I love Dylan Newton novels because she has such interesting characters and loosely ties them all together so it is cohesive. I had trouble connecting with the main character, Bryce, which kept prevented me from rating this book higher. That being said it was a very entertaining plot and a happy ending.

Bryce goes from single chef on the rise to a mom like creature of three wild girls in the blink of an eye...and she is not crushing it. Nothing is going right other than her job at Patty Cakes, so when she meets a stunning stranger at the supermarket she knows she cannot add a relationship in the mix. Ryker is dealing with a mix of complex PTSD from his time in the war and his own ghosts but he can't get this disastrous group of girls out of his head.

This third installment of the Matthews brothers was such a delight. No one in this book has their lives together so it is certainly easy to identify with at least one character! Everyone was dealing with very deep and complex trauma issues but there was enough levity and fun between the serious parts to not drag the reader down. I loved Bryce and Ryker's relationship from the start and were cheering them on all along the way, even through the 3rd act misunderstanding/breakup. I love how the whole Matthews family gets involved (because of course they would!) This book is heartwarming and fun while tackling tough issues. Please check trigger warnings before picking this one up, especially if you deal with PTSD or sudden loss and take care of yourself as you read.

I received an ARC in exchange for an honest review. Bryce Weatherford has been dealt a major wildcard by life. As she's mourning her brother and sister-in-law after a tragic accident, she is given guardianship of their 3 girls, all under 13. Overnight her life changed from prominent upscale chef to single mom of 3. As she lies on the floor of a grocery store, trying to dislodge her neice from under a shelf, a pirate arrives to rescue her. Well, maybe not so much a pirate as much as Marine veteran amputee, Ryker Matthews. Ryker has built up a wall around himself, rarely leaves his garage where he works as a mechanic. But on this fateful day, he's caring for his neice and finds himself in the store just when Bryce needs the help. She has her hands full of guardianship, and he hasn't let anyone in, including family, in years. Will their attraction be enough to overcome his PTSD and her disaster of a life?

Change of Plans is the third book in this series about the Matthews brother. It's a sweet slow burn about learning to care for yourself under the hardest of circumstances. I related a lot to what Bryce went through, being a single mom myself, and felt Newton took a lot of care and consideration to portray Ryker's trauma from his years in the marines. For me the book was a little slow, and it just didn't click. I think it may be a matter of bad timing. It's a good book, well written, and Ryker gets the story he has deserved. I would recommend this to those who want to see single mom rep, veteran, and ptsd rep.

I've been a big fan of this series so I'm not surprised that this was another 5-star read for me. This author has a way of integrating hilariously humorous scenes in with real-life struggles to create a romance you can't help rooting for.

After a family tragedy, Bryce, a high-end chef, is suddenly the primary caretaker for her three nieces and has to completely rearrange her life to care for them. She's now working at a baker that's owned by the mother of Ryker, the third of the Matthews brothers. She's also living in the apartment above the bakery, accepting whatever opportunities she can to provide a good home for the girls but also have some conveniences and help when possible. But the girls are all dealing with these life changes in their own way and most days Bryce feels like she's just scraping by.

Bryce and Ryker had a hilarious meet-cute (meet-disaster?) at the grocery store where he came to their rescue. They later make the connection that he's the son of her boss and start a timid friendship. Ryker has an amazing way of connecting with Bryce's nieces and diffusing very tense and frustrating situations. But Ryker is dealing with PTSD from his time in the military (an incident that is tied to the reason he has a prosthetic leg) and mostly keeps to himself. He's distanced himself from his mom and his brothers and focuses on his vehicle restoration business. But he can't help himself when Bryce and her nieces are involved.

I think one of the things I enjoy the most about this series is how the characters all feel relatable and realistic due to their vulnerabilities and flaws. It feels like you could jump into this world and become their friends and who doesn't want that?

Any chance there's a long-lost Matthews brother out there somewhere so the author can squeeze out just one more book? :)

I’ve been a big fan of this series so I’m not surprised that Change of Plans was another 5-star read for me. This author just does a great job of integrating hilariously humorous second-hand-embarrassment-inducing scenes naturally with challenging real-life scenarios to just create a romance that you can’t help rooting for.

After a family tragedy, Bryce, a high-end chef, is suddenly the primary caretaker for her three nieces and has to completely rearrange her life to care for them. She’s now working at a bakery that’s owned by the mother of Ryker, the third of the Matthews brothers. She’s also living in the apartment above the bakery, accepting whatever opportunities she can to provide a good home for the girls but also have some conveniences and help when possible. But the girls are all dealing with these life changes in their own way and most days Bryce feels like she’s just scraping by.

