Not the Plan is the sweet story of Isadora and Karim - two state senate staffers whose bosses hate each other. Both have had toxic relationships with folks who have mental health issues, the impact of which is discussed and thought about extensively. I wish the book had been a bit shorter, but it was cute.

Love and politics make strange bedfellows.

I was fortunate enough to get an advance reader’s copy of the book "Not the Plan" by Gia de Cadenet who also wrote "Getting His Game Back."

"Not the Plan" is a steamy workplace romance book about a woman, Isadora Maris, an accomplished and ambitious chief of staff for a senate majority leader, who falls for the equally ambitious, and brilliant attorney Karim Sarda who works for her political rival. Karim is getting his life back following a tumultuous failed marriage that left him emotionally scarred. Isadora has been dealing with a lifetime of angst from her emotionally abusive mom. Despite years of personal trauma, and at risk of political scandal, these two navigate healing, and self-discovery as they learn to love themselves and each other.

The story does a great job of emotionally putting us in the head of both characters. Although I must say, the main character Isadora cried a lot throughout this book irrespective of the situation. As a reader, I felt the psychological issues could have been brought forward more pointedly. Having read Gia de Cadenet’s first book, where she was raw and unflinching in her portrayal of mental health issues, I felt "Not the Plan" was tapered on the topic. It isn’t until we read the author’s acknowledgment that we understand the scope of Isadora’s issue and behavior.

Gia de Cadenet does, however, paint a vivid picture through her words of how physical and emotional abuse impact one’s belief of self and how others perceive them. "Not the Plan" is hard-hitting on heavy and even scandalous topics, however, there are plenty of steamy and touching moments between Isadora and Karim. As a reader, I could feel the love brewing between Isadora and Karim from the beginning, and I rooted for them throughout the book.

Gia de Cadenet does a great job mapping Karim’s journey in "Not the Plan," without the reader having pre-read de Candent’s previous book, "Getting His Game Back," where we met Karim two years prior as Khalil’s twin brother in the book.

I wanted to give this book five stars, but I felt Gia de Cadenet held back on the hard-core emotional roller coaster story she’s known for. However, "Not the Plan" is a good fresh read. Gia de Cadenet is the one to watch for a new and interesting take on romance books.

"Not the Plan" is a four-star steamy workplace romance book and a good read.

Thank you @NetGalley and @RandomHousePublishingGroup for the ARC of Not the Plan by Gia De Cadenet.

Gia did it again! Absolutely a great story full of plot so thick that a knife couldn't cut!
mental health story- yes
romance-yes
high heat romance- yes
workplace romance-yes
admiration-yes

All of the story elements are tied so well together. I could visualize the scenes while reading. I can't wait for more books from Gia De Cadenet! She doesn't disappoint!

I really wanted to love this novel. I thought it might be straight read-a-like for Casey McQuiston’s Red, White and Royal Blue–a romance about less than perfect people of color in a political setting. When Isadora, chief of staff to a state rep, accidentally spills coffee on a hot stranger at the airport, things escalate a bit to typical travel stress… but when they are seated next to one another, she decides to drop any instinctual snarkiness and be kind. Their meet cute doesn’t evolve to an exchange of contact information… and no one is more surprised than Isa when Karim turns out to be the new intern at the rival representative’s office. Although from the same party, the interoffice politics are likened to the drama of the Montagues and Capulets (another Shakespeare allusion, this publishing season is full of them) and she can’t be seen fraternizing with the enemy.

Trust is difficult for both Karim and Isadora; he’s struggling to extricate himself from a toxic marriage to a person with poorly managed bipolar disorder, and as he slowly lets down his guard and reveals his past abusive relationship, the symptoms and behaviors he describes very closely mirror those of Isadora’s manipulative, emotionally stunted and demanding mother. The portraits of and compassion for the mental health of others rings true, even as Karim and Isa struggle to set healthy and reasonable boundaries with difficult personalities. Adding to Isa’s stress are her career goals in a men’s world; her reputation is impeccable and political dealings on the level, but she knows just one perceived slip will lead to scandal and being accused of sleeping her way to the top. All she wants is to see her majority leader make it from the state to federal playing field.

The relationship progresses at a believable pace based on their mutual attraction, interests, and values. Supportive roles played by Karim’s brother and Isa’s (gay) best friend and co-worked provide space to vent and add to character development. The political setting gives a glimpse into how the sausage is made, and even the sordid scandal that comes at the denouement rings true. In an ugly scene, Karim and Isadora encounter and deal with sexualization (her) and racial slurs (him) and cope with it well.

