Best Laid Plans

What the reviewers are saying about Elaine Raco Chase -

Just reading the summary of this book makes you really want to read it. I love that. I was hooked from the synopsis. I’ve read a couple books by Elaine Raco Chase and they were just as amazing as this one. She is a very talented author. This book is very well written and I love the details. This story is hilarious in some parts. Well written and clever. (Caught in a Trap)

It's not often I find a story with characters that are well rounded and realistic. I can recommend this story as one of the better written Indy books I've come across. (Double Occupancy –)

Wow! Just absolutely Wow! I read this book in one night, I was so taken by the characters. This book was beautifully written, and the characters are so easy to fall in love with. My heart melted in an instant and I giggled so much through this book. Amazing read! (Rules of the Game – Voted #1 Erotic Romance by Turning Pages)

"One of my must have's in any book is a plot - preferably one that has sharp-witted characters who are smart, independent and feel real. Elaine Raco Chase did not disappoint in creating the characters to exist within the world of design, architecture and luxury developments.

While there are two billion how-to articles on creating dialog that is both paced properly and sounds believable, Elaine has a book, full of dialog: fast paced, snarky, funny, businesslike, casual, even sexy. And it ALL sounds like a conversation you could overhear at any time, in many situations. That technique alone makes the book a worthwhile read - that it is combined and integrated into a tightly written, fast paced and sexy story makes this worth every one of the 5 stars." (Designing Woman)

I must admit that I hated Noah for the first part of the book. What he did was beyond rotten and I cried. Then I caught a clue that later turned into fact. I now love Noah and I loved him with Marlayna. Funny, sexy read and now I am spending all my money on more books by this author. (Lady be Bad)

"A must read!! Beautiful story about a girl who has been broken inside...or so she believes. I'm so glad I read this book. It was so moving! As you read this book you will laugh maybe even cry a little but you will find yourself falling in love with all the characters in this book! You will be pulled into the story as it captures not only your attention but your heart!" (One Way or Another is a Classic Retro-Read and not updated)

"No Easy Way Out is a true Cinderella story!! Virginia is a highly intellectual woman with her Ph.D. She buries herself in her work and has no fun life at all! Her friends talk her into attending a masquerade ball and she meets Prince Charming who is dressed like a bandit and she is dressed like a sexy bunny! Well they have a very hot time on the balcony and when the clock strikes midnight she runs off in true Cinderella fashion! When she returns to work, you guessed it ...the bandit turns out to be one of her co-workers!! What follows is loaded with fun, trickery, love and lots and lots of laughs! (No Easy Way Out is a Classic Retro-Read – not updated)

"With a touch of sophistication, plenty of sizzling sex, and a liberal dose of humor, Special Delivery poses the age-old question: Is there such a thing as love at first sight? After reading Roxanne and Bram's story, I'm thinking there is."

Again, Elaine Raco Chase creates dialogue that repeatedly reinforces my belief that hers is some of the best I have read (or heard). There is humor, snark and gorgeous descriptions that place you in the wilds of Montana, with the never fail to amuse stops in the action. There is steam, there is swearing, and most of all - this is a feel good book that will have you laughing and smiling throughout. (Dare the Devil)

This book has a fantastic storyline about a strong business woman who is feeling unchallenged in her life choice. Her best friend wants to help in more ways than one! The author has an exceptional way with the written word and the characters are well described and very interesting. I enjoyed this book immensely and will read more by this author in the future. (Best Laid Plans)

What a hoot this story is as our heroine leads Daniel on a merry chase of is she or isn't she?" But, though our hero may be infatuated, his ability to see through Vixen/Victoria's façade is a little clearer than either of them anticipated. Video Vixen is a bird's-eye view of the workings behind the scenes of a daytime soap, and it has a very authentic feel, giving the whole story credibility. With a lot of humor and a touch of food for thought, Elaine Raco Chase has created an excellent read, especially for those who love a good soap opera. And don't we all?"

