Review: The Plan (Creek Water Series #3) by Whitney Dineen

Title: The Plan

Series: Creek Water Series #3

Author: Whitney Dineen

Release Date: March 10, 2020

Published By: Author

Category: Contemporary – Romance – Rock Star – Sweet

Type: Digital – Paperback

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Rating:

Heat:

Blurb: 

Bead shop owner Amelia Frothingham has been keeping a secret from everyone she knows.

She pretends to be the ultimate care-free bohemian chick, but the truth is, she’s the world’s biggest control freak. Much to the delight of her Southern family, Amelia’s life appears to be smooth sailing. That is, until bad boy rockstar Huck Wiley mysteriously blows into town like a spring tornado.

Like every other woman under eighty with a pulse, Amelia’s intrigued. So when Huck starts showing up in her shop with flirtation in mind, she finds herself getting sucked into the rock god vortex. But her previous attempts at long-distance love have always ended on a sour note, so Amelia has vowed never to repeat the experience.

What Amelia doesn’t know is that Huck has a secret of his own, and he has no intention of returning to Los Angeles before he’s good and ready.

Will Huck stay in town, scattering the beads Amelia has finally gotten sorted? Or will he head back to his glamorous life and take her last chance at spontaneity and love along with him?

Find out in this deliciously funny romcom about love and life in Creek Water, Missouri!

 By reading any further, you are stating that you are at least 18 years of age.

If you are under the age of 18, please exit this site.

Favorite Lines:

Huck stares at me like I’m a witch, like I have the answer to the questions he didn’t even know how to ask. Unfortunately, I’m not magical. I’m human. The only reason I know what I know is because I’ve had to find my own map out of hell, and it wasn’t an easy process. It still isn’t.  ~  Amelia

“It’s not what you have to lose that matters, Amelia. It’s what you have to gain.”  ~  Huck

“We mourn to the same degree to which we’ve been blessed. I’m grateful that I hurt so much because it reminds me of how very much I’ve been loved.”  ~  Mrs. Peabody

Oh, my stars, this man pulls me in, then pushes me away, only to grab ahold and yank me back. It’s making me seasick.  ~  Amelia

Huck smiles. “I got one.” He starts playing on his own for a short time before the drummer picks up a driving beat that makes my feet start to tap along. Huck leans into his microphone and says, “I’m dedicating this one to a beading instructor I have the pleasure of knowing.” He winks at me before the whole band kicks in and I recognize the song. It’s an old Van Halen song my daddy plays when he’s reminiscing his glory days, “Hot for Teacher.”

Vocabulary Word:

Turret

 noun

tur·​ret | \ ˈtər-ət  , ˈtə-rət, ˈtu̇r-ət  \

Definition of turret

1: a little tower specifically : an ornamental structure at an angle of a larger structure

2a(1): a revolving armored structure on a warship that protects one or more guns mounted within it

(2): a similar upper structure usually for one gun on a tank

(3): a gunner's fixed or movable enclosure in an airplane

b: a tall building usually moved on wheels and formerly used for carrying soldiers and equipment for breaching or scaling a wall

3a: a pivoted and revolvable holder in a machine tool

b: a device (as on a microscope or a television camera) holding several lenses

Excerpt:

