Best Laid Plans

3.75 stars-- BEST LAID PLANS by Lauren Blakely is a contemporary, adult, stand alone erotic, romance story line focusing on fire fighter Gabe Harrison, and book store owner Arden East. Told from dual first person perspectives (Gabe and Arden) BEST LAID PLANS follows the friends to lovers relationship between fire fighter Gabe Harrison, and book store owner Arden East. One year earlier Arden East was in love with a man who thought our heroine was too nice and too vanilla. Angry and heart broken, our heroine begins to toss the picnic she made only to come face to face with fire fighter Gabe Harrison who welcomes the ‘nice’ woman into his last. Fast forward to present day wherein Arden is desperate to step out of her ‘nice lady’ comfort zone, and makes Gabe an offer he cannot refuse- teach our heroine to be sexy and more outgoing. What ensues is the friends to lovers romance and relationship, and the potential fall-out when the emotional magnitude of their growing love threatens the friendship zone Arden squarely placed the man that she loves. Gabe Harrison has lusted after his best-friend from afar but having been placed in the ‘friend zone’ one too many times, Gabe takes full advantage of Arden’s need to learn to be seductive both in and out of the bedroom. Arden East knows she is the vanilla woman her ex tried to make her believe but having had no experience in the world of kink or sexy fun, our heroine is desperate to put Gabe’s knowledge to use. The relationship between Gabe and Arden is one of best friends; a relationship where the palpable sexual attraction is evident to everyone but our leading couple. Wanting to ‘experience’ everything and more, Arden makes a bucket list of sexual activities for her and Gabe to practice and learn. The $ex scenes are intimate and passionate, without the use of over the top, sexually graphic language and text. We are introduced to Arden’s best friends: bowling centre owner Vanessa, and police officer Perri Keating; as well as fire fighter Shaw Keating, paramedic newcomer Derek McBride, and Gabe’s pops and parents. Derek and Perri’s story line is next in THE FEEL GOOD FACTOR. BEST LAID PLANS is a story of friendship, romance, heart break and love. The premise is engaging and endearing; the romance is steamy and fun; the characters are energetic, feisty and lively. BEST LAID PLANS is a sexy and sensual story of romance.

Arden is one of my favourite Lauren Blakely characters; nerdy book girl and hopeless romantic – I love her. Book shop owner, good girl, awesome friend and quirky sense of humour – love 💖 Gabe is also a brilliant character – hot fireman alert 👨‍🚒 Although he has been placed in the player category, he is a wonderful, considerate person and a great friend. Which is exactly where Gabe finds himself where Arden is concerned. Their first real interaction occurs when Arden is not at her best, to say the least. Gabe manages to lift her spirits and endear himself to her. The chemistry between Gabe and Arden is evident even under these odd circumstances, however, with Arden’s fragile state and Gabe’s player reputation, Arden is determined to ignore the tingles and embrace the friendship. The story unfolds with a year passing and the friendship between Arden and Gabe growing deeper with each passing day until bestie status is achieved. Despite their friendship and underlying attraction, Arden and Gabe have attempted to date other people but nobody fits them like each other. Plus Arden is still carrying a lot of self-doubts where her sexuality is concerned thanks to her douchey-ex. When a group of mature ladies set up a book group in Arden’s store, their ‘cease the day’ attitude inspires Arden to take control of her sexuality by doing what she does best – planning and list making. Creating a list of all the sexy things she would like to try – now she has to find someone she trusts to help her with ticking all the things off her list. Who better than her gorgeous best friend, Gabe. Gabe thinks Christmas has come early when Arden propositions him with undertaking her list; especially as he has been trying to gather the courage to tell Arden how he feels about her 💖 Unfortunately, being a typical male, Gabe suffers from a terminal case of foot-in-mouth to go along with a lack of understanding when it comes to the female psyche. Putting both himself and Arden off balance and afraid to move forward. The tension between Gabe and Arden reaches volcanic levels of heat while undertaking their list ticking mission. Determined to keep their friendship intact neither Gabe nor Arden are prepared to make the first move where their escalating feelings are concerned. What will happen when the sparks turn into a raging inferno??? All will be revealed within the pages of Best Laid Plans and they most certainly are 😉

Friends to lovers is one of my very favorite tropes and Lauren Blakely does it so damn well! I fell in love with Arden and Gabe from the moment the book opens (the cheese!!) and couldn't wait to see how everything unfolded. Blakely gives readers a little twist to the friends with benefits story line, that I found really fun and perfect for our characters. This book was exactly what I needed - a sexy and fun, but not too angsty, romcom. I'm never a big fan of the manwhore hero, but Gabe definitely proves that though he has enjoyed the opposite sex, once he sets his sights on someone, he is all in. I really appreciated that he took the time to get to know Arden, and recognized that even if he wanted to explore more with her, emotionally she was not ready. I loved that he played the long game with Arden. She was such a fantastic heroine - smart, fun, loyal, witty, and extremely relatable. One of my favorite things about her (besides the fact that she loved books and owned a bookstore!) was how much she valued her girlfriends and friendships. Her Bawdy Ladies book club (what a hoot they were!), as well as Vanessa and Perri were such great additions to the story. Gabe's relationship with his family was wonderful too, especially his bond with Pops. The slow burn build up between Gabe and Arden was exquisite and I about burst into flames when everything finally boiled over. (Side note: I NEVER in a million years would have thought a sentence with the word 'mime' in it could be so incredibly sexy!) I thought the concerns and bit of drama we encounter in the story were realistic and honest. Is it worth it to risk a rock solid amazing friendship for the possibility of an even more amazing love? There are a few miscommunications and missteps along the way for Gabe and Arden as they navigate the friends to more road, but the resolution was so sweet and perfect for these characters. The epilogues were the icing on the cake and I had a huge smile on my face as I turned the last page. Lots of seeds were planted for Blakely's next book, and I can't wait to read Perri and Derek's story next in The Feel Good Factor! PS - I also love that Lauren Blakely threw a few easter eggs in for her fans by giving cameos to her characters in Unzipped and also nods to her Heartbreakers series. Such a fun tie in! 4.5 stars *I voluntarily read an advance reader copy of this book*