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The Best Laid Plans
From Lynn Schnurnberger, bestselling co-author of Mine Are Spectacular! and The Botox Diaries, comes a novel of big secrets, family ties, and a reminder that sometimes The Best Laid Plans can lead to delightful surprises.
Tru Newman is one of the Upper East Side “M&Ms”—the wealthy stay-at-home moms who are into personal Maintenance and Mothering. Having been raised by a beauty queen mother who constantly picked on her, Tru loves looking after her investment banker husband, Peter, and their twin teen daughters. But her perfect world spins off its axis the night Tru throws a charity benefit and discovers that Peter’s been out of work for three months. Even worse, the family’s been living on a house of cards—specifically, Visa and Amex—that’s about to collapse.
Suze Orman tells Tru to “Get a job!” But doing what? When Tru’s best friend, Sienna Post, loses her position as an anchor on the local nightly news, the two hatch a profitable if illegal plan: They’ll open an escort service with “working girls” all over the age of forty. Modeling themselves on Carla Bruni (“after she married the president of France, not before, when she was dating Mick Jagger”), their smart, sexy, seasoned escorts become a big hit with a roster of thirty-year-old clients.
If only Tru’s legit life could fall so easily into place: Her husband’s new job has him working side by side with a flirtatious neighbor, her fourteen-year-old twins are competing over a two-timing, Clearasil-using Casanova, and after suffering a heart attack in her bodybuilding class, Tru’s hypercritical mother moves in with her. Not to mention that the gossip columns get wind that Tru and Sienna’s “temp agency” isn’t on the up-and-up—and the DA is on their case.
But for the savvy and spirited Tru, these new obstacles bring unexpected benefits—from Geisha facials, to massage toys that are “better than chocolate,” to the realization that at midlife, she’s more comfortable than ever before in her own skin and more grateful for all that she has. By turns touching and laugh-out-loud funny, this is a must-read for every woman who knows it’s never too late to make a fresh start.
Tru Newman is one of the Upper East Side “M&Ms”—the wealthy stay-at-home moms who are into personal Maintenance and Mothering. Having been raised by a beauty queen mother who constantly picked on her, Tru loves looking after her investment banker husband, Peter, and their twin teen daughters. But her perfect world spins off its axis the night Tru throws a charity benefit and discovers that Peter’s been out of work for three months. Even worse, the family’s been living on a house of cards—specifically, Visa and Amex—that’s about to collapse.
Suze Orman tells Tru to “Get a job!” But doing what? When Tru’s best friend, Sienna Post, loses her position as an anchor on the local nightly news, the two hatch a profitable if illegal plan: They’ll open an escort service with “working girls” all over the age of forty. Modeling themselves on Carla Bruni (“after she married the president of France, not before, when she was dating Mick Jagger”), their smart, sexy, seasoned escorts become a big hit with a roster of thirty-year-old clients.
If only Tru’s legit life could fall so easily into place: Her husband’s new job has him working side by side with a flirtatious neighbor, her fourteen-year-old twins are competing over a two-timing, Clearasil-using Casanova, and after suffering a heart attack in her bodybuilding class, Tru’s hypercritical mother moves in with her. Not to mention that the gossip columns get wind that Tru and Sienna’s “temp agency” isn’t on the up-and-up—and the DA is on their case.
But for the savvy and spirited Tru, these new obstacles bring unexpected benefits—from Geisha facials, to massage toys that are “better than chocolate,” to the realization that at midlife, she’s more comfortable than ever before in her own skin and more grateful for all that she has. By turns touching and laugh-out-loud funny, this is a must-read for every woman who knows it’s never too late to make a fresh start.
275 pages, Hardcover
First published December 17, 2010
12 people are currently reading
245 people want to read
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Displaying 1 - 30 of 75 reviews
June 14, 2011
I have no idea what possessed me to pick up this book, let alone FINISH it. Well, I didn't read it. I listened to it in the car during my commute and since I had nothing else to listen to, I finished it.
I know this is a light read but it's just terrible. It's the story of a woman who has been a stay at home mom for 16+ years, who finds out her husband got fired 3 months earlier and didn't tell her.
