Not According to Plan by A.M Madden

Jade & Max are that one couple you find yourself rooting for. After a drunken night out and then I. If ya know what I mean these two find themselves with a positive pregnancy test and a drama filled future. Although these two do have their ups and downs they work together to make things work.

Prepare yourself for a drama filled story, full of heart and in the end love.

This is my second story by this author and I have yet to be disappointed. I can't wait for the next!

4/5 Stars


Thank you #NetGalley and #entangledpublishingllc for this book in exchange for my honest review.

Jade’s plan hit a bump in the road!

Lawyer Jade Easton is working overtime to be named the next junior partner at the law firm where she works but her roommate makes her go to a bar for her birthday for a break when she is paired up with gym owner Max Navarro for Kismet Karaoke. Jade and Max have a one night stand and she has to tell him she was pregnant but Max has complications that she wasn’t expecting. Max is expecting a baby with a friend he had a friends-with-benefits type of relationship.

Not According to Plan by A.M. Madden is a story that brings all the threads together in a book that showed that the character are real people that things happen to.

I know some readers will have problems with a romance about a guy already expecting a child with another woman but real life has some bumps in the road.

I voluntarily read and reviewed an advanced copy of this book. All thoughts and opinions are my own.

This story stressed me out! I hope I’m not ruining anything for you... Jade gets pregnant by Max... who already has another lady pregnant.
Jade is in New York... the other lady is in Florida.
Yep... states apart.
Babies will be less then 4 months apart in age.

Overall good read, just stressful to read.

Max and Jade are a couple who you find yourself cheering for to make their relationship work! They are a fun loving couple.

They meet all thanks to Max’s brother, Brad, and the fireworks start for both. Jade is wanting to step out and do something out of her norm and by doing so she meets Max, thanks to her BFF, Amy.

Now this is such a different storyline and I did enjoy it. The do have their ups and downs and their self doubts. But they work together to make things work for themselves.

I loved the side characters in this book as well! I love Amy and Brad and would love to see a spin off of their story!!

I absolutely adored this book. The characters were so real that it sucked you in and made you feel a part of the story. You didn't want it to end!

This story features a unique twist on the unexpected pregnancy trope.

Jade Easton lives a very boring life. However, that all changes one night when her friend encourages her to sign up for Kismet Karaoke. And with some finagling by the event host, Brad, she is paired up with his brother, Max Navarro. That's when the magic happens!

That magic carries from the stage to the bedroom. But that night, intended to be just a one-night stand, changes dramatically with one faulty condom.

Jade is career focused, chasing a promotion for junior partner in her law firm in New York.
Max is opening a new gym in Miami and has another complicating matter which I won't divulge other than to say I laughed my ass off when it is revealed.
Neither has room for the other in their life right now. So, the one night suited them.
Until it didn't.

Despite the situation, I liked how both characters handled the news, and thought Max really tried hard to do the right thing. It was clear that the passion between them wasn't random, and that the potential for more was there.

I really like the bones of the story but felt the execution could be improved. I felt the transitions were rushed, often within a chapter. This is an ARC, so it is possible edits are still in progress. With that said, the potential for this story is there. I enjoyed it overall and found is to be a lighter read, which was unusual given the trope.

This was a sweet book with a lot of potential about two strangers, a one-night stand and an accidental pregnancy. Jade and Max were easy.to like and to relate to, but the story was a bit convoluted with another pregnancy for Mac (although this was surprisingly well explained). My main issue was with the pacing. After the premise was established, the story started to drag and it was hard to stay engaged.

I received an ARC in exchange for an honest review.

Jade and Max meet at Max’s brothers bar, where Jade is celebrating her birthday. An intense attraction leads to them having a one night stand. Jade is a lawyer working 80+ hours a week. She knows what she wants and that is to be made a junior partner in her firm. All her plans are thrown for a loop when she finds out her one night resulted in a pregnancy.
Though surprised, Max is all in for helping with the baby and wants Jade to give their connection a chance. But with Max opening a new Gym and Miami and spending most of his time there, will it be possible?
This is a sweet rom com. Max is the perfect hero, sexy, supportive and all in with Jade. I enjoyed their journey through all the drama surrounding their situation. Likable characters, hot chemistry and drama made this a fun read.

Not According to Plan by A.M. Madden a five-star read that goes according to a good plan. I liked this book and I gave it five-stars but I don’t think it deserved them all the time, I gave it five as it had a good story (one some will find fanciful but my brother lived through meaning I now have two very strapping good looking nephews) and good characters, most of whom you would like in your life, but it lacked in a couple of places, but not enough that I didn’t enjoy the whole thing. Its cute and a bit naughty and overall a lot of fun, the main characters face challenges but the secondary characters bring some light-hearted joviality to the story. I haven’t picked up this author before, but I will be picking up their work again.

