This book really took me by surprise. Death of a partner or spouse is not something I am usually drawn to but from the minute I started this book I could not put it down. I stopped reading my current book and binged this one in less than 24 hours. I loved Anna and Keane's story so much. It was a lesson in learning to let the past go but not forgotten and to try and start over when it doesn't seem like you can. Anna went through a lot of inner turmoil and I loved her journey that she too on the boat, with starting out thinking of it as her late finace's to in the end it being truly hers. I loved all the history and information that the author gave us on all the islands that Anna and Keane went to on their trip. I am not one for water travel but this book seriously made me want to sail around the Caribbean Islands for a few months. This book combined with another recent read really has me wanting a tropical vacation and warmer weather. I highly recommend this book! There are some serious topics about in the book so if you are interested I would look into trigger warnings. Thank you St.Martin's Press for my gifted copy for review.

An Adventure to Recovery

"Float Plan" by Trish Doller
I was caught hook, line and sinker by this story. I just could not put it down. This story has it all. Romance but no graphic details. Heart-break, Adventure, Poor Choices, Trauma from Choices, a Travelogue most of us will never witness ourselves (live in person)… but isn't that why we read to be where we are not.. fantasy land. Sorry, got carried away there for a moment. You really do want to read this story to find out where the "Float Plan" takes Anna, from where she starts, where she goes, some of the people she meets, and how the story ends. You will not be disappointed. Happy Reading ! !
Note: I received an ARC of this story from the publisher. This review is my honest opinion.

“Kind is one of the easiest things to be.”⁣
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The Float Plan was so so so beautiful. This was such a well written story of loss, grief, finding yourself, perseverance, finding love after loss, and learning to be okay alone.⁣
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This story touched on tough topics in such a wonderfully gentle way. ⁣
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Anna loses her fiancé to suicide; he leaves her his boat and a map to travel the Caribbean. She decides to leave Florida and go on the journey alone to keep her promise to him to travel to Trinidad. She meets so many wonderful people along the way, who teach her how to view life differently and she slowly overcomes the grief that has been weighing her down. ⁣
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The descriptions of the different islands that Anna sails were magnificent. I could see the beautiful skies and smell the sea breeze. I could feel her grief and pain; I could feel her joy and happiness. I loved learning about all of the different cultures throughout the different islands she travelled. I don’t know anything about sailing but it was truly such an inspirational, heartwarming and heart wrenching story. ⁣
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If you are looking for a sweet romance and a well written story, with beautiful views and culture, go pick this up.⁣
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⭐️⭐️⭐️⭐️⭐️⁣
Thank you @netgalley and @stmartinspress for an ARC for my honest review. ⁣
#bookstagram #books #romance #thefloatplan #bookcommunity

Title: Float Plan
Author: Trish Doller
Genre: Fiction
Rating: 5 out of 5

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.

This was a fantastic read! I loved it from the very beginning. Anna grows so much as a character as she grieves, struggles, then realizes life does go on after loss—and she becomes stronger and more capable. I loved reading about all the different places she visited and the people she met. And Keane, well, a handsome man from Ireland is always a bonus! (But he’s a terrific guy, too.)

Trish Doller was born in Germany but now lives in Florida. Float Plan is her newest novel.

(Galley courtesy of St. Martin’s Press in exchange for an honest review.)

Blog link live 3/5.

I went into Float Plan expecting a sweet romance. That’s what I got for sure, but in addition to so many other things! This is not just a romance book and I absolutely loved it!

Anna loses her fiancée to suicide and has been bereft ever since, stuck in her grief. After a reminder goes off about the epic sailing adventure they had planned together, Anna decides to set sail...by herself. What follows is a journey of self discovery and adventure.

The setting was absolutely magical. The romance was sweet and I was charmed by the characters. The dialogue was bright and witty, making me smile time and time again. But what stood out to me the most was the way the author depicted the journey of grief after suicide. I can attest that it is grief on steroids and that there are so many more emotions thrown into the mix. The author gracefully attacked this subject and delivers it in a relatable, authentic way. After the loss of my mom to suicide, I threw myself into training for a marathon. It was incredibly cathartic for me so I could relate to Anna and how she was determined to go on this journey and learn how to sail by herself. This novel was incredibly well done and I absolutely loved it. 5⭐️ My thanks to @stmartinspress for the advance reader in exchange for my honest review.

This book surprised me in so many ways, and was just beautifully done! A story of grief, love, and self-discovery, FLOAT PLAN will take readers on an enchanting voyage from beginning to end. CW: suicide

I really enjoyed reading Float Plan and think it will be the perfect spring/summer read!

