge is limited, it seemed very realistic between Ryker’s PTSD flashbacks and the detail about the prosthetic and HO. Leading to my next point of normalizing it with Bryce’s unwavering acceptance and “let me help you” attitude that had nothing to do with pity.

I spent the entire book waiting for the spring break week where Bryce goes to Cascade and the girls are left alone with the grandparents because I KNEW the elders couldn’t handle it. The entire scene at the Payne’s house was one of my favorites in the book!

I could go on but I don’t want to leave spoilers. I haven’t even read the other two books but I loved this one so I’ll have to backtrack! Thank you NetGalley + the publisher for the eARC and I’m sorry my mood reading put me behind on reviews!

This book was my favorite in this series! I loved the well developed characters and well written story. This book had great conflict that kept me reading until the end. It had all the feels. A hero veteran hero with PTSD. A heroine that has just become guardian of her nieces. These two had great chemistry. This book exceeded my expectations!

✨ Review ✨ Change of Plans by Dylan Newton

The third book in the Matthews brothers series (following How Sweet It Is and All Fired Up), we finally get to know Ryker better. A veteran facing PTSD and an amputation with some complications, Ryker has a great meet cute with Bryce, who is caring for her recently deceased brother's three daughters. Bryce, an accomplished chef, starts working for Patty, the Matthews matriarch, and the whole family appeared throughout the book to my delight.

The book is sweet, and both characters find something together that helps them each grapple with major life changes they've been experiencing. The addition of Bryce's nieces makes this loads of fun (with a bit of sadness mixed in).

cw: custody battles, family grief

⭐️⭐️⭐️⭐️
Genre: f/m contemporary romance
Setting: small town in NY
Reminds me of: the other books in this series
Pub Date: August 1, 2023

Read this if you like:
⭕️ kitchens and cooks
⭕️ veterans with PTSD
⭕️ romances with single "parent"s

Thanks to Forever and #netgalley for an advanced e-copy of this book!

When I read the description of this book, I was immediately intrigued by the premise. As a military spouse, the struggles of PTSD for veterans is a topic that I am very passionate about. So, while I typically try only to read books that I know are going to be closed-door in the romance department, I decided to give this one a chance anyway... and I'm glad I did! I really thought these difficult topics were handled very well, and hopefully will shine a little more light on those subjects. It was a story that was certainly at times quite difficult to read (also dealing with the topic of grief and guardianship issues), but also had many entertaining moments too. I couldn't help but fall in love with ALL of these characters and want the very best outcome for them.

As far as other content, this definitely not something that I would have chosen or enjoyed, but I found the story was good enough that I could look past that and enjoy it anyway. There is some moderate language throughout--- though being married to a Marine, I feel that's fairly accurate at least. There was also one open door scene. While that's definitely not my personal preference, I feel like it wasn't all that the story was about and was more tasteful than it could have been. It was also very easy to just kind of skip over anyway.

Overall, while not my typical read, I'm glad I gave it a chance.

**I received a complimentary copy for consideration. All opinions are my own.

The final book of Newton’s debut series about the Matthews brothers, I knew from the start that I would love Ryker’s story the most - and I was right! This was easily my favorite book of the series, I basically loved everything about it! The unplanned guardianship trope is one I used to think I could take or leave, but wow! I loved Bryce’s growth here through unplanned parenting. I adore a grumpy hero, and Ryker is the ultimate recluse with an RBF, watching him soften to Bryce and her nieces was the best swoon ever 😍

What to expect::
•Opposites attract
•Unexpected guardianship
•Grumpy -sunshine
•Chef heroine and “mother like creature”
•Mechanic/retired Marine hero with realistic PTSD and amputee challenges
•Great family and found family
•Pirate themed fun
•3rd POV (not my fave but didn’t mind here)
🔥Open door, light details.

🚩death of sibling/parents, dementia, PTSD/flashbacks to war time

Thank you for the opportunity to review this new novel.

I'm sorry to say that this was not for me. It felt very rushed in the beginning with a lot of infodump on the reader. After a while I started to get annoyed with Bryce. If she didn't want the kids why in the world couldn't the grand parents take care of them.? She complained about missing her old life but do something about it then!

