ARC Review: The Hookup Plan by Farrah Rochon

The Hookup Plan by Farrah Rochon

Publication Date: August 2, 2022

Strong female friendships and a snappy enemies-to-lovers theme take center stage in this highly anticipated romantic comedy from the USA Today bestselling author of The Dating Playbook.

Successful pediatric surgeon London Kelley just needs to find some balance and de-stress. According to her friends Samiah and Taylor, what London really needs is a casual hookup. A night of fun with no strings. But no one—least of all London—expected it to go down at her high school reunion with Drew Sullivan, millionaire, owner of delicious abs, and oh yes, her archnemesis.

Now London is certain the road to hell is paved with good sex. Because she’s found out the real reason Drew’s back in Austin: to decide whether her beloved hospital remains open. Worse, Drew is doing everything he can to show her that he’s a decent guy who actually cares. But London’s not falling for it. Because while sleeping with the enemy is one thing, falling for him is definitely not part of the plan.

My Review

The Hookup Plan by Farrah Rochon

My rating: 4.75 of 5 stars

Low Angst, Emotionally Intelligent Romance is Deeply Satisfying

Read “The Hookup Plan” by Farrah Rochon if you like:
✔ M/F contemporary romance
✔ Enemies-to-Lovers Romance
✔ Austin, Texas backdrop
✔ Black romance
✔ Third person narration with dual perspectives
✔ Hypertension rep
✔ Spicy romance
✔ Complete standalone but final book in The Boyfriend Project series

London Kelley is a pediatric surgical resident in her final year of residency at Travis County Hospital in Austin, Texas. She has hereditary hypertension and has been dealing with a great deal of stress in the past few months. She is at her fifteen year high school reunion which she also planned and is micromanaging. London runs into her academic rival from high school, Drew Sullivan at the reunion. Drew is a former hedge fund manager. They spend much of the reunion snarking at one another. London doesn’t know that Drew had a massive crush on her when they were competing in high school.

After the reunion ends Drew offers London shelter from a storm in his hotel room. London initiates a hook up (as a way to relieve some of that stress). Drew tries but fails to tell London that his company will be performing an audit on her hospital to try to save the struggling institution from being sold.

She runs out the next morning feeling a touch of shame that she slept with her old rival and calls her friends Samiah (The Boyfriend Project) and Taylor (The Dating Playbook). The three friends met when they all realized that they were dating the same guy. I love this group of women and the way they support one another. Samiah and Taylor think that London should continue to hook up with Drew to reduce her stress levels.

London and Drew hook up one more time before she sees him again – at her hospital. She’s a little upset that her former rival is responsible for the future of her beloved hospital. While they both approach the future of the hospital through different lenses they are both equally impassioned in their beliefs. They both want what they think is best. Although London can’t immediately see that Drew wants what’s best for the patients of Travis County Hospital, they both agree to a hookup plan while Drew remains in Austin.

I loved both of these characters so much. They might not know it at first, but they are both coming from such good places in their attitude towards the hospital. They both want to help low income and the underserved people of the county have access to quality health care.

“A person’s bank balance shouldn’t determine whether they lived or died.”

They are both extremely good at their jobs and competence is very sexy.

The relationships that London has with Samiah and Taylor, her Mom, her step-Mom and her siblings are incredibly valuable to her and rewarding to witness.

London and Drew’s relationship was a real pleasure to read. Joyful to see, their relationship is careful, supportive, loving, steamy, and adult. I loved how emotionally intelligent the characters and this book are (with a couple of exceptions). This is a deeply satisfying and sexy romance.

CW: narcissistic parent, sexism, death of parent (off page), childhood illnesses, heart disease

Thank you to NetGalley and Forever (Grand Central) for an advance copy. This is my honest review.

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