Never Planned on You surprised me. Lindsay Hameroff’s writing is fun and swoony but I just could see myself rooting for the MMC or FMC. Although the premise is cute, second chance and all that, I couldn’t wrap my head around the fact that the MMC cheated which brought the rate down for me personally.

Never Planned on You is a second-chance romance between Ali and Graham who cross paths years after a spontaneous night in Europe. I really enjoyed both of the main characters because they had such distinct personalities that jumped off the page. I also enjoyed that it was a workplace romance since that added an interesting dynamic to the story. One thing I didn't love is that it felt a bit rushed at certain parts. However, I did love all the Taylor Swift references!
Thanks to NetGalley and the publisher for the ARC in exchange for a review!

𝗙𝗶𝗿𝘀𝘁 𝘁𝗵𝗼𝘂𝗴𝗵𝘁: This book did not disappoint! I was a little iffy of the tropes going in and was like how is this going to work but all the pieces clicked. This book has adorable swooning moments where MMC shows his protective/caring side. I loved all tension and angst the MCs have to deal with (Ugh Chapter 24) and the way everything unfolds. Love it! Just never take a dare from this FMC cause you’ll end up with a terrifying tattoo.

𝐒𝐲𝐧𝐨𝐩𝐬𝐢𝐬: Ali is a bit spontaneous she recently quit her chef job in NYC and moved back home to Baltimore to work as an event planner. They just got a huge client and if she’s able to pull this wedding off she’ll go from intern to full blown planner. She wants to buy a house so she needs this promotion so she can move out of her parent house.

But when she meets the groom to be she is slightly in shock. 8 years ago she spent a wild night in England with him that ended with a bet and getting a tattoo. That tattoo reminds her of him daily and now he’s here and her client! But Ali is a professional and she can’t be drawn to Graham anymore he’s getting married.

During the planning the bride to be has to spend a lot of time in NYC for her job. So Ali and Graham are left to plan the wedding together. The pull between them is undeniable and the forced proximity isn’t helping. Can they resist, will their past haunt them as their is alot at stake for them both and the only way it can go is with Graham married.

𝑭𝒂𝒗 𝑸𝒖𝒐𝒕𝒆: “I’ve tried so hard to be sensible, to fight the way I feel about you,” he says roughly. “But I can’t do it anymore. It might kill me.”

𝑳𝒊𝒕𝒆𝒓𝒂𝒓𝒚 𝑻𝒉𝒆𝒎𝒆𝒔 𝒀𝒐𝒖’𝒍𝒍 𝑭𝒊𝒏𝒅:

* Intern Event Planner FMC
* Cardigan Wearing British MMC
* One Fated Night During Study Abroad in London 8 Years Ago
* Matching Unicorn-Pig Tattoos
* Surprise! He’s the Groom in the Wedding She’s Helping Plan
* Forced Proximity & Found Family
* He’s in a Marriage of Connivence
* Saving the Family Hotel in Baltimore
* Single POV w/ Spice

🌸🌼🎯🦄🐷🎯🌼

Ali and Graham have the kind of chemistry most people only dream about. Ali is like so many of us, not sure where we want to go with our lives/careers. Doing jobs that maybe sound fun but we don’t love. Graham is the other part of so many of us, giving up his own happiness in order to help his family and friends. Which is all fine until…it isn’t.

I really liked this book and have already told my friends to read it! It’s just a cute HEA and I thought the writing was well done.

Ali makes a bet with a handsome stranger on her last night in London. The loser of a darts match had to get a hideous tattoo. It was a tie and they both got the tattoo and Ali returns to the US and her life. She moves from NYC to Baltimore to make a career as a wedding planner. Imagine her surprise when Graham turns up in Baltimore at her favorite coffee shop. They reconnect and Ali thinks Graham might be the one until her turns out to be the groom at the wedding she’s planning.
What to do? Ali needs the wedding to go off without a hitch because her job depends on it but there’s Graham.
Great second chance rom-com

I have mixed feelings about this book. It was cute and I was entertained, but I feel like it was super messy the way Ali and Graham kept their relationship to themselves and any prior knowledge of them knowing each other from everyone around them.

