Blog Tour: The Plan by Qwen Salsbury, Review + Giveaway!

Release Date: February 11, 2014

The Plan

by Qwen Salsbury

3.5 stars

The book started out on a very high note. From the very first line, I cracked a smile. The succeeding sentences, heck the rest of the book, proceeded to be incredibly witty and funny! I swear, THE PLAN is the funniest and most hilarious book I have read so far this year!

The entire book is narrated in the heroine's, Emma's, point of view. Through her eyes and her conversations with her office mates, we immediately get an idea on what kind of a boss Alaric Canon is. He is a veritable asshole--so much so that none of his recent PAs lasted a week. Many of them even get sacked on the very same day they begin. He is difficult to work for. His demands are often over-the-top demanding, and he expects that his demands will be followed to the letter. He is truly the quintessential nightmare, evil boss anyone would hate to be with.

For her part, Emma is a diligent and hardworking employee who is actually taking night classes to become a lawyer. She is intelligent and competent. She is quirky and has a fondness for glamorous shoes. She gets along really well with her colleagues and is even taking part of the office betting pool for "how long will this PA for Canon last". It's all fun, really, reading what they all have to say about this monster of a boss and his clueless, pitiful PAs. Emma certainly had funny input... until she ended up on that chopping block herself!

Now that was where the true fun began.

Qwen Salsbury's writing added to the humor! Really, her style of writing is the star of this book. Not Emma and not even Canon, in my opinion. Her writing is the one that makes Emma interesting and likable, Canon compelling despite his being an a-hole, and the rest of their colleagues more fun than heartless and cold (because seriously, betting on the tenure of a fellow employee is cruel and rude!). Her wit and humor is just super impressive! She made me laugh with references to pop culture. She made me laugh with a single sentence, a phrase, heck even with a mere word, one that's so well-placed and well-chosen, you choke in your own giggle once you read them!  Truly, I am very impressed that she managed to come up with a full-length novel filled with witticisms. I bet Ms. Salsbury is naturally witty in her speech because it would have been exhausting to come up with all those funny one-lines if she weren't!

Here are a couple of those funny lines:

A bra so padded it could double as a Muppet. I would have to refer to my breasts as Kermit and Fozzie.
Hot pink fishing line. Oh, wait. It's a thong.
I cannot be expected to wear a thong. I am not a stick figure. Thongs ride up my butt crack. The removal of undergarments is not supposed to launch a full scale search and rescue operation.

Absence may make the heart grow fonder, but proximity requires a change of panties.

"Would you like a drink, Ms. Baker?"
"Yes, yes, actually I would."
"Good. Pick me up one, too." (total a-hole!)

Peters has forgotten to bring a file. He can't find his pen. Fralin fishes one out of her bra. It's like the damned Room of Requirement in there.

Okay enough fawning over the writing and humor.. now about the story. It's entitled "The Plan" because for the better part of the first half, Emma formulates plans in her head on how she is to behave towards Canon. She'll go, I'll do things this way or that, and there's always a this is the plan from now on inserted somewhere there. However, things don't always follow according to plan. It's funny actually how things turn out for her. Sometimes she makes good on her plan, most of the time she doesn't! hahaha!

 So... if I love the humor and the writing of the story so much, why only 3.5 stars? Well, like I said, the writing is really the star of the show. The characters were likable enough. So is the story, although it is also quite predictable. There were several confusing moments too. 

Also, I found that the very thing I loved about this book became a disadvantage at certain parts of the story. For example, things are getting hot and heavy and here comes another funny line. It's great really, but it does make it difficult to get into that sexy moment. The one-word comments and incomplete phrases that I've come to identify as Qwen's trademark writing style didn't work that well for the sexy scenes too, in my opinion. They made those scenes rather tedious and too drawn-out for my liking, I ended up skimming over them to get on with the story. 

I do love the romance in this story and the way Emma and Canon handled things at the end. They're so cute...! Turns out Canon is not completely an ass... when it comes to Emma, at least. LOL don't expect him to go soft just because he's found his match!

And I recall why I care about this man in the first place. It's because he isn't changing to impress me; he's just letting me in. Letting me know him.
He isn't asking me to be any different either. I'm doing that to myself.
He smiles, and I can see the best of me reflected in his bright eyes.

I really liked that they didn't feel the need to explain themselves to everybody. They just behaved as they wanted (of course, they had to be formal and more subdued with their affection in the presence of other people) and came clean with what they are to each other. 

So overall, I'd read THE PLAN again if ever I'm in need of laughs and giggles. I recommend not reading this in the subway or in a posh restaurant though because you might burst into giggles an hysterical laughter occasionally! But of course, this book is a romance, so be prepared to let out some giggles and awwws.

Everything.
Always you.
Only you.

Buy Links: Amazon | Barnes & Noble