She and her best friend decide to open an escort service. Her friend just lost her job hosting the national evening news. That right there should have told me to move on; we're supposed to believe that an intelligent newswoman (who's famous) can't find another job opportunity because she's (gasp) 40, so she must become a madame.
Truman (lead character) does not tell her husband what she's up to. At the end, after many hijinks and wacky situations (sarcasm), when he finds out he says 'if running an escort business is what you want to do, then I'll support you'. Huh?? P.S. they have two teenage daughters in their house. Great lessons they're teaching them.
This book is an utter waste of time I'm sorry to say.
I know this is a light read but it's just terrible. It's the story of a woman who has been a stay at home mom for 16+ years, who finds out her husband got fired 3 months earlier and didn't tell her.
She and her best friend decide to open an escort service. Her friend just lost her job hosting the national evening news. That right there should have told me to move on; we're supposed to believe that an intelligent newswoman (who's famous) can't find another job opportunity because she's (gasp) 40, so she must become a madame.
Truman (lead character) does not tell her husband what she's up to. At the end, after many hijinks and wacky situations (sarcasm), when he finds out he says 'if running an escort business is what you want to do, then I'll support you'. Huh?? P.S. they have two teenage daughters in their house. Great lessons they're teaching them.
This book is an utter waste of time I'm sorry to say.
February 10, 2011
What started out as a quick fun read got bogged down in the ridiculous. While most was read as "tongue and cheek" I found the last 20 pages so painfully boring I just had to skim, and the sad part is I know I did not miss anything.
Do not think I can recommend.
Do not think I can recommend.
February 16, 2011
I for one sometimes enjoy a "trashy" easy-to-read novel - this books was horrible. I felt that it was like a quick read of the scandals in the news (think Manhattan Madams and high-profile politicians and celebrities). I had no connection to the characters - I ending up skimming the last part of the book. Sorry folks, but I wouldn't recommend this.
May 19, 2022
Just how much name dropping and cliché terms can you handle. If there is no limit, this is your book. Recently, I read a book that was focused on poor uneducated characters living hand to mouth day after day in Illinois. This book is the other extreme following the rich and famous that just know they will not live another day without their routine mani-pedi and hair stylist appointment. When the stock market crashes, everyone must scrabble to pay the bills and cut corners. But first, one last Botox injection. The world cannot be any further apart with me sitting somewhere in the middle with my life.
Fundamentally, the story is interesting and amusing. Don't get too excited this is going to win any awards. But it is entertaining.
Fundamentally, the story is interesting and amusing. Don't get too excited this is going to win any awards. But it is entertaining.
May 11, 2017
This was dumb. Don't waste your time friends.
July 7, 2020
Silly story about a woman and her best friend that start an escort service. A few laugh out loud moments but otherwise a forgettable read.
October 14, 2016
No idea why I picked this book . You can not feel any connection with any of the characters. I don't advise it to anyone.
May 8, 2013
Somehow, the case that held the CDs for this audio book made it look appealing. This is a book with almost no substance, and what does pass as substance is straight out of a Lifetime movie. What passes as plot is, most of the time, barely an interesting turn of events.
Tru's husband is working with a young, pretty, very flirtatious woman. Tru is just sure it's going to end her marriage. First: what? Second: this is not interesting, this is a woman with annoying insecurities. Tru's 14 year old twins are fighting over a boy who isn't worth it. If my 12 year old were reading this book, she might care. Maybe. Tru doesn't want to tell her husband that she's working, at first, not because she's doing something illegal, but because she isn't sure how he's going to like her earning her own money. And yet he's supposed to be a prince, a great catch, etc. Again: what? Tru spends half the book telling us about her expensive beauty routines, and the worst hardship she goes through when the bottom supposedly falls out from under them is that she can't have her ten thousand dollar new bathtub installed right away. Oh, the horrors. The poor thing really knows what it's like to struggle. I think the reader is supposed to live vicariously though Tru, maybe? Maybe this is supposed to be our fantasy, getting weekly botox, living in a posh NY apartment, and being married to a man who can't stand the thought of you working, but then comes around. I guess I just don't have the right fantasy life, then.
