Rarely does a book make me cry right from the start, but that’s exactly what happened when I started reading Float Plan. I knew from that point on that this book was special.

Almost a year after the death of her fiancé, Anna decides to go on their planned trip to the Caribbean on the boat he left her. After a bumpy start, she seeks help, and finds Keane, a professional sailor. Both Anna and Keane are broken in more ways than one, and you can see the sparks right away, but can they both start new?

This book is a romance, but it felt a lot more than that. Throughout the book Anna is still struggling with her grief and trying to move on at the same time. You can see her character wrestle with her past while facing her future and some of her fears. This book also has plenty adventure, as you are going from island to island. It was fun to go on this journey with Anna and Keane. I can’t wait to read more from Trish Doller!

I really enjoyed Float Plan. I think I may have been slightly burned by my own expectations after seeing many friends sharing how much they loved it and that it would be a top book of the year for them - it’s the good and bad of a lot of hype, right?

Float Plan is Anna’s story - she lost her fiancé to suicide and when a reminder comes up that it was time for them to start their big sailing adventure she decides to do it on her own. She takes off but quickly realizes it’s too much to do by herself and she needs to hire someone to help - enter Keane, a professional sailor who is between jobs and available.

I really enjoyed seeing Anna learn to live with her grief and find a way forward - not by forgetting the past but by taking it with her into a new future.

Thank you to the publisher and Netgalley for the advance reading copy.

Having read most of Trish Doller’s body of work, I was eager to get my hands on her adult contemporary debut Float Plan… especially after I found out about its compelling premise. Our heroine Anna is still grieving the loss of her fiancé (spoiler alert, but also content warning: suicide); her life’s been at a standstill ever since. But when a reminder pops up for the start of an epic sailing trip they had been planning to take together, Anna impulsively decides to go to sea on their sailboat and follow through with their plan. She realizes all too soon that this isn’t a journey she can make on her own, and ends up hiring Keane, a professional sailor and a man also coming to terms with an unexpected future, to help.

It was easy to read the entirety of Float Plan in one day, with Doller’s writing style still as consistently readable as it is in her other novels. The framework for Anna’s journey – both the literal travel onboard the sailboat and the internal struggle with loss – was well-constructed, and it flowed smoothly from start to end. The travel aspects, including the details about sailing and the variety of experiences the characters have along the way, were interesting and harrowing at turns. And, without a doubt, Keane is one of the best parts of this book, as charismatic, capable, and charming as he is! But the novel did fall substantially short for me in two specific aspects. While they did pique my interest just enough, the travel descriptions didn’t immerse me in the various locales they visited. More importantly, as this is a novel that, in part, explores her emotional journey, my lack of any personal connection with Anna prevented me from really getting invested. Even though I didn’t end up clicking with it on a personal level, objectively speaking, Float Plan is a good read. I would encourage you to check it out if your interest has been piqued!

This starts off rough with Anna’s fiancé committing suicide. In order to try and cope with her lose, she decides to take his sailboat and go on a sailing journey they had planned to honor his life. Anna finding herself not very skilled she hires Keane, who literally becomes her near-perfect hero. They meet new people and begin to rediscover themselves.

Thank you NetGalley, St, Martin's Press and Author for the eARC.

This is so much more than I expected it to be. I'd pushed it down in my TBR pile and that was a mistake. Anna, whose fiance Ben committed suicide, impulsively takes off from Fort Lauderdale heading to the Caribbean in the sailboat he left her, even though she's very much a novice sailor. She gets ridiculously drunk on her first stop and, by chance, is rescued by Keane, an Irishman who is - or was before he lost a leg- a professional sailor. This is less a romance than it is a novel about a woman going through grief and learning to trust herself. Keane teaches her how to sail but also how to become more self reliant. She doesn't fall for him right away. He's patient, kind, and thoughtful, which only increases her guilt about Ben. These are two terrific characters but the boat and the sail are equally important. Dollar makes you feel the swells and a bit of terror for Anna when something unexpected happens. And then there's the islands. Great atmospherics that made me wish once again for the ability to travel. She's a great storyteller and I particularly appreciated that nothing here is cut and dried. Thanks to the publisher for the ARC. Terrific read.

I loved this book. Like felt it in my soul loved this book. I laughed, I cried and it may have turned a switch in my brain. It was the perfect book for me at this moment and I couldn’t be happier to have read it.

