This book was something special. It is emotionally powerful from the start and doesn't let up. The main character, Anna, suffered a heartbreaking loss and is struggling to find her footing Float Plan does a brilliant job of depicting the reality of grief and how it comes and goes in its intensity. I also appreciated that the author addresses the fact that friends and family often expect you to "get over it" and move on. She acknowledges that there is "no timetable for grief."

Float Plan was a painfully accurate portrayal of loss and the slow, unpredictable process of healing. Fortunately, it also blends a bit of humor and a lovely, slow blossoming romance with a swoon-worthy Irishman named Keane. He is a big-hearted man who is grieving his own loss Together, they find their way back to a world that feels bright and promising. The journey is a beautiful one.

Float Plan was an easy read that drew me in from the beginning and delivered a lovely, heartfelt story. It is one of my favorite reads to date this year.

Thank you to NetGalley for this ARC. I voluntarily chose to review it and the opinions contained within are my own.

Float Plan is young adult author Trish Doller’s introduction into the adult fiction market. Ms. Doller spent many years and much research developing this heartfelt tale. Anna Beck had been just scraping by, financially and emotionally, since her fiancé Ben took his own life a bit less than a year earlier. When an unexpected reminder that Ben had set up three years earlier awakens her two days before Thanksgiving, Anna is triggered to make it happen. She quickly throws things in her suitcase, stocks up some food, and heads to the marina where the 39 foot sailboat that Ben had restored is kept. Anna has decided to take the Caribbean journey they had planned on her own. Perhaps this is the closure she needs. Heaven knows she has been a rudderless boat since Ben’s death.

However, just two days out, Anna makes a better decision and seeks help in making this journey happen. After a number of bad choices in Bimini, Anna becomes acquainted with seasoned sailor Keane Sullivan, who is seeking a position and is happy to sign on the journey to San Juan saying he needs to get there for a job and seeks only transport, no pay, which works perfectly for Anna. Anna is struggling with her loss, but Keane is struggling with a loss of his own and dealing with a prosthesis and the changes it has brought to his promising boat racing future.

This is a deeply moving story with moments of sadness, even despair, but ultimately it is a healing journey to getting one’s life back on track. Ms. Doller has done a wonderful job of making her story real, her characters endearing, and her descriptions of an open water journey very realistic. I believe I read this book in record time, just couldn’t put it down! I wholeheartedly enjoyed this book and I do recommend it!

⭐️⭐️⭐️.5/5

“What we need at present is to not let fear rule the day.”

(TW: suicide & self-harm)

Thank you Netgalley & St. Martin’s for the opportunity to read and review Trish Doller’s new release, Float Plan, out next week!

This book made me yearn for a vacation as we follow our main character as she sails to different islands in the Caribbean - islands I’ve never even heard of felt so alive!

This book is definitely a slow paced book with not much plot, but more about character development and growth. Our main character Anna, is learning how to live her life ten months after her fiancée commits suicide. On her journey she meets Keane, who has a prosthetic leg and the two take on the seas together. Their relationship is cute and they each teach one another new things about themselves.

This book is well written. There is a lot of detail about sailing, that I knew nothing about, but learned about through the story. You can tell Doller puts a lot of effort into researching.

Despite there being minimal plot, I did like watching Anna develop through the chapters as she began to love herself and become independent of her late fiancée.

“But I’m starting to understand how sadness and happiness can live side by side within a heart. And how that heart can keep on beating.”

The beginning of this book made me unsure, however, the title was overall was very good and I enjoyed. This book was definitely a surprise for me, but I loved the characters and definitely encourage others to read this as well.

As noted about Anna and her fiancée had been planning an island-hopping sailing trip through the Caribbean but he committed suicide before they took the trip. Anna has been mourning for him ever since and has been existing, not really living. When the alarm on her phone reminds her that they were going to take the trip, she decides to do it herself, but quickly learns she is in over her head.

Keane is a professional sailor but recently lost a leg and for some reason no one wants to hire a one-legged crew member. They find each other and cruise from island to island from Florida to the Bahamas and beyond.

I loved watching them get to know each other. I also enjoyed to the stories of the ports they visited and it got me googling the islands and thinking of what we could do this summer, since my husband and I are now both eligible for Covid vaccines in our state. As Anna told her mother, during the trip she moved from running away to moving toward something new and that was great to watch.

