I loved the first book in this series but am sad to say the second and third have let me down just a bit. I still enjoyed them, this one more than the second one, but it wasn't as good in my opinion

One of my main problems was that I wish we got to see the two main characters together alone a little more. This story felt so focused on the kids that it felt a little less of a romance than it did general fiction.

Change of Plans by Dylan Newton is a small town, grumpy-sunshine, found family romance about how much plans can change simply because of one event.

Bryce Weatherford was working as a chef in Florida when she suddenly ends up with the custody of her three nieces after the unexpected death of his brother and his wife. Struggling to make it through each day, Bryce finds herself in a middle of custody battle against her nieces’ maternal grandparents on top of having to deal with her and her nieces’ grief. All hope was lost, until she meets Ryker Matthews.

Ryker Matthews is Marine veteran, who has kept himself away from everyone else after his below-the-knee amputation and his PTSD. He struggles with his survivor’s guilt and has found it hard to cope with day-to-day life. He has been alone and broody until he met Bryce and her nieces in the grocery store.

I really enjoyed this book and highly recommend it to everyone who loves meet-cute and wholesome romance. This book was reminiscent to the movies Life as We Know It and Raising Helen. I really enjoyed the relationship Bryce has with her nieces. The characters, especially the girls, were very relatable and realistic. I love how each of the girls have their own quirks and how they each dealt with the trauma of losing their parents.

I really love the representation in the book, the backstory of each characters, and just how relatable it was. There was a little miscommunication happening, but I love that there wasn’t a third act break up. I love how maturity of the characters and how situations were resolved through communication and/or their own realization/personal growth.

This book has a lot of depth to it, more than just a romance story. The characters were well-written and with development. This is the third installment of Dylan Newton’s Matthews Brother series but it can be read as a standalone and wouldn’t feel like you’d miss anything.

I frickin' love Ryker!!! Hands down my favorite Matthews guy!
I loved every second of this book! It's funny, sweet, real, raw, swoony ... everything I want in a romcom!

Thank you to @netgalley for my copy of this eARC.

I became a big fan of Dylan Newton with How Sweet It Is and have read her books ever since! Though I loved Ryker’s character in the earlier books of this series, I was a bit underwhelmed when it came to this book. There wasn’t as much of a flow in the banter or story this time as in her previous books. It kind of fell flat for me.

I liked this story. I am behind in that I had not read the other two in the stand alone series to get the brother backstory. I liked the character/world building. I could easily picture the characters and where they lived. I liked the representation for a disabled character and someone suffering PTSD. I really felt for our FMC as she had to navigate raising three girls, uprooting her life and the other outside struggles trying to keep her from doing so. I liked the very real activities of navigating a first period, and feeling unsupported by other family members, while gaining support from found family.

I don’t always love a miscommunication trope, but the characters were able to work it out.

Thank you to Forever Publishing and Netgalley for an advanced reader copy in exchange for my honest review.

Thank you to @authordylannewtwon and @readforeverpub for a copy of this book in exchange for my honest review. Also, thank you to @ilashreads for orgainzing and including me in the traveling ARC for this book.

I have anxiously been waiting for Ryker’s book, and it was so worth the wait! Bryce could not have been more perfect for Ryker and he is just what she was needing in her life what had recently been turned upside down.

This is a wonderfully written story of found family, recovery and forgiveness. It gave me Raising Helen vibes and I wasn’t sad about it.

This book was full of humorous situations, intimate moments, and family drama. Dylan Newton does a wonderful job combining them all together for a story you can’t help falling for.

5 stars


#books #bookishlife #booklover #readingisfun #iowabookstagrammers #iowabookstagram #netgalley #readforeverpub #dylannewton #changeofplans #readforever2023

4.5 stars!

I love nearly everything about "Change of Plans" by Dylan Newton! I adored each and every one of the characters. I was entranced by the pining between the main characters Bryce and Ryker. I loved the backstories that led them right to each other (despite the devastating circumstances that brought them together). Bryce slowly goes from being a single saucier/chef to a surrogate mother of three when her brother and his wife die in a car accident, leaving behind their three daughters in her care. Ryker is a Marine dealing with PTSD after coming home from Afghanistan with a prosthetic leg following an IED explosion. He's grumpy, but he's got every right to be. Underneath that gruff exterior is a cinnamon roll waiting for the right person to come along and break him out of his shell. Bryce feels an instant connection to Ryker the first time they meet, but she's got a lot of baggage between working, a side business, three kids to take care of, and an impending legal battle for custody of the girls. I appreciate the disability representation where Ryker is concerned, and I love the fact that Dylan Newton made the decision not to his his prosthesis or make it a plot device in her story. This book is full of humor, love, yearning, and loss. All of these ingredients mix together to make one terrific little book that made me laugh, cry, and cheer. My chief complaint is the constant miscommunication between Bryce and Ryker! GAH! They drove me up the wall! It worked some of the time, but towards the third act, it started to get really grating and annoying. Still, I cannot deny that I loved reading this book, and I will definitely be purchasing it at some point.

Thank you to NetGalley, Dylan Newton, and Forever (Grand Central Publishing) for the complimentary ARC of this book. All opinions are my own. I was not compensated for this review.

