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
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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.]
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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!

Isadora is the chief of staff to a potential US congressman is solely focused on becoming a congressional aide in DC. When she meets Karim her world gets turned upside down. Isadora can’t deny her attraction to Karim, the problem is he works for a political rival. Will she let go of all the potential conflicts of interest and follow her heart? Or will Karim end up tarnishing her political career? Isadora is the chief of staff to a potential US congressman is solely focused on becoming a congressional aide in DC. When she meets Karim her world gets turned upside down. Isadora can’t deny her attraction to Karim, the problem is he works for a political rival. Will she let go of all the potential conflicts of interest and follow her heart? Or will Karim end up tarnishing her political career? I really appreciate how this political love story sheds light on bipolar disorder and familial relationships as well as how both characters struggle and support each other in a healthy way!

3.75 ⭐️
2 🌶

CW: sexual abuse, blackmail, mental illness, emotionally abusive parter and parent

This book is a political romance where the main couple meets on a plane flight, hit it off and go their separate ways only to run into each other at work. They work for adversary politicians.

I did enjoy the political conversations, the support and build of the relationship.

Where I struggled with this book:

- Borderline personality disorder is often seen as one of the “bad” mental illnesses and it feels off to continue to use tropes making people that suffer from mental illness as The villains of the stories.

-it was a little cheesy at times and I personally struggle with cheesy

Not The Plan had a lot of potential and was a very sweet love story between rival political parties. I loved that the story opened up with a ‘meet cute’ there wasn’t a ton of details before the main love interests met and I liked that the interactions started immediately. With that being said, I felt the interactions between Karim and Isa were very childish and surface level. I found myself cringing at the amount of times Karim called Isa “beautiful” and then when Isa started calling him “gorgeous” i was just cringing hard core. While i enjoyed the romance and the digging deeper of their past abusive trauma i felt it at times to be stagnant to the random sex jokes and YA writing style.

Thank you to Netgalley & Penguin Random House for allowing me to read an electronic ARC copy of this book!

Isadora and Karim are well developed individual characters who come together on their own terms (political pun intended), in this smart and sexy sophomore novel from Gia de Cadenet. TW: mental and emotional abuse. If you like your romance with depth, then this one is for you! Thank you to Penguin Random House and NetGalley for my ARC!

This was my first De Cadenet novel and I’m silently hitting myself on why I waited so long! The amount of diversity? Okay first we have a cinnamon roll hero who is going through his own trauma as a man which is never see in books (so refreshing!), a black boss female making it in politics with her own trauma (which is done so tastefully) and along with a good representation of what it means to have a healthy loving relationship! We love to see it!! The author and the cover got me at first glance but the tension the love and respect and adoration between these two? That will hold me forever. Thank you for giving me this amazing ARC.

Thank you to NetGalley and the Publisher for a copy of this book in exchange for an honest review. This book reminds me of the 1994 movie "Speechless" about the same topic - two political staff members working for opposing politicians. In theory, the book is great. Everyone loves a dueling-factions book similar to Romeo and Juliet. However, I got tired of the dialogue in the book. Comments like, "Hey, beautiful" were mentioned several times each chapter. Because of this, it felt very fake to me. I found myself rolling my eyes as I read. As a result, I don't know if I would recommend this book, and probably wouldn't read it again.

Having the exact same job as our female protagonist I can honestly say I’ve never related to a character more! This book started really strong & was dead on accurate about what it’s like to work as a legislative staffer — up until the conclusion.

I really enjoyed watching Karim and Isa support one another personally and professionally — my only hang up was the overly repetitive pet names (there was actually a page where Karim called her beautiful five separate times, in a row. We get it!!)

Overall, enjoyed this one a lot!