Why did I love this so much?! Thriller vibes and romance! My two fave genres in one. Anyone who DNF’d it for misogyny needs to realize that was clearly intentional because that’s what a woman in PI lives through in the field! This was action packed, clues lead to crazy places, so many close calls, and all the love between two private investigators who have their lives on the line. ALL THE DRAMA! The twist at the end was wild, but once it was unfolding, predictable which is so fun!

Loved the dual POV and how well these two main characters meshed. FMC was such a girl boss. MMC was likeable but had some character growth to go too!

Couldn’t stop turning the page. Would recommend!

Content warnings that came to mind: gun violence, murder, infidelity

Thank you NetGalley and Atria books for this book in exchange for an honest review.

Like many others, the MMC was what ruined this book for me. If I wanted to hear the thoughts & musings of a misogynist pig, I'd just turn on the news.
DNF. Thank you to NetGalley for the arc, though.

Funny. Steamy. Fast Paced.

Mackenzie Cunningham and Jackson Jones recently discovered they have a lot in common, when they realized they’d both been hired for the same missing person’s case.

They started off as competitors and the stakes were too high to collaborate but once they knew it was a set up for them to take the fall for a murder, they had no choice but to partner up.

With non-stop bickering and witty banter, the intensity of their feelings for each other rises but must be put on the back burner as the pursuit of their lives is currently in play.

Thank you to @netgalley and @atriabooks for the ARC in exchange for an honest review. Sounds Like A Plan is available for purchase now.

This is the first time that I am reading a book by Pamela Samuels Young and Dwayne Alexander Smith. Jackson and Mackenzie are both PIs and are working the same case hired by the same person. The two are searching for Ashley whose mother is dying and wants see her daughter before she dies. As these two are working hard to finding Ashely there’s also a lot going on thus making for an interesting plot.

I received an ARC via NetGalley and I am leaving my review voluntarily.

dnf, I couldn't get past chapter 5. The way that the guy spoke was disgusting. The beginning of chapter 5 had a whole paragraph being derogatory towards women and it was gross. I liked the two chapters from the woman's pov so I would be willing to read a book by just her.

Alternate title: Me and the Terrible, Horrible, No Good, Very Bad Time

The writing is decent at best (Mackenzie's POV) and miserable at worst (Jackson's POV). I was tired of the brand name mentions. Reading what felt like a ChatGPT handbook. Mackenzie deserved a better love interest because he was dragging her down. Now that doesn't take away from the fact that she actually went willingly along with his some of foolishness.

Every moment with TrashManJackson isn't fun at all. He's a whiney brat that doesn't respect women. He's supposedly a former cop but doesn't seem to understand logistics of crimes and the criminals themselves. Makes terrible jokes regarding women being assaulted and a person being stupid means they're on the spectrum?? Yikes. Oh, and I can't forget that on one occasion, Mackenzie got so wasted and couldn't even walk by herself or hold her head up, he kept thinking "I definitely should've hit that when I had the chance" afterwards.

He's a creep.


Thanks to NetGalley and Atria Books for providing a copy for an honest review.

DNF @ 9% the MMC is extremely misogynistic and sexist, and in reading other reviews, it doesn’t seem like he gets any better. i was really excited to receive an ARC of this book, it seemed like a fun read, but I will not be finishing

I like the plot of the book. I like the main characters were so opposite but they came together at the end. I love the writing style and the wittiness from both characters.

A fast paced read. Jackson and Mackenzie are rivals PIs who team up when it looks like they are the ones being hunted down. I liked how it was told from both points of view.

I DNF’d at 46%.
Jackson was the main problem. He was giving major misogynistic vibes, which made reading even this far in difficult to tolerate. The real deal breaker though was including a joke after Mackenzie was sexually assaulted. Even “joking” that she actually wanted it caused me to have a visceral reaction. And with Mackenzie’s history of being raped, this scene was incredibly disgusting and I can’t believe so many people in the production of this book allowed it to pass. I continued reading just a little more, but stopped because there was no way this book was going to make up for how much I was hating it for the first half.

This was really unfortunate because I did enjoy Mackenzie’s POV. I loved that she used her trauma as fuel to learn to defend herself and that she was such a bad ass. She deserves way better than Jackson.

I was extremely excited to dive into this story about two private investigators joining forces. Specially since it’s written by two authors.

However, could not get pass the Krav Maga line. Feels insensitive for it to be placed on a book in 2024 when the character could have been proficient in any other self defense.
Aside from this, the story was at a great pace, yet not something I can overlook due to the nature of what’s occurring at the moment by those who invented Krav Maga.

Thank you to Atria Books and NetGalley for this eArc in exchange for an honest review.

The misogyny of the male character really ruined this book for me. I was looking forward to reading rival Black private investigators working as reluctant allies to lovers. I also did not love how he talked about Black women specifically, nothing egregious, but it did rub me the wrong way.

DNF at 10%. I saw another review that called out the male character perspective as being very misogynistic. I decided to still give it my own shot but found the same and decided to not continue. Thank you to the publisher and Netgalley for the free ebook to review.

I really liked this. Love when I can’t tell how the story is going to turn out! Listened to this in audio. Was not a big fan of the male narrator, but it wouldn’t stop me from listening to that next book…. If there’s a next book…. 👀

I wasn’t really a fan of this book even though i wanted to be. There were parts that i was like “YES” but the majority of the book unfortunately fell flat for me.

Gah I wanted to connect to his book as I love romantic suspense books. I found the MMC's POV sections to be overly cringe worthy and honestly it ruined the book for me. I set it aside and attempted to pick it back up a second time, and just couldn't not stay interested in the mystery or believe in the connection or chemistry of the two main characters. I ended up DNF'ing the book around 46%.

This book gave me similar vibes as the Janet Evanovich series Fox and O'Hare. Two people thrown together by circumstances who learn to respect what each brings to the investigation of a missing young woman. As their investigations move forward, they find that nothing is as simple as it seems.

Thank you to Atria Books for the advanced reader copy and the #GoodreadsGiveaway win. These opinions are my own.

In Sounds Like a Plan, two private investigators are both hired for the same case, but they don't know each other or that the other was hired. The book included Mr. and Mrs. Smith vibes in the marketing, but for me, it was a miss. It didn't have the funny banter I anticipated. The dialogue was stilted, and I didn't really feel a connection between the protagonists. I didn't particularly care about the mystery and had to force myself to skim the ending to see how it turned out. Worst, I found it incredibly misogynist. I kept waiting for the reveal that the MMC was just acting, but he really was that awful.

This wasn't for me, as it missed the heart and humor I wanted.

CW: rape (off page), breast cancer, suicide

Thanks to NetGalley and Atria Books for access to this title. All opinions expressed are my own.

This was a FUN read. Jackson Jones and MacKenzie Cunningham were hands down two of my favorite characters of the summer. And it isn't even over yet! Their chemistry as rival private investigators lit the pages on fire. Also, non-stop action made this book very hard to put down.

Not my typical read BUT I enjoyed every second of it.


Publication Date 09/07/24
Goodreads Review 11/07/24

DNF @10%

Yeah...this sounded fun but the guys perspective is insufferably misogynistic. I went to check other reviews to see if I should just push through, but based on what I'm seeing my issues are not going to improve. Which is unfortunate. I received a copy of this book for review via NetGalley, all opinions are my own.