A few weeks ago, I wrote about religion in fiction and said that I liked seeing religion and/or religious practices presented as a normal part of life in fiction, even if the content of the book wasn't specifically religious. In Float Plan Keane is an Irish Catholic. He goes to Mass regularly. When they hiked to a garden that contained Stations of the Cross, he prayed them. He doesn't preach, he doesn't try to convert Anna, and when he and Anna decide to be intimate, it is long before marriage is discussed---in other words, while Keane's prayer life is Catholic, his sex life doesn't follow Catholic rules.

All in all, I enjoyed the book and give it a B. Thanks to the publisher for providing a review copy via NetGalley.

Float Plan blew me away. It's part romance, part grief, and part finding yourself. Ten months after Anna lost her fiance she gets a reminder on her phone of a trip they were going to take and just up and goes. It was such a powerful opening, and obviously what Anna needed to do to deal with her grief. I adored Keane, who has his own struggles. I don't want to talk much about it, because I appreciated the surprise of what he was dealing with, and it's impact on Anna.

Anna and Keane were good for each other, and what they each needed to become whole again. The very best thing about Keane is that he did not treat Anna like she couldn't handle things on the boat, making sure to show her what she didn't know (which considering her grand sailing plans was quite a bit) rather than just do it for her. Anna's strength and determination really showed through as well, I would have quit before leaving Florida!

Float Plan is the perfect book to settle into if you need a bit of a wallow, but also know that you want that happy ending.

Float Plan//Trish Doller 
 
After loosing her fiancé, Anna sets sail on a journey that she will never forget. When she realizes that sailing alone is difficult, she posts a “help-wanted” ad for a companion to help her make the trip to Trinidad, the trip that her and her fiancé, Ben, planned together. In walks Keane! As Anna and Keane set sail, stopping at many islands in the Caribbean, Anna is hit head on with waves of grief, some rough seas, and under-toes of emotions and both learn that letting go can be one of the most rewarding races.  
 
💗Things I loved...  
-Anna and Keane. Their relationship grows so much throughout this story and it is truly a beautiful thing. I was so hooked🪝from the beginning!  
-Sailing. ⛵️For me personally, I’ve never sailed but this novel incorporates the knowledge of sailing effortlessly throughout the story.  
-Anna’s journey through her stages of grief. Everyone’s process of grieving is different. I enjoyed reading about Anna’s journey of rebuilding and letting go!  
-Easy and fast read. The writing is so good! And it flows so well!  
 
I read this book in less than 36 hours. I really could not stop reading!!!! I’m so glad I did!!!! I had so many emotions throughout this story..I cried, laughed, smiled, all the things. A book that gives me all the emotions, kept me engaged and invested throughout the story, I give 5 ⭐️s. This one is no different! I know I will be thinking about Float Plan for a really long time to come (and I am praying for a follow-up sequel! 😉). Please re-order this one, NOW!  
 
TW: self-harm and suicide  
 
Thank you, @stmartinspress , @trishdoller and @netgalley for the e-ARC and allowing me to read this book early! 😍
 
⭐️⭐️⭐️⭐️⭐️ (5/5)

HJ Top Pick

Ten months after her fiancé Ben’s suicide, Anna, motivated by incredible grief, throws her small worldly possessions aboard the 30 ft Alberg that he gifted her in his will, with the fool-hearty intention of sailing from Fort Lauderdale to Trinidad by herself.

Having sailed only a handful of times with Ben, Anna is a complete amateur, yet the need to achieve their shared dream is a powerful driver in pushing her to flee the life of loss she’s been living. After the first overnight leg to Bimini however, Anna realises she is way out of her depth and does the sensible thing of remaining at port until she can find a suitable crewman to help navigate the trip. Keane, also coming to terms with his shattered dreams, is the ideal sailor for Anna to share the journey with, particularly given his champion sailing skills and his capacity to empathise and create space for her to learn more than just the tricks of the trade.