Bryce and Ryker had a hilarious meet-cute (meet-disaster?) at the grocery store where he came to their rescue. They later make the connection that he’s the son of her boss and start a timid friendship. Ryker has an amazing way of connecting with Bryce’s nieces and diffusing very tense and frustrating situations. But Ryker is dealing with PTSD from his time in the military (an incident that is tied to the reason he has a prosthetic leg) and mostly keeps to himself. He’s distanced himself from his mom and his brothers and focuses on his vehicle restoration business. But he can’t help himself when Bryce and her nieces are involved.

I think one of the things I enjoy the most about this series is how the characters all feel relatable and realistic due to their vulnerabilities and flaws. I appreciated that both main characters had their own journeys for us to follow during this story - Bryce balancing her career and maintaining guardianship and Ryker finding a new way to work through his PTSD.

Any chance there’s a long-lost Matthews brother out there somewhere so the author can squeeze out just one more book? :)

3.5 stars for this book!

📖 Recap:
Bryce is a saucier chef who suddenly has custody of her three nieces under 12 after the death of her brother and sister in law. She moves to a small town in Upstate NY to care for them and takes a job in a small local restaurant. Ryker Matthews just returned from Afghanistan with an amputated leg, trauma, and trying to find his way back in the world. After they meet in a grocery store meet cute (by which I mean a child stuck on a grocery aisle shelf and a PTSD moment), Ryker and Bryce have immediate chemistry. They have baggage and trauma and learning to deal with new priorities. Will that be enough to make it work?

📚 Review:
This is my first Dylan Newton book and I very much enjoyed it! I always fear that military romcom books will portray men to be too controlling or play into the stereotypes of male / female roles in the household. Luckily, I did not find that here. Ryker was sweet, loving, a great friend and helping hand to Bryce, great with the Weatherford girls, and did not get scared of a woman that knows what she wants. Bryce was direct, honest, unafraid, and tough. I loved her character. I also really like that they did not pretend to not like each other or had that lack of communication at the beginning. I wish that would continue throughout, as we see the communication issues on both sides based on their own insecurities (which is the main reason I gave it a lower rating), but all in all if was such a pleasant, quick, fun read!

❤️ Read if you like:
Grumpy / Sunshine
He falls first
Found Family


Many thanks to NetGalley, Forever and the author for an early digital copy in exchange for my honest review!

Thank you Netgalley and Dylan Newton for this ARC, I hope I can articulate how much I loved this story ❤️ I could not put it down!

“But that’s life. Sometimes it’s sweet and sugary, like cotton candy, and living is so wonderful it melts in your mouth. But being alive can also have those bitter times - times when you think you’ll never enjoy anything again. You’ve got to get through the bitter bites in order to appreciate the sweet.”

This book was as much an ode to the forever family as it was a romcom. The way Dylan Newton wrote about PTSD, grief, chronic pain, parenting and everything else was amazing. As a mom with a preteen daughter I could feel those eye rolls June was throwing. She did an amazing job of balancing humor, love and realism. It’s such a delightful surprise when I read a book where the main characters are all equally enthralling. The nieces reminded me of the girls from Despicable Me and I loved each one of them. I particularly loved the way Ryker was genuinely invested in the girls wellbeing. The HEA in this one was EVERYTHING!
If you love Lynn Painter and Abby Jimenez you will love this book.

Loved it! So cute. I found that I kept thinking about it when I wasn't able to read it and wishing I had more time to do so! I was very invested in both Bryce and Rykers lives together and apart.

Overall I am sure there is an audience for this book and it will be well liked by those that like a bit chaotic, over the top "humor" in their romance. For me, its just a bit too much "cartoony." Bryce is a chef who has recently taken on the guardianship of her three nieces after her brother and his wife die in a car accident. I usually love these types of "found family" stories, but something just felt off for me. Bryce didn't want the grandparents taking guardianship of the kids, but she wasn't making a full effort either (eg forgetting Easter). She mentions its a bad time to start dating, but then falls fully into having weekend sleepovers with Ryker. I wish either their romance/courtship had gone a bit more slowly, or they had met when Bryce was on a more even footing with the kids. Both Ryker and Bryce have a lot going on personally, and they spend good chunks of the book apart/not even speaking so the romance never feels fully bloomed either. If you like rom-coms with lots of slapstick comedy, with some really dark topics interspersed, you may enjoy this one. Thank you to NetGalley and the publisher for the opportunity to provide my honest review.

There's not many books out there that will cover people who are differently abled and I think that this book did an excellent job. I loved to see the inclusivity!

A heart-warming rom-com. I loved Bryce's personality in this one. I'm also a fan of alternating perspectives and I thought it was interesting to see both perspectives at the same time. I liked the pacing of the first two-thirds of the book, but I felt like it sped up and skipped ahead too quickly towards the end.

