This one was just okay for me, which made me sad! I love a second chance romance, but something about this one just didn't hit for me.

This book was definitely cute and I was absolutely invested in the characters and their happiness, but the pacing of this romance felt weird. I didn't like that the couple didn't get together until she was already done staying with him. It felt like the timing of everything was awkward.

I also wanted more from the Vegas component! I think it would have made the stakes much higher and made the book more exciting if they had actually gotten married versus the fake wedding they actually had. It kind of felt like a cop out!

I will read the other books in this series because I liked her writing style and I'm willing to give her another chance, but this one just didn't give me everything I wanted!

I! LOVED! THIS! I liked Violet in The Neighbor Favor so I was excited to read her story and it did not disappoint!

I love a good second chance romance and I really enjoyed this one. I like that Violet and Xavier communicated and shared their feelings and their chemistry- whew! The prologue set up their relationship perfectly and got me as invested as if I'd read an entire book about their time as high school sweethearts.

I loved reading about Violet's career as a stylist- it's something I've never read in a romance before and it was a lot of fun. Kristina Forest does secondary characters so well- even if they only appear every once in awhile, they're unique and well fleshed out. And if you know me, you know I love a fake dating/marriage storyline and this one really hit.

I really really enjoyed this book! Thank you so much to Netgalley and Berkley romance for the arc!

The Partner Plot was such a cute romance for the month of February. I felt like I could really connect with the characters in their small town life because I grew up in the Philly suburbs (not in New Jersey, but still close to where the characters are from!)

I am a sucker for a good second chance romance as well as a childhood lovers and fake dating, so this one hit the spot for me! The banter was os funny and I truly fell in love with these characters and their relationship!

Everyone needs to check this out when it releases on Feb 27!

I’ve come to the conclusion that the world needs more “oops we accidentally got married” books!! This one’s a Black romance featuring a celebrity stylist and a high school English teacher/basketball coach. I loooooved that pairing, especially since it was a second chance and I loved seeing them reconnect as adults.

They’d obviously both changed a lot since they were in high school, so they not only fell back in love, but became friends again! The heroine gets injured and has to stay in her small town for a while, which is yet ANOTHER set-up I love. Add in the sick scene we got and it was romcom perfection.

As for the audiobook, both narrators did a great job. I liked their performance a lot better than book one! Their voices went well together, and they performed each other’s characters well too. It was a very quick listen, as I got through it in a day.

Keep reading but there’s a spoiler I have to talk about—it’s not major but be warned

✨

Okay! So yes, I still stand by my “we need more ‘oops we accidentally got married’ trope” position, but this book isn’t even quite that. Basically they had the typical Vegas night that they couldn’t remember at first, but it turns out that they only got fake married. I waited for the “just kidding you’re actually married” bit to happen, but it never did. This turned the book into a fake relationship situation, since being “married” had its advantages for a few reasons for them.

Since they did end up faking the marriage anyways I wasn’t angry, but I was definitely a bit sad because I do love that trope! But it was still a very fun and sexy second-chance romance. I was very pleasantly surprised by the third act as well. Since I Ioved both The Neighbor Favor and now The Partner Plot, Kristina Forest has easily solidified her spot on my auto-read list! I’m already very excited about the pairing for the next book!

⭐️⭐️⭐️⭐️.5/5 🌶️.75*/5

*Definitely the low end of spice, but there was still one open-door scene.



Thanks so much to PRH audio for an ALC and Berkley Romance for an eARC via NetGalley. All opinions are honest and my own.

Thank you so much to NetGalley and Berkley for the eARC! I felt sort of neutral on The Neighbor Favor but I thought the premise for this book sounded more my taste and I love interconnected friend group romances and second chance romances!

This book didn’t feel entirely like a romance to me, the relationship wasn’t as developed as I would have liked and while I did enjoy the book, it wasn’t my favorite. I think if you love second chance romance and very much enjoyed The Neighbor Favor you’ll enjoy this!

The Partner Plot is definitely going to make my 2024 favorite list. All the things that you could worry about were addressed most lovingly and thoughtfully. Kudos to Forest for writing a small town where the characters still see value in staying, and where pursuing your dreams does not automatically come at the risk of your relationship. Oh the cherry on top is a MMC who learns to communicate what he's thinking, his needs, and fears. Xavier IS book-boyfriend material (and he wears glasses). A 9/10year separation meant they had to relearn each other but the love they had for each other was central to making the relationship work. I love how Xavier listened to his mother about what it takes to be in a successful happy relationship. And I can point out that she was a single mom who absolutely was living her truth. I wanted more of her on page but she shined whenever she popped in. Overall, just a sweet long-angst read and I'm so happy I had the opportunity to read it before release day.

