The third Caitlin Weaver book I have read and again thoroughly enjoyed. Brilliant idea for a book which clearly identified how friendship can survive almost anything that happens but marriages don't. Thanks to Storm Publishing and NetGalley for the chance to ARC this book.

Talk about a family DRAMA. Fabiola could not have a stress free day if she tried (spoiler, she doesn’t). I have mixed feelings about this book. I will say it was well written and engaging, but the plot itself wasn’t my favorite ONLY because of how everything ended up. It was too neat to a fault, almost unrealistic. Not that much of this story is realistic or that stories NEED to be realistic. A story with SO much conflict just feels weird wrapping up so nicely.

Fabiola and Liz have been best friends for years. Fabiola offers and agrees to do something major for Liz. This complicates things, changes the family relations and forces both women to reassess.
I really liked the family drama. It showed the complexity of human relations and how family can be what we make it.

Best friends Fabiola, Alice and Liz. have been close for some time and will do almost anything for each other.

Liz and her husband peter are having difficulties concieving so Fabiola steps in as a surrogate. This is when things go awry.
Fabiola and Pete have history and things don't go as planned as secrets and lies come between the couples.

This is a drama filled read and one that is quite emotional at times.
Families are breaking apart and friendships are tried.

I loved this read. It is a well told story and the writing is superb. I loved the characters and really felt for their individual journeys.

An intriguing tale with a lot of reality ..

The Perfect Plan is the story of three friends Fabiola, Alice and Liz. Three best friends who would do anything for each other. Especially Fabiola who tries to do a wonderful thing for one of them. When Liz decides it’s time for her and her husband Peter to have a child she starts the process. Liz is unable to become pregnant so she needs a surrogate so Fabiola decides to help her best friend. Even with her husband Aron not on board with this idea they go ahead with this plan. The plan is going along until it doesn’t. Fabiola and Peter Liz’s husband have some history together. A history that comes back to haunt them. As Fabiola’s pregnancy progresses her family life is falling apart. Her husband Aron is losing everything they own, ,her daughter hates her, her long lost mother returns and she loses the one person she could count on her father.
This book is about friendship and how can you save it when one friend decides another. I always enjoy a book about strong women. Women who will do anything for their family. Fabiola was a strong woman who tried her best to fix the life she destroyed. Trying to keep her children happy while wondering what she will do with this new baby.? How will Liz feel when the truth comes out?
I enjoyed this story. At times it was a little predictable, I liked the characters the love of family and the art of forgiveness. I would recommend to my fellow readers. Thank you NetGalley and the publisher for the ARC. I look forward to Ms Weavers next book.

I really love Caitlin Weaver’s books. The depth of her characters is top notch. The Perfect Plan is a realistic story of friendship and betrayal.

When Liz decides to have a baby her best friend steps up to be her surrogate. For Fabiola, the choice is an easy one. It’s a way to pay Liz back for all that she has done for her over the years. But sometimes, even the best intentions go awry.

The husbands in this story both needed to be punched in the face. The way that things played out broke my heart for people that don’t even exist. The ending was very Emily Gilmore in the reboot. Can’t wait to see what Caitlin comes up with next.

My thanks to Storm Publishing and NetGalley for giving me the opportunity to read ‘The Perfect Plan’ written by Caitlin Weaver in exchange for my honest and unbiased review.

Fabiola, Liz and Alice have been best friends for many years and as Liz can’t have children
she and her husband Peter are looking for a surrogate. Fabiola has already had three easy pregnancies with her husband Aron and loves being pregnant so has offered them the ultimate gift of having a baby for them. But just one reckless and unexpected moment can change all their lives - but for the better or worse?

‘The Perfect Plan’ is an emotional story that explores friendship, family dynamics and trust as the friendship between three women is put at risk. From the beginning I’ve been deeply involved in the life of Fabiola who didn’t have an easy childhood but now runs her own business as well as looking after her children and putting up with her selfish egotistic husband. The further I read the more consumed I became by the story, the characters and the choices they made. I’ve thoroughly enjoyed reading this rollercoaster of a novel that had me hooked from the beginning with a conclusion that showed the strength of friendship and put a smile on my face.

Thank you netgalley and the publishers for the ARC of this book. This is one of my most anticipated reads of the new year. The book was filled with character development and plot development that I love. The book had elements of suspense that kept the story flowing and I enjoyed it from beginning to end.