Thank you to @readforeverpub for the ebook and physical copy! I had the opportunity to be on a traveling ARC team and it was so much fun! I loved seeing where the book went and what everyone thought of it!⁣
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@authordylannewton books are SO sweet and fun.⁣
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This book had some Life as We Know it vibes, as an aunt unexpectedly has guardianship of her three nieces after a tragedy.⁣ And chaos ensues.
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There are hilarious mishaps, very tense moments, and some truly heartbreaking times, too. This book has it all, and I really enjoyed it.⁣
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TW: PTSD, loss of a parent

Thank you to NetGalley and the publisher for giving me an ARC of this book in exchange for an honest review.

I’m a little late on this review! Life got hectic and I didn’t get this book read before it released on August 1st, but man am I glad I finally got a chance to read it! This book was great! I literally had a smile on my face the whole time I was reading it and laughed out loud multiple times.

Bryce’s brother and sister-in-law died in a car accident and now she finds herself the new guardian of her 3 nieces. She moves to their little town in Wellsville, NY and there she meets Ryker, a retired marine who lost his leg in Afghanistan and is struggling with PTSD. They both have a lot of things to overcome, but with a little help they both find their way.

The chemistry between these two was off the chart! I felt it immediate at their meet cute. I loved Bryce’s nieces! They added so much comedic relief and they reminded me a lot of the 3 little girls in Despicable Me. I also loved Ryker’s family.

Once I started reading this book, I couldn’t put it down. If you like small town romance, hallmark movies (with a little steam), or the movie Raising Helen (which this book reminded me of), you will love this book!

This is the third book featuring each of the Matthews brothers. The first two books were great and I also enjoyed this one. This is Ryker’s story. Bryce becomes the guardian of her three nieces when her brother suddenly dies and to say she is sometimes in over her head is an understatement. Ryker was injured in Afghanistan and lost a limb. Since his return home he has worried his family with his imposed isolation. His friendship with Bryce and her nieces starts to turn his life around. The relationships between the girls and both Bryce and Ryker are such a great component of the book. This is a heartwarming and funny romance story. Check this one out and read the other books in this series too.

Such an enjoyable, entertaining book. Ryker is an ex marine, and we all know how much I love a military man. I adored his and Bryce’s meet cute. This was an adorable, heartfelt read with wonderful characters. *I received an ARC in exchange for my honest review.

This was a super cute story. It’s not a lighthearted romcom, but more on the serious side of romance about real life problems. While this is the third Matthews brother story, you can definitely read it as a standalone still! Although I can’t recommend All Fired Up enough, that is the second book!

It focuses heavily on PTSD and child custody battles, so that might be a trigger for some.

Steam level: One explicit scene

This was such a fun and engaging read, and the found family was so well-written in it. I thought this was a wonderful story about romance, but also about dealing with loss, healing, becoming a new parent, and relationships in general. I thoroughly enjoyed this book.

I received an ARC from NetGalley, and this is my honest review.

What a great story. The inclusion of a disabled person and the things they and people they love have to deal with was a great thing to read. The whole idea was such a wonderful journey and I can’t wait to read more by this author.

Ahhhhh this book was the epitome of CUTE!!!

Bryce has become the somewhat reluctant guardian of her three nieces after her brother and sister-in-law pass away from injuries in a car accident. She has uprooted her life in Florida to be with them in New York. She is a chef who is working at a small cafe and meets Ryker in a meet-cute at the grocery store where he pretends to be a pirate. Hijinks ensue with the kids and it’s all Bryce can do to manage her life, with the kids’ grandparents wanting custody, working at the cafe, and falling for Ryker.

There were so many laugh out loud moments in this book. I wanted to hug those kids - and the vulnerable moment with Cici toward the end had me in tears. Ryker and Bryce were so sweet and fun, despite the miscommunication which is my least favorite trope (if you’ve followed me awhile you know this lol) but the way they come back together and work through things is lovely. And that ending! So sweet!!

Thank you NetGalley and the publisher for an ARC in exchange for an honest review.

I did not finish this title in advance of the publication day, but do intend to finish reading later down the line.

Change of Plans by Dylan Newton
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Bryce’s life has really changed since she has been given guardianship of her three nieces. She is navigating learning how to take care of then, deal with grief from the lose of their parents and work as a full time chef. When she meets Ryker, she knows she cannot handle any distractions but is still drawn to him.
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What I liked:
-This book was an excellent blend of funny, sweet, and heartwarming.
-I loved the dual POVs from Bryce and Ryker. They were fleshed out very well, each with a back story that had me rooting for them.
-I loved each of the nieces, they had such unique personalities and were all dealing with their own complicated emotions. I felt so much love for them and wanted to hug them all.
-They way everyone came together at the end had me so happy and internally cheering.
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4⭐️⭐️⭐️⭐️

The third book in her Matthews Brothers series, Change of Plans tells the story of Ryker Matthews, the reclusive Marine veteran with PTSD and an amputee. This story introduces Bryce Weatherford, a rising chef whose brother and sister-in-law die in a tragic accident, leaving her with custody of her three nieces and an upended life in chaos. Bryce and Ryker meet in a grocery store mishap and realize their lives are connected in more ways than one.

