WhiskeyintheJar reviewed The Payback Plan by Amy Andrews (The Karma Club, #1)
Cutesy, drama, not much depth
2 stars
I received this book for free, this does not affect my opinion of the book or the content of my review
‘What if we… took it upon ourselves to exact some… revenge?’
The Payback Plan starts off the Karma Club series, a group of books written by different authors but set in the same world and with the same characters. The books star one of four heroines, Paige, Bella, Sienna, and Astrid, four women who met at a desserts shop in the airport O'Hare and realized they all had horrible exes. Drunk off sugar and alcohol they come up with the plan for each one to take the other's ex and exact a revenge plan, nothing too serious, just enough to severely aggravate the ex. Paige picks Bella's ex Oliver, he texted her the day of their wedding and called it off. Paige's plan is to stay with …
I received this book for free, this does not affect my opinion of the book or the content of my review
‘What if we… took it upon ourselves to exact some… revenge?’
The Payback Plan starts off the Karma Club series, a group of books written by different authors but set in the same world and with the same characters. The books star one of four heroines, Paige, Bella, Sienna, and Astrid, four women who met at a desserts shop in the airport O'Hare and realized they all had horrible exes. Drunk off sugar and alcohol they come up with the plan for each one to take the other's ex and exact a revenge plan, nothing too serious, just enough to severely aggravate the ex. Paige picks Bella's ex Oliver, he texted her the day of their wedding and called it off. Paige's plan is to stay with Oliver for two months in Cornwall and be a deranged Mary Poppins like character to drive him nuts. However, as she gets to know the slightly uptight, and walled up emotionally guarded son of a famous actor, she finally starts to feel like herself again, after her own emotionally fraught four years of trying to heal after her ex posted revenge porn photos and videos of her.
She was going to Cornwall to live in the house of a famous dead British actor to mess up his son’s charmed life. She certainly hadn’t had that on her bingo card for next year.
This was along the lines of a quick beach read, there's some emotional base to the characters, Paige withdrawing into herself after her ex exposed her so horribly and finally coming out of her shell and Oliver letting go of the expectations, pressure, and pain of growing up in the public eye and with a narcissist father. Your mileage will vary with the humor of Paige's antics, making a mess of Oliver's neat as a pin kitchen, bringing a hamster and stray dog into his living space, and generally creating goofy havoc. It wasn't really my sense of humor but some of it lead to cute byplay between the two. These antics were mostly their relationship development, there wasn't much depth to hang your reading expectations on but if you're looking for something quick and cutesy, this would do.
And the last couple of months, she’d allowed herself to be that woman again. To be herself again.
The latter second half has them kissing and then the guilt of betraying Bella, you'll still get an opendoor scene as they can't fully fight their feelings. There's a third act breakup where Paige flies off the handle a bit about how Oliver's public profile affects her for some dramatics and Oliver has to simmer down after learning the real reason Paige was staying with him before you get the eventual HEA. There wasn't much depth but there was some cute, drama, and a set-up that leads you to wonder how the other members of the Karma Club are faring.