The Partner Plot is a fun, fast read with loads of charm. It’s easily one of the best second-chance-at-love stories I’ve ever read.

High school sweethearts Xavier Wright and Violet Greene live big. They are the coolest, sexiest kids at their school, and their breakups and makeups are legendary. Their relationship is combustible - the chemistry between them burns hot and heavy non-stop, sometimes flaring up into their infamous fights but never burning out. They dream just as big as they love. Xavier plans to be the next great basketball star, Violet plans to take over the fashion world.

That they aren’t great at the long-distance thing doesn’t surprise either of them once they are at separate colleges, but everything else about the experience does. Violet, never a good student, finds her niche and becomes one of the brightest stars on campus, while Xavier, the kid everyone just knew would shine, finds himself bench-sitting his freshmen year and injured and out of the game by Christmas, his sophomore year. Determined not to be what holds his girl back, he breaks up with Violet and allows her to move on and move up.

And move up, she does. Fast forward ten years: Violet is a celebrity stylist on the shortlist for a coveted position on the thirty under thirty list of Look magazine, an industry standard. She is with Karamel Kitty in Vegas, attending an opening at a swanky new club and ensuring her client is at her most fabulous as she is seen and photographed by all the right people when she runs into Xavier again. Time falls away and from the very first moment they dance, she finds herself enthralled once more.

This scene isn’t Xavier’s life. He wouldn’t be at the club at all, but he’d won a room at the luxury resort in Vegas and treated himself and his cousin to a wild weekend getaway. As a high school teacher, he’s become Mr. Sedate and Responsible. But seeing Violet has brought to the surface the charming, reckless side of himself he has kept suppressed for over a decade. The two drink and dance the evening away - and wake up married.

Fortunately, a double check of their marriage certificate shows theirs was a fake wedding, and the rings on their fingers are cheap plastic. They agree to go their separate ways and put it all behind them. But when Violet is doing her interview for the coveted cover spot with Look magazine, her lying, cheating ex comes up, and she finds herself claiming she’s happily married in order to put the discussion back on track. She hopes no one she knows outside the fashion world will read the thing, but of course, life never works that way,

Xavier is stunned to find himself congratulated for marrying Violet when he returns to work. He gives vague answers and vacant smiles to everyone’s excitement, anxious to talk to Violet and see what she is thinking when he gets the phone call. The one he’s been waiting for that will offer him a chance to move to college coaching. The university hadn’t thought a bachelor, especially of the kind that Xavier had been while he was on their campus in his heyday, was the kind of guy they wanted on staff. But the new, responsible Xavier looked good on paper, and the addition of a wedding ring shows them he’s finally settled down. Violet, too, finds being married is helping her professionally, and they both decide to give it a few months, put on a good show of being together, and cash in on the possibilities it represents before going their separate ways. It’s the perfect plot, exactly the kind of bold move they used to utilize back in high school until they realize they hadn’t considered how much the spark between them has rekindled. When it comes time to let go, will they really be able to part yet again?

There is so much I loved about this novel. One of the best things is how the author uses her unrealistic plot point (being married is good for a career in the 21st century) realistically. It is made clear that the university coach demeaning Xavier as a singleton is being a jerk and providing him with fodder for a lawsuit. It is also made clear why Xavier is willing to put up with it; he doesn’t feel he has a lot of options to be promoted, and he sees this as his best chance. With Violet, we also see some practical applications to her wanting to be married. It’s almost impossible to use this trope effectively in a contemporary novel, but the author really does hit it out of the ballpark here.

Another positive is the maturity shown by both Violet and Xavier. I like stories about grownups who aren’t hot messes but actually know how to hold jobs, get themselves fed, and basically function as human beings. Xavier and Violet are both invested in their careers and put in the time necessary to build them. Violet’s job has especially demanding hours, and I appreciated how she is reflective enough to question how she would find time for someone like Xavier, who is based in a small town for most of the year. Major kudos to the author for showing both the good things about small towns and small-town living without in any way disparaging big cities and the high-powered careers of some of the people who live in them. Violet doesn’t see the people in her hometown as more caring, kind etc. (and not all of them are depicted in that light) than her successful friends and clients, which makes a refreshing change for most romances (and Hallmark Christmas movies). She also doesn’t tank or discredit everything she has built because of love.