          I lock the front door of the shop at five and have just enough time to run upstairs to my apartment for a quick shower and wardrobe change before meeting my cousin Emmie and my brother’s girlfriend Lexi, at Lexi’s house. Emmie has something she wants to tell us, but she’s not giving any hints. 
          After washing and drying my hair, I slip into a violet-colored, floral-patterned wrap dress and then some orange kitten-pumps, before grabbing a bottle of wine off the counter and running down the back stairs to the alley behind the building where my car is parked. 
          I’ve lived in this building since I moved out of my parents’house when I was twenty-two and came into a decent-sized inheritance from my mama’s parents. They died when I was in high school, leaving each of us three kids enough money to buy some real estate. I bought my building before the revitalization of downtown Creek Water, which my daddy and uncle Jesse are responsible for. Hence, it’s worth a load more than I paid for it. This has given me the financial security necessary to open my shop. Beads aren’t exactly a lucrative business, but I make and sell jewelry as well. While I’m not rolling in it, I’m doing something that I love, which is more than most folks can say. 
          As soon as I put my key into the ignition, the speakers blare out the haunting melody of Huck Wiley’s latest hit, “Untethered.”That man’s voice is enough to make me understand the alarming custom of throwing one’s unmentionables on the stage at a rock concert. 
          Initially, Huck’s voice is rough and gravelly like Eddie Vedder’s from Pearl Jam. Then the velvety undertones crawl in and wham! it’s panties-on-the-stage time. The combined effect leaves me hot and bothered in a way that no real man ever has. Not that Huck Wiley isn’t real, but to me, he’s as elusive as Prince Charming in a fairy tale. Too bad because that’s a man I’d like to try my hand at taming. 
          I run the risk of being late, something I abhor, but I don’t let potential tardiness deter me from leaning back and closing my eyes as Huck’s voice rolls over me like warm molasses on a tall stack of flapjacks. 
          Tethered to the past by phantom chains of longing. 
          Tethered to a place by illusions of belonging. 
          Tethered to a girl who left without a glance. 
          Tethered to a life that never had a chance. 
          Not for the first time, I wonder what woman could have ever left a man like Huck. I don’t know much about him, but I do know he’s breathtakingly gorgeous and enormously talented. Combine that with the depth of emotion he expresses in his music, and I’d say he’s definitely a man worth sticking around for. 
          Last month, I bought a copy of Rolling Stone magazine at the market because he was on the cover in all of his bad-boy rocker glory—wildly willful brown hair, a touch too long like it had been swept up in a wind storm; a jaw so sharp you cut bread with it; and green eyes that pierced my calm like nothing else. The tattooed arms bursting out of a too-snug t-shirt advertising his Untethered tour showcased his physical perfection—the cherry on the sundae that is Huck Wiley. 
          I’d flipped through the magazine in hot pursuit of finding out which super model left him so broken up that he was driven to write such an achingly tender ballad in her honor. But the article didn’t say. Huck claimed that if he wanted the world to know who the song was about, he’d tell them. In the meantime, we shouldn’t hold our breath. 
          I did find out that he had a ten-year-old daughter that he was raising as a single parent. When asked about the girl’s mother, he answered, “I’m not going to talk about her.”Nothing else was mentioned on the topic. From the little I could tell from the article, the rock star can be a bit brusque when the conversation veers toward a topic he deems personal. 
          I sit still for a full minute after the song ends, basking in its afterglow. I am not what anyone would call talented. Yes, I make pretty jewelry, but it’s not going to alter the course of life as we know it. People with musical abilities, whether instrumental or vocal, painters and sculptors …that’s the kind of talent I’ll never have. I don’t honestly know whether I could deal with living under a microscope that some of their jobs entail, but I’m still a bit envious. I will never stand on stage and open my mouth to render the masses awestruck by my ability to make them feel. I will never paint a masterpiece so captivating that crowds line up for hours just so they can get a glimpse of it. What must it be like to harbor such innate ability? 
          I lower the volume on the music slightly while I contemplate my deficiencies as I start my journey down Main Street. I decide to take solace in the fact that I’m a functioning adult and most of the anxieties of my early life are nothing more than a distant memory. Yes, I still need to count and have a bias for odd numbers, but I can step on a multitude of cracks without fear that my mama will wind up in traction. I even occasionally fall asleep without saying my prayers and don’t wake in a blind panic in the middle of the night sure that my negligence will be responsible for the death of a loved one. So that’s good, right? 
          Ever since the day my family visited Atlanta, when I was nine, my life shifted. I became aware of an all-consuming agitation that made daily tasks a real struggle. I became compelled to count my steps all the way to school. If at any point I lost track, I had to run back home and start all over again. Luckily, I didn’t have to lick a light switch or anything like that when I got there, so don’t go thinking I was that freaky. 
          I couldn’t go to bed at night until I’d checked to make sure all the doors to the outside were locked. Sometimes I did this several times. I had to make sure the oven and stove were off, too. Both obsessions had a way of cutting into my quality sleep time. 
          The real reason I can never leave Creek Water is that after years of struggle, I function here. I have my routine. I have structure. There are few surprises living in a small town and for me that kind of mundanity equals calm. 
          After all, the devil you know …

Highlight:

          I get out of the car and hightail it up the stairs to Lexi’s before I lose my nerve. 

          Shortly after ringing her bell, the front door opens. I’m expecting it to be Lexi, but much to my surprise, it isn’t. It’s the rock star. “Miss Frothingham, what a surprise,”he says, looking a bit alarmed. “What are you doing here?”He looks behind me to see if I’m alone. Maybe’s he’s worried I’ve brought a bunch of adoring fans with me or something. 

          “I’m, um …I’m …what are you doing here?”I pretend to be surprised. Playing dumb seems like my best option. 

          “I’m staying here,” he says. “I thought maybe your brother told you.”

          “My brother?” Crap, has he talked to Beau in the last ten minutes since I left the factory? If so, I’m sunk. 

