While I really enjoy Karla Sorensen's work and I was excited to see this up for review and therefore read right away, I no longer remember the majority of the plot with this one. I can remember enjoying it and the way I felt while reading, just not the plot. A perfectly good, sports adjacent romance, but not the romance of the year!

This book reminded me that I really need to read more of Karla Sorensen. The previous ones I’ve read were more sports romance than this one, which I like, but I LOVED that this one was a little less sports. This story had some true depth and emotion which I loved. These characters were well developed along with their relationship being well developed. I highly recommend this book.

Burke Barrett is a retired football player, and his best friend and his best friend’s wife just died, leaving Burke with an old house in Michigan. He doesn’t want the house, but he knows how much it meant to his friend, so he goes to Michigan to fix it up like they’d wanted.

Charlotte Cunningham is the project manager hired to work on the house, but Burke wants nothing to do with it or her. She ends up convincing him to be involved, but he’s pretty grumpy and standoffish the whole time.

There was something about this that made it a struggle for me to get into it. I did like the whole enemies to lovers, forced proximity, grumpy/damaged hero and sunshine heroine tropes. But I felt like they didn’t really talk and open up, truly getting to know each other. I mean, Burke was dealing with a lot of baggage that he’d never worked through, so I guess that played a large part.

The story isn’t bad, and I actually enjoyed it! I just wish Burke and Charlotte had more communication.

The Best Laid Plans by Karla Sorensen
The Best Men #1

Excellent introduction to a new series and a wonderful new-to-me author I will gladly read again!

What I liked:
* Charlotte Cunningham: Restoration Expert, loves old homes, guarded heart, honest, caring, feisty, isn’t afraid to express her feelings, attracted to Burke though it takes a while to admit it
* Burke Barrett: retired NFL player, had a difficult childhood, grumpy, loves his sister and sister’s children, takes care of others, takes a while to realize what his feelings are and how to express them
* The dynamics of the relationship between Charlotte and Burke and watching the romance develop
* Daphne: Charlotte’s aunt, hippie type in the past, in a relationship with Richard, a bit on the wild side
* Tansy: Burke’s sister, divorced, mother of nine-year-old twins Ford and Felicia, wise, loving, and has a good relationship with her brother, hope she gets her HEA and a book of her own
* Chris & Amie: good friends of Burke and Liam, deceased too early, bequeathed the Campbell House to Burke and their daughter to William – their presence is strong and felt throughout the book though they are never seen in person
* Liam Davies: football player, guardian of Chris & Amie’s daughter, Mira
* William: builder who focuses on restoring historic homes, would like to see him in a book of his own
* The Campbell House: Stunning once and will be again by the end of the book
* All of it except for…

What I didn’t like:
* Thinking about the impact death has
* The way Burke’s father treated his children
* One of the entitled self-important builders that showed up before William arrived

Did I like this book? Yes
Would I read more by this author? Yes

Thank you to NetGalley and Montlake for the ARC – This is my honest review.

5 Stars

3.5 stars rounded up to 4

This book was pretty good although it took a while to build up the chemistry between the two main characters. Once we got there, though, it was a fun ride! The spice between the two were swoony and the story became a lot more enjoyable once they finally gave in to their feelings.

I finished reading this while I'm on a reading slump and I personally think that I would definitely love this book if I'm not in a reading slump. Might give this book a go in a next couple of months and see whether I will love it or not

This is such a great story! We all have those “Best Laid Plans” and I know I have experienced situations where those plans went completely off the rails and sometimes the alternative to our plans turns out being exactly the right thing. 😉 I haven’t read a lot by author Karla Sorensen but I am thinking that will change as I can’t wait to dive into more of her work! This story has the perfect mixture of perfectly flawed characters, angst, chemistry, romance, and passion - making it addictive and very entertaining!

The tropes explored in this story are: grumpy versus sunshine, close proximity, sports related, life changing experiences, and slow burn. It is written from a dual POV which is another plus from me 🙃 and there is plenty of dialogue between the two MCs adding to the substance and intimacy of the story.

The MCs are Burke Barret who is a former pro football player 🏈 who's career is ended by injury and Charlotte Cunningham who is a historical restoration expert 🛠️whose focus is helping Burke on the restoration of his property. There is immediate tension between these two, Burke is dealing with a huge amount of change both personally and professionally and he is a bit surely to say the least; whereas Charlotte is a burst of enthusiastic overzealous happiness.

Although this is a romance it is also a story of life. With life comes loss and the author does a spectacular job of keeping it realistic in terms of grief. I appreciate the way she allowed Burke to handle his loss and work through it in his own way.

I highly recommend this book and I am eager to read more of Sorensen in the future!