Another wonderful aspect is how the author shows growth in both characters from their teenage selves while still maintaining the core of who they are. Violet is still impetuous, fashion-oriented, and a touch volatile, but she has also tempered all those characteristics with some self-reflection and maturity. She understands more clearly what she wants and what she will and won’t sacrifice to get it. Xavier is learning to be happy with the person he has become, which is so different than the person he hoped to be. He recognizes the mistakes he’s made along his path to adulthood and has worked to improve himself. I loved that as a teenager, he is all bluster and bravado and that the hallmark of his adulthood is meaningful, genuine communication.

The Partner Plot is a fabulous tale about how two people living vastly different lives can make long-distance love work. I would recommend it to fans of contemporary romance.

3.5⭐️ I find I always enjoy Kristina Forest’s writing, so as soon as I saw she had a new book releasing, I knew it would be a must read. Also, it has a pink cover!

What I enjoyed so much about this book is how the author takes formulaic romance plots and turns them on their head. Typically in romance, it is the mmc who is the uber successful one. In THE PARTNER PLOT, it is the fmc who lives out her dreams, while our mmc must learn to live a life different from what he had envisioned for himself. And yet, he is never less than thrilled for her.

Which brings me to the second very unique plot twist - the fake “marriage of convenience”. I admit I may have cringed going in, as this is not my favorite trope, but quickly changed my opinion when I saw the fun new way Forest presented it. This is almost a spoof on the typical marriage of convenience trope and I loved every minute of it.

What did not work as well for me is the second chance aspect of the story. This is literally one of my most beloved tropes and as a result, I can be quite picky when it comes to how it is used. In this case, I do not feel second chance really fits the story. We are briefly shown the start of their relationship, but other than that, there was no angst and pining that goes along with a potential rekindling of a relationship.

In many ways this felt more like a new relationship than one that was being rebuilt, and I felt the absence of the emotional turmoil second chance stories usually bring (minus her stance that they could not be in a relationship which did frustrate me after awhile). In other words, if we completely remove the prologue, it would not be nearly as evident that these two had ever been in a serious relationship. Therefore, the second chance trope in this story fell flat, even while the marriage of convenience shined through (it really was the MVP of the story).

All that said, this is fresh take on some formulaic tropes that feature really strong and dynamic characters you cannot help but root for. I would recommend it, but would just reiterate that this is more contemporary fiction/personal growth with romance included, versus an angsty second chance romance.

🎧 I listened to this book on audio in addition to reading along with the physical text and thought the narrators, Aure Nash and Benjamin Charles were the perfect Violet and Xavier. They brought these characters to life and really enhanced my connection to both characters.

Read if you like:
•marriage of convenience
•fake engagement
•second chance romance
•forced proximity
•strong, successful FMC

Thank you Berkley Romance and PRH Audio for the gifted copies.

This was a cute little romance for February. I mean, just look at that pink cover. Thank you to @berkleyromance and @netgalley for the early look at this. It’s out on the 27th!

🎰 Read this one if you REALLY love:
- second chance
- (fake) marriage of convenience
- work-life balance goals

🎰 This book was cute. It was ok for me. I didn’t LOVE it, but I didn’t hate it either. More than anything — I just struggled to get really excited by it. The characters were lovely, and I liked the plot well enough— but I just didn’t look forward to picking it up. If you’ve been curious about it at all, or if the tropes I listed above are your faves, you should definitely give it a try yourself and see what you think. Is this on your TBR?

violet and xaxier were highschool sweethearts, who unfortunately went their separate ways shortly after graduating to focus on their careers, and reunite years later coincidentally in vegas. after a night of fun and getting "fake married", they return back to their lives, trying to forget each other. that is until violet interviews with a reporter and says she is married to none other than xavier himself.

oh man, the communication in this? the maturity of both our fmc and mmc? a breath of fresh air! this was a great and most importantly, a realistic take on a second chance romance. violet's job is so cool and i loved all the details that forest puts into making it realistic. i could relate to xavier, feeling stuck in his career, not good enough, and wanting to do more. i enjoyed them together, but also individually. their growth and respect for one another was so evident in all of their words and actions, it was hard not to root for them.

thank you berkley romance for the e-arc in exchange for an honest review!

3.5 stars rounded up

I love getting lost in a Kristina Forest book; this reads like a rom-com and I really enjoyed it. Violet and Xavier were high school sweethearts, and their relationship was tumultuous. They break up during their sophomore year of college and don’t see each other again until a fateful day in Vegas. They end up fake-married after a drunken night and decide to stay "married" because it'll help both of their careers.