As a reader who favors humor, a clever turn of phrase, painterly descriptions and sensory detail, I found the writing straight-forward but too monotonous and pedestrian for my taste–even through the multiple sex scenes, which were blow-by-blow detail and went on for 20+ ebook pages. The repetitive “blunt, honest?” before laying down a truth was overused, as were their pet names (the creative “beautiful” and “gorgeous”). While de Cadenet avoids the pitfalls of telling instead of showing and intersperses dialogue with action with success, there are long passages of exposition, and the vocabulary and actions were not varied like those of a seasoned storyteller. I plodded through, picked up Kiss Her Once for Me by Alison Cochrun as a palate cleanser, and bingo: stellar writing, carefully chosen details, neuroses on full display, quirky characters. Better writing and better editing could have Not the Plan a four-star story.

I received a free advance reader’s review copy of #NotThePlan from #NetGalley.

Reading the preview of this book in Gia De Cadenet's previous book Getting His Game Back had me really excited for this title. I was looking forward to seeing how things would go for Khalil's Twin brother Karim and I was not disappointed.

This was my first political romance I've read so I did not know what to expect at first, I was just excited to reconnect with Karim and meet Isadora. It was a fun journey to watch Isadora and Karim's relationship develop. Isadora is a driven and quick witted heroine. She does her best to have everything together, even if it's a strain on her. She's relatable, real, and just so sweet. Karim is a sensitive cinnamon roll that you just want to hug. Seeing Karim process his healing from his ex wife was just nice and has you rooting for him the entire book. I like how their meet-cute was at the beginning of the book. Unsuspecting to them both but made their reconnection that much better.

One of my favorite things is how Gia talks about mental health within her books. These are things people go through so it's nice that we get to see how things can be handled within a relationship. I adored just how Karim doted on Isadora when he had the opportunity. There were some small plot parts I though would go differently such as the political drama between their bosses and also drama with Karim's ex wife. I also wish they just had a bit more time together of them dating and us seeing that. I'm just also over the moon that I got what I wanted from the previous book in the epilogue.

I give it 4 stars cause I just wanted more development in some areas and just to see more of Isadora and Karim as a couple. It was a fun read and I will definitely be buying a copy of this book when it comes out.

Thank you NetGalley and Random House Publishing Group - Ballantine for allowing permitting me with an advance reader's copy of this book.

Not the Plan
⭐️⭐️⭐️⭐️
Genre: Romance
Format: Kindle eBook
Date Published: 2/7/23
Author: Gia de Cadenet
Publisher: Random House Publishing
Pages: 320
GR: 3.51

I requested a digital advanced readers copy from NetGalley and Random House Publishing and providing my opinion voluntarily and unbiased.

Synopsis: Isadora Maris will soon be managing her boss's successful campaign for U.S. representative. Why is Karim Sarda working for the California senate's most detestable scumbag? Given their bosses' fierce political rivalry, Isadora finds she can't risk tarnishing her reputation by flirting with the enemy. So she deems Karim off-limits--no matter how flustered she feels whenever he enters the room. When Karim and Isadora succumb to their undeniable chemistry, their initial desire blossoms into something more--something real. But if Karim's boss takes control of the California senate, everything Isadora worked for could be destroyed. Will workplace politics shatter their chance at love?

My Thoughts: This is a classic spin on the enemies to lovers trope, one of my favorite. There is a bipolar disorder representation, which hits close to home as someone in my family struggles with this. Even with our MCs being in opposite political offices, you root for them the entire time because they are dynamic together. Isadora is a very strong and independent woman, while Karim is a sensitive man that is driven by passion. A good portion of the story focuses on past trauma and abuse, while these are hard and sensitive subjects, I believe the author approached them with grace and they were done beautifully. The characters were fleshed out with depth, witty banter, mad chemistry, and creatively woven throughout the story. The author’s writing was complex, intriguing, funny, political (but not too much), and kept me engaged the entire story. The amount of support and strength throughout the MCs was amazing and I l enjoyed reading this story. This does not release until February next year, but I do recommend preordering, if possible.

Not the Plan is a steamy political workplace romance with a compelling meet-cute, elements of "enemies to lovers" and "secret hookup" tropes, and a lot of spice. I appreciated that the two main characters had similar baggage and were able to help each other heal.

Thanks to NetGalley and the publisher for the opportunity to read this book!

Mood: You want to be surprised by the amount of emotions you can have reading a romance in one sitting.

I really didn’t choose this book prepared to cry but HERE WE ARE.

Isadora & Karim are beautiful because they’re both the same kind of broken but need the other to heal.

Okay, Isadora & Karim have a chaotic meet cute that involves setting next to each other on a flight. For REASONS, neither of them tried to turn the meet cute into something more but that doesn’t stop them from then spending the next few weeks thinking of each other.