This was such a sweet story! I loved all the mishaps with the nieces. The love story felt real and even though the misunderstanding/miscommunication was annoying it came together beautifully. I loved Ryker and his story with the dog was so heartwarming, I felt like I was there watching it instead of reading it.

I immediately got hooked on this book and fell in love with Bryce and Ryker. It dealt with some very serious themes, between Bryce learning to parent her 3 nieces after the death of both their parents in a car accident, and Ryker dealing with PTSD and the loss of his leg while serving in Afghanistan. I loved how immediately they supported each other, no questions asked, and how Bryce acted around Ryker’s prosthetic. Watching Bryce learn to parent her 3 nieces was often hilarious. Seeing how quickly Ryker stepped in to help them and cheer them up at various times was incredibly heartwarming. The 3rd act miscommunication was a bit frustrating but overall I think it was done well and realistically. I really loved this story and would highly recommend it. It’s my first by Dylan Newton, and I believe it’s the 3rd book in the series, but can absolutely be read as a stand-alone. I’m looking forward to going back and reading the first two however!

Pub date: 8/1/23
Genre: romcom
Quick summary: After her brother's death, chef Bryce is struggling as the guardian for his three grieving daughters. Enter former marine Ryker, who saves the day after a grocery store debacle, and quickly becomes someone Bryce can depend on for the girls. Can she trust him with her heart too?

HOW SWEET IT IS is one of my fave romcoms, so I was really excited to get to the third book in that universe! Bryce and Ryker both won my heart - I loved seeing how caring they were towards the girls and each other. They did a wonderful job supporting each other without judgement, and I loved the mental health representation on both sides (Ryker's PTSD + Bryce's troubles becoming an insta-mom). Addison, Cecily, and June provided both comic relief and emotional depth. There's not a lot of steam, but there are plenty of feels in this story!

If you enjoy found family love stories, I bet you'll like this one!

Thank you to Dylan Newton and Forever Publishing for allowing me to participate in the traveling ARC program/providing an e-ARC in exchange for an honest review.

A very cute story but the trip to Rochester threw me. No one here calls it a Garbo and Nick’s is gross. I wouldn’t take a visitor there for a garbage plate let alone a date. The story was tied up nicely in the end though and touched on some good issues. The romance could have been more fleshed out.

Unfortunately I could not get into this novel. I received it as an ARC from Netgalley but could not click with the characters and ultimately DNF.

Lately, every book that I pick up has a mental health or neurodivergent rep in some way. And I’m so pleased that Change of Plans did too.

Ryker is a marine vet who suffers from emotional & physical trauma after being medically discharged from serving in Afghanistan.

Bryce recently lost her only brother and gained guardianship of three nieces - all at the same time. While going through a nasty guardianship battle with their maternal grandmother.

But these two beautiful souls find each other and show that while they have each have their own burdens, it’s not too much to take on together.

This was SUCH a good book and was also the first book I have read by Dylan Newton (immediately adds her to my auto-read list). I loved the rep, the found family, the love of cooking, and the wide variety of characters, who were all memorable in their own way. Nobody was forgettable, nobody seemed to be a background character - there was a beautiful balance in the role they each played while also contributing to an amazing story.

Huge thank you to NetGalley and Forever for this ARC in exchange for my honest review.

Change of Plans was a heartwarming story with a great cast of characters. First I would like to say thank you to NetGalley and Forever (Grand Central Publishing for this eARC. One thing I enjoyed about this book were the connections formed between the characters, especially between the girls and Ryker. The plot flowed well and we were able to see all aspect of Ryker and Bryce chaotic relationship. One negative thing would be the miscommunication in this book, im not a huge fan of that trope but i don’t think it was unbearable. Overall it was a great story with great mental health representation and I highly recommend!

Change of Plans by Dylan Newton was technically fine. The plot unfolded how you’d expect, and for the most part the characters were well developed. But for whatever reason, I just couldn’t connect to it. My biggest issue is the miscommunication trope which is SO heavily used in this. I also felt like a lot of the conflict was a bit flat, which made it hard for me to engage with the story.

If you’re looking for a mostly straight forward small town romance, you’ll find that here!

Thanks to NetGalley and Forever for the ARC.

Such a heartwarming story with lovable characters.
It’s pure chaos throughout the whole book but that really makes you feel the stress that Bryce feels daily.
Thank you to Forever (Grand Central Publishing) and NetGalley for the ARC in return for an honest review.

I received this book complimentary from NetGalley but all opinions are my own.

Oh this was sweet as sun. Bryce and Ryker and the Weatherford girls are all such full, rich, detailed characters. Really all of the characters were. You got a great sense of who each person was. I love upstate New York too so that was a delight of a character as well. The plot was good. The crux to climax was a bit slow but I loved the epilogue. I would definitely read more by this author.