Sofie Chen is warm, intuitive, and creative, raised by a high-achieving theater manager of a mother. Highly analytical Ryan Porter, meanwhile, is “like if a supercomputer and Mr. Darcy had a baby, raised by polar scientists.” Both are working for Prestige Events, and they find that their differing styles complement one another surprisingly well. But when Sofie’s ex is hired—against her advice—it puts both the company’s reputation and Sofie and Ryan’s connection to the test.
J.T. Tierney’s PERFECT PLANS makes the formula work: an opposites-attract cast (emotional/creative Sofie, statistical/analytical Ryan); a niche setting with room to play (a revolving door of conventions attended by dentists, accountants, Austen fans, zombie cosplayers, conspiracy theorists, and more); and a slow burn. At times, the text leans a little hard into its setup—we get it, Ryan cites absurdly specific percentages to explain his decision-making— but overall, the story is well-balanced and fun. Much of that fun, in fact, comes not from the central romance but from the observational humor about their professional environment. Prestige Events has a supply room crammed to the gills with leftover swag from countless past events; they play corporate buzzword bingo to survive the synergistic KPI monologues from Sofie’s insufferable ex, Trevor. Little touches like these give the central cast just enough space to maneuver while the central plot unfolds. The prose itself is flexible and crisp; it never gets in the way, but it knows when to hang on a powerful turn of phrase, as when Trevor feels a pang of something like “the phantom pain of an amputated conscience.”
PERFECT PLANS could use just a shade of editorial sanding. In the back half, punctuation errors noticeably creep in (especially missing or misplaced quotation marks). The structure could also use some trimming: several scenes (like the aforementioned cleanup of the overstuffed swag closet) don’t particularly support the main plot or develop character or theme. A few short sequences focused on Sofie’s family toe the line; it’s not clear that a visit home to see her parents gives the reader much more information than her previous remarks and reflections did, and it doesn’t lead to an epiphany that dramatically shifts the story.
Despite these quibbles, PERFECT PLANS unquestionably hits its marks and should please any reader looking for a modern, slow-burn workplace romance.
Weird, charming, and compelling, J.T. Tierney’s PERFECT PLANS delivers everything a modern romance needs.
~Dan Accardi for IndieReader