The Hookup Plan by Farrah Rochon

For good and bad, I powered through this book while in a reading slump. Maybe I should have DNFed it, but after I had started it and put it down for a few weeks, I found myself with a whole day of no obligations and the desire to read all day.

This book is the third in a series and though I have not read the previous two books, I was able to follow along with this one. London is a hotshot pediatric surgeon and hooks up with her high school rival, now millionaire, Drew at their reunion only to find him sitting across the conference room the next Monday at the hospital where she works. They agree to a hookup-only arrangement, but we all know it didn’t stay that way.

I wanted to like this book so much since it was set in Austin, my hometown, but I think for that same reason, it made me hyper-critical. Firstly, she mentions her school mascot was the Trojans and then names a fake high school, Barbara Jordan High. (BJ High, heh.) That’s fine, name a fake school, makes sense, BUT then don’t name the school (my school) who were ACTUALLY the Trojans as her characters’ school rival. Incorrect. There were also numerous phrases and saying that wouldn’t be said in the way they were written. It just felt like performative Austin, like she’d been there a couple times and then talked to someone from there. It very much felt like all her information came through the veil of nostalgia and love for the city, not from lived life experiences in it.

I ABSOLUTELY have to give a few shout outs though. Shout out to playing “Low” by Flo Rida at the reunion. It immediately set the time/age of these people for me. Also, shout out for shouting out the incredible pancakes at Kerbey Lane. #truth

Big #thanks to @netgalley for the ARC!

-Ford