This was such a relatable story as far as love, loss, and healing. At first it appeared as if Anna was not only fulfilling her deceased fiancé’s trip of sailing around the Caribbean, but also still grieving and clinging to his loss. It wasn’t until Keane came along that Anna was able to find her inner strength and heal on her own terms. The connection between Anna and Keane was undeniable, and having bonded with him over their uncertain futures and seeing all that life had to offer seemed to give her the push she needed to move forward and reopen her heart to the possibility of living again.

Highly recommending this one!

https://www.goodreads.com/review/show/3834868582

Just 10 months after Anna's fiance, Ben, dies by suicide, Anna impulsively decides to take the sailing trip that they had been planning. After a few mishaps, Anna realizes she can't do it alone and hires Keane, a professional sailor, to help her. Ironically, at that moment, Keane is standing before her, having already saved her once.

I really enjoyed this story of healing after a tragedy and finding the strength within yourself to carry on. I have a bit of a crush on Keane for being an amazing and kind man, and I feel like Anna helped him just as much as he helped her.

61% "Our mother expected us to be good and our father put the fear of the Lord in us if we failed to meet her expectations. That doesn't mean we don't act the maggot sometimes, but kind is one of the easiest things to be."

95% "But I'm started to understand how sadness and happiness can live side by side within a heart. And how that heart can keep on beating."

Float Plan is the debut novel by author, Trish Doller, and I can't wait to read what comes next.

Ten months after Anna's fiancé, Ben, dies by suicide, she impulsively decides to follow his plan to sail the Caribbean. Since Ben was more familiar with sailing than she is, she hires Keane, a professional sailor, to help her make the journey. Will the trip help her find the closure she seeks?

"One of the things I've learned is that suicide doesn't break a person's heart just once."

This book and its exploration of the stages of grief tugged on my heart strings in unexpected ways, and I felt myself falling for Keane haha. Never in a million years would I have guessed that a story that starts with suicide could bring unexpected laughter and make my heart so happy! What an amazing debut, and I definitely look forward to more from this author.

"God, you're like an Irish Mary Poppins with facial hair... Are you ever pessimistic?"

"Sometimes you have to toss the map and fly by the seat of your pants."

"The stages of grief are not linear. They are random and unpredictable, folding back on themselves until you begin mourning all over again."

Location: Ft. Lauderdale, FL and the Caribbean

I received an advance copy of this book. All opinions are my own.

This book is everything and more. It is one that will have you
laughing and crying, heartsick and falling in love. I don't know if it
is my personal love of sailing or the dream of a life on the water but
this book checked every mark for me. From page one is has you hooked
and it doesn't let you go. The descriptions of the islands make you
feel as if you're sitting on a white sand beach and the story is so
uplifting. Anna fights through it all grief, gulit, pain, fear. She
emerges to a life anyone would be envious of despite her past. I loved
this so much I want another book about her adventures

Gosh these super cute illustrated covers always get me. I don’t think I was ready for Float Plan by Trish Doller when I first started reading.

Anna lost her fiancé to sucide ten months ago. She has been wrapped up in grief, unable to move forward until the day she gets a calendar reminder of the trip her and Ben were supposed to take. She decides to do the one thing that doesn’t make sense, in hopes that it will be the one thing that helps her heal ... she goes on their trip and sets sail. But after barely making it to her first stop, Anna decides she needs help if she wants to continue. She finds Keane, who is also running, but he knows boats, and offers to give Anna a hand. The two cross paths at a time when the other is exactly what they need.

Float Plan reminds you as a reader that starting over doesn't mean forgetting. One of my favorite parts from the book was talking about how you can build a new home, right alongside the ruins of the old.

I so so loved this book. I felt all the emotions that sucide can bring to those that are left behind. The honesty that comes with the process of grief resonated with me in multiple ways. Plus, in a time where travel is slim to none, I loved learning about all the islands, their history and the people living there.

This book was beautifully written Trish, I cannot wait to read more of your other books.

Thank you St Martin’s Press for the ARC copy of this book.

4 stars

In a month where I have been reading any steamy historical romance I can get my hands on, this sparse but evocative tale came as a breath of fresh air. Doller manages to avoid the pitfalls that often plague romance novels of this nature and gives real depth to these two characters who are both going through the painful journey of dealing with their respective traumas. Despite the heavy subject matter, I found myself breezing through this and making the time to read just one more chapter. Having read some of Doller's YA work in my younger years, I am so pleased to see her make the transition into adult romance so way.

