The Plan by Qwen Salsbury

Day of Employment: 359

11:05 a.m.

Location: Cubicles outside Canon’s office.
Co-workers: Betting on how long Canon’s new PA will last.
Me: No doubts. Ms. Gum-smacker won’t last the day. I need to place my bet.
Manolo Blahnik’s New Fall Shoes: Mine. As soon as Madeline hands over my winnings.

Emma Baker has never spoken a word to Alaric Canon, nor has he to her. But she’s studied him every day across the office tundra for almost a year. Canon is hard and fierce, terrifying and beautiful. He’s also the most stern, unforgiving person Emma has ever seen. Emma’s co-workers run a betting pool for Personal Assistant terminations. There’s a separate pot for the day one leaves without crying. Not likely…Canon made a former Navy SEAL cry.

He has high standards and low tolerance. Everyone knows it. Everyone stays away. Everyone who can, that is. Except Emma. She can’t look away. Alaric Canon is the single most attractive man she’s ever seen. Bar none.

Canon has never noticed her. Not once in almost a year. She’s not even a blip on his radar. But she will be. His radar will be blipless no more.

It is a goal. Emma has a plan.

I had heard a lot about this book and was excited to check it out.  I have to say, the plot wasn’t anything I haven’t read before, but there were some strong original elements to the telling of this story.

Emma is completely and totally in love from afar with her tough as nails boss, Alaric Canon.  She watches him go through secretaries like underwear and hopes for a moment between them that will get him to notice her.  When yet another one of his assistant’s gets the boot, her boss tells her that she has to fill in.   Determined to not only last as his assistant for the short period of time she is needed, but also to get him to notice her, she begins her quest.  When they must go out of town on a business trip together, she sees her chance.  Can she get him to notice her as a woman, and not as a haphazard assistant to be discarded?

This book was one of the most original books I have had the pleasure to read in quite some time.  The way it’s written is kind of a stream-of-consciousness/diary kind of fashion and it is hilarious.  Emma has a quick wit and candor that made me instantly like her.  She does not take crap from anyone, not even the object of her affections.  Plus, she puts herself out there in a major way, and you just have to admire that.

I found the writing style to be both original and refreshing, but it did seem to confuse me just a bit at times.  I guess I’m just not used to reading books in this style, and it made it a little difficult for me to follow what was happening at times.  I also don’t feel that I ever really got to know Alaric, and what drove him.  He was sweet and surprising, but I found myself near the end realizing that I didn’t really know him at all.  What made him tick?  Why was he so distant and cold?  It was touched upon, but there wasn’t nearly enough explanation of that for me.

Overall, I did really enjoy this book.  It will be one of the most original things you’ll read this year, that’s for sure.  4 stars.

"During that time, I made sure I was as scarce as intact hymen the morning after prom."

Emma Baker has been at her job for almost a year when we meet her and has been harboring a huge crush on her boss, Alaric Canon. She obviously forms a plan to make this happen.
So to say that Alaric is hard to please is an understatement. The employees at her company have a pool going for each assistant and their length of employment. To me, he seemed kind of like a jerk. I mean maybe he was hot and all but I am not sure I would do the stuff she went through to get him and then to actually still want him.

"Flour has gotten farther than anyone I've dated in recent memory. Flour needs to buy me a dozen long stemmed roses."

Emma kind of made me angry. I am not sure why she would feel the need to change herself completely just for a man. That really bothers me and I am glad this book is for adults who hopefully won't take this advice to heart.

"I wonder if going to his room now is a good idea. Oh, sure-now I worry about crossing the line."

Okay onto my feelings on the book. I really thought it was funny. The first 50% I was so in I wanted to tell everyone about this book. While the writing style was different, part diary, part novel, I was enjoying it. I am not quite sure what happened after the 50% mark. The writing style remained the same, however it became choppy as far as the entries went and became harder and harder to understand what was going on. The ending was typical as was most of the story but I still enjoyed it. It was a nice change of writing style. I would definitely read more by this author and just hope she tightens up the writing a bit before then. 

I really wanted to like this story. I did. I just had a really hard time with the style of writing. As soon as I'd start to get into the flow of the story I'd get knocked off the flow. 

That being said I loved Emma and her quirkiness. She is determined to get her boss to see her even though he is known to fly through personal assistance, so much so that Emma and the other coworkers bet on how long they'll last. Finally, Emma is given her chance to be Alaric's assistant. Not only does she out do the other assistants that didn't last, there is this crazy chemistry between them. While Alaric can be a total jerk and incredibly rude, something about Emma pulls at the softer side of him. She pulls at his emotions that he fights to keep behind walls. They are quite the fiery couple when together. 

I had such a hard time with the flipping from day dreams to inner monologues and choppy writing that it really detracted from the story for me. It was there for me with the characters and their chemistry but with a good heap of editing and finesse it could be so much better.