book trilogy | Bookshelf Fantasies

Title: The Hookup Plan
Series: The Boyfriend Project, #3
Author: Farrah Rochon
Publisher: Forever
Publication date: August 2, 2022
Length: 368 pages
Genre: Contemporary romance
Source: Library
Rating:

Strong female friendships and a snappy enemies-to-lovers theme take center stage in this highly anticipated romantic comedy from the USA Today bestselling author of The Dating Playbook.

Successful pediatric surgeon London Kelley just needs to find some balance and de-stress. According to her friends Samiah and Taylor, what London really needs is a casual hookup. A night of fun with no strings. But no one—least of all London—expected it to go down at her high school reunion with Drew Sullivan, millionaire, owner of delicious abs, and oh yes, her archnemesis.

Now London is certain the road to hell is paved with good sex. Because she’s found out the real reason Drew’s back in Austin: to decide whether her beloved hospital remains open. Worse, Drew is doing everything he can to show her that he’s a decent guy who actually cares. But London’s not falling for it. Because while sleeping with the enemy is one thing, falling for him is definitely not part of the plan.

The Hookup Plan is the 3rd book in a trilogy about a trio of women who meet by discovering that they’re all dating the same cheating conman, and rather than turning on each other, they connect and become best friends. And while these books are romances, the women’s friendship is the true highlight of the overarching story.

In The Hookup Plan, pediatric surgeon London Kelley is the main character. She works long, stressful days at her underfunded public hospital, and always puts her patients first. She’s kind, caring, and supportive when it comes to the children in her care, but hard as nails and not afraid to take a stand when it comes to the hospital administration.

London has had a long, dry spell when it comes to men. First of all, who has time for dating? And secondly, after the disastrous attempt at dating that led to her meeting Samiah and Taylor, London has mainly given up hope — although the three made a pact early on to eventually find boyfriends by bettering themselves. It’s worked for Samiah and Taylor — both are happily in love. For London, her “boyfriend project” goal is to find a hobby, and while she’s gotten very into crocheting, that’s not exactly improving her love life.

At her 15th high school reunion. London is annoyed to encounter Drew Sullivan, her archnemesis from way back when. She’d been clearly and comfortably #1 in her class until his arrival junior year, but from then on, the two battled for first place and ended up as co-valedictorians. For a girl whose father only paid attention when she won something big enough for him to brag about, “co”-anything just wasn’t good enough. No wonder London resented and loathed Drew as much as she did.

But, adult Drew is charming and very hot (and very rich, although London doesn’t care about that). They have a no-strings one-night-stand after the reunion, which turns into a two-night-stand… until London discovers Monday morning that Drew is also heading up the team set to audit her hospital and recommend whether or not to sell it to a private company.

As the two continue their supposedly sex-only encounters at night and interact professionally during the day, they can’t escape one another’s company, and London eventually has to admit that maybe there’s more to their connection than just the (incredibly smoking) physical relationship. Meanwhile, her hospital’s fate rests in Drew’s hands, and she has big decisions to make about her professional future as well.

I enjoyed London and Drew’s chemistry, but other pieces of the plot felt underbaked to me. Drew is a former hedge fund manager who’s worth hundreds of millions (there’s an ongoing joke about how his fancy New York apartment even has views of Central Park from the bathroom), so why is he doing hands-on work at a county hospital in Texas? His new company and his role don’t make a ton of sense to me.

As with the other books in the series, the plot points regarding the workplace and the complications there hang too heavily over the romantic elements. It’s good to see London in her element as a doctor and a leader, but certain situations (such as struggles with the hospital administration) are left hanging, or are set up but then resolved off the page.

I wished for more time with Samiah and Taylor in this book. While the women’s friendship is still the underpinning of the story, it felt as though we saw less of them in this book than in the previous two. (By the end, it’s clear that they’re both doing well, experiencing great success with the professional goals they set for themselves, and are happily in love!).

