Burke and Charlotte’s story was full of emotion. Burke goes through so much in this book. He had to adjust to his NFL career being over, the death of his best friend and his wife and inheriting their historical house in Michigan that needs restored.

The story really follows Burke’s grief process and how he handles everything from being his sister’s support system even if the house is across the country to how he handles honoring his best friends while restoring their house that had meant so much to them. These two were so well matched. Charlotte is exactly who Burke needed at that pivotal time in his life. She handled him so well and I enjoyed watching them slowly fall for each other even if they didn’t realize it.

This book made me feel so much. My heart broke for Burke so many times. He had to deal with so much but in the end he was able to figure it out with Charlotte and start a new chapter in his life in love in the house they had restored. The contractor they hired was a fun side character seeing their attraction and relationship before they did. I loved all his little comments. It brought some levity to a somewhat emotionally heavy book.

This book had a slow-burn romance with healthy doses of wit and humor and some much appreciated angst.

Karla Sorensen can write a dang sports romance yall. She is a one click / auto-buy author for me and just keeps getting better. I loved Best Laid Plans and can’t wait for the next release! Thank you to NetGalley and publisher for the arc!

Another amazing book from Karla Sorensen. She manages to capture the characters emotions perfectly and really gives you protagonists to root for.

Karla Sorensen is one of the best at writing sports romance and The Best Laid Plans did not disappoint. The chemistry, the banter, the meet awkward is all perfection. Burke is broody and rough on the outside but full of cinnamon roll on the inside. Charlotte is sunshine and passion and doesn't run from a challenge. They collide in the best ways during a renovation. I adored this book, the audio is amazing. It'll leave you happy and feeling full of butterflies.

Two characters full of childhood trauma, current loss and grief. A story so realistic written that it had you feel with the characters and could relate to them.
A broken hero and his emotional failures. A woman determined to make things work.
When Burke loses one of his closest friends he didn’t think that this would lead him to Charlotte.
His friend left him a house that he hoped that Burke would renovate. Enter Charlotte. Burke isn’t very fond of this idea. But Charlotte doesn’t let him off the hook that easily.
So she includes him in this project. He lives with her at the house while overlooking the renovation together.
That creates tension, and problems. They see each other at their bests and worsts and bring them out from beyond their walls.
This is a slow burn with all forms of emotions.

I received this book for free for an honest unbiased review from Netgalley.

I wish more books were this well written. Characters were witty and the setting fantastic.

I was surprised by this book. I knew from the cover it would be more serious (thank god they didn't slap a cartoon cover on this one), but I was not expecting the deep story of grief that was presented. I found Burke to be very powerfully written and I really liked Charlotte who is the sunshine to his grumpy. I especially loved Charlotte's godmother. I do think that Burke needed a little more help than he got in the book but I choose to believe he got more professional help after the book ended.

Thank you to Netgalley and Karla Sorensen for my advance readers copy. This one was just that book you can curl up with, and just enjoy the read. The characters were really fun and engaging. I absolutely adored the chemistry between the hero and heroine. I loved every minute of this and I adored the audio! Well done Mrs. Sorensen 👏👏👏👏 This will be receiving a 4.5 stars. Please tell me we are getting the little girls story because I need that! 😭🫶

💕𝓣𝓱𝓮 𝓑𝓮𝓼𝓽 𝓛𝓪𝓲𝓭 𝓟𝓵𝓪𝓷𝓼 – 𝓣𝓱𝓮 𝓑𝓮𝓼𝓽 𝓜𝓮𝓷 #1 - 𝓡𝓮𝓿𝓲𝓮𝔀💕
 
Author: Karla Sorensen
 
Couple: Charlotte Cunningham & Burke Barrett
 
Tropes: enemy to lovers, small town romance, sports romance, found family, finding yourself themes, fiery FMC, tortured MMC
 
Review: A small town, feel-good romance that stirs up all the feels! Charlotte and Burke are two stubborn individuals who refuse to backdown from their goals and end up clashing heads at every turn. I loved the slow build to their story and all the small moments along the way.
 
Burke Barrett is a broken man who receives his late best friend’s house. I cannot express how much I loved Burke’s story or redemption and forgiveness. I did not expect to enjoy his character as much as I did and Karla did a wonderful job of developing his complexity and broodiness in this book! The way he struggled to accept his new roles and plans was a huge arc for him and I loved the meet-hate he had with Charlotte at the house. The slow acceptance he had towards the restoration project he was given and the growing bond he had with Charlotte were done perfectly and left me in the feels.
 
