Blog Tour Review & Giveaway: The Best Laid Plans by Tamara Mataya

Today, I have the tour for The Best Laid Plans by Tamara Mataya, hosted by ATOMR tours, on the blog. Check out my review below and enter the giveaway.

To see other stops on the tour for reviews, click here or the tour banner above.

The Best Laid Plans

Author: Tamara Mataya

Publisher: Swoon Romance

Publication Date: November 12, 2013

Genre: Adult Romance/Erotic

Source: eARC via ATOMR Tours

~Synopsis~

Jayne Griffin isn’t looking for Mr. Right. She’s looking for Mr. RTFN and a toe-curling good time. She’s got the brains, the powerful job as a futures broker, and thanks to a makeover and a thin book of dating advice, the confidence to turn any man’s head. 

Malcolm Black notices his high school crush, Jayne, from the stage of her company’s work party. His adolescent feelings for her died beneath months of abuse at the hands of bullies. Abuse that was Jayne’s fault. Though this scorching hot studio musician is unrecognizable as the band geek he used to be, the hurt still lives inside him, and he hatches a plan: Seduce Jayne into falling in love with him, and then shatter her heart. 

The white-hot chemistry between them is a pleasant surprise. It all goes so smoothly until Feelings start to develop... and that invitation to their ten year high school reunion lands in their inboxes. 

Jayne wants the perfect lover. Malcolm wants revenge. But you know what they say about The Best Laid Plans..

~Review~

I never thought I would say a book had too much sex but… I think this book had too much sex (for me anyways). I only felt this way because it seemed like the first 80% was all sex and nothing else. While there were scenes without sex, they were far and few between and I couldn’t really pull the plot out of all of it. I understood what the book was supposed to be about but I couldn’t really grasp onto it. However, Tamara really knows how to write some steamy sex scenes.

Malcom was severely bullied in high school and even though it has been 10 years, he is still haunted by the things that happened to him. The cause of all his problems is his high school crush, Jane, and when he sees her again all of the pain is brought back to the forefront. He wants revenge and he’s determined to make her fall in love with him so he can seek it. Jane was miserable and lonely all through high school and she has completely changed herself in the hopes of never being that girl again. She is now Jayne and she died her hair from blonde to red and has become a super successful business woman. However, she has built walls and sex is just about the pleasure for her, no intimacy required or desired. That all changes when she meets Malcolm.

Malcolm has come into his own as an adult. He is a gorgeous, built, and a successful musician. However, he carries a grudge and anger for the terror he suffered in high school and he blames it on Jayne. This left me really curious as to what she did to him that made him seek revenge. I liked that the author revealed Malcom’s torment in pieces through out the book and didn’t make us wait too long to find out what happened to him. It was definitely appalling and the bullying he suffered was gut wrenching. However, his grudge against Jane was a disappointment. I really felt like his grudge was unjustified but I suppose when you are bullied the way he was, anyone involved, even indirectly sticks with you.

Jayne is a strong, successful, self-confident woman but she still carries some of her insecurities from high school. She may not have been physically tortured like Malcolm was but she was emotionally bullied and that can be just as harmful. She didn’t have a lot of friends in high school and the popular girls made her life miserable. This is why she puts up walls. She needs to be in control to make sure that no one can make her feel insecure again. This has caused her to put up walls and she definitely doesn’t open up easily. As confident as Jayne came across, I could definitely see the insecurity that lied within.

One thing I really missed was the development of Malcolm and Jayne’s relationship. I felt like one minute they are meeting and then a whole bunch of sex later, they are falling for each other. There wasn’t any real depth to the main portion of the story but I did like ending at the class reunion a lot. I was really able to see some character growth in both Jayne and Malcolm as they faced the demons that have haunted them. Both were able to gain closure and see that the grudge and anger they have held onto for so long was pointless. This was like a weight of their chests and I really liked how the author handled this and the message she sent about forgiveness and redemption. I also felt like I was able to sense the depth of the characters feelings for each other at this time too. The way they both overcame and did it together was the best part of the book.

Overall, I think the book was well written and I enjoyed reading it. It was a relatively short book and an easy read. With a little more development and depth, I think the book could have been so much more for me. I just needed all the depth that came in the end to be spread out more throughout the whole book, from the beginning. 

PURCHASE LINKS:

AMAZON | BARNES & NOBLE

About the Author

Tamara Mataya is currently a librarian; she lurked there for so long recommending books to patrons and shushing people, that she suspects they only hired her so it would be less creepy. Now she’s armed with a name tag, and a thin veneer of credibility. She’s also a musician with synaesthesia – which isn't an issue until someone plays a wrong note, which makes her want to squirm inside out. It makes for a good live show.

Author Social Media Links:

Twitter: @FeakySnucker; https://twitter.com/FeakySnucker

Facebook - https://www.facebook.com/TamaraMatayaAuthor

Goodreads - https://www.goodreads.com/author/show/7277419.Tamara_Mataya

Blog - http://feakysnucker.blogspot.com/

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