Many romances are based on: attraction/lust/something 'clicking' at first sight. And these two have it, in spades. Rob is very much like my teenager, instant 'love' of anyone and anything...be it the new girl in school or a Wii game. Fast, fractious, and then I'm hit with who? Loved the story, loved the well-defined characters, loved the teenager - it's such a dialogue heavy book it would make a great TV movie. (Calculated Risk)

Note: Unless marked as Retro-Reads...all eBooks have been updated! And all are available as audiobooks

Best Laid Plans

By

Elaine Raco Chase

Published by Elaine Raco Chase

Best Laid Plans

By

Elaine Raco Chase

Copyright © 1983 by Mr. Right Enterprises published by arrangement with the author

An original print publication of Avon Books, Library of Congress Card Number: 82-90548

Copyright © 2012 reverted to Author Elaine Raco Chase

Copyright © 2012 eBook edition has been updated and expanded from the original paperback edition

Ebook Edition Copyright and License Notes

This eBook is licensed for your personal enjoyment only. This eBook may not be re-sold or given away to other people. If you would like to share this book with another person, please purchase an additional copy for each person you share it with. If you’re reading this book and did not purchase it, or it was not purchased for your use only, then you should return to your eBook seller of choice and purchase your own copy. Thank you for respecting the author’s work.

All Rights Reserved. This eBook may not be reproduced in whole or in part without written permission of the author.

All of the characters in this book are fictitious.  Any resemblance to actual persons, living or dead is purely coincidental.  They are product of the author's imagination and used fictitiously

Warning: the unauthorized reproduction, copying, sharing or distribution of this copyrighted work is illegal. Criminal copyright infringement, including infringement without monetary gain, is investigated by the FBI and is punishable by up to five years in federal prison and a fine of $250,000. 

Reviews from the original print publication of Best Laid Plans:

I ran out of adjectives – fantastic, terrific, stupendous! Her humor and sensuality are at their best in this marvelous novel.  Romantic Times Magazine

With her usual deft touch and talent for the romantic, Ms. Chase treats us to another gift of love that satisfies the heart. Affaire de Coeur

Warm, witty, sensuous – Five Stars! Barbra Critiques

Reviews from the slightly updated eBook edition of Best Laid Plans:

"Loved the pacing of this story! Amanda and Lucas have known each other a long time. Loved the portrayal of how best friends discover they feel something more for each other and their path to exploring these feelings. Wonderful read!  Molly Daniels

I had a hard time putting this one down. Having it on the kindle even better.. Recommended it to several friends  Caitlin's Mom

A beautifully written, steamy, romantic read. Interesting because of the era and the fashion angle, it also pulls you along into the lovely, fun, relationships between the characters. I enjoyed the descriptions of both the fashion and the feel of New Orleans in this story. There's everything you might want in a romantic comedy, including the love triangle. Original, and with threads of fate taking over lives, this book is very entertaining and I enjoyed it immensely. Highly recommend. WillowTree

Audiobook Narrator Jill Arehart garnered outstanding reviews on this chick-lit bestseller!

A note from the author:

Best Laid Plans was my first woman's fiction novel! I was so excited when I was able to get my rights back and claim it as my own! 

Take a trip back to 1983.  There was no TSA and people smoked on airplanes. (The airplane scene actually happened to me and the nun!)

This was New Orleans before Hurricane Katrina – a place I fell in love with and visited a half-dozen times. Alas, some of the restaurants I knew are no longer in business and menu prices certainly have changed.

Fashion – is still fashion! The styles come and go, but somehow are reborn again and again.

While it was a sensuous romance when it was first published, it was fun to amp things up!

There's never an expiration date on love!