          “How do you know Davis?”I deflect, knowing full well he probably doesn’t even realize I have another brother. I should take my dumb blonde act on the road. I’m that good. 

          “Davis, who? I was talking about Beau.”

          “How do you know Beau?”I ask. 

          “He hooked me up with Lexi. Maggie and I are going to be staying here,” he repeats. 

          “I didn’t even know Lexi was taking in lodgers yet. I thought she was still knee-deep in renovations. Goes to show how in the loop I am.”I scoot past him into the entryway. “Is she around?”

          Huck shakes his head. “She’s not. She went out to get some groceries for dinner.”

          “Why does she need dinner? She and Beau are having dinner with us at the club tonight.”

          He arches that eyebrow again and a crazy urge overcomes me to bite it. Not in a vicious sort of way, more like a nibble. He seems to realize I’m having questionable thoughts and takes a step backwards. “Because she needs food? I didn’t ask. But one presumes that’s why one goes grocery shopping,” he suggests. 

          “Hmm.”I don’t say anything else; I just stand there and stare. Huck Wiley is stealing the breath right out of my body. I could look at him for hours and hours and not get bored. 

          “I can tell her you stopped by if you want,” he says while moving back toward the door as though encouraging me to leave. 

          “That won’t be necessary. I’m going to see her shortly anyway. I can tell her myself.”

          “If you’re going to be seeing her, why are you here?” he wonders. 

          “I was, um …I was …”Pull yourself together, Amelia, or this man is going to think you’re deficient. “Emmie left her sweater here last night and she asked me to pick it up.”

          “Who’s Emmie?” he asks. 

          “My cousin. Lexi’s best friend. Emmie owns a kitchenware shop downtown.”I hurry to add, “She and Lexi worked together in New York City. Lexi came here on vacation after Emmie moved back home. Emmie was up for an award and lost it and then wound up getting loaded on tequila which led to her getting pregnant with Armie Hammer’s baby, and then, well, you know, she came home to raise Faye.”Inside my head, I’m screaming at myself, “ Stop! You’ve developed diarrhea of the mouth.”

          The rock star looks like he’s about to bust out laughing. “Armie Hammer’s baby? That’s quite something.”

          “It would be if it really was his, but it isn’t.”His expression has me explaining, “Zach, that’s her fiancé, he looks like Armie Hammer, or rather he did …to Emmie …because of well, the tequila. She was pretty drunk.”

          “Uh-huh. Okay then.”He gestures vaguely toward the interior of the house. “I assume you know where the sweater is.”

          “I actually don’t. Maybe you can ask Lexi to bring it with her tonight. She and Beau are meeting up with my family later.”

          “You couldn’t have called her and asked her to bring it?”

          Son of a dog, that would have made sense. “I didn’t think of it. I mean, I guess I should have, but to be honest, it didn’t occur to me.”

          “I can see that,” he says. 

          He can? “Well, thank goodness. I was afraid I was coming off as a real fruit loop.”Why did I say that? 

          He smiles slightly, like he’s talking to a mentally unstable person and hasn’t decided whether or not I’m dangerous yet. It seems he deems me harmless, because he offers, “I like Fruit Loops. They’re delicious and sweet. The very thought of them on my tongue makes my mouth water.”

          I grab hold of the back of the sofa before my knees give out at such a comparison. Is he flirting with me? Please let that be the case. 

          Completely unaware of my distress, he adds, “They were my favorite cereal as kid. I rarely got them though because they were so full of sugar.”

          “Then how could they have been your favorite if you never had them?” I squeak with the image of his mouth on me still in the forefront of my mind. 

          “My friend, Billy Espinoza’s mom, bought them. I’d eat them over there at sleepovers or whenever we hung out at his house.”

          “My mama never let me have caffeine in my soda pop. She was afraid it would make me anxious. So, Emmie used to smuggle me a bottle once and awhile.”

          “And? Did it?”

          “Did it what?” I ask. 

          “Make you anxious.”

          I let out a loud sigh knowing full well I’ve gone and made myself sound like a total loon. Might as well keep on telling him the truth. “Life made me anxious. I don’t think it had anything to do with caffeine.”

          “Really?” he sounds genuinely curious. “Were you ever able to control the anxiety?”

          “I jumped rope and ran track to try to burn it off. When that didn’t work, I counted.”There’s not a fart’s chance in France Huck Wiley is ever going to see me as anything but really odd now. Why do I feel compelled to be so darn honest in front of him? You’d think I’d try to act calm, cool, and collected in order to make a good impression. I mean, how many times does a girl actually get to meet her celebrity crush? And here I am epically blowing my opportunity to appear normal. 

