Reviews for “Best Laid Plans”
(please note, reviews may contain spoilers!)
Rainbow Reviews gave "Best Laid Plans" 4 stars and said:
“Best Laid Plans” by Cat Kane is a surprisingly great story. I say surprisingly because initially some of the characters appear very unlikable. Not only did that quickly change but also they end up being quite wonderful.
The story opens with a funny wedding disaster that gets blamed on our protagonist Eliott. He is a sweet, charming Wedding Planner whose every move is fraught with obstacles. I couldn’t help but laugh at the proverbial 'straw that broke the camel’s back' moment in the opening chapter when even nature seems to turn against poor Eliott.
Despite the amusing aspects of the wedding disaster, I found myself feeling a lot of sympathy for the guy. He just “wants to make people happy” and he sees his entire business collapsing. I really enjoyed Eliott’s complex nature; his conflicting desires to be a success and yet his attraction to the groom. Besides, it is hard not to like a guy that really wants to make people happy.
Thus, when, for some nefarious reasons, Veronica and Dylan hire Eliott for their wedding, I really disliked these two and wasn’t sure I’d like where the story appeared to be going. Rest assured, not only did the characters redeem themselves, but also the story has a few enjoyable twists and turns.
Just as it looks like either the plans of Eliott or Veronica and Dylan must fail for the other to succeed, and that either way, Eliott’s going to get hurt, the author throws in some brilliant twists that deliver a completely romantic and satisfying conclusion.
Overall, this story is very well written and is a delightful romantic journey.
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Mrs. Giggles gave "Best Laid Plans" a 74 and said:
Best Laid Plans is a gay contemporary romance but I'd swear that I'm seeing two young ladies romancing each other on the cover. I... hey, wait a minute. Is the cover artist trying to warn me about this story? Fortunately, this isn't one of those gay romances with overwrought young girls wearing strap-ons and pretending to be gay men. Still, I have my reservations about this story.
When the story opens, our hero, a wedding planner for the upper crust society named Elliot Bailey, is sweating buckets because his most recent gig ended with a hawk - yes, a hawk - escaping from its trainer and scaring the poor bride silly. Is his career over? Well, he may have one more chance to make things right when he finds himself hired by a rich old coot to give his daughter the wedding of a lifetime. Then again, Elliot just has to go ahead and fall in love with the bridegroom-to-be Dylan.
This is a short and pleasant story with the happy ending more easily attained than I would expect it to be. Even when I consider the limitation of characterization in the novella format, however, I find Elliot a pretty painful character to follow. This fellow is such a bag of nerves that I can only fear that a massive breakdown is going to happen one of these days. It is exhausting just following a scene with Elliot because he is full of nervous tics. He swallows, he blinks, he gasps, he stammers, and he stumbles and behaves like a klutz. Sometimes he's worried, flustered, and convinced that the end is near. Poor Elliot. Maybe a nice long stay in a white padded room with Hayley Westenra playing softly in the background is in order.
Apart from the hero who can sometimes be too much like a cartoon character with his exaggerated tics, Best Laid Plans is a pleasant story that may be what you need if you want a quick read.
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Literary Nymphs gave "Best Laid Plans" four nymphs and said:
Best Laid Plans is a fun and light-hearted gay romance that’s perfect for an afternoon read. While the plot isn’t anything new, Ms. Kane has created two lovers, Elliot and Dylan, who make the book enjoyable. I thought originally that Elliot was a sad character, whose life never went as planned. He’s kind, friendly, devoted, hardworking, attractive, and his most endearing characteristic is that he likes making people happy. How can you not like this guy? I quickly found that he wasn’t sad, just prone to bad luck, and it didn’t help that he was a klutz. Dylan, on the other hand, I had to warm up too. When I realized why he and Veronica had picked Elliot, not caring how their little plot would affect him, I didn’t like him. It wasn’t until later when he came to care for Elliot and didn’t want to hurt him that I decided he wasn’t such a jerk after all, just desperate. Things get a little rocky for our lovers as the story progresses but it still gives us a lovely happily-ever-after at the end.
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