5 Stars ⭐️⭐️⭐️⭐️⭐️ | 4 Flames 🔥🔥🔥🔥

📚Disclosure: I received a review copy of this #book from the author/publisher via #Netgalley. All thoughts, opinions, comments, and interpretations of the story are my own and bias free. I did not receive any money in exchange for this review. Thank you to the publisher/author for allowing me the opportunity to review. 🦄
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🦄

First time reader of this author! But definitely not the last. I loved it and her writing style! Burke and Charlotte are chemistry and banter, so much banter. I fell in love with them from their the very start with their unforgettable meet cute until the very last page.

Burke is a former NFL player who has just inherited a house. A big historical house that needs a LOT of work.
It also comes with a historian, Charlotte.

On top of all the cuteness and the grumpy sunshine, the spice was extra nice!

Very much recommend!

This sounded like something I would love, however it didn’t really work for me. I felt that Burke and Charlotte were too different and lacked chemistry. I did love Daphne though, she was my favourite part of The Best Laid Plans

I am a huge fan of Karla Sorensen. I will read anything and everything written by her. The Best Laid Plans immediately moved into the top place of her books! The grumpy/sunshine, the witty banter, PASTIES. I can't wait to read more!

Burke is a former NFL player who has just inherited a house. A big historical house that needs a LOT of work. It also comes with a historian, Charlotte.

Burke has always done what is expected of him. He's trying to relax after playing in the NFL and make up for some lost time with his family. What he doesn't want is a behemoth of a house that he has no idea what to do with.

Charlotte loves history and historical houses. I hate to just put her in the sunshine category, but she's very sweet and loves what she does.

Burke doesn't really know what he wants. Does he fulfill what his friend wanted? What exactly did his friend want him to do? He's grappling with grief and with all these questions.

I loved the chemistry between Burke and Charlotte. There's instant attraction. But Burke has a lot of decisions to make. So where will Charlotte fit in?

Burke and Charlotte's families are great too. I really, really hope we get to see them again.

A Karla Sorensen book with even more steam? I'M THERE!

I love this author and she rarely writes a book that I don't love, but sometimes she skirts right up to the edge of steam and then backs away a bit. But THE BEST LAID PLANS went for it and I loved every steamy second.

And, even better, that steam comes with what this author always excels at; writing likeable-but flawed-characters, adding a lot of feels (but not enough to wreck you), and telling a story I cannot stop reading.

THE BEST LAID PLANS was an easy 5-star rating for me. Burke and Charlotte are chemistry and banter and so much banter. I fell in love with them from their unforgettable meet cute until the very last page.

Listen up, you NEED to add this book to your TBR immediately. I loved it!

STEAM LEVEL: R / 2-4 descriptive sex scenes, may have harsh language.
TRIGGERS: recent death of friend from fatal car accident, orphaned child

WHAT!! This was such a fun, steam read. I can't get enough of Charlotte and Burke and their witty banter and fierce love! This was exactly the right amount of slow burn, just enough spice, and plenty of substance. The book handled grief and loss in such a careful, truthful way. There was just enough about the house to keep the story moving along, but not so much that it felt like it was dragging the story down. Overall, I just really, really liked this! I can't wait to read the next books in this series!

Thanks to Netgalley, the author and publisher for an advanced copy to review.

Burke Barret (great name!) is a former pro football player who's career is ended by injury. He isn't quite sure what to do with himself, and things get worse when his best friends are killed, leaving him a home to renovate in their honor. It's a lot of weight on his shoulders.

Charlotte Cunningham is a sweet historical restoration expert who gets to work with the surly Burke on the renovations. There's instant friction between them, and Burke is rough as sandpaper throughout. As the story moves along, the relationship between Burke and Charlotte gradually changes into something like friendship, and then maybe more. This is definitely slow burn, with plenty of banter and conversation as Charlotte and Burke fall for each other. I really did like how the growth of their relationship was portrayed through their renovation project.

But while their feelings may have grown, there's still plenty of conflict as Burke still doesn't know what to do. How does he honor his best friends? What does he do with his life? Can he dump the past and move forward? While these may be typical struggles in romance, they are well done here without making it seem contrived or quickly resolved. Burke makes lots of mistakes, but he also gives good apology too, which was awesome.

I really liked this romance. It relies quite a bit on dialogue to advance their relationship and I loved that about it, along with the chemistry between Burke and Charlotte. While there are steamy moments, I really liked their conversation most of all.

🥰Enjoyment: This was an endearing enjoyable story. I love an intelligent successful FMC, and while I wouldn’t call this a sports romance, it was sports adjacent (aka post retirement).

📖 🎧 Writing &/or Audio Style: The writing style was clean and easy to read and overall I thought the narrators did a great job selling lovable characters.

👥 Characters & Relationships: I just really loved the evolution of Burke and Charlottes relationship. They’re both just honest good people and even when Burke was “cranky”, his good intentions were obvious.

⁉️Plot, Intrigue & Logic: I found the plot interesting and enjoyable, there was a bit in the 3rd act that felt a little over the top for me, but the character was also dealing with heavy guilt, and just like real life people, characters can grieve in different ways too.