From beginning to end, this incredible love story was heartbreakingly beautiful, and Doller’s masterful writing captured the daily, if not hourly struggle that exists for those shattered in the wake of suicide. Anna was the perfect survivor wherein her inner narrative was painted by the competing and torturous pressures of grief; the push and pull of when to feel happiness without guilt, when to feel love without hating yourself for feeling , and when to want something more for yourself then being trapped in memories and dreams of the past. Her ongoing self-doubt, and her frequent moments of self-blame were raw and honest, and yet it was her tenacity and grit that gave breadth to the real bravery wherein the strong themes of resilience were a sheer delight to experience. And Keane – sheesh! What an incredible human: intelligent, warm, perceptive and similarly courageous, his very real and life-long struggles were captured poetically, providing perfect connection between his motivation and sensitivity when it came to his treatment and care of Anna. Whilst simple in it’s over-arching plot structure,

Float plan is anything but, particularly when it came to peeling back the layers of the heart that Anna was slowly rebuilding whilst simultaneously protecting herself from breaking. Incredible scenery, amazing adventures, independence and learning the life-long lessons of self-belief and ownership were the keystones of a fabulous read that was magnetic from the very first page. Without a shadow of a doubt, this is a beautiful must-read book that encourages everyone to never give up on love and to never give up on life.

Waves of unparalleled grief are overtaking Anna after the loss of her fiancé by suicide. Her life is crashing down around her and on impulse she takes off on a journey they had planned to the Islands on their sailboat. Unprepared and reckless, Anna soon recognizes she can't make the journey without help from someone more experienced on the seas.

Keane Sullivan, a professional sailor, answers her flyer and literally saves her life after a drunken stupor on her first stop in the Caribbean. Together, they embark on the open waters trying to set course on the plan her fiancé envisioned for the trip. Keane and Anna have both suffered loss in different ways, hampering their ability to feel the open waters flowing in their hearts on what they want from life.

This book is so wonderfully heartwarming and endearing. Keane is a hunky, sweetheart knowing when, what and how Anna needs him to overcome fear, loss and a broken heart. I've never rooted for a couple more than I have for these two. This slow-burn romance is filled with vivid details of the islands, the colorful oceans and the acknowledge that grief sucks.

This is a story about grief and emerging on the other side of it. Anna's fiancé died by suicide ten months ago and when the forgotten alarm on her phone goes off two days before Thanksgiving, she packs up and starts off on the sailing voyage they were meant to take together.

Along the way she takes on challenges she never expected, and hires Keane, an experienced Irish sailor, to help carry the load. Told from Anna's perspective, we see her deal with the death of her fiancé and her confliction about her feelings for Keane.

It's a slow burn with a low heat level, but it's emotionally fulfilling. I consumed it over the course of a single day.

I found myself looking up sailing terms (I didn't know what a V berth was, but I do now), but I never found myself distracted from the story.

I voluntarily read and reviewed an advanced copy of this book. All thoughts and opinions are my own.

Float Plan by Trish Doller, published by St. Martin's Press, is a gripping story, ecxellent written. An emotional read that had me in tears more than one time. The story deals with sensitive subject, prepare to have tissues and consider you warned.
Anna is grieving her boyfriend Ben. She decides to go on a boattrip, a trip that both of them had planned. And off she is to mozrning her lost love, finding herself, maybe finding a new love.
A great read, unputdownable, a read in one sitting book.
I recommend Float Plan, 5 stars.

Anna sets out on a life changing journey. This story was wonderful, the way the author wrote about all of the stops she made were so vivid. It made me feel like I was actually on that sailboat. This book is about losing love,, mending hearts and moving on. I truly enjoyed this book. Thank you to NetGalley and the publisher for an ARC in exchange for an honest review.

This book was so good. Be forewarned, there is mention of suicide in this book. That being said, I believe it was handled with grace and wasn't thrown into the story just because.

While reading I felt as if I was on the journey with Anna and boy was it a journey. She is so broken, yet strong, hardened yet kind. Her fiancé committing suicide rocked her world and almost a year later she takes their previously planned sailing trip alone. The hutzpah this takes is immeasurable. I love how she was able to "find herself" through sailing, meeting Keane, and exploring new places.

Keane. What an amazing character. An irishmen that has had his own share of pain, but continues to push through. He's something I feel like you rarely see in real life, a real gentleman who is there when you need it, but also lets you be.

This book made me laugh, cry, and love. I highly recommend reading the story of Anna and Keane. Also I wouldn't be upset if we got a sequel or a book for Eamon.