Bryce is "hot mess express" with a series of drama between her nieces' grandparents who want custody of the girls, struggling with financial issues and a floundering catering business to keep her afloat. Somehow, none of these issues are a deal-breaker for Ryker and he pursues Bryce.

This was an adorable meet-cute without all the sunshine and roses. I loved the updates of the other Matthews brothers and how their love stories were progressing. I highly recommend this series!

Thank you to NetGalley and Forever Publishing for an advanced digital copy of this book in exchange for my honest review.

3.3 Stars
One Liner: Got its moments but exhausting

Chef Bryce Weatherford, aka Beamer, is at her wits end caring for her three nieces. When her brother and sister-in-law die in a sudden road accident, Bryce becomes the guardian to June (12), Cecily (8), and Adeline (5). Juggling her career and a new family is not easy, especially when the kids make things triply challenging for her.
Ryker Matthews is a Marine back home after an injury that left him with severe PTSD and an amputated leg. He is running a vehicle restoration business and tries to survive one day at a time.
A chance meeting in a supermarket brings Bryce and Ryker together. But can they have a stable relationship with so many complications? What are their priorities, and how can the duo fight for what they want?
The story comes in Bryce and Ryker’s third-person POVs.

My Thoughts:
I’m glad I didn’t read the blurb before starting the book. The first line states, “In this charming romantic comedy…”. Unfortunately, the contents cannot be categorized as a rom-com. While there are itsy bitsy pieces of humorous dialogues (if you like adult-ish humor), those aren’t enough by any means.
Byrce and Ryker have a lot going on in their lives. However, I like that they at least try to make it work. I’ve been learning that sometimes, the right time may never come, and we got to take a chance when it occurs. This aspect is well-presented in the book.
Ryker’s disability was the main reason I picked this book. From what little I know, it has been handled well with enough information about the physical, medical, and psychological aspects. His PTSD is also shown.
Ryker is a problem solver, and Bryce has enough of them. Though it does seem like an imbalanced relationship, it’s not. Bryce handles a major crisis on her own, which proves that she doesn’t have to depend on Ryker (after all, she had been handling things before they met). While I like this point, I don’t like how it was achieved.
I am not a fan of the miscommunication trope (not anymore). Also, all those scenes where only the important conversations are interrupted get too much. I got annoyed by the plot device halfway through, so the rest was super irritating. Using the same device throughout the book isn’t a bright idea.
Furthermore, for a book that claims to be a rom-com, there’s too much non-humorous drama. Bryce doesn’t have to be a super mom, but she could get at least some things right. It’s no fun reading all those mishaps one after another. This is hardly a daily soap with a thousand episodes where the FMC goes through all possible traumas!
With most of the time spent on dealing with one crisis or another and making enough money, there’s almost no time for the family to bond. I wish there were some positive moments too.
Now, the nieces. Addie and Cecily are adorable in their own ways. Their pain comes across clearly. But June’s character wasn’t handled well. She is supposed to be a grieving and resentful tween. However, for the majority of the book, she sounds like a privileged brat who likes to deliberately hurt others. I’m sure that’s not the intention, but that’s how she sounds. Also, there’s no conversation about her feelings and not even realization. It’s Not Okay for grieving people to hurt others just because they are hurting.
The grandparents serve their purpose to add more weight to our FMC’s shoulders. It feels like the universe is conspiring to trouble the poor heroine. Ugh, exhausting! And towards the end, the issues get happily resolved. At least, there’s an epilogue (0.3 stars extra for the same).

To summarize, Change of Plans is a decent read with loads of drama, some romance, and a teeny bit of comedy. Read it like contemporary fiction, and you may enjoy it more.
Thank you, NetGalley and Forever (Grand Central Publishing), for the eARC. This review is voluntary and contains my honest opinion about the book.

Change of Plans was such a cute read! I enjoyed Bryce's character and seeing how she navigated all the changes and demands in her life including her work, her relationships and becoming the guardians of her three nieces. Both Bryce and Ryker have a lot going on personally and I liked that this one was written in dual POV to get more insight into their stories. I didn't particularly love some of the miscommunication throughout this one, but loved all the family and small town vibes. I liked how there were some lighter moments but also a lot of depth to this one as Bryce and her nieces were processing their grief as well as Ryker dealing with PTSD.

I will say that it took me about 3 weeks to read this book, not because I wasn't liking it, but because I haven't had as much time to dedicate to reading and am kind of in a slump. I feel like I would have loved this one more if it hadn't taken me so long to read it as I lost some of the details along the way. This book is also the third in a standalone interconnected series and the first one I've read so far but since the other characters popped up so many times in this one, I think I would have preferred to read the other books first (but you can definitely still read this one as a standalone!).

Overall, I liked this one and rated it 3.5 stars! If you are looking for a cute single parent romance with mental health rep and all the family vibes that touches on grief, check out Change of Plans (out now!).

Thank you to Netgalley and Forever (Grand Central Publishing) for the e-arc in exchange for an honest review.