Isadora goes back to life as a chief of staff of a California senator and Karim starts getting settled into life as an aide as the legislative director of another California senator … which leads to him walking into her office one day. Only, he’s a Capulet and she’s a Montague. Yes, grown ass people have nicknamed themselves the Capulets and the Montagues and act accordingly petty. It’s actually more than petty because they work in politics aka for the people and actively undercut each other. So, you know, accurate.

They did eventually start an out-of-prying eyes friendship with heavy flirting energy turned more 😘 There’s also an underlying scheme that causes a lot of chaos (cough: 3rd act break up). There are a couple of BIG douchecanoes in this story. They weren’t just grimy to the MC & FMC but absolutely trash individuals. Ugh.

That’s the premise. Now, how it made me feel! Seriously, I did NOT think it was going to make me feel that much. Isadora and Karim both have sigificant relationships that are incredibly toxic. Karim is no longer in that relationship but it still very much dictates his actions. He opens up and shares his story with Isadora and she begins to recognize how toxic her (nonromantic) relationship is.

Eventhough Karim is no longer involved with his toxic partner, at first he doesn’t really know how to trust someone, including himself. I think I spent the first half of the book (probably more) with tears in my eyes over how poorly he thought of himself. It was a pleasure to see Isa validate and support him. It was a pleasure to see him do the same for Isa. I can’t wait to get my hands on a physical copy of this and read it all over again! 🤗🤗🤗

This book was a fun love story about two legislative staffers from political enemies.

Isadora is ambitious and has closed herself off from all distractions, including love. While Karim is charming and has recently divorced his first wife after an abusive marriage. They initially meet in the airport where things go awry and sparks fly. Once they realize they work for enemies, they try to stay away from each other, but they find themselves working together to negotiate on a bill and cannot seem to stay away from one another.

I loved the meet cute! I also appreciated that both main characters struggling with complex situations and difficult pasts. It brought to light real issues of IPV and emotional abuse that are often ignored or not discussed. It also made their love story that much more real and swoon-worthy. However, I found the dialogue between the two main characters a bit contrived and too heavy-handed with the pet names and cringe jokes at times, which made some scenes drag on. The political jargon also made some scenes a bit dense, especially coming from a non-political background.

Overall, it’s a cute idea for a spicy political romance that was also a quick read. Thanks to NetGalley and Dell/Random House books for the advance copy!

Can Isadora and Karim’s chemistry survive California politics?
N/A ⭐️ [See Personal Note]
Tropes | Workplace Romance
Heat Level | 🌶🌶, open door
______________
Not the Plan is the story of two successful people falling in love amid the messy state politics of California.

If you enjoy books where the characters demonstrate a lot of competency in their field, then this is for you. Isadora is a strong, intelligent woman of color working in a tough job. The choice could have been made to take away her inherent kindness for the sake of surviving in a dog-eat-dog world, but thankfully that didn’t happen here. She was allowed to be capable and human.

Karim is a cinnamon roll of a hero in the best way. He has done the work to begin to heal from a trauma in his past, which makes him such a special find for someone like Isadora. He’s hot, empathetic, romantic, and sweet as a toothache. Doesn’t hurt that he’s a spice bomb in the sack, either. A bit of an overuser of nicknames, but we’ll forgive him for forgetting her given name isn’t “beautiful.”

It is too infrequent that romance novels are willing to tackle adult children of a parent who is emotionally abusive or dealing with undiagnosed mental illness. It’s so easy for a happy ending to somehow magically make all the relationships perfect. That’s both harmful and insulting to the reality for many people. Which is why I applaud this story for NOT taking the easy way out and slapping a bow on a toxic relationship.

[Personal Note: I realized while reading this that given the political climate in the United States for women right now, I’m worn out on evil man politician stories. While a lot of romances merely give a nod to the real occupation behind a workplace romance, in this book the job of politics is front and center.

I believe I skimmed these passages because that’s where I am, personally, and through no fault of the writing. Hopefully we will reach a time where I can put aside the fear and find entertainment in stories like these again.

I’m giving a 4-star rating for the pieces I did enjoy in Isadora and Karim’s love story.]
______________

Thank you to NetGalley and Random House-Ballantine, Dell for the ARC in exchange for an honest review. Expected publication Feb 7, 2023.

Not The Plan by Gia de Cadenet is a political romance and the story of Isadora and Karim.
 
Isadora is following her dream of becoming a congressional aide in Washington, D.C. I loved her ambition and hard work and to follow her story of personal succession. She is an inspiring person and could even evoke a bit more of an interest in politics for me.
 
While the story is definitely more focused on Isadora, you do get to see a bit about the love interest Karim. He works for the opposing senator who is a horrible person. Karim still deals with the consequences of his failed marriage and wants to start over. While I liked to see that he hides a bit about that, and I didn’t like that.
 
