Not my cup of tea.
This was advertised as a romance but it's not quite in that category, so expectations about this book were already wrong before I started listening to it. For it to be a romance I think it should have more chemistry and partnership between the characters.
The writing seems to be good and flow well. The characters just let me down.
I'll be trying other books from Melissa Ferguson.

Melissa Ferguson's How to Plot a Payback is an absolute delight! This rom-com leans heavily on the comedy, with witty dialogue and lovable characters that had me giggling throughout. As a high school senior, I'm always looking for fresh and exciting plots, and this book delivered just that.

The story revolves around Finn, who believes Lavender is a terrible person bent on ruining lives. He's forced to work with her as her producer and slowly realizes that she's not so bad after all. Lavender, on the other hand, is sweet and sunshiney, a true people pleaser. Their interactions are both funny and heartwarming, making for a cute and enjoyable read.

The writing flows effortlessly, making it easy to get through the book quickly. There are plenty of funny lines and adorable scenes that could have been cringey but instead were super cute. The plot twists Finn comes up with for the show are particularly hilarious and add a lot of charm to the story.

Overall, How to Plot a Payback is a fun and heartwarming book that's perfect if you want something light and enjoyable. While the ending felt a bit rushed, the journey was totally worth it. Highly recommend for a quick, feel-good read!

I wish I had read How to Plot a Payback by Melissa Ferguson in the physical book, instead of the audiobook because the male narrator’s voice did not work for me. I find this makes it difficult to adequately evaluate the book. This is a light hearted romance. I’ve gotten used to reading romance stories that have some depth to them. There’s a place for this kind, I’m sure, I just don’t know that I am the target audience. This is my first book by this author but I own a couple and so I’ll see if it’s her style or this story.
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The story involves two Brits who end up in Hollywood, one as a screenwriter and the other a beloved sit-com actress. These two went to school together and have some history. It’s a cute story that I would probably had enjoyed more in print.
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Thank you NetGalley and Harper Collins Christian Publishing for the ALC. All opinions are my own.

Finn Masters and Lavender Rhodes went to school together in England and now find themselves working together in LA. She is the beloved star of Neighbors, one of Hollywood's highest-rated, longest-running sitcoms, and Finn has just been hired to write for the show. What Lavender doesn't realize is that Finn believes she ruined his life way back when and sees this an opportunity to get even with her. Unfortunately for him, his plans backfire one after the other, until he finally begins to realize that maybe Lavender isn't what he always thought she was.

I have read and enjoyed several Melissa Ferguson books in the past, but How to Plot a Payback fell short for me. I thought the plot of Finn carrying his grudge for so many years a bit hard to believe. His ideas to make Lavender look bad were petty and childish. Lavender was a great character and rolled with the punches. The actual romance was also hard to believe considering how much Finn disliked her and for how long. I almost DNFed this one. I listened to the audiobook narrated by Fiona Hardingham and Steve West and they did a nice job with the characters, but it just fell flat for me. I know others really enjoyed this one, so if it interests you, give it a try, you might really enjoy this story.

This didn't work for me as a romance, but I did like a lot of the story line and behind the scenes of tv show stuff.

3.5
Finn knows how to hold a grudge! His antics get out of control as he plots Lavenders payback, going way back to grade school when she first wronged him. My favorite part of this book is how sweet Lavender is. What I didn't love? Open door scenes take away from the book. They don't make the characters feel connected more emotionally and don't add much to the plot. It feels like page filler.

Lavender Rhodes has ruined Finn’s life. It was all inadvertent, and she doesn’t even realize the effect she’s had on him, but still. Finn’s doing pretty well on his own despite that, but then he gets offered a job writing for TV’s favorite sitcom. It’s an incredible opportunity. One he can’t refuse, even though he really wants to. Lavender is the star of said sitcom, and Finn prefers to stay as far away from her as possible. He isn’t going to let her ruin another aspect of his life, though, and taking the job might even bring up some interesting opportunities for a little payback…

You know who needs to read a book called “How to Plot a Payback”? Finn. He is absolutely dreadful at it. All his “payback” attempts are elementary and just blow up in his face. He also feels incredibly guilty after each one, leading him to realize maybe he doesn’t hate Lavender as much as he thought he did. This is 70% of the book, by the way.

These two don’t get together until the last third, and by then I was not invested in their relationship. Once Finn realizes his feelings for Lavender, he tells himself he won’t get involved no matter how badly he wants to because Lavender deserves to be with someone who wasn’t just trying to ruin her life last week. Fair point, but Finn goes back on his promise not even 30 minutes later. In order to help Lavender escape hanging out with her supposed best friend, he lies and says they have a date. Lavender then decides to follow through with said date, and instead of establishing boundaries, Finn lets her. By that night, they are making out. Seriously, Finn?? It’s giving me the ick.

Lavender wasn’t any better. Despite her being the hottest thing in Hollywood, she wants to stay grounded. Her efforts are too try hard, though. Being a stereotypical celebrity is annoying, sure, but so is being so anti-stereotype that it’s essentially your only personality trait. Lavender is so laid back, in fact, that when she discovers Finn’s whole payback plot, she instantly forgives him. YUP. Instead of making him grovel and beg for forgiveness, she’s simply like, “That was so funny! Let’s make out!” The self respect is lacking.

I couldn’t take anything in this book seriously, but it wasn’t fun enough to be campy, either. A disappointing 1.5 Star novel.

Thank you NetGalley and Thomas Nelson and Zondervan Fiction Audio for an audio ARC in exchange for an honest review.

Sadly, I didn’t get a chance to listen to the audiobook before it got archived!
I will make sure to get a copy or the audio version, myself to give a review on my socials.

