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NetGalley Review of Best Laid Plans

Posted on July 11, 2025July 8, 2025 by caritagardiner
Screenshot 2025-07-08 at 7.19.36 AM

title: Best Laid Plans

author: Mallory McKenna

publisher: indie/self

publication date: July 15, 2025

pages: 308

peppers: 3 (on this scale)

warnings: none

summary: When Elle's life implodes, she goes to her brother's apartment to hide away and plan for what's next. It's perfect timing, because he's going to be away at the football camp where he coaches for the next two weeks. It's not perfect timing because his best friend also needs a place to hide and recover.

tropes:

  • best friend's baby sister/brother's best friend
  • long-time crush
  • small town
  • small business struggling against new competition
  • my life has imploded
  • I'm not worthy

what I liked:

  • food and family
  • best friends
  • small town
  • getting one's life together separately from the love story

what I didn’t like:

  • the MCs were quick to make assumptions, seemed very young

overall rating: 4 (of 5 stars)

As always, you can click on the photo above if you want to buy the book.

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WHAT I DO

I serve as a class dean and teach English to high schoolers at a boarding school in Connecticut. I’ve earned a Bachelor of Arts (Amherst College), an Education Master in Learning and Teaching (Harvard University Graduate School of Education), a Master of Arts in English (Bread Loaf School of English), and most recently a Master of Fine Arts in Creative Writing with a certificate in the online teaching of writing (Southern New Hampshire University).

As a writer, I hope to capture the complexity and joy of life in the New England boarding school world. On this site, I share what I know about trying to write fiction while deaning, teaching English, coaching, and doing the other tasks associated with helping to raise over six hundred other people’s children.

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