Nothing that counts as a plot twist or crisis in this book really is. The synopsis says that the DA is on their tail. Um, no he's not. He just makes some threatening grunts at her because he's mad at her daughters, and never has any idea what's going on with her business. This is not a crisis. This is boring. Oh, and - SPOILER ALERT - guess what? In the end, everyone pairs up, and everyone is rich again (having never really not been), and everyone lives happily ever after. Wow, thrilling. Blech.
Tru's husband is working with a young, pretty, very flirtatious woman. Tru is just sure it's going to end her marriage. First: what? Second: this is not interesting, this is a woman with annoying insecurities. Tru's 14 year old twins are fighting over a boy who isn't worth it. If my 12 year old were reading this book, she might care. Maybe. Tru doesn't want to tell her husband that she's working, at first, not because she's doing something illegal, but because she isn't sure how he's going to like her earning her own money. And yet he's supposed to be a prince, a great catch, etc. Again: what? Tru spends half the book telling us about her expensive beauty routines, and the worst hardship she goes through when the bottom supposedly falls out from under them is that she can't have her ten thousand dollar new bathtub installed right away. Oh, the horrors. The poor thing really knows what it's like to struggle. I think the reader is supposed to live vicariously though Tru, maybe? Maybe this is supposed to be our fantasy, getting weekly botox, living in a posh NY apartment, and being married to a man who can't stand the thought of you working, but then comes around. I guess I just don't have the right fantasy life, then.
Nothing that counts as a plot twist or crisis in this book really is. The synopsis says that the DA is on their tail. Um, no he's not. He just makes some threatening grunts at her because he's mad at her daughters, and never has any idea what's going on with her business. This is not a crisis. This is boring. Oh, and - SPOILER ALERT - guess what? In the end, everyone pairs up, and everyone is rich again (having never really not been), and everyone lives happily ever after. Wow, thrilling. Blech.
November 11, 2011
I put this book on hold thinking it was the Best Laid plans by Terry Fallis – the book club favourite! So I was quite surprised when instead I was reading about a middle aged woman who decides to set up a high end escort agency after her husband loses his job due to the plummeting economy.
Although it was entertaining to read, I couldn’t get past the fact that the author was glorifying the oldest profession – prostitution. I think that it disturbed me slightly less only because the women were all over forty and “dating” “Johns” in their thirties or younger. But I still wouldn’t recommend this book to any teenager for fear of romanticising prostitution.
My favourite part – that I literally laughed out loud to while driving probably causing the truck driver stopped at a red light beside me to think I was completely crazy – was when Tru finally tells her husband what she was up to. He said to her “If running an escort agency makes you happy then I’ll support you.” Really?? Who are these people? I shudder to think that they walk among us.
Although it was entertaining to read, I couldn’t get past the fact that the author was glorifying the oldest profession – prostitution. I think that it disturbed me slightly less only because the women were all over forty and “dating” “Johns” in their thirties or younger. But I still wouldn’t recommend this book to any teenager for fear of romanticising prostitution.
My favourite part – that I literally laughed out loud to while driving probably causing the truck driver stopped at a red light beside me to think I was completely crazy – was when Tru finally tells her husband what she was up to. He said to her “If running an escort agency makes you happy then I’ll support you.” Really?? Who are these people? I shudder to think that they walk among us.
December 28, 2010
I received this book in one of the goodreads give aways and was eagerly awaiting its arrival. It came the day before I left for a 7 day cruise, it was perfect timing.
It was a fantastic book for my cruise! It was a light, easy chic lit read. It wasnt one of those all consuming books where you are constantly having to go back and re-read because you didnt pay close enough attention to the details. Like I said it was a fun easy read. I thought it was very interesting and funny that out of all the businesses that Tru and Sienna could have started, they picked an escort service.
I enjoyed it very much. The characters are developed very well, at the end of the book I really felt like I knew the characters, and when disappointment would hit I sincerely felt for them.
This book was full of entertaining ups and downs, I definitely recommend it! Its perfect for those snow days or for a warm beach day read.
It was a fantastic book for my cruise! It was a light, easy chic lit read. It wasnt one of those all consuming books where you are constantly having to go back and re-read because you didnt pay close enough attention to the details. Like I said it was a fun easy read. I thought it was very interesting and funny that out of all the businesses that Tru and Sienna could have started, they picked an escort service.