📚ARC Review📚

The Perfect Plan⭐️⭐️⭐️⭐️

When Fabiola’s best friend, Liz, finds out she cannot have children and needs a surrogate, Fabiola offers to do it for her. She’s married and has three kids of her own and since all her pregnancies have been easy, she doesn’t see why she shouldn’t do this for her friend.
But is she really doing it for Liz or more like Liz’s husband, Peter, who was Fabiola’s childhood friend and first love.
Everything will be ok though because she has the perfect plan. But what happens when things get complicated?


This was an emotional story about the power of friendship and forgiveness. Fabiola’s character was complicated and there are a few moral dilemmas that made me not like her, but I could see where it was going within the story. I liked Liz’s character better and especially at the end, with what all she went through but was still able to forgive. While I didn’t personally agree with some things in this book, it was still a good read and I would recommend it to anyone who likes more of a domestic mystery/ thriller story line.

This book will publish on January 15, 2025. Thank you to NetGalley and Storm Publishing for my advanced readers copy. This is my honest and voluntary opinion.

The Perfect Plan by Caitlin Weaver is a fast-paced and thrilling ride that kept me hooked from the first page. The story of a seemingly flawless scheme unravelling in unexpected ways was both suspenseful and full of twists. Weaver’s writing is sharp and engaging, and I found myself constantly second-guessing what would happen next. The characters are well-developed, and the stakes are high, making this a captivating read for anyone who enjoys a twisty, unpredictable thriller. It’s a must-read if you love stories about deception and high-stakes tension.

This is great book! It was truly a rollercoaster with so many twists and turns. I think the author did such a great job on pulling so many emotions out with the writing. I liked the whole book!!

Thank you to NetGalley, to the author, and to the publisher for this complementary ARC in exchange for my honest review!!!

This is certainly one of those books that will test your morals and feeling a lot of emotions. There are a lot of different dynamics explored which I found really engaging.

However this book probably wasn't for me. I found Fabiola a very frustrating character and I just wanted to shake her! It wasn't as much the bad choices she made as it was the lack of real character development as a result - which is probably why I felt a bit fed up with the ending.

That being said, I was still very engaged throughout and would love to try another of Caitlin Weaver's books - maybe this just wasn't the one for me!

I was offered an early copy of this book by Storm publishing, but when I read the description I almost didn’t accept it. ‘A gripping, heart-wrenching story of marriage, motherhood and friendship’ is not the type of thing I normally read. I prefer crime thrillers with excitement and a bit of gore! However, I gave it a go and absolutely loved it. The writing was brilliant and I felt every emotion that the characters went through. At times the tension was unbearable and my heart was beating so fast I almost needed oxygen. The ending was not what I expected, but it brings home the power of friendship and forgiveness. A truly brilliant read and one that I highly recommend. Thanks to Storm and NetGalley for this opportunity.

When I saw that Caitlin Weaver (Things we Never Say, Such A Good Family) was releasing another book-I downloaded it without reading the synopsis-and I am glad I did. The very FIRST sentence hints at what is to come, and I am glad that I didn’t know!

I did figure (correctly) that she would offer us another story with a good moral dilemma (or two!) to ponder-and that she did!

Is Fabiola as altruistic as she appears?

When her best friend, Liz who cannot have children, needs a surrogate, Fabiola offers up the perfect plan-offering to carry the baby. But is she doing this for Liz-or for Liz’s husband Peter, who was Fabiola’s childhood friend, and remains her unrequited love, despite her marriage to Aron, and their three children.

When things become “complicated” who will she put first?

I was NOT immediately drawn in by this story, which took awhile to become interesting, although eventually, I became engaged and wanted to find out how it would all end. While it is still a good book-I didn’t enjoy it as much as the first two.

The biggest issue for me was the denouement-which was MUCH TOO TIDY, and not one that I found to be very believable. Had the dilemma occurred sooner, and had we been able to explore in the second half, the dynamics which helped the characters to come to these resolutions, the story might have been more plausible, and worked better for me.

For that reason, I will award this one 3.5 ⭐️ rounded down.

Thank You to Storm Publishing for the gifted ARC provided by NetGalley. As always, these are my candid thoughts!

Thank you Storm Publishing and Net Galley for an early copy of The Perfect Plan. Caitlin Weaver is my NEW GO TO AUTHOR!!!! I've read all three of her books and they are AWESOME!!!! The cover is soooooooooooooooo Pretty. This was the first book in a long time that I actually Gasped Out Loud!!! I couldn't predict anything that happened, I cried and was angry and then smiled through my tears. A FANTASTIC Read. Keep writing Caitlin. Thanks again.

