REVIEW: The Hookup Plan by Farrah Rochon

[I received a free electronic review copy of this book from Netgalley and Forever in exchange for an honest review. All opinions are my own.]

Summary


At the end of a successful 15 year reunion, London agrees to have a drink with Drew Sullivan, her high school nemesis. And the drink leads to a few more. Which leads to her spending the night. It was an amazing night, but what was she thinking?!

But when she finds out Drew is in town for work – and that work involves the possible sale of the hospital where she works – her animosity toward him reaches supernova levels.

But she can’t deny that they have chemistry. And she needs to blow off a lot of steam. So while she wants nothing to do with him at the hospital, she’s willing to meet him for a hookup now and again. And again. He’ll be leaving town soon enough, and she’ll be glad to be rid of him when the time comes.

Review


This was a fun, sexy story. A few surprises and a couple with great chemistry made this a nice wrap up to The Boyfriend Project series.

The set up of the hookup plan leads to a chunk of the book devoted to the physical relationship between Drew and London, especially in the early parts of the story. The author makes some creative choices in how she describes their encounters to keep them from falling into something repetitive. Then, as the story develops, extra layers are added to the relationship. While the personal growth Drew and London are working on felt like a lot smaller of a part of the book, I thoroughly enjoyed their journeys, both independently and as they helped each other along the way.

Fans of the series should absolutely pick up this third and final book of the series that launched when London and her new friends were first catfished. Readers who love a steamy “enemies” to lovers story should give this a try as well. I don’t know that you have to read these in order, although it does help to know about the inciting incident that led the women to become friends. (Language, sex)

Rating: ♥♥♥♥*

*♥♥♥♥ = Great!

REVIEW: Class Reunions Are Murder by Libby Klein

Summary


Poppy McAllister feels like the rug has been pulled out from under her. Not only is she grieving the loss of her husband and rethinking some of the choices in her life. She’s also facing a 25 year high school reunion. Confronting her past – and former tormentors – would be one thing if she was feeling on top of her life. But she’s probably up two dress sizes after months of grief-eating, and her personal care routine has seen better days.

And then, to add insult to injury, one of her high school tormentors winds up dead. The police officer in charge of the case seems determined to see Poppy arrested for the crime.

This is the absolute WORST time to run into her high school boyfriend or deal with her angry Aunt Ginny who may need full time care. But an unexpected conversation with her cellmates at the jail launches Poppy’s life in a new direction. She’s done letting life just happen to her. She’s taking charge, starting with solving the murder at her high school reunion.

Review


This was a treat from start to finish. I felt bad for Poppy at the start. She has had some hard knocks. But she wasn’t whining or obnoxious about them. And I liked her even more when she started to take some ownership over her circumstances.

The murder was nicely complicated. The victim was pretty typical for cozy mysteries. There were plenty of reasons someone could want her dead. I was able to figure out the culprit, but needed help with some of the motive. And a few of my other guesses on things were way off base. But I enjoyed trying to solve all the puzzles.

Aunt Ginny’s situation was the most satisfying part of the book for me. And the effort to work that out pulled Poppy and Ginny together which was also great.

I picked this up because I love reunion stories – so many interesting things can come up when you get a diverse group together after a period of time – family or classmates. This was all I had hoped for when I bought it. The food allergy/Paleo diet pieces were interesting and gave this a different layer to add to the traditional cozy features (amateur sleuth, love triangle, etc.). I’m looking forward to reading books 2 and 3 to see where the relationships and the cooking/dietary pieces go.

Rating: ♥♥♥♥♥