Float Plan
Trish Doller
Publishing day March 2 2021
Anna grief over her finance she loved him loads and decides to go on a boat trip that they were going to go on she found it hard in the beginning to let go of him and I loved how she loved travelling around the Caribbean she found company the lovely Keane they were friends to lovers Anna fought she never love again I loved how Keane made her feel special he loved sailing with her they sailed for five weeks they loved each other company they cooked shared shift visit the lovely places of the Caribbean I love to go there the characters had such chemistry between them and they even had a dog I loved this story such a fun read the writing style was easy to follow I connected to Anna I loved her character such a loving person you enjoy. Thank you for the e book much loved.

I’m pretty sure we’ve all had fantasies about giving up on our everyday life, chucking it all, and sailing around the world. Ok, maybe that’s just me, but in Float Plan, that’s exactly what the heroine, Anna Beck, does.

After the death of her fiancé, Anna is barely surviving life. She’s a waitress at a pirate-themed Hooters imitation, aimlessly drifting through the dark days of grief and learning to live without Ben.

Ben was the reason for the plan to leave everything behind and sail. He purchased the boat and made the plans for the islands they would visit, but didn’t live long enough to go on the adventure with Anna.

When the day to set sail suddenly surprises Anna, she throws caution and common sense to the wind and departs on the boat.

What happens along the way heals her broken heart, teaches her that she is strong enough to handle anything, and that she can indeed learn to love again.

Keane Sullivan may be one of my favorite heroes to read about in a long, long time. He’s open and honest, has a devilish wit, and has learned to live through adversity. Honestly, Keane is the total package. He and Anna make the best team and he is a big part of the reason why she is finally able to move on.

I loved everything about them together as a couple and watching their growth throughout the journey was so heartwarming.

I finished the book with the biggest smile on my face. And truly, that’s a sign of a good book.

Float Plan by Trish Doller is a novel about Anna, a woman struggling after the death of her fiancé. To cope with the grief, Anna decides to take the vacation they were planning on going on for their honeymoon. During her trip, Anna decides to try something new and takes up sailing. However she brings on Keane to help her who also is dealing with his own struggles. Cue a swoon worthy romance filled with themes of grief, growth, and love!

This book was so sweet with lovely characters that seemed realistic. The banter between the characters was playful as well. I also enjoyed how the setting jumped off the page, making me wish I was on a beach during this winter! The tone of this was sad at times, but with hope shining through which is surprising as I thought it might be darker given the main dark topic. A random note, but I appreciated that the author provided trigger warnings at the beginning of the book so those sensitive to the topics would know if it is the right book for them. Overall I really enjoyed this debut and I am looking forward to future books from this author!

Many thanks to the publisher St Martin's Griffin and Netgalley for the ARC in return for an honest review.

I was really surprised how much I enjoyed this story. Suicide is not a common topic in romance novels and while it is a tough subject to deal with, it made for a different, refreshing kind of story. Anna’s journey is a heartbreakingly beautiful one. I was amazed at how the author made me interested in something I’ve never been interested in before-sailing. The geographical descriptions in this story were lovely and added depth to the emotions. It was beautiful, but realistic for Anna to find love and believe in it again.

I was interested in this title from the description. I thought it was different from other romance books in the setting. Anna decides to sail the Caribbean after her boyfriend dies (TW: suicide, mentioned a lot in the book from the first page). I fell in love with her adventure throughout the story. There's a lot of soul searching, which can get tedious, but it was great to see her grow throughout the book and come to rely on and trust in herself. I loved Keane, and there were some funny moments. Overall, a great book!

Included as a top pick in bimonthly March New Releases post, which highlights and promotes upcoming releases of the month (link attached)

I am so excited to be a part of the Float Plan tour! Today I’m presenting Float Plan by Trish Doller!

Pub date: March 2!!

Synopsis: Heartbroken by the loss of her fiancé, adventurous Anna finds a second chance at love with an Irish sailor in this riveting, emotional romance.

After a reminder goes off for the Caribbean sailing trip Anna was supposed to take with her fiancé, she impulsively goes to sea in the sailboat he left her, intending to complete the voyage alone.

But after a treacherous night’s sail, she realizes she can’t do it by herself and hires Keane, a professional sailor, to help. Much like Anna, Keane is struggling with a very different future than the one he had planned. As romance rises with the tide, they discover that it’s never too late to chart a new course.

In Trish Doller’s unforgettable Float Plan, starting over doesn't mean letting go of your past, it means making room for your future.