If Graham and his fiancée truly were each others best friends, they would 100% know every detail about the past and current situation. I can't fathom them leaving each other in the dark. ESPECIALLY if they were both actively pursing different serious relationships. The fake marriage didn't make any sense in that case because there was potential for it to not be necessary. These little discrepancies and added plot lines started to take away from the whole story for me.

Never Planned On You by Lindsay Hameroff is a second chance romcom and the story of Ali and Graham.
 
Ali and Graham meet at university in London on the last night of Ali‘s year abroad and the two spend one unforgettable and fun night together. The only thing that stayed was the partner tattoo they got but they never expected to see each other again. I really liked seeing the scenes and memories from the past.
 
Now in the present Ali is building a new career as a wedding planner and she is taken aback when she has to plan the wedding of Graham. Ali is very mercurial and sometimes I couldn’t follow her intentions and actions.
 
Their reunion was bittersweet and unexpected, and Graham was so off-limits that nothing really happened for the longest time. Graham was torn between Ali and his fiancé and sometimes it was very much emotional cheating, and I don’t particularly like that. Graham is such a sweet man, but I wish they would have met up in a different setting.
 
But except for these circumstances, I really liked seeing the family dynamics including Jewish traditions and the story had great humor.
 
Overall, Never Planned On You is a sweet story and perfect for a in between read. 3 stars.
 
(Thank you to the publisher and NetGalley for providing me with an arc.)

Thank you to NetGalley and St. Martin's Griffin for providing this eARC in exchange for an honest review. Never Planned on You is officially published as of February 18th, 2025!

Oh, how I enjoyed this book!

This is the first book I have read from NetGalley and it did not disappoint.

Never Planned On You follows Ali, a woman determined to chase her dreams... whatever those dreams might be. The truth is, Ali has tried a few different career options, and while her loving but overbearing Jewish family sees each trial as an error, Ali sees it as one step closer to figuring out what she really wants to do with her life. As an intern at an event planning business in her hometown, she is tasked with helping to plan the wedding of the season at the city's opulent, historic hotel. Little does she know, she already knows a lot more about the groom, Graham, than she "planned" to. He's the one-night-stand and other half of her embarrassing college tattoo story she hasn't been able to stop thinking about since the fateful night eight years ago. But the question remains: Is he over it? What follows is a hilarious, vulnerable story of two people figuring out how to live for themselves, find their bliss, and find love along the way.

This story does a fantastic job weaving in cultural and familial experiences some readers may not have any knowledge of, such as Shabbat dinners and many different hallmark Jewish dishes, and I loved learning alongside Graham about Ali's family and religion. I think having Graham also be unfamiliar with some traditions or asking questions allows readers to also feel comfortable wondering and learning more.

The characters were believable and grew a lot over the course of the book. I think they stagnated a little bit about three-quarters of the way through, falling into the popular stereotype of a Hallmark movie when the solution is obvious to the reader but not considered by the characters (he wants to save the hotel! She plans events and cooks! Whatever shall they do!!!). However, I loved the message of living for your expectations, not the expectations of others. Seeing Graham realize that if he lived up to everyone else's expectations, he would fall short of his own was really beautiful, and it was not a character arc I see in many MMCs.

At times, I did feel like the "youngest child flighty screw-up" mentality was overplayed in Ali, simply because I really never saw her that way, which I do think is addressed toward the end of the book. I also wished the friendship between Ali and her besties was leaned into a little bit more (I LOVED that they canceled their own plans to be with her and celebrate together as friends, showing her she can count on them even when she feels like she cannot count on anyone).

My favorite part, though, hands down, was seeing Ali and Graham work together. They compliment each other so well as characters and not just in the romantic scenes, but in the mundane too! That is always my favorite part of a romance book. Seeing the characters mesh so well that even the little day to day things feel cohesive and romantic and beautiful. The murder mystery party was such a cool aspect of the plot!