I was so sure I was going to love 'Not According To Plan' because one of my favorite tropes is an unexpected pregnancy, and I am a fan of this authors work. I was wrong, so wrong. I was not a fan of this story. The story-line was so far fetched. I thought as I continued to flip the pages that things would get better, but I feel as if they only got worse. In the beginning I did feel the chemistry, but as the story was developing I feel like the chemistry was just gone. At one point I thought to myself, ' Why the hell are they even fighting for a relationship?" I get the plot revolved around the hero's location being in two different places, but I feel like it took over the whole entire story. I lost their connection, and that in itself is horrifying. I thought 'Not According To Plan' was going to be a story filled with so much depth. Nope. I thought I would be able to get a feel of the main characters feelings outside of what they were saying. Nope. I get the twist on the trope, I do, and I give this author an A for originality, but I feel like this author overshadowed what this story was truly meant to be, and that makes me sad. I also was not a fan of everyone making decisions for the heroine. I was not a fan of the heroines father either, I feel like there should have been more about the situation with him. I would have also liked to seen a progression of the relationship between Tracey and Jade. I found it odd that they all seemed chummy, when they did meet that once. Especially considering the circumstances.

The one thing I did like? Amy!! I loved her and her personality. She was the best thing about this book. I wish I could give more likable instances but in the case I can't. Hopefully this authors next release is better.

I absolutely loved this book. Jade and Max meet unconventionally, but when they come together, you can't help but fall in love with them.

Both driven by their work, Jade and Max aren't looking for romance. But, when they're thrown together in an unconventional way, there's no denying their chemistry.

I received a copy of Not According to Plan by A.M. Madden from the publisher via NetGalley in exchange for an honest review.

Overall, this novel was rather flat and underdeveloped; kind of disappointed me given that the summary was interesting. The characters were very one dimensional and not very believable/genuine, plus the pacing of the novel was inconsistent. There were moments of brightness with witty banter or character growth, but kind of missed the mark in my opinion.

Before I start, just let me say, I'm a huge sucker for oops baby stories and the blurb was more than intriguing.
Jade works as a lawyer and loves her plans. She has her life all planned out, but one night changes everything.
Max and her have great chem, insta everything and share a fairy tale-ish well written story that kept me well entertained.
4 rom/com stars.

Even though the story had a nice flow and the writing was simple and straightforward, I didn't enjoy "Not According to Plan" as much as I thought I would. Instead of getting a cute story about Jade and Max falling in love while having to deal with a surprise pregnancy, I got a long distance relationship plot where the H only seemed to care about his problems.

Max got two woman pregnant in less than five months and even though he was only friends with Tracey (the first women he got pregnant), I felt like Jade (h) was always Max’s second option. After that, I really couldn’t connect with the characters and the plot.

Max spent most of the book in Miami while Jade was in NYC going through a bunch of family and professional problems. When she wanted to talk about the fact that he wanted to live in Miami and she wanted to stay in NYC, his only answer was “things will work out, don’t worry.” I mean, what? If you’re going to have a child with someone, the least you can do is confront your problems like an adult.

Another thing that upset me was that Max always talked about how much he loved Jade, but he NEVER thought about staying in NYC for her and their kid. Jade was the one who had to give everything up while nothing changed for him. Sorry, but that is just not my thing.

I did not finish this book. I was not in the target audience nor did I really enjoy what I part I read of it.

I voluntarily read and reviewed an ARC of this book. All thoughts and opinions are my own.
I really wanted to like this book, and I don't like giving bad reviews, so I'll try and concentrate on the positives of the story.
Together, Max and Jade were quite a lovely couple who worked well together. Their one night stand was believable and how they ended up together was nice too.
Everything else in between felt like way too much for the story. The condoms, second baby, family issues, work issues, living arrangements... it didn't feel like a whole lot of fun was happening.
Sorry I can't give it a better rating.

Surprise pregnancy books are my jam that being said this was just to much.. I feel like Jade and Max's story had potential but there was just to much going on..

This ended up being a cute rom com. It had the quirky storyline, funny romance and happily ever after going for it.
It did, however, lack the fluidity of a good story. Some parts of the plot were so far fetched had me shaking my head at how two grown adults got themselves this far in life.

ie Two unplanned pregnancies within month? Recalled condoms that an intelligent business owner didn’t notice? Law firm partners that should have been sued when they asked her to recuse from junior partner for being pregnant?? And introduced identical triplets (which is super rare) but never really played it out.

So full disclosure here. I have never read this author before and the plot of the story sounded fun and interesting. But within the first three chapters I hated this story and so I quit. It was absolutely not what I expected when I started reading and based on the description of this book and I hated the plot. Sorry for me it was about this guy getting two women pregnant a few months apart. ICK! That said had that been included in the description of the book, other people who like that kind of story might enjoy it. I felt betrayed by the author in discovering this only after I started reading. What I did read of the story was good as in the writing was good and I liked the characters. Except for the whole two pregnancie thing.

So the book starts and we meet Jade, who is celebrating her birthday with her bestie. They are at a bar that is owned by Max's brother and twin. He is a triplet. We also discover that Max has not had sex since discovering for the last 5 months that his friends with benefit is pregnant with his child. She has found love with another man, Tristan but is pregnant with his baby.

He is very into Jade that night and after they do a Kaeroke song and are very attracted. She ends up pregnant too. Sorry thats where I stopped it was a little too Jerry Springer for me to keep reading. Had I known this going in that its about a guy who gets two women pregnant and he is not in a relationship with either, I would never have requested to review it. It really needs to be put in the decription of the book.

I usually love an accidental pregnancy story and although I did enjoy this one I didn’t love it. The whole 2 babies and the back and forth situation was a little far fetched and although I preferred max over jade I couldn’t 100% warm to either of them