𐙚 Domestic Drama
𐙚 Moral Dilemmas
𐙚 Surrogacy

The Perfect Plan by Caitlin Weaver follows Fabiola, a devoted mom who volunteers to be a surrogate for her best friend Liz—a decision that tests every relationship in her life. Packed with twists, family drama, and emotional stakes, this book balances themes of loyalty, friendship, and the pressures of gender roles. Fabiola is a force of nature (flawed but relatable). The ending surprised me but left me satisfied. Overall I thought it was a really good read beautifully executing heartbreaking choices and raw emotions.

Rating: ✰✰✰.5 /5

Thank you for providing me with an advance copy of this book in exchange for my honest review. All opinions expressed are my own. ・❥・

Alice, Fabiola and Liz discuss potential candidates and then out of the blue Fabiola offers to give her best friend Liz the gift of surrogacy. It’s the perfect plan as all agree, until it all goes pear-shaped.

Although three stars is a perfectly decent rating, I’m a bit disappointed with this one, especially after having loved Caitlin Weaver‘s last book. I find the start is slow and it fails to fully grab my attention. This is principally because there is so much going on, not just the perfect (or not) plan but lots of side stories and I think you can have a plot that’s too busy as it becomes distracting.

However, I do like the friendships and the testing of them and they are sorely tested in this domestic drama. The on/off dynamics are done well too. I like Fabiola despite some of the choices that she makes. Although the ending is a nice one, I’m not sure that this would happen in real life but never mind, this is fiction and it doesn’t have to be realistic!

Overall, if you like domestic dramas, then you may love this one and it has plenty of four and five star ratings.

With thanks to NetGalley and especially to Storm Publishing for the much appreciated arc in return for an honest review.

read if you like:
📍 NYC
👯 friend dramas
🤰🏻 surrogacy

summary:
THIS BOOK IS SO GOOD!! This is my 3rd Caitlin Weaver book this year and each one has gotten better, if that’s even possible. It follows Fabiola, wife and mother of three kids, who lives a seemingly ideal life in Brooklyn, hanging out with her best friend, Liz, who married her childhood best friend, Peter. When Liz and Peter start looking for a surrogate to carry their baby, Fabiola immediately volunteers, despite her husband Aron’s hesitation. She loves being pregnant and would do anything for her friends, so why not? Of course, the situation gets infinitely more complicated, and Fabiola has to decide — which relationships are worth fighting for?

I just couldn’t love this book more. It has an underlying theme of gender roles in today’s society, with Peter as the traditional breadwinner in his family, and Fabiola holding her own family together emotionally and financially as her husband plays foosball and chases after his unrealistic dreams. Fabiola herself is one of my favorite characters. She is a force to be reckoned with — serving as the primary parent, an incredibly friend and an overly supportive wife. It’s almost unbelievable when her mistakes expose her flaws, but also shows how even the most put together women aren’t perfect. Personally, I could not stand her husband Aron - he has the ego of a mediocre white man, and I’ll admit, I took so much satisfaction in what happens to him in the book. The entire story really revolves around relationships, and the benefits — and consequences — of them. It’s hard not to give anything away, but the evolution of Fabiola is heart warming — and heart breaking — but the end is satisfying in the best, most heartfelt way. This books makes you laugh, it definitely makes you cry, and it makes you think about the loyalty of friendship with the people most important to you.

I cannot thank Storm Publishing enough for this ARC, and everyone should read this when it releases on January 15! And until then, I can’t wait for the next one!

I love how the title is so ironic. The story is the definition of a very flawed plan, reflected by the imperfect characters and their bad decisions throughout.

I was a little peeved when Faby was disloyal. That's a trope I completely avoid. But I'm amazed at how good the author has written the story, giving each character what they deserved.

I tried to dislike Faby after what she did, but as I got know her character more, I sympathized with her. It also helped that she faced the consequences of her actions and paid her due. It was great family drama and I loved the humorous scenes in between.

The ending was really good. I wanted it to be something like that but didn't really expect it to turn out to be so. I'm looking forward to read more such books from the author.

THE PERFECT PLAN by Caitlin Weaver.
Release date set for the 15th of January 2025.
This book is gripping and surprisingly relatable at times.
It Tests the limits of friendship and family.
My first book by Caitlin and now i'm intrigued by her work