You've Got a Friend in Me

How to Plot a Payback by Melissa Ferguson

Stars: 4

Thank you to NetGallery for the Audiobook

What if you had an archenemy but they didn’t know they were your nemesis? What if they went through life constantly throwing obstacles at you without even realizing it? What if all the bad things in your life can be traced back to this person and you know that going near them will only cause you harm or heartache? But then what if you had the chance of a lifetime but it meant working with this person? Would you take it??

If you are Finn Masters, a Hollywood screenwriter, and all you have dreamed about is being the showrunner on a successful sitcom, well you would hesitate for about two seconds and then jump in with both feet.  Finn is now going to become the head writer on the hit comedy tv show Neighbors (think Friends but with only half of them) which has been on air for almost ten years and needs a bit of fresh blood. The problem is that the leading lady, Lavender Rhodes, is the one person who has caused all the drama in Finn’s life, and she doesn’t even realize it. So Finn is determined to keep his distance from the beautiful actress but it proves impossible and Finn finds himself, kind of, maybe falling for Lavender, much to his horror. 

Initially, as I started reading, I was a bit turned off by Finn's vehemence against Lavender and felt like he was being a little juvenile, but I was reminded of something that Sarah MacLean said on the Fated Mates episode about Enemies to Lovers and how you need to feel like the two characters (or at least one of them) really do hate each other in order for a real payoff. And Finn really did hate Lavender; she was the stand in for all the things that had gone wrong in his life but when he eventually figured that out (because duh, romance novel) and realized he actually loves her, it gave all the feels.

I listened to this audiobook and the narrators were excellent; I’ve really come to love dual narration, it makes such a huge difference when you are trying to connect to the characters. There are also some cute old people and doggies in here, so extra points for that.