Not in the Plan

By: Dana Hawkins

Narrated by: Elise Roth

Length: 8 hrs and 52 mins

Publisher's summary

Free-spirited coffee shop owner meets uptight coffee addict. Is an opposites-attract match brewing… or burning?

Crushed under the weight of writer’s block and a looming deadline, Mack escapes from New York to Seattle. She meets Charlie, a beautiful, generous, nearly bankrupt coffee shop owner recovering from heartbreak. For the first time, Mack has a muse. And then Mack starts using Charlie’s private stories in her novel…

When a storm traps Mack and Charlie in the coffee shop, they share a mind-bending, knee-shaking kiss. But Charlie is an eternal optimist who sleeps with fairy-lights on, while Mack is an ironing-at-5am worrier who sleeps with… everyone. They could never turn this chemistry into something real, right?

And if Charlie finds out what Mack has been doing, turning Charlie’s most intimate secrets into a juicy page-turner, will they even have a chance to try?

A swoony, steamy queer romcom perfect for fans of Ashley Herring Blake, Casey McQuiston, and Alexis Hall.

©2024 Dana Hawkins (P)2024 Storm Publishing

Great performance great writing

Creative processes are different for every person it’s really cool to see how Mack’s book changes by the time the book is over!

A+ story! Narration lacking depth.

This is such a great story! It’s a refreshing take on a classic sapphic romance story. I don’t think the narrator does it justice. She only gave differentiating voices to a few characters which made it a little confusing at times. During the more emotional scenes, there’s no passion or tone variation in the narrators voice. There are a few times when one of the characters leans in to whisper in another’s ear and the narrator doesn’t lower the volume of her voice even a little bit. It just distracts from the story unfortunately.
Maybe skip the audio version of this and read it instead.

Superb Sapphic Romcom

Queer coffee shop owner + a queer writer fighting writer's block in Seattle?! UMMM YES PLEASE!! I loved this book. I'm honestly so impressed that this is this author's debut novel. This is a wonderful opposites attract, slow burn, sapphic rom-com.

I listened to this audiobook and LOVED it. The narrator did a fantastic job bringing these characters to life. Her performance was absolutely stellar. I think the pairing of this story and the narrator was just superb!

Charlie is building a life and business serving delicious beverages at her cute coffee shop after a divorce from her ex-wife. When Mack stumbles into Charlie's coffee shop trying to find her way out of writer's block to meet a deadline for her next book, she's is immediately drawn to the cute, quirky, red-headed owner.

Charlie and Mack have such great chemistry. Right off the bat, I was rooting for these two. While both of these women are navigating their past secrets, they offer each other a spark of light in their journey. There's so much about this book that kept me turning the pages- I loved the chapter headings - the fun coffee drinks kept me smiling throughout the book. The cast of lovable family (both blood and found) characters were just so endearing. I adored Mack's dad - his banter had me laughing out loud. Ben was just the most wonderful bestie a girl could ask for. I loved that these two characters had such great community and love surrounding them. I really loved how these two characters complimented each other's personalities. They just fit like two perfect puzzle pieces. I really enjoyed how Hawkins illustrated these characters healing themselves through their connection with each other and their loved ones around them. I think Hawkins did a wonderful job showing how even though people may come from different backgrounds, everyone is battling something from the past - something we might not like about ourselves - and that leaning into the people who love you can lead to healing hurts that have been carried under the surface.

I'm very excited for the next Dana Hawkins novel. I really enjoyed her writing and I can't wait to read more from this author!