The Man Plan (Grayson, #2) (The Graysons)

by Tracy Anne Warren

From the New York Times bestselling author of The Last Man on Earth comes a delicious new novel about a young woman’s dreams of finding grand romance and success in the big city—and her schemes to make both come true....
What’s a girl to do when the man she’s loved her entire life thinks of her as a little sister? Worse, her own big sister was the one who broke his heart years earlier. For Ivy Grayson, the chance to get him to see her in a different light comes when she receives an unexpected invitation to move into his luxury New York apartment building. Manhattan also just happens to be the perfect place to pursue her wish to become a successful artist. But how many dreams can one woman expect to come true?

Billionaire financier James Jordon has everything a man could want—except love. When Ivy’s family asks him to keep an eye on their “little girl” in the big city, he agrees. But the innocent girl he knew is now a dynamic woman who knows what she wants, and how to get it. He may have promised himself to keep things platonic, but ignoring the game of love isn’t an option. Especially when Ivy is so eager to play.

• ISBN10: 0451466144
• ISBN13: 9780451466143
• Publish Date: 5 August 2014
• Publish Status: Active
• Publish Country: US
• Publisher: Penguin Putnam Inc
• Imprint: Berkley Publishing Corporation,U.S.
• Format: Paperback (US Mass Market)
• Pages: 336
• Language: English
• URL: https://penguinrandomhouse.com/books/isbn/9780451466143

Reviews

[kimbacaffeinate]

Tracy Anne Warren’s Grayson series offers the perfect escape, and I laughed, swooned and cheered. The Man Plan is the second book, and it held me captive and I consumed it in a single afternoon. Warren created a hero and heroine readers will love.

Ivy Grayson has been in love with James Jordon since she was a toddler. At fifteen when her own sister broke his heart she asked him to wait for her. Now she is twenty and living in New York City pursuing her dream of painting. When her path crosses with James, she sees her chance. When Ivy’s parents ask James to keep an eye on their daughter he agrees and is shocked to find little Ivy all grown-up. The tale that unfolds was fun as they two tangoed.

The Man Plan, while predictable was sweet and romantic with just the right amount of angst and miscommunication to keep me flipping the pages. I connected with both Ivy and James. Ivy knows what she wants and is not willing to compromise. I wish more heroines refused to settle. James struggles with trust issues, but also with the fact that he is developing feelings for the little girl who idolized him. Ivy is all woman and does not make it easy for him.  Which of course made the story interesting. While this is a fade to black romance, Warren allowed us to feel the heat and lose our hearts. Friends, family and little side stories outside of the relationship made the tale well rounded and added depth.

Fans of feel good contemporary romances will adore The Man Plan, the newest addition to the Grayson series. I am looking forward to the next Grayson story.

Copy received from publisher in exchange for unbiased review.This review was originally posted at Caffeinated Book Reviewer

[Cocktails and Books]

After three years of college, Ivy Grayson decides to drop out and move to New York City to pursue her painting career. Ivy’s mom is worried about her being all alone in a strange city and asks James Jordan to look after her. James is thirty-six and a rich and successful businessman. He was Ivy’s next door neighbor and five years ago, he was in love and engaged to Ivy’s older sister Madelyn, but she changed her mind minutes before their wedding. Ivy is a risk taker. She is willing to forgo college to pursue a painting career, not knowing if she will be successful. She is also willing to take a chance and try to win James heart. She has been in love with him for years, but he sees her as a child. Ivy plans to change his perception of her as being too young for him and hopefully, win his love. As Ivy puts her plan in place, James struggles with his attraction to Ivy. The premise of this book made me uncomfortable. Tracy Anne Warren is a wonderful author, but I had a hard time dealing with the idea that James is sixteen years older than Ivy. She is twenty and he is thirty-six, that’s a huge age difference. James grew up next door to Ivy and is almost like a brother or uncle to her. On top of that, he was in love with and engaged to Ivy’s sister. I liked James, he’s a nice guy, but I didn’t think he was right for Ivy.

Reviewed by Karen for Cocktails and Books