Charlotte on the other hand, I have no words for. I cannot put into words how perfect her development and growth in this book was. I enjoyed how she stood her ground with Burke and fought for her goals and dreams for the house they had to restore. I loved how she accepted Burke for his faults and tried to understand his grief surrounding the house and his placement there. Karla did her character justice in this story and I appreciated how she included the accomplishments Charlotte had in regard to her restoration work.
 
This book begins as enemy to friends and then friends with benefits to lovers. The ever changing dynamic between these two just seems to naturally flow and evolve naturally. Burke and Charlotte are full of witty banter, burning chemistry and instant attraction. The way they butt heads and then come together to restore the house just add to the insane amount of sparks they have when together and I loved seeing it explode across the pages! The third act break-up was needed in my opinion since Burke had to learn to move on from his past and accept that plans change when you least expect them.
 
Rating: 10/10, another sweet and spicy romance from Karla!

I am absolutely in love with this book. For being a slow burn, I was absolutely hooked from the first few chapters and couldn’t put it down! I found this really emotional at times. You could almost feel the pain Burke was going through thanks to the author's fantastic writing. You really got a sense of why the characters are the way they are. Made me want to read other books by this author.

Definitely different from my previous KS reads, focusing heavily on grief with the subplot of the renovation. To me, both worked hand in hand, as Burke and Charlotte dealt with the deaths and abuse they had upon them, the renovation taking place was them healing and dealing with their life from this point forward. Obviously, nothing ever goes smoothly, and it made it that more enjoyable read. Some parts were a bit long winded but did not take away too much from the story (at least to me)

What an amazingly good story. And it has nothing to do with this Michigan gal loving all of my home state references. The heartache in trying to find yourself can be so overpowering then throw in some very unexpected curve balls and Karla Sorensen's writing makes this book hard to put down. Grab a tissue or two as the heartstrings get tugged on a bit.

I ended up DNFing this book and nothing really kept me engaged and I couldn't stay awake enough to continue reading. 1 star for me.

This is a super lovely, opposites attract & grumpy/sunshine romance. I thoroughly enjoyed this dual-POV story. I absolutely loved the chemistry between the two characters. The romance was lovely to watch develop.

I loved this book especially the ending. The start was a little slow for my liking but once you get into it the book is great. I would definitely recommend it.

4 stars

Burke Barrett is not having a good time. An unexpected retirement from football, and the death of his best friend. He is adrift, a touch grumpy, and doesn't know what his future holds. All he really wants is to sit on the beach with his sister, niece, and nephew in Florida. Except his best friend wills him a run down house in Michigan. And Burke was not prepared for the project manager. Charlotte is a restoration expert in charge of the house. She's used to dealing with deadlines and setbacks- but not an undeniable attraction to her clients. The forced proximity really worked for this to make the characters really see each other.
I loved the depiction of grief in this book, even if I wasn't totally prepared. It felt realistic and made me feel for Burke. I would have loved this a little more without the third act break-up and getting to know the characters a little better.
This was overall an enjoyable read and I can't wait for more in this series from Karla Sorenson.
Thank you to NetGalley and Montlake for the early read. All thoughts and opinions are my own.

I'm always a fan of this author's work and that hasn't changed with The Best Laid Plans! I really enjoyed this one.

This is a sweet romance, and I enjoyed it, but it was lacking a bit for me. It didn’t really pull at the feels and I didn’t feel a strong connection to either of the characters. I wanted more from their love story, and though the romance does come, I wish they had found their way forward together a little sooner than they did. I was happy with how it ended though.

There’s a great bunch of side characters, some of them begging to have their stories told, and I’m keen to continue on with the series.

This was my first Karla Sorensen book and I was not disappointed! I'm always a sucker for the 'restoring a house together' trope. I just think it adds to the tension in a great way. I think this book also dealt with grief and healing from loss in a realistic and thoughtful way. I loved the grumpy/sunshine dynamic and the way that these two characters developed individually, supported each other, and created a really wonderful, loving relationship in the process.

This book is for you if you like:
• forced proximity
• roommates
• friends with benefits
• grumpy x sunshine
• sports romance elements
• restoring a house together
• meddling family
• wonderful banter and lots of tension