Never Planned on You by Lindsay Hameroff is a delightful romcom that delivers genuinely laugh-out-loud moments. The book description mentions tattoos, but you’ll have to read it to discover their absurdity and humor. Ali Rubin, a wedding planner, finds herself planning the wedding of the man she shared a matching tattoo with years ago. However, she still harbors genuine feelings for him. This situation is not ideal, especially since he feels the same way. When Ali discovers that Graham is marrying for convenience—to help his fiancée and his grandmother’s struggling hotel—she feels relief but is also conflicted. Despite their amazing chemistry, the stakes are high for both of them: Ali’s job and their future together. 3.5 stars rounded up to 4.

This one was pretty fun! The romance was cute and I always love a missed connection or second chance romance.

The plot itself had a few holes that I felt like I didn't really understand. The entirety of the story centered around this wedding that ultimately had no weight and I struggled with the conflict in the story. Both parties claim that they are okay with the other in the fake marriage dating, but suddenly it becomes a scandal that neither one feels comfortable pursuing. Although I think this didn't impact me enjoying the story, it also didn't add to the tension for me.

Thank you to St. Martin's Press and NetGalley for an eARC in exchange for an honest review.

this book was something i initially was interested in since i love wedding planning and silly little romances. i figured hey, maybe this could be a really sweet book. but honestly, i stopped around page 200 of 282 of my copy and skimmed the rest. the book dragged so much and the characters felt so uninteresting to me that it took me basically the whole month to even get to “finishing” it, and i did that simply because it was an arc.

the amount of pop culture references thrown in felt over the top and unnecessary, and both the main characters felt insufferable. like graham didn’t bother to tell ali that the marriage was fake until they’d basically been cheating this whole time?? and then he still leads her on?? meanwhile ali is just annoying to me, and her hang up on a man she met 10 years ago and got a stupid tattoo with just didn’t make sense to me.

overall it just wasn’t for me, even if it had a few funny moments sprinkled in.

thank you netgalley for the arc in exchange for an honest review!

This is pretty much the premise of the Wedding Planner. The nuances that are different is that Ali has a very strong family, which I love their support and their humor through life. And Graham turned out to be an heir to an institution of a notable hotel in town. Both had their pain and their fears, but when it comes to each other, they are each other's best cheerleader and champion.

I love how Ali is so great but also had such complex about her achievements that she turns inward. And Graham tried to deny his feelings, welp, who are we kidding, of course that didn't work. He is such a gentlemen, not sure if it's a British thing or a him being lovable thing, but he's thoughtful and totally have Ali as number one in his heart and action.

I will say, the pacing at the beginning took a bit to get started, but I like the way it all came together and how it played out. There are couple pretty spicy chapters, but it flowed very well and move their relationship forward. I will say from midpoint to the end, I had to stay up late to finish, I just really wanted to know how they will get it resolved at the end, and yes, it's a HEA.

Thank you to NetGalley & St. Martin's Press for the ARC.

Format - E ARC

Rating- ⭐️ ⭐️ ⭐️ ⭐️

Spice- 🌶 🌶

Series- N/A

Troupes- one night stand, ten years later, opposites attract, big city, he’s British

Representation- Jewish

CW- He’s engaged but its a marriage of convenience

This is my first book form Lindsay and I was intrigued in the premise of this when I accepted this ARC. I had to know how we root for this couple to be together while he’s engaged to someone else and you know it works but only just.

Ali and Graham have a history, a permeant one so when years after their one night together they end up in the same room again this time with Graham as the groom to Ali’s new favorite bride things get interesting.

Things I liked, Lindsay’s writing style, it scratches the itch in my brain, I like it. Our dynamic characters, not just our MCs but their friends and Family as well. I like the jewish mentions in Ali’s family. I also love the message at the end from Ali to Graham, That he has to love himself and the things he is doing in his life order to properly love someone else.

Things I struggled with, Graham being engaged to Claire, while it is going to be a marriage of convenience think he should have told Claire right away about him and Ali. I get why he didn’t but I don’t think it was fair to anyone. In the same vain I wish we had a POV from Graham to help us understand his thinking.