          “Count how? You mean to a hundred or something?”

          “Never to a hundred,” I assure him. “If I had to count that high, I’d stop at ninety-nine or go on to a hundred and one.”

          “Because …”

          “I only count the odd numbers.”I look down at my feet because I can’t bear to see the look in his eyes. 

          “Does it work?” he asks. 

          I blurt out, “Usually.”I did not expect him to ask that. 

          “Why do you think that is?”He seems genuinely interested. 

          I shrug my shoulders. “I don’t know. I guess everybody finds different ways to cope.”

          “But you have some idea why that worked for you, don’t you?” he pushes. 

          “Yes.” I really could just cry right now. Most everyone I know thinks I’m a perfectly sane, albeit eccentric, woman. Why couldn’t I have kept up the ruse with Huck? I inhale deeply and explain, “When you have anxiety, you don’t feel like a normal person. You feel like an oddball, like a freak. Like you’re the only one who isn’t right in the head.”He nods which spurs me on. “Take the number three, for instance. It looks like half of the number eight. Eight is perfect and round and complete; three looks like half of it, so the number three is a freak.”

          “Go on,” he says. 

          “The number five is sort of a backward version of three, so it’s a backward freak, which is freakier than a freak.”

          “What about the number seven?”

          “Seven looks like an upside-down number one when it has a foot at the base. Upside down is as bad as backwards.”

          “And the number nine?” he wants to know. 

          “Upside-down six.”

          “Why can’t the number six be an upside-down nine?”

          “Because six comes first, so nine has to be an upside-down six,” I explain. 

          “And you find comfort in these numbers because they’re imperfect?”

          “I can relate to them.”Then I drop the bomb of my reasoning, “Odd numbers are just as important as even numbers, they just aren’t perfect.”

          “Like odd people are just as important as perfect people, huh?”

          “Just like that.”

          “I’m mighty glad you stopped by, Amelia,” he says, sounding like he really means it. 

          “You are? Why?” I wonder if he wants to cancel his daughter’s beading lessons or something? 

          “I think Maggie is going to like you, a lot. I think you might just be the perfect friend for her.”

          For the first time since meeting this man at my shop, I keep my mouth closed and don’t come right out and say what’s on my mind. Which is of course, is Huck Wiley being so sweet with me because his daughter suffers from anxiety, too? Dear God, let it be for another reason.

Review: 

Amelia is finally in a good place with her life … well, as good as it is going to get for her anyway. The victim of a harrowing experience in childhood – though she is unaware of that little detail – she suffers from extreme anxiety. It’s been a long and debilitating road to get to some form of normalcy, but she’s done it. She may have to make sacrifices along the way and she might seem a bit odd to some, but she’s found happiness. Until her dream come true walks through the door of her bead store and sends every aspect of her life scattering about recklessly. So what if he’s a famous rock star? He’d never be interested in a small town nothing like her. He’s only around for a short amount of time. Plus, his daughter needs a level of companionship that only Amelia can provide. So what if he makes her shudder with desire every time he’s near? So what if he seems to have set his sights on breaching her carefully constructed walls of protection? So what if he’s everything she ever wanted for herself and everything she never dreamed of wanting? So what if she feels like she knows him after more than a decade of connecting to every word of his music? So what if he says he wants her? He’s only temporary and temporary can never work in her perfectly ordered, perfectly quiet, perfectly planned life.

Huck Wiley is a rock star God! But with fame comes sacrifice. He’s away from his daughter more than he gets to see her and everyone wants something he can provide because of who he is. It never has anything to do with who he really is after all the rock star persona is left on the stage. When he immediately senses something different about Amelia, he knows he has to get to know her. But he’s used to getting what he wants where women are concerned and Amelia continually rebuffs his advances. Nothing left to do but dig in and prove to her that he really wants a relationship with her. And given his past and the secrets he’s carefully guarding, that’s no small admission. He also knows, given Amelia’s insecurities and fear of change given her severe anxiety, that he has a lot of work to do. But when you know you’ve found the person that was made for you alone, you have to take the good with the bad. Funny thing though … rather than see Amelia’s handicap as a hindrance, he sees her as the most fascinating woman he’s ever come across. He’s determined to break through her defenses and prove that they could be something wonderful together. He’s got to get Amelia out of her own head so that she can take a chance and listen to her heart instead of all of the reasons she keeps trying to stall him with. And little by little, he does exactly that.

