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I'm so happy to be a part of this tour for "The Best Laid Plans" by Amy Vastine. I've been following Amy Vastine and I really enjoy reading her books. This book is the second in the Chicago Sisters series by Harlequin Heartwarming. I got an e-book for review for this tour but I also entered to win a physical copy of this book because well, sometimes it's awesome to hold an actual book in your hands. Guess what? I won!! In the mail came this book, signed by the author! Woot! I read the real book instead of the e-book. It was oh, so satisfying!
Emma is a planner. To the extreme. She has a life plan and she is determined to stick to that plan no matter what. Emma likes to be in control and she believes that she must stick to the plan because if she doesn't, bad things will happen. Yeah, she is a bit fanatical about her plan. I'm a girl that loves to plan too, but Emma and her planning drove me nuts.
I fell in love with Charlie long before Emma did. Haha. He is awesome and so, so, so incredibly patient. He'd have to be with Emma! Poor Charlie just wants to be loved. He's been heartbroken before and he doesn't want to go down that road again with Emma but he just can't stay away from her. It's a recipe for a good, romantic book!
I have to say that this book can stand alone but I think you will best enjoy it if you read "The Better Man" first. This book kind of gives the reader a happily ever after epilogue for Kendall and Max from the first book which is all kinds of awesome and just what I love to read about.
"The Best Laid Plans" is clean- no sexual situations or swearing. It is easy, fluffy, and romantic. I love Harlequin Heartwarming and I love Amy Vastine. I cannot wait to read the next book in this series! Enjoy the following excerpt from "The Best Laid Plans".
Scott turned around first. He stared at her, obviously aware
of the length of her hair, but unlike everyone else, he said nothing. Did he
love it? Did he hate it? Why wasn’t he saying anything?
Charlie faced her, that easy smile on his face. “I love the
new look, Nightingale,” he said without hesitation. “You look gorgeous.”
The butterflies in Emma’s stomach fluttered ever so
slightly. She swallowed down some of her worry. “Thanks, Charlie. I donate my
hair every year to mark the day my mom’s breast cancer took her hair but not
her spirit.”
“That’s awesome,” Charlie said, reaching up to move some
hair out of her eyes. Emma’s butterflies tickled her insides. “My niece had
leukemia when she was eight. Losing her hair was a huge hit to her self-esteem.
She would have loved a wig.”
Scott cleared his throat. “Yeah, that’s really sweet of you.
Those places give wigs to kids with alopecia and burns, too.”
“I didn’t know that,” Emma said, self-consciously raking her
fingers through the hair at the nape of her neck. Having the attention of both
Charlie and Scott was more than she could stand.
“I worked in the Burn Unit at my last hospital. Some of the
toughest work I’ve ever done.”
Charlie shoved his hands in his pockets. “There’s nothing
more gut-wrenching than trying to care for someone with burns. Those are always
our most harrowing rescues.”
The conversation suddenly turned into a competition. “You’re
lucky all you have to do is drive the patient to the hospital,” Scott said. “I
don’t know who has it worse, the firefighters who rescue a burn patient or the
doctors who have to try to ease their pain.”
Charlie gave him a curious look. “Right. Because all we
‘ambulance drivers’ do is drive the ambulance.”
Emma found herself feeling protective of Charlie. She had a
lot of respect for EMTs and paramedics, but they didn’t always get it from
everyone else. “Paramedics are in the trenches with the firefighters. We all
know that. Plus, I think the burn victims have it the worst. If we’re voting.”
“Of course.” Scott cleared his throat again and shifted his
weight from foot to foot. “Well, forgive me if you catch me doing a double take
when I see you. Your new look is going to take some getting used to.”
“I won’t hold it against you.” Emma was unsure if that meant
he liked it or not. Scott gathered up his things and went to check on another
patient.
“Isn’t he charming?” Charlie said, watching him go.
“He’s a nice guy,” Emma said in Scott’s defense. “He didn’t
mean anything by that comment.”