Over all I enjoyed this book and would defiantly recommend it!

Thank You Lindsay Hameroff, St, Martins Griffin and Netgalley for the advanced copy my opinions are my own.

Never Planned on You is the perfect follow-up to Lindsay Hameroff's debut novel, Till There Was You, featuring Ali from the first book. It's a second chance romance eight years in the making. Second chance romance is my all time favorite trope, so I loved this one!

Such a sweet rom-com! Off the charts chemistry and a really fun premise, I tore through Lindsay Hameroff's latest book. I love the Jewish representation in her stories and cannot wait to read what she writes next. Thank you SMP Romance and NetGalley for my copy.

I want to carry this book with me everywhere I go. The rom-com of what dreams are made of, cannot count the number of times I laughed out loud. The MCs the side characters it was glorious.

Honestly, no.

I mean, I like the premises of the book, Ali, FMC meets her one night stand from eight years ago while she was in London, in Baltimore, her hometown. They had a bet eight years prior that ended on a draw and they got mathing tattoos. That's cool.

Cue to eight years later, she's working as a wedding planner back home and her first big account is - of course - Graham, the English boy from back to London. Again, nice. Except that he is marrying someone else.

I don't want to go into details and give too many spoilers, but no. No matter the circumstances he was still set to marry someone else. I didnt DNF the book just because Ali is quite nice and funny.

Thank you NetGalley for an ARC of the book. All opinions are my own.

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Ali Rubin has a reputation for spontaneity born of drunken bets that result in horrible tattoos and last-minute decisions to change careers. But she's set on party planning as her definite career, and she's ready to wow her boss into giving her a permanent position with the work she'll do with their latest client. But the match to her horrible tattoo turns out to be the groom in that wedding, and the feelings she had thought she'd built up are small compared to what she feels when they are together.

It started really strong with an excellent and memorable meet-cute but somehow lost me right when things were supposed to start getting interesting. Ali's seesawing between being a super confident, take-charge woman and an insecure almost teenager in her expectations that ignoring something will make it fix itself made it hard for me to get invested in her story. Hameroff does a solid job of setting the whys of it, yet her personality never meshed with the tone of the story. And then there's Graham, who presents as the caring man who only wants to do good, but annoyed the H out of me because they're all adults that could have just sat down for five minutes to solve everything. It felt like he was hoping to push all the hard choices and actions on Ali so he wouldn't be the bad guy.
Ironically, my favorite parts were the ones that had nothing to do with the romance. Be it Ali's relationship with her New York friends and how wonderfully they support each other or the heartfelt talk she eventually has with her sister. The story feels more focused and heartfelt when it is not centered on the romance.
In the end, it wasn't for me, despite how much I enjoyed the other book in this series.

Thank you to NetGalley and St. Martin's Griffin for the read.

Well, Never Planned On You had similar vibes. A bet gone wrong in college leading to 2 matching tattoos and then years later, a wedding planner is reunited with her tattoo buddy but only because he is the groom. There are twists in this one that made it stand out and not be a total remake but same kind of trope. It was really cute, it made me so hungry, especially for the yummy Jewish holiday meals that she ate with her family and it was overall just a sweet and giggle inducing second chance romance. With some Harry Styles references to boot. And some pop in visits characters from the first book - Till There Was You. How does this author always describe food so perfectly??

I love a good second chance romance, and the second chance premise of this one intrigued me. I also feel that the author painted such a realistic and relatable picture of what being in your late twenties and trying to figure out who you are and where you belong feels and looks like. Ali and Graham were complex and compelling characters. Ali was funny, caring, and determined. Graham was charming, sweet, and a little lost. Their banter was hilarious. The spice was perfectly timed. Things between them were messy and complicated, so it was interesting to watch their story unfold. The plot sucked me in and kept me turning pages. The ending was unexpectedly funny and fit the characters so well. The epilogue brought things full circle nicely!