Not Part of the Plan (Blue Moon #4)

Author: Lucy Score Title: Not Part of the Plan Publisher: Bloom Books Date Published: 07/08/2025

Read Dates: 06/20/2025- 06/22/2025
Rating: ⭐⭐⭐⭐

 📖 I received a gifted e-book ARC. The following is my honest review✍🏻

Not Part of the Plan is a dual POV opposites attract, small town romance. Niko is a fashion photographer from NYC who has lost his drive and comes to the small town of Blue Moon to visit his best friend and gain some perspective. He runs into Emma, a bar/restaurant manager who wants a neat, orderly life. Emma declares them incompatible, but Nico convinces her to give friendship a try, and eventually finds his way into her heart!

This was a lovely small-town romance! It is fourth in a series, and while it can be read as a stand-alone, I found myself wishing I had read the first three before starting to get the full experience! I loved Niko and Emma, though, their friendship and banter was a lot of fun!

“He’s the kind of man who would talk you into dropping your panties in a coat closet at a party, dole out orgasms like after-dinner mints, and then never call you again.”

Photographer Nikolai Vulkov is a love ’em and leave ’em bad boy with a leather jacket, motorcycle, and sexy-as-sin grin.

He is not Emma Merrill’s type. The feisty brewery manager isn’t impressed by Niko’s charm or his “no strings attached” offer. She’s the kind of girl a man settles down with. And the small town of Blue Moon is where she and her sisters have decided to put down roots.

In Niko’s experience, relationships only lead to heartache. Besides, he’s only in town until he finds a way to get his creative mojo back. He and Emma are completely wrong for each other. Even the matchmaking Beautification Committee agrees. They should definitely stay in the friend zone.

Okay. So maybe they gave in to their attraction that one time. Fine. Five times. Who’s counting? But once Emma’s ex-boyfriend shows up in town, she’ll come to her senses, and Niko will go back to New York. Right?