––––––––

Meet Amanda Wyatt – she had an eight year plan and accomplished so much more. Attractive, talented, she was a success whether she was designing high fashion or running her own elegant shop in New Orleans. And she had a friend with benefits relationship with –

Lucas Crosse, her lawyer and the brother she never had for twelve years. He knew her intimately - well almost. Now, he's decided he wants that, too. And he's ready to fight for Amanda with –

Wade Lloyd. He entered Amanda's life by accident. Now he wants to be a permanent fixture. But can he handle her success? Can he handle Amanda? Can he handle her friendship with Lucas Crosse?

As for Amanda – she has choices to make. A new, exciting love? Or a best friend whose benefits she's begun to dream about.

One

The copper shaded lectern light illuminated the script for that evening's fashion show. Amanda Wyatt's eyes were fixed on the paper; her breathing had suddenly been reduced to shallow, jerky spasms. Words had been added and subtracted, transposed and rewritten. Blue-pencil scribbles overpowered the once neatly printed page.

No matter how many times she had rearranged and rewritten her notes, it sounded - Boring! Amanda finally spoke the cursed word. Again blue graphite was scrawled across paper. She hoped a few clever adjectives and adverbs would inject much-needed vitality not only into the sentences but into their author as well.

The newly sharpened pencil point snapped. That sharp sound was accompanied by the fracturing of Amanda's composure. She hurled the pencil toward her nemesis - the red-carpeted fashion runway. Watching the pencil fall to the floor far short of its goal, she snatched up her notes and proceeded to strangle them between cold, clammy fingers.

Arms crossed over full breasts, hands locked onto shoulders, Amanda buried her nose against skin that no longer smelled bath powder fresh but musty and stale. Now, now, she gave herself a sharp mental directive, this is no time for a temper tantrum.

Taupe-tinted eyelids drifted closed. The blackness provided a soothing, albeit momentary respite from the frenzied activities in the ballroom. She wished it were that easy to shut her ears. The sounds of music, roaring vacuum cleaners, clattering dishes, clanking silver and chattering, shouting busboys seemed magnified to nerve-fragmenting proportions.

Her fingers pressed deeper into red-suede-covered shoulders. Amanda had to stop herself from running away. To ignore the icy fingers of dread that gripped her very soul. Chastising herself for feeling so helpless, she tried to look at the situation logically.

This was not her first fashion show. In fact, it was her third of the year - she had managed eight such charity events in the past sixteen months. Each one had been more successful than the last. First-night jitters had no place here. But how many jitters were really due to the show? Prodded an inner devil that had manifested in her mind.

Amanda shook her head to clear it and forced her attention back to the dress rehearsal. She was surprised to find the runway unoccupied. She cued outfit number seventeen. No one appeared. Seventeen! Lizette! Where the hell is Lizette? Her normally well-modulated soprano splintered in a frantic appeal. Seventeen? Amanda shouted into the podium's microphone.

The response was the crash of metal chairs against the wooden stage floor. A frustrated groan escaped between clenched teeth. After counting to ten, Amanda spoke in a more subdued tone. Bianca, please find Lizette. A hand pushed apart the emerald stage curtains and gave her a complying wave.

Her Aries horoscope in this morning's Times-Picayune had warned that today would be eventful. Amanda wondered why her ruling planet, Mars, couldn't make the scheduled events orderly and calm. Why did she have to battle not only her own frustrations but those of everyone else as well?

A wry smile twisted ginger-glossed lips. In truth, wasn't her real problem the fact that everything was in proverbial apple-pie order? Every waking hour was relegated to a pigeonhole existence. Wasn't that the real crux of her listlessness and depression?

Her thoughts drifted and darted to the three seasons she had spent as chief designer on Seventh Avenue. She had been scared to death at the unveiling of each collection. Indigestion, insomnia and headaches were all routine companions of her sixteen-hour workdays. Yet that anxiety and fear had nourished her like no other food.