I’m a sucker for the second-chance romance and marriage of convenience tropes, and this book presents them very well. I enjoyed Violet and Xavier individually as they both had practical issues to work through and their growth never felt forced. They had been apart for 10 years, and it was very realistic to see them learn each other again, and see how they both had reservations about jumping right in. I also really liked that Xavier and Violet spoke honestly about their feelings instead of tiptoeing around them.

The downside for me was the chemistry between them. I just didn't feel a strong spark between Violet and Xavier; their relationship issues kept them from being really close, which is important in a second-chance romance. I needed to feel like them reviving their teenage relationship was worth all this turmoil, and I'm not sure that it worked here.

Overall this is a solid romance and I really enjoyed the main characters' growth.

Second chance romance perfection!

Love seeing these high school sweethearts meeting again in life and drunkenly end up married in vegas. This makes for the perfect rom com.
I needed her story after meeting her in book 1 and this book does not dissapoint!

Thank you to Berkley Publishing Group and NetGalley for providing me with a digital copy of "The Partner Plot" by Kristina Forest in exchange for an honest review.

Celebrity stylist Violet Green is running on fumes. Her career is flourishing despite a very public, very messy breakup with her cheating fiancé. Between consultations, fashion shows, and awards galas, she has no down time and no relationship. So when she runs into her former high-school sweetheart Xavier Wright in Vegas, what's the harm in indulging in a little casual fun?

They wake up with a fake wedding bands, have a laugh, and part ways again. Only to be pushed back together soon after when she accidentally blurts to a reporter that she has married her old flame. To further complicate matters, a serious injury forces her to take a few weeks off from her non-stop career.

Meanwhile, former college basketball athlete Xavier is aiming for bigger things in his own career. He's been content with his job coaching high school basketball, but he's pushing for a job at the college level. His prospective boss wants a candidate with stability so Xavier is willing to go along with the fake-relationship Violet has inadvertently concocted. She moves into his place to rest and recover from her injury, all the while playing happy newly weds.

And of course, they find their old chemistry has never really gone away.

Second chance romances are hard to pull off in a meaningful way. The couple in question has broken up before, so the author has to find a way to make that split acceptable. Somebody screwed up. How does one make that forgivable?

Kristina Forest more than ably does exactly that in "The Partner Plot." She successfully demonstrates the personal growth that her characters made both before and during their reunion so that by the end of the story, they make perfect sense together. It was wonderful.

The characters are excellent. They come across as passionate, flawed, loving, and real people sorting through their lives. There are a few poisonous characters on the sidelines but for the most part, their damage is minor.

This book is perfect for readers looking for legit, identifiable emotional development between two adults who loved one another in the past.

I was looking forward to this one as I loved The Neighbor Favor. TPP starts off cute— kinda YA-ish for a lil bit to lay the foundation of Violet and Xavier’s relationship that began in high school (side note, my mama would’ve killed me if I was around here carrying on the way Violet was 😂). As the story goes on, we encounter these two again but as adults who are both single, Violet living her best life in the fashion industry as she always dreamed of and Xavier’s career not looking quite as he dreamt as a professional basketball player but now a high school basketball coach and a teacher at their former high school.

I loved the fact that Xavier was an educator and his passion and commitment towards his students made me so happy (believe it or not, it’s so rare these days).

I thought this love story between Vi + X was very authentic especially with the things you do when you’re in love— texting with a huge smile on your face, and the effort Vi put towards trying to cook a meal for X. 💕🥹

I do recommend this one and I recommend audio for it too— it was my fave format to read this one. I struggled with the ebook alone during certain chapters as I would start skimming the details about things that were happening with their careers. Although, I was way more into Xavier’s career than I was Violet’s (I always love reading about educators). 😂

**Lily + Nick’s cameo 🥹💜 I missed them! Might have to reread TNF!

I’m looking forward to reading Iris’ story next! ☺️

⚠️: if you enjoy closed door romance, this isn’t fade to black and I can’t say that it’s excessively descriptive but it’s there on the page especially in ch 19.

Read if you love:
👰🏽‍♀️ fake marriages/marriage of convenience
👰🏽‍♀️ second chance romance
👰🏽‍♀️ Black love— cause it’s giving ✨🖤
👰🏽‍♀️ swoonin 😉

Kristina Forest is quickly becoming one of my favorite authors. I absolutely loved The Neighbor Favor and because I love books about books I was afraid I wouldn't love this one as much but I was so wrong. The second chance romance between Violet and Xavier was so sweet!! Even the conflict was soft and sweet because both characters always had the other's best interest at heart. Just a really lovely romance. Looking forward to Iris's story next year and enjoyed the Easter eggs about her relationship with Angel.

