He crossed an ocean, and it still wasn’t enough to escape his lifelong nemesis. Now he has to work with her.
Successful screenwriter Finn Masters just landed his dream job writing for Neighbors, one of Hollywood’s highest-rated, longest-running sitcoms. The only downside? It will put him back in proximity of the show’s universally adored, optimistic, altruistic star, Lavender Rhodes, who has been inadvertently ruining his life since they were school chums in England. But she doesn’t even know she destroyed his acting career and wrecked his relationship with the love of his life.
He’s not about to let this woman yank yet another dream out from under his feet. In fact, he realizes he’s been given the ideal opportunity to plot his payback: spinning her character in shocking new directions. What could go wrong? Only everything. As Finn’s not-so-brilliant plot backfires one scene after the next, catching him in the blasts, he’s forced to think about this impossible, infuriating…and maybe even lovable woman in an entirely new light.
I once read that the problem with most TV/movie adaptations of Pride and Prejudice is that they only have an hour or so to go from 'Darcy is horrible and nasty and Elizabeth is haughty and proud' to 'they are completely in love' and it's very hard to do it believably. A lot of romcoms have a similar problem. They need their characters to be apart at the beginning but together at the end. Why are they apart? Usually a misunderstanding or character clash, which is what we have here, that gets sorted out by the end.
This was a nice enough read, but it felt shallow. Finn has been holding on to this grudge for twenty years, but drops it after twenty minutes? Lavender has been living in Hollywood for ten years and still thinks people are nice underneath? Kye and Sonja - well, I don't really know anything about them, so I can't comment?
It's fun to read, but don't go looking for a deeper meaning - there isn't one here, and sometimes that's ok.
How to Plot a Payback publishes on the 2nd of April, 2024. I received a free copy and am giving an honest review.
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