I put it down...

Reading Dylan Newton’s Change Of Plans was a fascinating experience, not because it broke molds or blew my romance-reading mind. I enjoyed and would recommend it. My fascination came from what it told me about the direction the genre has taken in contemporary romance. To clear up some stuff, it is not, as the blurb claims, much of a com (physical comedy seem to be how romance writers express the com in rom); what’s more interesting is: it’s not much of a rom either.

The recent crop of contemporary romance writers write “rom-com” (or at least what the publishers are pushing as a seller) and don’t know much about com, other than the classic definition of a comedy as a narrative ending in a marriage/commitment/wedding, aka the romance HEA. But all the stuff that comes between the meeting and HEA, yeah, not much rom. Where’s the rom’s focus on the central hero and heroine? Gone. To set us up with the details of premise, character, and plot, the publisher’s blurb:

In this charming romantic comedy, a hometown hero comes to the rescue of a chef unexpectedly left to care for three little girls—who may end up saving him too.

When disaster strikes and chef Bryce Weatherford is given guardianship of her three young nieces, her life goes from cooking with fire…to controlling a dumpster fire. Five‑year‑old Addison refuses to remove her fairy wings, eight‑year‑old Cecily won’t bathe, and tween June is majoring in belligerence. With all this chaos, Bryce jettisons hope for a life outside of managing her family and her new job.

It’s been years since Ryker Matthews had his below‑the‑knee amputation, yet the phantom pain for his lost limb and Marine career haunts him. To cope, he focuses on his vehicle restoration business. He knows he’s lucky to be alive. Yet, “lucky” feels more like “cursed” to his lonely heart.

When Ryker literally sweeps Bryce off her feet in the grocery store’s baby aisle, they both feel sparks. But falling in love would be one more curveball neither is ready to deal with… or is it exactly the change of plans they need?

Newton is an able, solid writer. She drew me into her story by giving me fully-realized characters. No info-dump, no wagging a telling authorial finger. Excellent, I thought, and settled in. The meet-cute was adorable and funny. Ryker and Bryce were wonderfully “real” and likeable: somewhat awkward, somewhat charming, rusty in the meeting-a-new-love-interest department and zingly attracted. The novel’s first half was enjoyable: well-paced, with a nice narrative interplay among action, romantic interaction (corny banter and texting, the “new” banter, but I’ll forgive this; Bryce and Ryker aren’t drawing-room-wit characters) and inner monologue. We read a balance of present action, courtship, and backstory, as well as inner monologue and dialogue. The hero and heroine’s “issues” weren’t too intrusive and the plot moppets took up a lot of page space, but equal to Ryker and Bryce’s romance.

Then, in the second half, things went downhill, never to make it up the hill to romance triumph. Part of this is because, as others who analyze romance have noted, contemporary romance has a hard time coming up with reasons for the hero and heroine to be apart. It’s hard to find taboos, conflicts, cross purposes when people can “hook up” at their will, consent, and understanding. Ryker and Bryce date, share one love scene and are never seen together again. Fair enough. Ryker and Bryce are given to frequent internal doubts: Ryker because of his PTSD and HO, Bryce because of her obligations to her nieces and a custody battle with their maternal grand-parents.

But when your hero and heroine have their feelings and desire to be and stay together wrapped up half-way through the romance, what do you do? You break them up! Sadly, this is where things went to hell in a hand-basket. Newton understands that the Big Mis is a romance no-no and old school to boot, so she goes for what contemporary romance loves these days. I call it the Big Oops-Delay. Just as Ryker is about to tell Bryce where and why he’s disappearing to, oopsy, the phone rings, or the door does, or a secondary character shows up unexpectedly. It’s contrived and tedious and contemporary romance is rife with it. Then, I almost welcomed it, the Big Oops-Delay morphs into the Big Mis! It’s lame and hokey, but there it is. The HEA is rushed and drippy with sentiment.