She must be a masochist to wish for the challenge of the old days. Something was always going wrong. But she had loved it. Fashion! Laughter bubbled, then died in her throat. It was glamorous and boring, underrated and overrated, satisfying and painful, exasperating and exciting, unpredictable and yet somehow the same. For all that, Amanda had never been able to break free. She was a willing prisoner, loving the power, prestige and trauma this profession fed to her soul.

The ornate wall clock was a silent but obvious reminder that in four hours this rehearsal would turn into the main event. Seventeen. She again barked the order into the microphone. Amanda surveyed the model who finally appeared center stage. Lizette pranced down the runway, a trail of curlers plopping and bouncing in her wake. The strawberry yogurt Amanda had gulped in lieu of lunch began to burn its way up her esophagus.

Damn it, Lizette, look alive! Her voice crackled and spluttered. Then the microphone died. Do it again. Her fist made a series of circular motions above her head. The blatant physical gesture triumphed over the noise level in the ballroom.

Lizette's myopic hazel eyes squinted at the blurred movement, before rolling heavenward in mute understanding. Wasn't this woman ever satisfied? She's been a bitch all morning. Pursing full mauve lips, the model carelessly slumped back toward the stage then disappeared between the velvet curtains that cloaked the wings.

Amanda turned and repeated the signaled instructions for Isaac Bevans at the special effects console. His head bobbed in understanding. Once more with feelin', baby, he crooned, wiggling slim, denim-clad hips into a more comfortable position on the padded stool. Isaac's competent fingers moved swiftly among the sliders and audio pots. He deftly recued the sound track while simultaneously reprogramming the sequential footlights.

At Amanda's direction it all started again. Piano, string bass and drums created a syncopated rhythm that filled the auditorium. The strobe lights that edged the stage and runway visually defined the throbbing jazz melody.

Lizette appeared, haloed in a shimmering pink spotlight. She moved center stage, then dutifully turned and twirled her way down the red carpet runner. The bored expression on her cosmetic sculptured face matched her perfunctory movements.

Double damn that girl, Amanda cursed again. You'd think she was wearing a feedbag instead of a Dior. Her narrowed gray eyes followed the model's listless movements.

Lizette was supposed to be a pro. She was certainly paid well to display her gaunt body with elegance and grace. Emitting a throaty groan, Amanda wondered where this woman's professionalism was hiding.

Curved like elegant talons, Amanda's fingers clamped on either side of her head. Her red nails vented a frenzy of pent-up frustrations against short copper-brown curls. What was the problem? Had her own weariness been transmitted to everyone involved with this show?

The models had no right to act this way. Damn them! They were humored and coddled. They were draped in originals, pampered by cosmetic artists, coiffured in elegance and enhanced with real jewels. No fakes. No seconds. No copies. Only the best.

In the beginning the best had been enough. Energy levels had been high, and each show was more intoxicating than the last. But January's resort and cruise wear for the Heart Fund had failed to dissipate the post holiday blues. And, while February's Mardi Gras gala boosted the United Fund, it generated only a modicum of stimulation that apparently was quite short-lived.

March proved to be a rude lion as snarled out across the South. But inside the Hyatt Ballroom, magnificent crystal chandeliers presided like miniature suns radiating down on lacy gazebos, bubbling fountains and garden walkways populated by scarlet tulips, yellow daffodils, white daisies and lush greenery.

While Mother Nature had made umbrellas, slickers and boots de rigueur for the past ten days, spectacular summer wear in bold, bright colors and styles waited temptingly on dressing-room racks. Yet for all the emotion the models were exhibiting, Amanda felt she could have used the mannequins that graced her shop on Royal Street.

Head bowed, she began to massage the stiffness from her neck. Inhaling and exhaling three times, Amanda told herself to relax, to remain calm. Hadn't she met and conquered worse challenges than this? But the tension was still there, hidden not only in the constricted highway of tendons on her neck but straining every muscle in her body. Willpower and words - today they proved poor tranquilizers.

Lizette's final pirouette made Amanda wince. New Orleans' black-tie audience wasn't paying two