Review: ah! This gave me some serious Meg Cabot vibes here and I really enjoyed the story. think the reality is vulnerability is a part of loss and this was really well set up. This doesn’t disappoint and has some serious depth! Loved every second of these costal vibes, strong characters and their arcs. Strong prose, vivid settings and some romance in there has you wanting more! Don’t miss this one out today at your local stores or online!

Special thanks to Meghan Harrington at St. Martin’s Press, St. Martin’s Press, and NetGalley for my honest review in exchange for an advanced copy!

I have to say, seeing more and more books with content warnings at the beginning of the novel is so wonderful! I think having these content warnings are so, so important. Certain things trigger people in different ways and I am truly applauding Trish Doller on this.

Trish Doller’s newest novel Float Plan, opens with an advisory about self-harm and suicide. Opening the pages to an advisory like that with such a bright and friendly cover was absolutely an interesting experience. Going in expecting one thing, I was pleasantly surprised where this story took me.

Float Plan is a story of loss, grieving, and moving on from that loss. Anna Beck finds herself in a world that she struggles to understand after her fiancé, Ben, kills himself after his battle with depression. Before Ben took his own life, they had planned a sailing trip + wedding ceremony combo (dreamy and sounds so wonderful). Without Ben, Anna was ready to set it all in the past but ultimately takes the trip Ben had booked for the two of them.

Anna hires a sailor to help her on this sailing journey through the Caribbean. Through this journey, Keane, the oh-so good-looking sailor, shoulders the weight of Anna’s grief. Keane is just a genuinely wonderful, warm human and friend to Anna. She needed that as she, pun intended, sailed these hard waters through the loss of her fiancé.

It was such a relief reading about a slow burn romance in this book. Their heartwarming adventure and ultimately the growth of Anna.

I highly recommend anyone who needs a good, heartwarming and heart wrenching read. I do, however, think the content warmings need to be considered when reading this book.



Book Description

Heartbroken by the loss of her fiancé, adventurous Anna finds a second chance at love with an Irish sailor in this riveting, emotional romance.

After a reminder goes off for the Caribbean sailing trip Anna was supposed to take with her fiancé, she impulsively goes to sea in the sailboat he left her, intending to complete the voyage alone.

But after a treacherous night’s sail, she realizes she can’t do it by herself and hires Keane, a professional sailor, to help. Much like Anna, Keane is struggling with a very different future than the one he had planned. As romance rises with the tide, they discover that it’s never too late to chart a new course.

In Trish Doller’s unforgettable Float Plan, starting over doesn't mean letting go of your past, it means making room for your future.


I wanted to say thank you so much to Trish Doller and to St. Martin’s Press and Wednesday Books for this advanced copy of Float Plan.

Float Plan is out today, March 2nd, 2021! You can snag your copy here!

Find more from Trish over at @TrishDoller on Instagram and Twitter.

I was hooked on page one. The book begins with a letter from Anna’s (the main character) fiancé and it instantly squeezed my heart, before ripping it out. I was surprised at the level in which this book touched me. I was drawn in by the characters and their troubles. I found myself thinking about them even when I wasn’t reading the book and I needed to know the path they were going to take.

Float Plan is well written with emotion, humor, wonder… the feelings, actions, and thoughts that the characters were experiencing were realistic for their situations and this made it feel as though I were reading about real people, rather than fictional characters. Anna and Keane have such realistic dialogue, their conversations, their banter, their acceptance for each other was so heartwarming/fun to read. I felt that the pacing was smooth and kept the story moving forward and made it possible to follow the character growth.

This was the first book I have read by Trish Doller, but it will not be my last! I was engaged in the story right from the start and didn’t experience any lulls throughout the book. I really don’t have any cons… please do yourself a favor and read this book!

Thank you to St. Martin’s Press and Netgalley for sending me an ARC to read in exchange for my honest review.

I am giving this book 5 stars.

I loved this book. It is deliciously well written, with beautiful words and vivid descriptions. We know from the very first words that this book will be an emotional journey. The female lead, Anna, is drowning in grief after losing her boyfriend to suicide by overdose. His plans with Anna to sail around the world with a boat he had purchased and was fixing up came screeching to a halt and are forgotten once he cuts his life short. But Anna decides, very last minute, to take the trip solo to honor him and try to heal.