Thank you to NetGalley and St. Martin's Griffin for an ARC of this copy in exchange for a fair and honest review!

Many thanks to NetGalley and St Martin's Press for gifting me a digital copy of this heartwarming book by Trish Doller. 4.5 stars rounded up because reading about sunny tropical island and romance were the perfect antidote to a freezing February in Upstate NY!

Anna is devastated by the suicide of her fiancé, Ben. They had been making plans to take his sailboat on an adventure from Florida through the Caribbean islands to Puerto Rico. Against the advice and wishes of her family and friends, Anna decides to make the trip solo. After a scary first day, she decides she needs help and hires an experienced sailor, Keane, who is grieving a different kind of loss.

This is a wonderfully written story of dealing with grief and moving through it, knowing that you can't forget the past but you can have a new future. I really felt like I was experiencing the sights, tastes and smells of the ocean and island life, although I could do without the seasickness! These characters felt real and true and I loved the slow buildup of their relationship. Great read!

Wow! As I knew that I was nearing the end of Float Plan, I was excited to see how the story would end, but I was also really sad because the story was ending. It's been a long time since I've wished that a book was longer because I was loving it so much.

Float Plan is about a grieving woman on a journey to find purpose to her life again. It's been nearly a year since Anna's fiancé, Ben, died by suicide. She has spent that time floating through her life but not living it. Anna makes a spontaneous decision to take the sailing trip that Ben had planned for them over a year ago. When Anna has a near accident while out on the seas, she realizes that her sailing skills may not be good enough to get her through the trip. She hires Keane, a professional sailor, to help her get to Puerto Rico. As Anna and Keane spend weeks together in close proximity on the boat, their relationship evolves from shipmates, to friends, to unchartered romantic territory.

As a bold and gripping move, this book begins with Ben's suicide note. I knew from that first page that this book was going to rock me to my core. I loved that Trish Doller jumps right into the story from that first page and that Anna's journey on her sailing trip starts a couple pages later. It's a captivating beginning to a book that hooked me into the story immediately.

From their interesting meet cute, I fell in love with Keane. He was so swoony, with his Irish charm and "ayes". As the story progressed, I fell even more for Keane. His optimism, faith, compassion, and poetic way of thinking and speaking had me in tears at many points. I don't think Doller could have written a more perfect hero for this story.

I loved Anna's character as well. Her visceral grief that sometimes came out of nowhere was raw and real and I liked how human her grief process was. My heart broke for her over and over as she waded through the complicated emotions of grief and moving on.

This is a slow-burn poignant story about a woman on a journey to healing and discovering what she wants in life. Be ready to get all the feels with this book and have some tissues on hand!

Steam level: 🔥🔥½
⚠️ suicide

Thank you to NetGalley, St. Martin's Griffin, & St. Martin's Press for the opportunity to read and review this book before it's publication date! This in no way affected my review, opinions are my own.

Oh, wow. Wow. I cannot get over how much I thoroughly and completely enjoyed this book and these characters. I felt that Doller was very sensitive and honest in her portrayal of someone in grief, and I felt so keenly for Anna but loved watching her grow and find reasons to smile and laugh again.

Interestingly enough, after re-reading the synopsis, I realized that it's EXACTLY what you get in this book - but there's so, so, so much more here to be had. The descriptions of the islands, the way Keane and Anna's partnership to friendship to maybe more evolves, the descriptions of the ocean, the boat, and sailing??? Fantastic.

And Keane? YEP. Yes. YEP. Can we all just rejoice over having a male MC that is rugged, determined, strong, opinionated, and alpha - and just an overall decent human being??? Every time he did something kind just by being aware of Anna and her needs and she thanked him, he would say something along the lines of, "I don't need thanks for doing the only possible thing anyone should do." and it was So. Dang. Refreshing. There were obstacles, there were moments he was cranky and less than charitable, but overall he was just a good dude. We need more just good dudes.

I know very little about sailing myself, but this book alone makes me want to quit my job, spend everything I have on a boat, and disappear somewhere over the horizon. (Jury's still out on this, we'll see.)

Absolutely loved this one (read in less than 24 hours!), and I plan on both pre-ordering a print copy AND re-reading this one via audio later this year. It's that good.

3.75 stars

This is a quite readable romance plus a bit of life philosophy. Anna and her fiance Ben had planned to go cruising on their restored sailboat and wind their way through the Caribbean. But a year before their planned departure, Ben commits suicide, leaving Anna stunned and emotionally paralyzed. Despite lots of critical but well-intentioned advice from friends and family to get over it and get on with her life, she is unable to move forward.