On a final note, great romance has always treated the love scene as a culminating point in the narrative, an important milestone in the hero and heroine’s relationship. Of the contemporary romance I’ve read, the love scene has become matter-of-fact, at times, perfunctory, no biggie. Newton’s love scene is explicit, but meh emotionally and doesn’t factor into narrative importance. Maybe this is real; maybe this diminution is a step in the “right direction”, maybe it shouldn’t be that important. Maybe it’s a good thing for the genre. It just doesn’t feel much like romance though, not anymore, and not for this reader. Miss Austen might agree, Change Of Plans is “almost pretty,” Northanger Abbey.

Dylan Newton’s Change Of Plans is published by Forever. It released earlier this month. I received an e-galley, from Forever, via Netgalley. This does not impede the free expression of my opinion.

Bryce Weatherford is newly self-proclaimed "mom-like creature," responsible for her three nieces in a new town after the death of her brother and sister-in-law. Her life is chaotic. Ryker Matthews is a veteran who had his knee amputated after an accident as a Marine and still suffers with pain and PTSD. When Ryker saves the day for Bryce in a grocery store, the two strike up a friendship that slowly evolves into something more.

Change of Plans was such a cute romance with unique characters. You don't see a lot of single "mom-like creatures" or veterans in romance novels, so I loved having these two spotlighted in this book. It was laugh out loud funny. While I've never been in either of their positions, Bryce and Ryker were so relatable in their struggles.

I adored this incredibly charming story. Chef Bryce Weatherford becomes guardian to her three nieces June, 12; Cecily, 8; and Addison, 5, after the death of her brother and sister-in-law. If suddenly leaving her job and moving to a small town to care for these spunky girls isn't enough, Bryce has to fight off guardianship overtures from the girls' maternal grandparents. She finds an unlikely ally in Ryker Matthews, who rescues the group at the grocery store. The former Marine is struggling with own demons, though.

This is a delightful romance filled with fun and serious moments. I'm a total sucker for stories with kids, and Bryce's nieces are silly but very touching as they grapple with the death of their parents. Ryker is a guarded Marine dealing with PTSD; he has a below-the-knee amputation and phantom pain from his missing limb. It's rare to read a book that handles the military, PTSD, and amputation so well--and with the respect these topics deserve. I adored the stoic Ryker and his introverted ways.

CHANGE is still a really funny and cute story even if it touches on some tough subjects. Both Ryker and Bryce have hang ups, between his PTSD and her trying to keep the girls and figure out her life, but the instant attraction between the two crackles. Their banter is witty and sexy. Bryce is a tough cookie, and both main characters are more unique than you see in your usual romance. Overall, I really enjoyed this one. I didn't realize it when I read it, but it's the third in a series about the Matthews brothers, but can be read as a stand-alone. Looking forward to catching up on the first two!

Oh my gosh, I loved this book so much. All three Matthews brothers' stories have been fun but Ryker's story, in this third book of the trilogy, is my favorite.

These characters - Ryker, Bryce, and all three girls - will not leave me anytime soon. Newton absolutely nailed all five of them. They are so vividly depicted, and wonderfully developed, that by the time I was halfway through the book I had totally forgotten that they were fictional. They had me laughing out loud, cringing with embarrassment, aching for all of their hurting hearts, and cheering them on to a happy ending.

I loved how Bryce responded to Ryker's war wounds, both physical and emotional, helping him deal with them better instead of burrowing into his previous hermit life. These two developed a strong connection in addition to deepening romantic feelings. The scenes between Ryker and the girls and Bryce and the girls were especially heart-tugging and had me both laughing and crying, sometimes at the same time. Newton guided them through grief, fear, anger, growth, acceptance, and love as they slowly rediscovered their joy and came together to form a solid, united, family unit looking forward to the future. Even the disapproving parents of Bryce's late sister-in-law had enough growth for me to actually like them by the end of the book. Nothing like a full week with the grandkids to alter those feelings of superiority. ;-)

The other members of the Matthews family weave in and out of this book, giving fans of the series a chance to catch up with their favorite couples. However, if you haven't started the series yet you really can jump in at any point without feeling lost or confused. If you enjoy emotional stories brimming with plenty of humor, meddling family members, charming small towns, and heartwarming romance, I enthusiastically recommend Change of Plans as well as the first two books in this series, How Sweet it Is and All Fired Up.

