The Party Plot by Emily Spady

Laurel suspects his mother's party planner is not what he seems, especially after having spent one anonymous and incredible night with the man several months ago. Having Laurel in his orbit again jeopardizes everything for Casey, but at some point he begins not to care about the consequences and maybe having Laurel in his life is a brilliant possibility.


From the The Party Plot blurb:

A chaotic good boy and a sexy con man clash in this m/m romantic comedy about small-town drama, Southern manners, and being true to oneself.

When Laurel Van Marcke comes home for the summer, he’s immediately thrown back into all the scandals, grudges, and petty gossip he wanted to avoid. But he was expecting that. What he wasn’t expecting was Casey Bright, his mom’s new party planner, who also happens to be the mystery man he spent an unforgettable night with three months ago. But something about Casey, and the whole situation, seems off, and Laurel needs this party to go off without a hitch.

Casey has his own agenda for the upcoming Halloween ball, one that doesn’t include Laurel. He wants nothing to do with the spoiled little rich boy, and definitely doesn’t want to get entangled with him again. But Laurel is persistent, and soon, he’s involved himself not only in the party planning, but in all the most intimate aspects of Casey’s life. And Casey absolutely despises him for it… right?

One thing is for sure, the first annual Halloween Ball will be the event of the year—one way or another.

The Party Plot is an m/m enemies-to-lovers romance featuring elaborate schemes, a few raccoons, several cheesy Halloween props, and a HEA.

This novel is for adults and may contain content that is disturbing or difficult for some readers. There is a full list of content warnings on my website and in the back of the book.


SNik's review:

Standalone. One night stand. Opposites attract. Adversarial to lovers. Dual POV. Heed content warnings. 

Laurel returns home from an extended vacation to find the one night stand he had a few months ago is his mother’s current party planner. Casey is worried Laurel is going to ruin his current con, but being discovered leads to more time spent together and brings the possibility of something more. 

This story was different than I expected, with some really serious themes underpinning the slow building romance, so although I was expecting something light, the backgrounds of the main characters as well as some of the secondary ones were not easy. I actually wasn’t sure about Casey and Laurel for a good portion of the book, but they eventually won me over as they embraced their attraction and wanted to work on building something together. This was an entertaining read, and once Casey admitted his feelings beyond lust for Laurel there was plenty of sweetness along with steam, and acceptance that although neither of them knew how to have a relationship they both wanted to try with each other.


The Party Plot is currently available as an e-book and can be read as part of your Kindle Unlimited Subscription