Their first meeting is in an airport, and they have the chance to get to know each other without any expectations. That was great because you could definitely feel the sparks between them. It only gets more difficult when their work is in the picture as they represent opposing interests and that makes their story a little bit forbidden. I enjoyed this story even though it’s not a new favorite.
 
Overall, if you’re looking for a political romance, definitely give this one a try. 3,5 stars.
 
(ARC kindly provided in exchange for a review.)

This is the second book from Gia De Cadenet - and it is a great read. I didn't love it quite as much as the first - but it features a strong woman and a man who is in no way toxic. Isadora is an amazing heroine. She is driven and successful - as a black woman in a highly competitive and cutthroat field I really bow down to her. But as a result - she has almost fully walled herself off from friendships and relationships outside of work. Her mother is emotionally abusive and manipulative - that relationship has cost Isa in so many ways.

Karim is definitely everything you would want in a guy - smart, compassionate, ethical, hot - and really grounded. He's been through a lot - but he is really working towards a fresh start. Family and friends and a true commitment to his values and ethics are an intrinsic part of Karim. He is definitely a dreamboat in the way he cares for Isa and treats her like a queen. There were so many times in this book I just wanted to give him a big hug.

Political romances can be dicey - particularly when the two players are on other sides of the aisle. In this case, both Isadora and Karim are both from the same party - and have a lot of the same goals. They are each working towards social change and climbing the ladder in politics. The political intrigue, however, definitely leaves a bad taste in your mouth. I wish I could say what De Cadenet writes about is far fetched - but it had a very icky ring of truth to it.

What kept me from giving this book four stars was the depth of the romance between Isadora and Karim. Both are such amazing characters - for them I wanted more than just surface compliments and a few sexytimes. We do see how much Karim cares for Isadora in the end - but up until that point I felt their relationship took a real backseat to the drama that was happening in the book.

Overall - the quality of this book and what this second time author is writing is truly top-notch.

I received this as an ARC via NetGalley, but these opinions are all my own.

I really enjoyed this book. I thought the 2 main characters were great, lots of DFW tail about both but not too much. For some reason I didn’t love the format of the book. When there was spaces in between paragraphs in chapters maybe we can have a long line or a little “graphic”. Some publishers will have some dots or something like that, just adds a little something. Again super enjoyable book!!

This is a sweet and charming book, and I can't wait to suggest it to library patrons. Set in the political realm, with just a tiny bit of political intrigueto round out the plot, this is a very satisfying romance (with just the right amount of spice). Looking forward to more from this author!

I was drawn by this cover and plot line excited to dive in. I started the story and enjoyed the political setting, diverse love story, and sexy chemistry. However I struggled with the writing style, as it felt distant and unrealistic. I did not finish the book. Thank you for the arc in exchange for an honest review.

Isadora and Karim met by chance on a flight, and then are reconnected through their political jobs. The only catch, they’re on opposing political sides in state/local gov’t, where it’s set between their different sides as the Montagues and Capulets. This book is a contrast between adult work political drama and then YA writing for a relationship. I’d definitely view this as a political work romance vs a romance that shows some work. Nevertheless, there are some deep topics around divorce, trauma, and moving forward that you don’t normally find in romance. There is also redundancy in some of the writer’s word choice (beautiful x 100 to describe Isadora, sexual jokes) and the plot twist was somewhat predictable. Getting insight to what it is like to work in politics was really neat, and I loved watching their relationship unfold.

CW: divorce, abuse, parental/spouse issues
🌶: 1/5
Overall rating: 3.5/5

I loved Isadora and Karin so much in this book. I thought their chemistry was fantastic. I also loved the plot and the twist ending. My only issue is that some of the political jargon got boring and that’s coming from someone who loves politics. I definitely would recommend this book though. Their banter was fun and the book kept me interested the whole way through.

IT was such a good follow up to the Gia's debut novel. I really loved getting to know the other twin and the mental health rep was excellent

I was lucky enough to get this book as an ARC and I gotta admit I like this book! I would give it more of 3.5-3.8 stars! The relationship, growth of characters, and plot were really great. I think the only thing I didn’t love about this story, is that after the common “falling out” of the characters, when they got back together it was kinda balls to the walls fast. It just didn’t seem relatable to jump that far in a short amount of time.

Not the Plan is definitely a steamy novel that brings back the idea of star-crossed lovers finding their way together in modern political society. While the book began a little slow, once the romance started between Isadora and Karim I just couldn't put the book down. It brought to light the difficult past and mental toll that abusive relationships both familial and marital can have on different partners in a relationship. The topic of anxiety makes the emotions in the book even more real to those who can definitely relate. I definitely want to read more by the author to see what other romances she can bring to life!