A random digital calendar reminder jolts her into action and she decides to set off alone on the journey on the anniversary of what would have been their sailing date. Note: for those who are serious sailors, although the main points of cruising down island by sailboat are more or less accurately portrayed, you will roll your eyes at the thought of a fairly inexperienced person taking on this trip alone. And a lot of things get glossed over. But -- this is not a sailing manual or guide to cruising.

Anna has a pretty disastrous start, all due to self-inflicted incidents. She realizes almost instantly that she needs help and a guide to make this journey and crosses paths with a seasoned sailor who is looking for a ride to Trinidad and agrees to help her and literally show her the ropes.

Of course, Keane happens to be a handsome Irishman and a thoroughly nice guy. Anna spends the rest of their trip dealing with her anger, guilt and love for Ben. The emotional aftermath of suicide lends some heft to this narrative, as does the fact that Keane has lost his leg in an accident and is still trying to find out what his new normal is. Thanks to the publisher and to Net Galley for providing me with an ARC in exchange for my honest review.

Love, love, love! Following the journey of Anna, as she went from a tragedy to finding love again. Most importantly learning to find herself and to depend on herself first!

Float Plan

What a sweet, moving, and emotional romance. What I loved about this one? It was so much more then a typical romance. It's about self discovery, moving on from grief, and falling in love.

Anna has recently lost her fiancée to suicide. She is trying to move on from life and decides to take her fiancé's boat out and travel the world. She has the world waiting for her.

Trish Dollar explores the heavy side of suicide and the difficult nature of grief in such a beautiful way through this special tale of love, moving on, and coming to terms with life's lessons.

I was impressed with Trish's writing style and finished this one pretty quickly. I feel like this is going to be getting high praise from many!

4/5 stars

Thank you so much to Netgalley and St Martins Press for the arc in exchange for an honest review.

Pub date: 3/2/21
Published to GR: 2/16/21

TW for FLOAT PLAN: suicide

Trish Doller's FLOAT PLAN is a story about loss, second loves and self-discovery. It will make you itch to travel and dream of days spent by the ocean and on sandy beaches. Anna, our main character, is approaching the one year anniversary of her fiancé's death when her calendar reminds her they were supposed to take their boat on a trip together. Spurred into action and unable to continue existing in this liminal grief space for much longer, Anna takes off on the trip on her own. She very quickly realizes that if she wants to survive out on the ocean she'll need to hire some assistance. Enter Keane, our sailor with a heart of gold. This book gets points from me in terms of disabled representation. Keane was in an accident prior to the book and has a prosthetic limb and it's never an area of concern for Anna in terms of hiring him or his ability to help her manage the boat, etc.

Things I enjoyed:
- The easy camaraderie and banter between Anna and Keane, even when they were just in the friends phase of things. Their chemistry was very easy for me to believe.
- The way this book looks at grief and the guilt associated with moving forward with your life, what does it mean to let yourself love again. I've never experienced a loss like Anna's and everyone handles grief differently, but this came across as authentic and believable to me.
- Doller's writing about sailing and boats and even navigating the routes that Anna and Keane took was so spot-on and informed without feeling pedantic or educational. Once I looked at her Instagram and realized she and her husband sail, this all made sense and I love that her personal expertise was able to shine here!
- Overall the travel writing was great and I appreciated that Doller took care to look at tourism with a critical eye and even reflected on the colonialism and slave histories of some of the locations

Overall I'd give Trish Doller's debut adult romance a 4/5 stars!

After the loss of her fiance ten months prior, Anna sets off - alone - on the sailing trip that they had planned together. But it's not long before Anna realizes that the journey is too dangerous on her own and she enlists the help of Keane, a seasoned sailor who lost his leg in an accident. Together, the pair work to sail around the Caribbean and, in doing so, reconcile their individual losses.

I had heard a lot about Float Plan before reading it and I went in with high expectations. While those expectations weren't met, Float Plan was still an engaging read that kept me turning the pages. At times, the book seems to move too rapidly, glossing over a lot of the action. However, this could have been done intentionally, as the story could have easily been bogged down with too much sailing lingo and description.

Anna, as a character, was well developed and I felt that I really got to learn who she was and what drove her to each decision. As the book is written from Anna's point of view, Keane's character is not as fleshed out as I would have liked. He was still an engaging character, though, and I enjoyed his quick wit and the way he and Anna played off each other.

In all, Float Plan was a wonderful story of loss and rediscovery. While I didn't feel it lived up to the hype is has received, it was still a good book that drew me in and kept me wanting to know what happens next.