I have to say first that I have not read the previous books in the series. I feel that this was a huge mistake for one reason only. Initially, there were so many dang people introduced that I was overwhelmed. I looked into the series and because a lot of the characters that are mentioned in the previous books are once again brought to life within this book, I feel that my confusion would have been non-existent had I started the series from the beginning. Honestly, that is my only complaint and more than likely one I created myself. Other than that, once I started to get a handle on the characters and this wonderful family, I thoroughly enjoyed this book!

Initially, I thought the premise sounded fun, but internally, I expected much of the same kind of storyline. Small town girl falls for a crazy famous rock star, he whisks her away and sweeps her off her feet, they get down and dirty and all of a sudden rock star has a new wife and no more groupies. I mean that’s the gist, yes? I was so wrong. This book was nothing like that! Not even a little. For starters, Amelia suffers from severe anxiety. The anxiety was brought on by a rather terrifying event that occurred when she was a child, yet no one thought to enlighten her. They just went along like nothing happened. Recipe for anxiety. That might be a bit of a spoiler, but I left quite a lot out surrounding the reveal. Suffice it to say that once the anxiety set in, it just became worse until Amelia had to create her own coping mechanisms so that she could lead a relatively normal life. One of her mechanisms involves Huck’s music. Another involves counting specific numbers. Another means no traveling far from home. Much of this is explained in detail within the book, but that gives a bit of an idea as to how impacted Amelia’s life has been as a result of the anxiety. But the best thing about Amelia’s anxiety is that it never magically disappeared when she fell for Huck. Through it all, she still continued to cope and while it did lessen in some cases, the anxiety remains. This is great because it kept the characters true to who she was created to be. Amelia is who she was because of this aspect of her life and magically curing it or finding a way to stop it would have cheapened her value and lessened her impact in connecting with the reader. I also enjoyed the added twist of Huck’s daughter having severe anxiety as well. She has different triggers and different mechanisms for coping than Amelia, but together they help each other shatter their own glass ceilings and take huge steps they would never have been brave enough to conquer individually. I was completely touched by their ability to challenge one another as well as learn from each other. Through it all, Huck is this perfectly gentle, patient man who happens to be a huge success. I was thrown by the path this book took and completely enchanted by the time I finished it.

Not only is it tons of fun getting to know Huck and Amelia, but all of the secondary characters were nearly as lovable. The family dynamic is fantastic and a hoot in many cases. Maggie, Huck’s daughter, very nearly steals the whole book. Between the Southern charm peppered throughout the story and Maggie’s charm alone, I was completely engaged. She may be a child, but she speaks with wisdom – an old soul – while maintaining some level of innocence despite her unconventional life and the struggles she has endured for one so young. Besides being one heck of a romance, this book is also a story of strength in overcoming personal challenges and always pushing toward that next step; demonstrating that having the right support system in place can help motivate anyone to break out of the confines of their comfort zone and take a risk on the possibility of gaining over losing. Additionally quite a bit of back story was provided, allowing the reader a glimpse into the premise of the previous stories in the series. It wasn’t over much, but it helped to fill in some blanks while simultaneously piquing my interest in the rest of the series. More than likely I will be starting at the beginning at some point and when I get to this book, I will gladly read it all over again. For those of you who tend to enjoy a tamer version of romance, this is the perfect book for you! Absolutely no sex occurs within these pages. But do not let that detail fool you into thinking there was no passion to enjoy. Both Huck and Amelia exude attraction to the point that you could almost envision it as a tangible thing. This romance is all about sweet and clean. I do not even recall a single cuss word. If there was, there may have been one, but I have forgotten it.

Overall, this book was adorable and took me completely by surprise. There is a ton of humor to offset the seriousness of the toll anxiety has taken within the lives of Amelia and Maggie. When Gizzy, Huck’s rocker friend appears the sparks fly with a family member. I expect to see a book for them appear in the future. I can only imagine what fun that could shape up to be. There were a ton of scenes that had me snickering or completely laughing out loud. Too many scenes to list, in fact. I wish I could, but you’ll have to experience the humor for yourself. For those of you looking for a sexy, clean romance, this is the place to be. And for those who gravitate toward the grittier side of the sexual spectrum, who cares? This book is fantastic enough on its own that is doesn’t need all of that graphic sex to punch up the passion factor. It doesn’t hurt that it’s a series either. Those of you who enjoy it, like myself, will take comfort knowing there is more both before and after this installment. A story about how love and trust with the right person can overcome anything and that when you love someone, you love all of them whether part of the plan or not.

Kindle version provided by Xpresso Book Tours/Author in exchange for an honest review.