The journey, both geographically and emotionally, that Anna takes is both heart breaking and beautiful. Author Trish Doller writes the grieving process with such truth and authenticity that I felt connected to her in a way I seldom do while reading an author's words. Having spent the last 2 1/2 years next to my 6 year old as she fights cancer, my heart recognized the meaningful story of traveling through grief.

The love story that unfolds in this book is similarly genuine and truthful. It is slow-burn and complex, with highs and lows. Misunderstandings and moments of distinct clarity. It is the sweetest and most genuine love story I have read in a long time and I am pining for my own Irish Sailor named Keane in my life.

I took off 1/2 star from my rating for a part of the book that I feel strongly about. In the beginning of this story, Anna is deep in grief, hardly leaving her bed. Her mother repeatedly suggests she seeks therapy. This idea is brushed off entirely and Anna takes a journey on the boat to heal instead. Anna could have taken this journey to heal WITHOUT ever even mentioning the rejection of going to therapy. It could have been removed from the book entirely in order for her to take her "Hero's Journey" on the boat. But mentioning therapy and then having the main character reject it is a problem. Therapy is a highly necessary tool that is imperative to navigate through major traumatic events, such as loosing your partner to suicide. Suggesting otherwise creates an ongoing narrative in pop culture that we can heal ourselves and even that it is BETTER to attempt to heal ourselves. In the background of this dismissal of therapy is a hint of shame surrounding seeking professional resources to heal.

Having said that, PLEASE READ THIS BOOK. It is beautiful and heartbreaking and life affirming and sweet and a fantastic story that will stay with you long after you close the final page.

I received an advanced copy of this book in exchange for an honest review.

What sounds like it could be a heavy read, takes a tough topic, grief, and turns it into a fun adventure between Anna and Keane.
This is a hero rescuing a damsel in distress... or is she rescuing him?

I loved reading the chemistry between these characters and about their adventure at sea. It was entertaining and enjoyable. I can't wait to see what the author has to follow this up with!

Thank you NetGalley, St Martin’s Press and Trish Dollar for gifting me an advance copy of this book in exchange for my honest review!
Have you ever been sailing? Two summers ago I randomly (like I have NO CLUE how I found them) became obsessed with a YouTube channel called Sailing LaVegabond. It was about two Austrailians who had randomly met in a bar in Greece and he invited her to sail with him. They have made videos together for the last two years sailing together through the very place described in Float Plan. From there I went on to binge a few other sailing channels. I live in Iowa where the closest ocean is more than a day away which seems like nothing but can sometimes feel like a lifetime away. I was CONVINCED my guy and I could sail and make that lifestyle work. Of course when I came out of my YouTube fog I was rational and reminded myself I haven’t even been on a boat in 10+ years.
.
I requested this book a LONG time ago. I’m talking over six months ago. And then I had to spend all that time staring at the title trying to resist reading the book early. As March 2nd got closer and closer I seriously was excited. And then I was invited to be a part of Float Plan’s blog tour. I’ve never done one of these but I was so thrilled to shout out a book I really really loved. I KNOW this will be popular and I won’t be the only one dreaming of sails and sunbathing.
.
I want to give a content warning for anyone who as been effected by suicide in any way. I have personally dealt with an immediate family member and suiide. It’s hard to explain exactly what that anger and grief feels like. It’s different than someone passing a different way. I think Trish Doller handled a delicate and sensitive topic very well. The emotions were raw and the pain was real, but the book never felt too heavy. We still went on a journey (literally and figuratively) with Anna. She grew so much and you truly feel her change as a character. And Keane. Sweet, hunky, magnetic Keane. I think every woman has an irish man fantasy. Add in tropical islands? A dream.
.
Slide to the right to read an excerpt from Float Plan, out NOW!!!

I absolutely LOVED this book. The sailing was realistic and spot on. 🙌🏻 I loved every word. Review linked below.

Following the loss of her fiancé, Ben, to suicide, Anna decides to go on the sailing trip that the two of them had been planning, but after nearly crashing the sailboat on the very first leg of the journey, she realizes that she cannot manage this trip on her own & hires Keane, an experienced sailor, to help her out. It doesn’t take long before Anna’s feelings for Keane begin to grow beyond friendship, but she is unsure if she is ready to move on from Ben.

This is such a touching, heartwarming story about finding oneself & discovering happiness (& love) in the aftermath of loss. The first third of the book is a bit rough around the edges, but if you stick with it, you’ll be rewarded with a beautiful story & a smile-inducing ending.

Rating: 3.5/5.0