The Love Plot

June 12, 2023
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. Agent: Lauren Abramo, Dystel, Goderich & Bourret.

June 1, 2023

Star Shine Meadows has one life goal: be happy. Right now, being happy means working two jobs that bring joy to others and afford her the time to read books and hang out with her friends. When she meets Rafe Whitman while performing as a Disney princess at his niece's birthday party, his brooding demeanor immediately makes her want to ruffle his feathers. But when she runs into him again during a line-sitting gig, she's shocked when he asks if she'll consider helping him get his family off his back by posing as his girlfriend for an exorbitant amount of money. Star agrees to the ruse and begins attending events and dinners with the Whitman family. Spending more time with Rafe reveals a caring and thoughtful person underneath his gruff and extremely attractive exterior, and soon the fake feelings start turning extremely real. But turning a fake relationship into a real one and being embraced by the well-off Whitman family might mean giving up who she is. VERDICT When Young (A Cosmic Kind of Love) puts together a joyful gig worker and a grumpy veterinarian for a fake-relationship scheme, it creates a steamy, tension-filled read.--Kellie Tilton

Copyright 2023 Library Journal, LLC Used with permission.

July 15, 2023
Opposites attract when a flighty gig worker and a gruff veterinarian fake a relationship. Star Shine Meadows is the daughter of "self-proclaimed hippies" and takes odd jobs to keep her bills paid, from dressing up as a mascot to holding someone's place in line for a new smartphone. Star first meets Rafe Whitman while playing Princess Merida from Pixar's Brave at his niece's birthday party. She's drawn to his stoic demeaner, poking and prodding to get him to crack a smile, but she soon learns that the only soft spot Rafe has is for his furry (and sometimes feathered or scaled) patients. While Rafe takes great pleasure in his job as a veterinarian, his temperament often comes up short when it comes to people, especially the nosy, meddling family members who can't stop hounding him about settling down. He doesn't anticipate running into the extroverted Merida from his niece's party again, but when he does, he makes her an offer he doesn't think she'll refuse. Rafe will pay Star to pose as his girlfriend just to get his family off his back for a little while. Since Rafe's pay far exceeds what Star frequently cobbles together from her litany of jobs and freelancing, she accepts. Young's contemporary romances are often overloaded with sexual attraction; Star starts fantasizing about Rafe the second she sees him. While Star and Rafe's romance is chock-full of sex and silliness (an honorable mention to Rafe's vet practice full of animals with large personalities), that sometimes feels like a barrier to reaching anything deeper. Buying into a forever kind of love with Star and Rafe is a big ask since their chemistry seems more suited to a friends-with-benefits arrangement until someone more fitting for each of them comes along. Just like the main couple, this book is great for a quick fling, but don't expect any staying power.

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