🏞️Atmosphere & Setting: I’m barely kidding when I say I’m ready to pack up everything and move to Michigan. I just felt like I could picture the different things described.

🚨 For Reader Awareness: Death related to Drunk Driver (pre story)

📣Recommended for fans of: Just a good well done romance.

Sports
Grumpy/ sunshine
Close proximity
Slow burn
Found family

Burke is a former football player with a lot of emotional baggage. His feelings are locked up with the death of his best friend. The best friend that left him a money pit of a house in Michigan. He doesn’t want the house or to be in Michigan. He has plans to move to Florida with his sister and her kids. Dealing with a dilapidated house and responsibilities of renovations is not part of the plans. Especially when the renovation expert is an annoying know it all; even if she is a beautiful woman that he can’t stop think of.

Charlotte is passionate about renovating old homes and keeping them true to their original design. She loves it and knows that she will have to deal with people who sometimes do not share her visions. Burke doesn’t share her design passion but she hopes they can share another kind of passion.

They both have insecurities dealing with relationships/intimacy . Him with kissing and her with everything else. The slowly grow into more and the journey to HEA is bumpy.
It a long road to emptying the emotional baggage.

Great characters, wonderful banter, funny scenes to even out the emotional angst. Great first book in a series hopefully of great stores

Burke is a retired NFL player who was just gifted a house to be remodeled due to his friends passing. Charlotte just so happens to be the project manager

I discovered that this book was available on KU with audiobook as well and I was able to get through it faster than expected. The audiobook is amazing and I loved how they captured Burke & Charlotte banter.

The book was great, but I wish there was more content of Burke & Charlotte getting to know one another. There was a lot of talk about house remodeling that I wish could have been limited.

There are some side characters I hope that will get a book:

💙 Tansy
💙 Liam

“Make a home with me here, Charlotte. Make a life with me. All this time, nothing felt right and nothing else has given me a purpose or made me feel like I belonged. Because it wasn’t a place I was missing. It was you.”

- Former pro football player and preservationist
- Historical restoration
- Grumpy (him) sunshine (her)
- Forced proximity
- Dual POV
- Narrated by Connor Crais and Vanessa Edwin

Recently retired NFL player Burke thinks he’s going to spend his early retirement days by the beach in Florida. That is until he gets a call saying his best friend and his wife were killed in a car accident and they left him… a house. His grandparents’ house to be exact. The historical house Charlotte was working on restoring when she got the news.

Burke begrudgingly works alongside Charlotte during the renovations, even if they butt heads all. the. time. Staying together in the carriage house doesn’t help the sexual tension sizzling between them. Then Charlotte hilariously proposes a no-strings attachment... via PowerPoint. I think this is when I fell in love with her!

We all know I love a good grumpy/sunshine dynamic and that was Burke and Charlotte! But Burke couldn't resist Charlotte's chaos. He was also such a softie – my kryptonite! His line after the “windshield incident” made me melt: “You’re my partner in this. So no matter how much we bicker, or how much we disagree, I will always have your back.” But he wasn’t just protective of Charlotte. He was also so kind to his sister, niece and nephew. SWOON.

This book did dive into grief and healing and I really like the depth and character growth. “We both need some fixing, Burke. But I’d rather do that together, wouldn’t you?”

You can read and listen to The Best Laid Plans via KU. But if you’re a listener, PLEASE choose the audiobook. Vanessa and Connor are magnifique!

I loved Best Laid Plans. I could not get enough of the banter between Burke and Charlotte. The moment these two meet the attraction is there, but neither of them is ready for the other. Burke is retired from the NFL and looking forward to just relaxing, but when his life turns upside down, he finds himself with a house and Charlotte - the project manager. Charlotte has been in love with this house she has started to manage, but when things change she is not sure what will come of the beloved house. Burke and Charlotte both ignore their attraction to the other and constantly go back and forth over every little thing, but what happens the longer they spend time together, especially since they become house mates until the project ends? Best Laid Plans is a heart warming, enemies to lovers journey that will hit you with all the feels. Grab those tissues, the tears will be worth the journey that Burke and Charlotte take us on.

This story is a poignant romance exploring love, family, and friendship. Burke Barrett, a former football player, faces life's challenges, including grief and unexpected inheritances. When he meets Charlotte Cunningham, a passionate restoration expert, their connection is palpable, yet the story doesn't shy away from addressing their emotional struggles, from infertility to childhood trauma. The novel beautifully captures the importance of chosen family and supportive relationships, creating a heartwarming atmosphere. While Burke's emotional struggles sometimes felt overwhelming, the book's realism added depth to the characters. Despite the heaviness, the story's genuine portrayal of love and its transformative power deeply moved me. This is a compelling read, evoking a mix of emotions that lingers long after the final page.