London and Drew clearly have great physical chemistry, and even though it takes a while for them to acknowledge that they’ve caught feelings too, their progression from enemies-with-benefits to true partnership and romance is well described and seems well-earned. London’s family situation gets addressed as well, and I appreciated seeing how seriously she takes her role as an older sister and her commitment to making sure her father’s young children don’t have the same sorts of trauma she’s carried with her for so long.

As a whole, I’ve really enjoyed the Boyfriend Project trilogy, and The Hookup Plan works well as a grand finale. The women’s friendship is what really makes these books special, above and beyond the fun romantic entanglements.

Interested? Check out my reviews of the previous two books in the series:

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Title: The Cruel Prince (Folk of the Air, #1)
Author: Holly Black
Publisher: Little, Brown Books for Young Readers
Publication date: January 2, 2018
Length: 370 pages
Genre: Fantasy
Source: Purchased
Rating:

Of course I want to be like them. They’re beautiful as blades forged in some divine fire. They will live forever.
And Cardan is even more beautiful than the rest. I hate him more than all the others. I hate him so much that sometimes when I look at him, I can hardly breathe.
Jude was seven when her parents were murdered and she and her two sisters were stolen away to live in the treacherous High Court of Faerie. Ten years later, Jude wants nothing more than to belong there, despite her mortality. But many of the fey despise humans. Especially Prince Cardan, the youngest and wickedest son of the High King.
To win a place at the Court, she must defy him–and face the consequences.
As Jude becomes more deeply embroiled in palace intrigues and deceptions, she discovers her own capacity for trickery and bloodshed. But as betrayal threatens to drown the Courts of Faerie in violence, Jude will need to risk her life in a dangerous alliance to save her sisters, and Faerie itself.

The Cruel Prince is a book that practically everyone but me had already read. But now…

I’m in! I finally read The Cruel Prince, and I can see what all the fuss is about. Call me late to the party, but guys! This book is good!

The book starts off with a horrifying, sad scene: In a normal suburban home, 7-year-old twin sisters Taryn and Jude and their older sister Vivi are lounging about watching TV, when a strange man enters, murders their parents, and steals them away. The man is Madoc, and he is Vivi’s biological father. The mother of the three girls used to dwell in Faerie with him, but she ran off years earlier with the mortal man who became the twins’ father. Now, years later, Madoc has taken what he considers his.

The girls are brought to Faerie and raised among the fae gentry. Vivi, half-fae herself, fits in pretty well, but the twins are always aware of how other they are. They’re mortal, and have no powers. Even worse, they have no innate ability to fight off the magical compulsions and other torments directed at them by their fae classmates.

As the story kicks in, Jude and Taryn are seventeen, still trying to find a way to belong. Madoc has raised them with riches and privilege, but they can never forget that he murdered their parents. Jude wants strength — she wants to prove she belongs in the fae court by becoming a knight. Taryn, on the other hand, wants to secure her place through marriage. And Vivi? She, the one who should belong, wants no part of it at all, instead preferring to sneak back to the human world whenever she can to see her mortal girlfriend and plan a future with her.

Jude and Taryn are constantly tormented by their classmates, especially Prince Cardan and his cronies. But when the king decides to step down and pass along the crown, the intrigue and the danger escalates.

I’m not going to go further into the plot, but let me just say… I was hooked! I could not put this book down once I started. I loved the depiction of Faerie, its beauty and wonders, and how utterly alien and hostile this world would feel to children who didn’t belong.

The casual cruelty of the ruling class is scary and heartless, and I felt awful for Taryn and Jude for having no defenses and no way to stand up for themselves in any meaningful way. And even when some of the crowd appear to be more inclined to be friendly, it seems obvious that no one can be trusted.

Jude is our hero, and she’s awesome. She’s smart and brave, and refuses to scrape and bow, even when that’s the most obvious way to get the bullies off her back. She’s devoted to protecting her family, and doesn’t take the easy way out. I like how she goes through the book having to figure who to trust, and even when forced into pretty bad situations, how to turn those situations to her advantage and achieve her goals.

I definitely want more! I’m really looking forward to reading book #2, and feel pretty safe in predicting that I’ll want to read straight through to the end of the trilogy!