The Love Plot
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4.2 • 79 Ratings
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- $10.99
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- $10.99
Publisher Description
There’s a magnetic attraction when a happy-go-lucky gig worker agrees to a fake relationship with a rich, uptight New Yorker in this steamy romantic comedy from New York Times bestselling author Samantha Young.
Star Shine Meadows is all about freedom, thanks to the hippie parents who raised her. Juggling her jobs as a professional costume character actor and a line sitter, she believes in no expectations, no stressful ambitions, and no-strings-attached relationships. So when she meets a birthday girl’s grumpy uncle while working a princess party, she can’t help but needle him. She’ll never see him again, and honestly, he's pretty hot.
Rafe Whitman may be a veterinarian with a great bedside manner, but that doesn’t mean his patience extends to anyone with opposable thumbs. His family will not stop nagging him about finding “the one,” so when he runs into obnoxiously cheery Star again, he makes her an offer: He’ll pay her more than she would make doing her odd jobs if she’ll pretend to be his girlfriend at family gatherings. She can stop sitting in line waiting for someone else’s new phone, and he’ll get his family off his back.
When the tension between them heats to a breaking point, Star’s desire for "no strings" is tested against Rafe’s staunch stability. They say opposites attract, after all....
PUBLISHERS WEEKLY
A straitlaced veterinarian and a carefree kid's party entertainer fall in love while attempting to thwart family matchmaking attempts in this lighthearted rom-com from Young (A Cosmic Kind of Love). Raised by hippies, gig worker Star Shine Meadows is a fly-by-the-seat-of-her-pants kind of gal. She makes no long-term commitments in her personal or professional life, unlike Rafe Whitman, the driven, handsome vet she meets while playing a princess at a birthday party. Buttoned-up Rafe is Star's total opposite, but when he offers to pay her a huge amount to play his fake girlfriend and get his domineering mother and sister-in-law to stop setting him up on horrible dates, she agrees. Soon, fake dating turns into real love, and Rafe's acceptance of Star's quirks persuades the commitment-phobe to give a relationship a shot. Problems arise when Rafe's wealthy family object to Star's lifestyle (unbeknownst to Rafe) and she makes changes to appease them, confusing Rafe and driving a wedge between her and her friends. Will the desires of others destroy what Star and Rafe could have? Young's take on the fake dating trope is sexy and charmingly unpretentious. This is sure to leave readers smiling.
Customer Reviews
Opposites
Opposites attract
Grumpy/sunshine
Fake relationship
Romcom
Star is a free spirited happy woman with a lot of confidence.- very personable. She gives everyone the benefit of the doubt. She is used to people not taking her seriously and looking down on her but she lives her best life. She is an independent and intelligent woman. Her jobs as a character actor and line sitter make her unique and interesting.
Rafferty is her opposite. He is rich, college educated and not a people person. He is a veterinarian, loves animals. The only people he seems to tolerate is his family and a few friends.
Their first meeting was less than stellar. Raff was in a bad mood and took it out on Star. His mother and sister in law have been trying to fix him up. He is not a willing participant. So begins the fake dating.
Star believed in killing them with kindness. Even grumpy Raff fell under her spell.
This is cute and fun with great characters. It had great banter. Good character growth for our main characters as well as the supporting characters. A lot of prejudgments that were proved wrong.
I’m a party pooper
I went into not even realizing there was a chance I would not like it, given my history of really enjoying her books, but this one felt particularly lackluster. Her writing style and the way she typically develops characters with inherent depth, using small, intricate detail to develop the relationship to one that is believable and romantic feels absent here. The plot could have been simple & wonderful, but instead was clunky & strange (not in a good way). There was no palpable flow or chemistry beyond what was written, thus making them feel like two disjointed characters to me. She is a hyper-independent, self-proclaimed commitment-phobe but then commits hardcore to him & starts to adjust significant parts of her life around him almost immediately? I typically choose reads carefully to decrease the chance I DNF, but I got 80% after a few days of struggling though & simply cannot finish. 🥲
The Love Plot
I am a huge fan of Samantha Young and her latest novel does not disappoint! I won’t give away any spoilers but I love the way she developed her characters, especially Star and Rafe. There were some I would have liked to give a piece of my mind but others took care of that for me!🤣 It is definitely worth reading, you will thoroughly enjoy! 📚❤️⭐️🐾