Customer Reviews

The Backup Plan

5 star:		(4)
4 star:		(9)
3 star:		(3)
2 star:		(0)
1 star:		(1)

 

 

War correspondent Dinah Davis is devastated after watching her cameraman/lover murdered in a car bombing ambush while on assignment in Afghanistan. Her editor knows that she is hanging on by a thread, and recommends returning home for some R&R. She decides to quit, return to South Carolina, and look up the guy that said he would wait for her forever. Marrying Bobby would be her backup plan and a way to escape her guilt over losing Peter.

Depressed and spending the majority of her days watching soaps or sitting by the pool, Dinah is unsuccessful at hooking up with Bobby, who never seems to be in town (and is now engaged). She does not count on falling for his roguish bad-boy brother, Cordell. Cord has been in love with Dinah since they were kids; he even made up a little white lie to keep Dinah and Bobby apart, only to have it backfire on him. Dinah just thinks he is a trouble maker. While Cord claims to not be the marrying kind, he certainly does not want Dinah and Bobby to reconcile, so he schemes to keep Bobby on assignment in Atlanta.

The more time Cord and Dinah spend together, the harder they fall for each other, until he finally realizes that the only way to show his love for Dinah is to let her resolve the conflict that brought her home and has caused so much post traumatic stress. Dinah makes progress on her own with the help of a caring psychologist.

The Backup Plan is an entertaining romantic comedy with a hint of despair - parts of the book might make you cry, particularly her flashbacks to Afghanistan. The only thing standing in the way of a 5 star rating is the lack of depth into the character of Bobby. He was never developed, and really on appears on a handful of pages. This was an emotional and engaging story - guaranteed to keep you glued for nearly 400 pages.

`Backup Plan' by Sherryl Woods is fun southern romance novel. Dinah Davis returns home after working in Afghanistan. She decides to take a break and look up her old boyfriend Bobby - her official backup plan. Instead of Bobby, she finds Cord the older and annoying brother to Bobby. This novel deals with posttraumatic stress disorder, a marriage on the rocks and car bombing. I read the Trilogy out of order and they can stand alone. The second novel is `Flirting with Disaster' December 2005 and the final novel `Waking up in Charleston' May 2006.

I love books that are set in the Carolina Low Country (ie: Dorothea Benton Frank and Anne Rivers Siddons)becuae it seems like such a gloriously stylish place to live!!!

This was an interesting story about a high-power career woman suffering from post-traumatic stress disorder, who returns home to heal. When the safety net she intended to fall back on doesn't come through for her, she finds a truer path towards healing, which includes a passionate relationship that's as strong as the passion she once held for her work.

I particularly admired the therapist in this story, and how the psychotherapy sessions were really very helpful and healing. I also found the vivid details of Cord and Bobby's work, restoring antebellum homes and historical landmarks to their original splendour, added significant color and depth to the storyline.

War correspondent Dinah Davis has covered many of the recent hot spots. Currently she is reporting on Afghanistan, but has lost her edge since she witnessed the death of a friend and was nearly killed too. Physically Dinah has healed, but her boss tells her she is not the same and should return to the States to marry and have babies. Initially refusing to listen, Dinah realizes that her career is over and wonders if her boyfriend Bobby Beaufort still waits for as he promised a decade ago when she chose journalism over marriage.

Back home in South Carolina, Dinah's mom worries that her daughter has not recovered from her last overseas assignment. Meanwhile Bobby's older brother Cord, who thought his sibling was a fool to agree to Dinah's backup plan, quickly wants to revise the arrangement by inserting himself as the groom. As Dinah suffers the malaise of post traumatic syndrome, she turns to Cord not her family or Bobby for comfort while he worries whether he will prove enough in the long run.

Though the actual backup plan of Bobby waiting for a decade seems strange, fans will appreciate this deep look into the traumas and tragedies civilians in combat areas can suffer. The story line is character driven once Dinah returns home moping and depressed. Adding to her depression is that she realizes her plan is a failure as she finds the sibling more attractive than the chosen one, but does not want to hurt the loyal Bobby. This is a strong tale that showcases the aftermath of horrific situations on survivors.

Harriet Klausner

This book was an easy & quick read. Was looking for something light....there was romance and a twist of fate to keep you guessing!

The Kindle version of this book has a few typos but more than that, someone substituted the word "appointment" for "dancing" throughout a portion of the book. It took me a while to figure out that every time the characters said "appointment" they were actually talking about going dancing. It was ridiculous.

Very poorly proof-read. It seemed to exchange "appointment" with "dancing".
More than one word is incorrectly broken with a space. This was in Kindle format. It was simply not enjoyable to read. I didn't bother to finish it.

I recently found this book at a garage sale. Both the genre and the author were unfamiliar to me, but decided to give it a try. I loved it. Having once lived in the South (ever so briefly), I loved the Southern charm oozing from the pages.
A bit predictable, but made me want to look up more by this author.
Would've given five stars, but I also recently found out that those are rarely taken seriously.

There is no denying that Dinah Davis has been very successful as a foreign correspondent reporting from the war zones of the world. However, when she is involved in a horrific accident in Afghanistan, she leaves work and comes home to Charleston where she is left with nothing but her back up plan....to rekindle a relationship with Bobby Beaufort whom she left ten years ago.

Once Dinah returns home, she discovers that not everything has remained the same. Bobby is engaged and Dinah finds a sudden interest is his bad boy brother Cordell who infuriates and intrigues her all at once.

I actually enjoyed this book more than I thought I would, expecting a typical romance with little plot. What I got was a story with well developed characters and the plot of a woman dealing with post traumatic stress disorder...as well as a love story. A good read; I plan on reading more of Sherryl Woods in the future.

After reading Waking Up, I came back to the first then on to the second. This series is addictive. I Love Them. Next Series will be Chesapeake Shores. Can't wait.
OleBear62