Cute little romcom, it’ll make you giggle a bit. Some scenes were cringy, but it was overall just a cute read.

I wanted to like this book so much more than I did. My problem was the fact that Finn is so petty, that even when he warms up, it feels a bit quick. I wanted the write more about the plot, ect, but I just cannot let this go. I literally rolled my eyes at his solution for Em at the end of the story. I’m sure some will absolutely adore this story, and good for them. I just couldn’t give it a higher score.
**Thank you Netgalley for this arc.**

⋆ ˚｡⋆୨୧˚ 1 star / DNF at 25% ˚୨୧⋆｡˚ ⋆

i said i would never DNF a book but i'm sorry, this was just not going anywhere in my opinion. i started reading this book 3 months ago at the end of march and i honestly only read a bit of the book during the first week but then i completely gave up on it.

˗ˋˏ ୨୧ thank you to NetGalley and Melissa Ferguson for the audiobook arc in exchange for an honest review! ୨୧ ˎˊ˗

I was so excited to see Melissa Ferguson had a new book out, she is one of my go to authors! I thought this was such a cute book! I found myself not wanting to put it down once I started it. I love a good enemies to lovers romance, and this one was so well done! This book will have you laughing the whole time you read it. Theres witty banter and hilarious payback schemes. It’s a really fun, light hearted, easy read. I would highly recommend checking it out. It’d be the perfect beach read this summer!

Thank you Netgalley for the eARC in exchange for an honest review.

The narration for this was great in the audiobook. The story, however, left much to be desired. I found the romance of the book to be unrealistic and was a bit bored throughout much of the listen.

I just don’t buy it. I don’t buy that Finn has this lifelong grudge against this woman—I mean, such things are <i>possible</i>, but men like that are psychotic imo and probably can’t be redeemable as a love interest in reality. I don’t buy that he’s willing to enact revenge but for that “revenge” to be absolutely minuscule at every turn. I don’t buy that he’d carry around a written list of all her supposed transgressions with him from the age of 17 because that’s how much he hates her and blames her for his losses. I don’t buy that he regrets what he’s doing that quickly. I don’t buy his falling for her in any way shape or form.

Now, I can certainly buy that she didn’t know about his weird fixation on thinking that she’d ruined his life; her obliviousness on this is perhaps the most believable about the entire novel. Her feeling deeply uncomfortable after she finds the list is perfectly believable, but it’s utterly ridiculous for her to forgive him as quickly as she does. I also do not buy the idea of her falling for Finn.

So, where does that leave us with this book? It requires a suspension of disbelief so egregiously large that I just cannot understand how to take this book seriously. And perhaps my mistake was even bothering to pick up <i>How to Plot a Payback</i> in the first place, expecting that it would work for me as a romance with a premise like that.

I definitely preferred Steve West’s narration over Fiona Hardingham’s, though they both did a good job. Fiona’s was just a smidge squeakier than I care for, but not to the point that I struggled to listen to Lavender’s chapters as a result.

"How to Plot a Payback" by Melissa Ferguson offers a delightful blend of humor and heart in this Hollywood rom-com. Finn and Lavender's childhood history and Finn's secret grudge set the stage for a series of hilarious mishaps as they reconnect on the set of Lavender's sitcom.

The novel excels in its comedic elements, delivering witty dialogue and funny situations that will keep readers entertained. The audiobook narration adds an extra layer of enjoyment, bringing the humor to life.

However, while the comedy shines, the romance takes a bit of a backseat, with the slow-burn relationship between Finn and Lavender developing gradually amidst the laughs. Some readers may find themselves wishing for a more pronounced romantic storyline.

Character connection can also be a challenge at times, with Finn's grudge feeling somewhat exaggerated and Lavender coming across as almost too perfect. More depth and development in their relationship could have enhanced the story's emotional impact.

Despite these points, "How to Plot a Payback" is a charming and fun read, perfect for a summer escape. While it may not fully satisfy die-hard romance fans, it offers an enjoyable blend of humor, charm, and Hollywood drama.

This book just wasn’t for me. I didn’t have any real draw to the characters, they didn’t feel real or relatable, and I didn’t care about their problems. Finn had hated Lavender for years because of something that happened in high school that she didn’t realize. Now they are both famous and end up working together.

It’s supposed to be a romance, but 60% in and Finn maybe thought he didn’t loathe Lavender. I do love a slow burn, but this was impossibly slow and I didn’t necessarily want them to end up together.

Character development could have come quicker, Finn could have been more mature and moved on faster, and there could have been some sort of sexual or romantic tension. This wasn’t a bad book, it just didn’t keep me wanting to read.

Thank you NetGalley and HarperCollins for a copy of this audiobook in exchange for an honest review.

Honestly the narration was annoying and I ended up not finishing the book. I might try it again as a physical read.

Cute story about misconceptions and revenge. The characters are very lovable, and the plot line is engaging and fun. Highly recommend!

This is quite possibly the perfect summer read. Finn and Lavender have history that only Finn recalls and his recollections are what make this novel hilarious. Lavender's blissful unawareness just adds to the hilarity.

Finn is holding a huge grudge against all things Lavender. But Lavender doesn't have a clue and is determined to win him over. The problem for Finn is that the real life Lavender is hard to resist.

I absolutely adored this story and I'm hoping that Melissa Ferguson supplies us with more just like it (including these characters would be a bonus). In fact I think this would make a delightful movie.

I recommend getting a copy of this book (or audiobook) and pop it in your bag for your next trip, whether it be to the pool or the beach. You're not going to regret getting this one!

This is my second book by this author and while I didn’t love the first one I really enjoyed this one! This was a lot of fun and I felt like I was with the characters throughout the book. I loved the story and the narrator was incredible