Between the cover and the blurb, I was excited to pick up my first book by Kristina Forest!

Xavier and Violet are high school sweethearts whose relationship ended in a breakup not long after they started college. Years have passed and Xavier is the basketball coach at their old high school and Violet is living her dreams as a celebrity fashion stylist. They cross paths in Vegas where they spend a drunk night together, ending in “I do” at the altar. Their alleged marriage has benefits for both of them, and they decide to use it to their advantage.

Xavier and Violet clearly missed each other and you could tell no other partner could measure up for them. They’d needed the time to mature because even now, they both had insecurities they needed to confront before pursuing their lost love.

It did take me awhile to get into the story and finish it because I wasn’t as invested as I thought it would be. The plot was a bit of a stretch. While the author’s writing was great, but sometimes 3rd person POV makes it harder for me to connect unless the story is beyond phenomenal that I don’t even notice.

I am definitely ready for Iris and Angel’s story!

I received an ARC from the publisher via NetGalley and am voluntarily posting a review. All opinions are my own.
I’ve really enjoyed everything Kristina Forest has written to date, including her prior adult romance, so I was excited for The Partner Plot. I did wonder how some of the aspects mentioned in the blurb would come to fruition, like the marriage of convenience, but I had hope I would at least reasonably enjoy it. Unfortunately, I was severely underwhelmed.
The one thing I think Forest got right was the characterization, with both leads being strong presences throughout. I also enjoyed getting insight into Violet and Xavier’s respective careers, hers as a celebrity stylist and his as a high school teacher and basketball coach.
And while not marketed as a series, I liked the sisterly dynamics at play, with Lily, the female lead of the prior book being in a supporting role, and their other sister, Iris, being set up for the next book.
But for all that it claims to be a second chance romance, there is no chemistry, no lingering sparks between the two. And while it was billed as a “marriage of convenience,” the cop-out that it was ultimately “fake” was the first death knell in there being absolutely no stakes keeping these two together. I felt I knew more about their careers and why those were important than reasons they should be together! And the reasons for keeping up the charade also made zero sense! All of this added up to me not caring whether they got together or not.
While this book did not work for me, it does seem I’m in the minority here, and others really enjoyed it. If you enjoy low-stakes, tropey romance with Black leads, I’d recommend checking it out to see if it works out better for you.

Violet & Xavier are high school sweethearts determined to make it big in their respective fields. When Xavier's basketball dreams are derailed by an injury, he breaks up with Violet in a misguided desire to not hold her back.

Years later, when they see each other in Vegas... well, they wake up married. Pretend married, that is. I learned you can have a "pretend wedding" apparently. When their friends & family find out, they decide to go with the flow and keep pretending.

If you love second chances, marriage of convenience, one bed, The Partner Plot has all the things! I really enjoyed Kristina's writing style and will be checking out her backlist.

Things I loved:
-Characters are adults who are realistic about relationship challenges
-Great communication
-No third-act breakup
-Fantastic plot development
-BIPOC characters
Things I didn't love:
-The opening of the book - it's Violet & Xavier in high school and I'd have preferred they did later flashback(s) instead of frontloading. (that's just my personal preference)

Thanks to #NetGalley and #berkleypublishing for the opportunity to read and review. All opinions are my own.

Not every author can pull off this kind of trope extravaganza, but Forest brilliantly combines second chance romance, marriage of convenience, small town romance, and a hint of celebrity glamor. Her experience in writing YA translates to a charming story of two high school sweethearts who reunite in Vegas and wake up in the same bed, with rings on their left hands. One night of reckless fun turns into a mission to boost their respective careers, but as Violet, budding celebrity stylist, and Xavier, high school English teacher and basketball coach, spend more time together as fake husband and wife, their teenage feelings come rushing back.

This was cute! I'm not always a second chance romance girl, but add in a fake marriage and forced proximity I picked this one up so quickly. I loved the growth both of the characters showed, from being high-school sweethearts that fought constantly and couldn't or wouldn't communicate properly to adults who had dealt with a lot over the years and were able to find each other and have open and honest conversations about what they wanted.

Violet and Xavier were just so cute together and I truly enjoyed reading their story! Thank you to Berkley Romance for the eARC, all opinions are my own!