Float Plan by Trish Doller is coming out soon, and you don’t want to miss it. This is a beautiful and heart-warming story that I immediately connected to from the opening pages. You will experience a full gamut of emotions as you read this well-written book … and you’ll love it!

Here’s the scoop:

Since the loss of her fiancé, Anna has been shipwrecked by grief—until a reminder goes off about a trip they were supposed to take together. Impulsively, Anna goes to sea in their sailboat, 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.

Trish Doller’s unforgettable adult debut, Float Plan, reminds readers that starting over doesn’t mean forgetting: you can build a new home, right alongside the old.

Awesome book, coming out on March 2!

This book. It just immediately hit me so hard in the feels and I couldn’t put it down. It’s a fairly short book and I finished it in about 3 hours. My only issue is that I wanted more!

💛The characters were honest and their emotions were open and real. The romance was sweet and uncomplicated, but where the book truly shined was in Anna and Keane’s individual character development. They had both been through such trauma and seeing them work through their grief and come to terms with lives that they didn’t envision was the best part for me.
💛As book boyfriends go, Keane is the ultimate! Irish, strong, patient, passionate and so sweet. Their romance was a bit of a slow burn and worth every second. There was no unnecessary drama or conflict - everything just fit.
💛You will for sure want to go sailing in the Caribbean after reading this. The authors passion definitely came through and it was beautiful.

⚠️: Large focus on suicide from the very first page

The book opens with Anna’s fiance’s - Ben’s - suicide note, and follows Anna on her physical journey sailing around the Caribbean and her emotional journey, learning how to live her life without Ben.
Anna is realistic, relatable, and I was rooting for her throughout. While this book is a slow-burning romance, the biggest love story was Anna’s self-discovery and personal growth, as she learns to fall in love with life once again.
While a lot of the sailing terminology went straight over my head, I was still able to clearly picture what was happening, and the descriptions of the islands visited throughout the book have filled me with wanderlust.
Although - as I often find with this kind of book - much of the plot was predictable, there was a comfort in this predictability, and I wasn’t bothered by it because this book is *so* much more than the events that happen within its pages. This is a story of second chance love, new experiences and learning how to navigate grief - driven forward by strong character growth. I’d highly recommend this to anyone who’s a fan of slow-burning romances and realistic characters with strong development.

Sidenote - Keane Sullivan is a DREAM.

Float Plan is a breath of fresh air in contemporary romance, a engaging and truly moving story about finding love. I didn't expect it to be so moving, but the frank way it deals with suicide, as well as grief, was so well done and helped me really connect with and root for Anna and Keane.

The setting is gorgeous, and Trish Doller definitely knows how to build romantic tension--and the result is an engaging and nuanced read that will appeal to romance readers as well as women's fiction readers. And with her YA background, I absolutely see a lot of crossover apoeal there too for older teens. Very highly recommended.

I love a sailing story and the fact this was a sailing romance made it even better! This is a sweet story about loss and grief and I really enjoyed it.

This was a really charming read. I love how Anna's physical journey (sailing) mirrored her emotional journey from being in the throes of grief to finally being able to live for herself again and open herself to new experiences and to love.
The author does a really good job letting the characters develop, along with the plot. At no point did I feel anything was rushed. I also admire how she presented the different stages of grief, and how natural it felt to see Anna go through it all. This is Anna's story, not Ben's, and I loved how it reflected that. 3.5 stars.

Thank you @netgalley and @stmartinspress for my ARC in exchange for my honest thoughts.
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Once in a while a book comes along that really stands out from the rest. Trish Doller’s adult debut novel FLOAT PLAN is one of those books for me.
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It's about a woman who impulsively sets off on a sailing trip after losing her boyfriend to suicide ten months prior.
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Anna soon realises it is too treacherous to navigate the seas by herself and hires Keane, a professional sailor, to help her complete the journey.
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Anna and Keane are both characters struggling to stay afloat after experiencing crushing heartbreak and I thought the author explored their journey through grief so realistically and authentically. I was utterly engrossed in their story.
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I also really admired the writing and the many clever ways in which the author uses the sea, the sailboat and Anna and Keane’s trip as metaphors for navigating the grieving process.
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This book was a definite 5-star read for me and I highly recommend it.