High school senior Keely Collins takes on firsts, lasts, and everything in between in this sweet, sex-positive rom-com for fans of Meg Cabot and Jenny Han.It seemed like a good plan at first.When the only other virgin in her group of friends loses it at Keely’s own eighteenth birthday party, she’s inspired to take things into her own hands. She wants to have that experience too (well, not exactly … experience too (well, not exactly like that–but with someone she trusts and actually likes), so she’s going to need to find the guy, and fast. Problem is, she’s known all the boys in her small high school forever, and it’s kinda hard to be into a guy when you watched him eat crayons in kindergarten.
So she can’t believe her luck when she meets a ridiculously hot new guy named Dean. Not only does he look like he’s fallen out of a classic movie poster, but he drives a motorcycle, flirts with ease, and might actually be into her.
But Dean’s already in college, and Keely is convinced he’ll drop her if he finds out how inexperienced she is. That’s when she talks herself into a new plan: her lifelong best friend, Andrew, would never hurt or betray her, and he’s clearly been with enough girls that he can show her the ropes before she goes all the way with Dean. Of course, the plan only works if Andrew and Keely stay friends–just friends–so things are about to get complicated.
Cameron Lund’s delightful debut is a hilarious and heartfelt story of first loves, first friends, and first times–and how making them your own is all that really matters.
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This is a funny, cute and really enjoyable book. I loved this book more than a pizza . It is perfect for all rom-com lovers. It is a book we want to read again and again and every time it is as amusing as it was the first time. All the characters are lovable and so relatable. I was a little nostalgic and was remembering my high school days while reading it. We all had such a group of friends and classmates in high school.
This book is about Keely who is a high school student and her best friends are Andrew and Hannah. The senior year in high school is all about stepping into adulthood. We envy our classmates and are a little conscious of ourselves. I could relate to Keely and I loved her innocence. She is so much like me when I was in high school.
Andrew is such a wonderful friend and person and Hannah is Keely’s support system.
The story was wonderful and all in all, it was a great read. I will definitely recommend this book if you like YA romance. I could fly through it and it exceeds my expectations.
i was lucky enough to win the raffle for this book and thank you bookishfirst for sending me a copy in exchange for a honest review
i’m glad i won the raffle for this i really enjoyed this book and thought it was so cute and a fun read for me and i don’t really like ya romances as much as i used to and i loved the friends to lovers trope in this and the relationships Keely has with her friends which made this book much more enjoyable, this book was quick and easy to follow also which made me love it more. Keely’s and Andrew were so cute and i was rooting for them when i was reading this and found their relationship from best friends to lovers so cute and interesting to read
I received this ARC from a Bookish First raffle. The opinions stated in this review are my own.
When Keely’s best friend Andrew throws her a party for her 18th birthday, she blends into the woodwork. Everyone else is “hooking up” and a classmate, Danielle, loses her virginity. Now it seems that Keely is the only senior left that still has her “V” card. She decides that she is ready to lose her virginity, she just doesn’t know to whom she will give the honor.
She meets a college guy who she and her friends nickname James Dean. It turns out that his name is Dean. He also happens to be interested in Keely. They work together, hang out, and go on a date while she keeps putting him off. He believes that she is not a virgin and she is afraid (and embarrassed) to tell him otherwise. Then comes The Plan. She asks Andrew to take her virginity because she trusts him. She also believes him to be experienced. She’s decided that she wants to go all the way with Dean, but she wants to know what she’s doing when it happens and wants Andrew to teach her. Things don’t work out the way she thinks they will and The Plan leads to complications.
I loved this book! I loved the characters, the story line, all of it! It reminded me so much of being in high school. The gossip, drama, and peer pressure. Being unsure of yourself and trying to figure everything out. I couldn’t put this book down. I probably became entirely too emotionally invested in these characters. I felt like I was right there with them, watching the story unfold.
Best Laid Plans review
This was extremely cute! I haven’t had much time to read, so it definitely took me a few sittings, but it was very cute, if not a little predictable. I enjoyed the read.
Wins:
-Characters: I loved Keely. She was super cute and I loved the fact she wasn’t a super extreme character. Andrew was cool. Dean was an interesting addition to the mix.
-the romance ended up being super cute and addicting. I saw it coming, but I don’t have a huge problem with that
-the throwbacks to high school
-the director/ movie addiction. I always like that in a book
Opportunities
-the pretty girl doesn’t know she’s pretty stereotype
-the drama I saw coming from a mile away
-the a hole the main character doesn’t see as an a hole
-I didn’t laugh at any point. When I think romcom I think cute funny moments. There were no moments I thought were funny
Overall a cute, coming of age novel that was an enjoyable read. I liked it.
Best Laid Plans (haha play on words) by Cameron Lund is a fun, snarky, sarcastic young adult novel that kept me interested from beginning to end.
Today, high school definitely is not what it used to be as we read about senior Keely Collins navigating her way through friendships (or loss of friends), figuring out her wants and desires, and honestly just finding her way amongst the crowd.
Keely thinks she knows what she wants in her finding of the older and “cooler” Dean, but luckily she is able figure out what matters, and who truly does care about her (her awesome friend Andrew whom is right under her nose all along).
I can’t completely identify with some of her concerns, however anyone can see themselves in Keely and in trying to navigate that grey area between young adult and adulthood. It is rough, and I think Keely and Andrew will do just fine.
I enjoyed the ending as well.
Thank you BookishFirst, Razorbill, and Ms Lund for this ARC and this is my voluntary and unbiased review in return.
Keely isn’t much of a dater, so when she starts dating, she feels woefully under-educated. So when she starts dating Dean, the lie that she wasn’t a virgin just kind of slipped out. Why not ask her best friend, Andrew, to help her out? But as the title suggest, the best-laid plans always tend to go awry.
Keely tends to have a lot of good insight when she’s talking to herself in the story, and I think that makes it completely relatable. Because Keely sees herself as “one of the guys” (and frankly, when she’s around them, they talk as if she is one of them), she doesn’t see herself the way others do. I think that’s fairly accurate in this day and age.
The book is smart and funny, and I loved the characters. I think Lund did a great job showing the impossible rules for dating, the standards for teenagers that don’t really make sense, and she used this group of friends incredibly well. I loved all the characters, I loved the swoony-romance that was going on, and I loved how it was written. This was such a fun read.