Scan barcode
A review by sarah_moynihan
The Best-Laid Plans by Sarah M. Eden
4.0
'Newton Hughes has long dreamed of pursuing a career in law, an acceptable choice for a gentleman of status and wealth. His parents, however, disapprove of his ambition, urging him instead to take his rightful place as a gentleman of leisure—with a suitable wife of their choosing, of course.
Ellie Napper would like nothing more than for her parents to abandon their incessant efforts to marry her off to the greatest possible advantage. Her lack of matrimonial enthusiasm drives her family mad, but she refuses to feign frivolity in order to make herself more palatable to potential suitors.
When Ellie and Newton are introduced through their mutual acquaintance, Charlie Jonquil, they commiserate over their shared plight. In desperation, they hatch a plan: Ellie and Newton will feign an interest in each other—enough to convince their parents not to push them toward unwanted matches but not enough to cause whispers or expectations. Their plot quickly spirals out of control, but the greatest complication is the one they didn’t see coming: their plan never included falling in love'
__________________________
The Best-Laid Plans is a novella in Sarah M. Eden's The Lancaster Family series.
I've really enjoyed books in the past by this author and there was nothing really wrong with this novella, but I'm overall pretty ambivalent about it. I honestly had a hard time starting my review for this novella because I don't really have much to say about it. Ellie and Newton are sweet characters and it was nice to see characters I have loved from the Jonquil series, but the plot wasn't very original. It felt like something I had read before, like it was following a predetermined script. That sounds really negative, but I did enjoy it. Perhaps it just wasn't what I expected based on what I have read by this author before.
So overall it was a sweet novella and enjoyable, especially if you have read the related books and know the other characters, but it is also fairly predictable.
Ellie Napper would like nothing more than for her parents to abandon their incessant efforts to marry her off to the greatest possible advantage. Her lack of matrimonial enthusiasm drives her family mad, but she refuses to feign frivolity in order to make herself more palatable to potential suitors.
When Ellie and Newton are introduced through their mutual acquaintance, Charlie Jonquil, they commiserate over their shared plight. In desperation, they hatch a plan: Ellie and Newton will feign an interest in each other—enough to convince their parents not to push them toward unwanted matches but not enough to cause whispers or expectations. Their plot quickly spirals out of control, but the greatest complication is the one they didn’t see coming: their plan never included falling in love'
__________________________
The Best-Laid Plans is a novella in Sarah M. Eden's The Lancaster Family series.
I've really enjoyed books in the past by this author and there was nothing really wrong with this novella, but I'm overall pretty ambivalent about it. I honestly had a hard time starting my review for this novella because I don't really have much to say about it. Ellie and Newton are sweet characters and it was nice to see characters I have loved from the Jonquil series, but the plot wasn't very original. It felt like something I had read before, like it was following a predetermined script. That sounds really negative, but I did enjoy it. Perhaps it just wasn't what I expected based on what I have read by this author before.
So overall it was a sweet novella and enjoyable, especially if you have read the related books and know the other characters, but it is also fairly predictable.