*ARC received from publisher via NetGalley. Fair and unbiased review.

Thank you to Netgalley and the publisher for the ARC!

I’ve read all of Dylan Newton’s books.
How sweet it is is my most favorite.

Change of plans was good. I love books with children. I enjoyed the story and the characters.
I liked the characters development and seeing them grow and find ways to deal with their issues.
The romance was good. Perfect amount of sexy times.

Change of Plans is a standalone story and the third book in Dylan Newton’s Matthews Brothers series. The first book dealt with eldest brother Drake, while the second one was youngest brother Zander’s story. Middle brother Ryker is a decorated wounded warrior who lost both friends and his lower left leg in Afghanistan. Since his recovery and return home several years back, Ryker has kept pretty much to himself, running his garage business, and dealing with his demons.

Bryce Weatherford had worked as a sauté chef for an exclusive restaurant in Tampa six months ago. Now, in upstate New York, she was serving as a mom-like creature for her three young nieces since her brother Bentley and sister-in-law Heather were lost in a tragic car accident. No one was more surprised than Bryce that Bentley and Heather had named her as guardian in their will, and now Heather’s parents Adele and Harvey are contesting the will. As hard as Bryce is trying, she never feels up to the job of raising June, a sullen 11 year old, Cecily, an angry 8 year old, and Addison, a 5 year old who twirls in fairy wings and tries to fly. But heaven knows Bryce adores these girls and will fight to keep them with her.

When a distraught Cecily gets stuck beneath a grocery store shelf trying to retrieve her special rock, a man in the next aisle with a baby girl comes to their assistance. From conversation, Bryce assumes he is a single father, at least on weekends, but is so thankful for his help. Socially awkward, Ryker doesn’t correct her that he is caring for his niece after all he won’t be seeing her again, except she is the new impetus for his mother adding lunch at her bakery cafe and becoming a beloved friend. This chance meeting is the opening for much to come.

This is such a lovely story of two people trying to find their ways when faced with adversity and lives that certainly didn’t go according to their original life plans. While heartwarming and having many humorous moments, this story also highlights some very serious topics as it delves into the aftermath of war with PTSD and loss of limb, as well as the trials and intricacies involved with guardianship and dealing with one’s own grief while helping three grieving girls. There were moments of laughing aloud and moments that brought tears in this well told tale. I very much enjoyed this book and wholeheartedly recommend it!

A great read, the story of Bryce and Ryker. Neither of them is looking for love but they find it anyway. Things aren't easy so will they stay together? I liked how it was told from both points of view and also that characters from the first two books made an appearance too.

CAN WE PLEASE STOP WITH THE MISCOMMUNICATION PLOT? Please, I’m begging here.

Other than that this was an adorable romcom. If you liked the movie Life as We Know It you’ll like this. Ryker might just be my new book boyfriend and I loved his chemistry with Bryce.

I really tried but this was so boring that at 70% I did not care about any of the characters and moved on. Maybe it would have been better if I had started with the first in the series.

Book Review
Change of Plans- Dylann Newton

Tropes
Miltary
PTSD
Found family
Child custody
Child trauma
Loss of parents

Thoughts
- Fairy wings, Peter Pan, a pirate and a dog….a Wendy Darling who wants to take care of them all while trying not to lose herself or her own dreams
- Loved the emotional depth of the characters and overall storyline, life is messy, its not straightforward
- I admire Bryce and her love for her nieces, her dedication to creating a loving home and security for them
- The author provided a glimpse into PTSD -I think this was well done, Ryker’s flashbacks, his ongoing healing, the military references and language all added to the authenticity of this characters journey
- I easily connected to these characters and the pages flew by

Overall
A heartwarming book with a guaranteed happily ever after


Thank you to @netgalley and @readforeverpub for my digital ARC in return for an honest review. Opinions expressed are my own.

Unfortunately, I couldn't get past the first scene in this book. It was drawn out, convoluted and unenjoyable for me. On a different note - I was puzzled by there being three kids in the book and only two on the cover.

I will not be rating this book (except here, where I can't submit without a rating,) or reviewing anywhere, as I feel this book just is not to my taste. It doesn't mean other people won't like it.