I enjoyed it very much. The characters are developed very well, at the end of the book I really felt like I knew the characters, and when disappointment would hit I sincerely felt for them.
This book was full of entertaining ups and downs, I definitely recommend it! Its perfect for those snow days or for a warm beach day read.
March 1, 2011
Tru Newman is one of the Upper East Side “M&Ms”—the wealthy stay-at-home moms who are into personal Maintenance and Mothering. Having been raised by a beauty queen mother who constantly picked on her, Tru loves looking after her investment banker husband, Peter, and their twin teen daughters. But her perfect world spins off its axis the night Tru throws a charity benefit and discovers that Peter’s been out of work for three months. Even worse, the family’s been living on a house of cards—specifically, Visa and Amex—that’s about to collapse.
This book is a very easy read and not very challenging. The characters are quite shallow. Many scenes are left imcomplete and you have to image what happened before it jumps right into the next scene. It is also very "fairy talish" towards the end.
This book is a very easy read and not very challenging. The characters are quite shallow. Many scenes are left imcomplete and you have to image what happened before it jumps right into the next scene. It is also very "fairy talish" towards the end.
March 26, 2015
I started this book, read a chapter, and then waited two weeks to pick it back up. Never a good sign!
I had to look back at the front of the book to see when it was published, because it just seemed so dated! The pop culture things that the author threw in (Paula Abdul's judging on American Idol...really?) seemed so out of place. The book is only about 5 years old, but has not aged well. There were no surprises in this book. Every step was mapped out A to B, so there were no twists and no unexpected character moments. There was so much foreshadowing it was ridiculous. That said, I didn't hate, hate it...so two stars it is.
I had to look back at the front of the book to see when it was published, because it just seemed so dated! The pop culture things that the author threw in (Paula Abdul's judging on American Idol...really?) seemed so out of place. The book is only about 5 years old, but has not aged well. There were no surprises in this book. Every step was mapped out A to B, so there were no twists and no unexpected character moments. There was so much foreshadowing it was ridiculous. That said, I didn't hate, hate it...so two stars it is.
December 26, 2010
Just recieved this from good reads and I can't wait to read it! Will post a review when I finish!
Just finished it and it was a really good book! After Tru Newman's husband looses his job, she decides to open an escort agency with her husbands friend and her best friend. The escort agency features women over the age of 40 who cater to buisnessmen in their 30's. In addition to running the agency, Tru also has to worry about her neighbor Tiffany Glass, who offers her huband a job with her company, and also has other ideas for Tru's husband Peter.
Just finished it and it was a really good book! After Tru Newman's husband looses his job, she decides to open an escort agency with her husbands friend and her best friend. The escort agency features women over the age of 40 who cater to buisnessmen in their 30's. In addition to running the agency, Tru also has to worry about her neighbor Tiffany Glass, who offers her huband a job with her company, and also has other ideas for Tru's husband Peter.
December 11, 2014
Garbage. Straight to the dumpster. Being over 40 and trying to find employment is tough enough without having to resort to the "world's oldest profession." Then she tells these women that as an escort, they don't have to have sex, so where do they trot off to? a porn shop. With teenagers, a drooling, straying husband, and sheer idiocy throughout. Then we get to the end, and I find it insulting to drag CHER into this drivvel, and as a wedding singer?!? excuse me? I bet the Diva herself is unaware her name is being slung through this mud...
January 20, 2016
The book reminds me of the kind of girl you went to high school with who was trying way too hard to fit in by keeping up with trends and dropping names to sound cool. The references to celebrities was overwhelmingly unnecessary. Brand names were overused to the point where I'm led to believe that this book was being funded through the use of strategic product placements. The humor was okay, the story line implausible, at least to me, and that just may be because I don't run in high-society circles.
May 24, 2011
This was an interesting book. I have read some of Schnurnberger's other books so I knew I would enjoy this book. The plot fo this book is NYC richest falling when the stock market crashes. Its a comical tale of a housewife trying to keep the family afloat during rough economical times.
Some of the plot is a little unrealistic but nonetheless the book is enjoyable.
The characters are likeable and entertaining.
Some of the plot is a little unrealistic but nonetheless the book is enjoyable.
