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