Guest Book Review: Life in Plan B

By Sara Steven

Haley Simpson is a sales associate for her best friend Alex’s clothing boutique. Although she has her own aspirations of someday creating a fashion shoe line, sealing the deal and landing clients will have to do, for now. She never anticipated just how far she’d go when falling in lust with a prospective business partner, though. After starting up a secret affair, Haley knows her deception can have damaging effects, not only for her career, but for her close friendship with Alex.

What parallels the drama is a personal anguish for Haley. Every year, she visits her father’s grave- a life cut short because of a drunk driver. Haley and her brother eat peanut butter and jelly sandwiches (soggy from the jelly, just the way Dad liked them), sit on lawn chairs, and reminisce on the father they had, and the father they lost. She doesn’t have a close relationship with her mother (something I can identify with in my own life) and so you feel a sense of waywardness from Haley, as though you aren’t entirely sure where she’ll end up.

Life in Plan B was a very sweet read. Although I enjoyed the scandalous affair from Haley’s perspective, and took pleasure in following her love triangle after discovering a potential new love interest she met while flying on a plane (spilled food on cashmere may not = love at first sight, but it’s a start) what I enjoyed most was the friendship between Alex and Haley. The dynamics between the two are incredibly funny, heartwarming, and at times tender. It seems only Alex really understands her, and it’s what makes this book so charming. Sure, we want to know who Haley chooses: the proverbial good guy or the not-so-good guy, but we’ll all fall in love with the relationship she has with Alex. Good friendships can be very hard to come by.

Thanks to Jennifer Vessells for the book in exchange for an honest review.

Sara Steven is a wife and stay-at-home mother of two rambunctious boys in Bellevue, NE. When she’s not running marathons, or working on her novel, she takes a break and opens up a good book (or turns on her Nook). Find her at her blog.

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