The characters are likeable and entertaining.
December 4, 2015
Peter loses his job but does not tell his wife Tru. She and her friends set up an escort service but she does not tell Peter. She's afraid the new neighbor is after Peter. Tru gets caught and the truth comes out.
This is a book that shows why communication and honesty are good virtues to follow. This was a different story and I enjoyed it but the name dropping turned me off. I liked the ladies and how they set up the escort service.
This is a book that shows why communication and honesty are good virtues to follow. This was a different story and I enjoyed it but the name dropping turned me off. I liked the ladies and how they set up the escort service.
October 24, 2010
When Tru Newman, an Upper East Side stay-at-home mom, finds out that her husband has been out of work for 3 months, her best friend loses her job, and the economy tanks, she has to find a way to earn money. With her best friend and her husband's tax attorney, Tru starts an over-forty escort agency. The Best Laid Plans is a easy, fun book filled with delightful characters.
January 20, 2011
I won this book off of first reads and it was a really fun read. Truman is a forty something wife whose family gets hit hard with the current economic crisis. Instead of changing their spending habits, they decide to start a courtesan service. It is witty, fun,cheesy, and over the top. All in all a fun short indulgence.
December 22, 2010
I loved this book, thanks first reads for giving me the chance to get to read this great book! Tru is forced to go back to work when things happen. Love to look into the lives of the "upper east side" As if Tru didn't have enough on her plate she has her young teen twins, and her Mom to deal with yet too! So much to love and my face hurts from grinning while reading!
January 17, 2011
I was disappointed. I expected a really fun read, but this one didn't live up to my expectations. The characters all have potential, but they never quite get there. Ditto for the plot. Easy to read-a no-brainer. Suitable to read while waiting for an oil change, but a book that you'll forget soon after turning the last page.
February 5, 2011
I thought this had way too many pop culture, trying to be hip references, but I liked the character of Tru. The story was thin and underdeveloped but it was a quick, entertaining read. I would have liked to know if the Miss Subways were real and more about them. Would've added substance to the book.
February 8, 2012
Used this book as a break from some more serious lit and boy was I disappointed. I have read some of the authoris other books and enjoyed them. This is a quick read, but it does not leave any impressions. The plot is original, but the character's aren't very developed and the whole books just seems disconnected from the reader and one another.
June 30, 2012
I found this narrator's obliviousness to everyone around her irritating. Faced with the need to come up with some quick cash, I found it hard to believe that her first thought would be "escort service," and that she would convince two friends to help her. The whole venture falls flat, and the book with it.
July 12, 2012
This was a cute and fun read. Not really what I thought it was going to be, a nice and clean cut version of what you read on the back. But still worth the read. I love stuff like this. When you hear of the Madame's of the world you don't expect what you get with this book. Good one for married ladies.
February 25, 2014
Yay! Won this in a goodreads giveaway.
I received this a couple of weeks ago, but with the holidays...
At any rate, this was a fun read. I really liked Tru and Sienna. I would definitely recommend it to my friends as a good vacation/beach read.
I received this a couple of weeks ago, but with the holidays...
At any rate, this was a fun read. I really liked Tru and Sienna. I would definitely recommend it to my friends as a good vacation/beach read.
February 6, 2011
Horrible. Unless you are from New York City or are obsessive about the excessives in life this is not the book for you. Full of phrases that unless you fit into the above two categories have to be explained to the less indulgent.
February 24, 2011
This was a kind of dumb book about a NY couple after the guy loses his hedge fund job and the wife and her friend start a matchmaking/call girl service. It barely deserves two stars and in no way am I recommending it.
March 25, 2011
Women who Run with Wolves was too deep, this book is a bit too cheesy...but close to 1/2 way through it...so will finish and see how much more NY affulent I can stand....will be close to my 40 book goal!!!
Ugh---Lansing Book Club--don't think its worth our time---let's find something else!
Ugh---Lansing Book Club--don't think its worth our time---let's find something else!
July 15, 2011
This book was a fun work of chick-lit. I liked Tru's character, and the story-line was refreshing. I wouldn't mind reading another book by this author in the future. I was happy with how the book ended and with all of the decisions that the characters made along the way.
Displaying 1 - 30 of 75 reviews