Karla will forever be a favorite author of mine for the very reason that she makes me love these broody men who play sports!
With this grumpy /sunshine, sports romance where they share custody of their friends child is such a wonderful read. You get all those fuzzy feelings when you read this story.

Liam is a grumpy Brit that you will hate to love. He has his walls so high that he lost track of them. But it is a beautiful thing to see those walls crumble one by one!

Zoe is a ray of sunshine with sass and a love for books. She is my hero! Her tenderness in this book melted my heart. Zoe is the glue for Mira and Liam!

There were moments when reading this book that I wanted to shed a few tears. But so many moments left me smiling and laughing. You get a little girl who loves ducks more than most things. And two people trying to navigate a new life they never saw coming.

I love anything Karla writes and will continue to fall in love with every one of her characters.

When the grumpiest British guy and the sunshiney girl get guardianship of their best friends’ little girl after their tragic death, there’s bound to be some drama ensue.

Liam and Zoe have had a very rocky relationship since they met 10 years ago. They always would pick at each other and honestly I thought Liam was a jerk most of the book. But then you start to see WHY he’s so closed off and does not want to be a guardian of the little girl. It’s more about his fear of becoming like his father more than his capability of being a great guardian.

I loved seeing his character growth over the book and how he started to really open up to Zoe and the little girl. When they went to see the child therapist together, it really shed a lot of light on him and I thought that part was so sweet.

You’ll like this book if you like these tropes:
Friends to lovers
Roommates
He’s always secretly wanted her
Shared guardianship
Grumpy/sunshine

Two people who have been on the periphery of each other's lives are thrown together when tragedy strikes their best friends. Liam Davies has always been less than pleasant with Zoe Valentine. He has his reasons. When they're named guardians of Mirabelle their lives descend into a little bit of chaos. Zoe jumps in with both feet doing everything she can for Mira, while Liam wants no part of it. Fortunately, Mira's adorableness and Zoe's sunshine are too much for him to resist.

I think Liam is the grumpiest MMC Karla has ever written. He's rough, and not just around the edges, you can feel his disapproval wafting off the page. He's one hundred percent sure that he's not fit to be a parent/guardian to anyone. Zoe is the complete opposite, she's determined, despite not being sure how she's going to make it; but she's doing the absolute best she can despite Liam initially abandoning her to raise Mira alone. The transition from "I'll never stay" to "I'll never leave" is heart-achingly sweet. Is there anything better than the biggest, grumpiest, most foul-mouthed man buying plastic duckies to help a toddler get over her fear of the water? No, no there isn't. This is also, quite possibly, the slowest burn in the history of slow burns. The tension, the interruptions, I thought I was going to explode with the anticipation. Two books in a row now Karla has made me cry, actual tears running down my face. Fantastic book, all the stars.

After the sudden death of their best friend Zoe and Liam are named the guardians of their three year old daughter.

They never had the best relationship, but this time they must work together and work well because a kid unites them.

Zoe is immediately up to the task taking over the care of Mira and becoming a single mom at a moment's notice. But Liam never wanted a relationship and even more a family of his own. His past hasn't left him with the best experience about what a family is and he sure never wants to live that again.

Zoe was so ready to give her everything for little Mira and their bond was something truly special.

Liam had to work through some personal issues in order to be there for Mira and Zoe as well, his personal journey was memorable.

The romance was one on the very very slow burn side but in a delightful way since the build up was going on and on. I loved they connection they had and the secret pining that was happening for years on the background.

I am a big fan of the guardian trope and this book nailed this, with just the right amount of grief, companionship and love.


* I received an ARC and this is my honest opinion.

My heart was not ready for this book! What a great slow burn but also an enemy to lovers done so well! There were so many layers to this book that were written and tied together so well. The grief and sadness and how Zoe and Liam had to deal with all the while making sure that Mira was coping and thriving. Mira was such a great addition to this story. This is a must-read book, it is one that once you start you do not want to put it down. You feel as though you are experiencing the story as it is happening and become invested in. The emotions are felt in the pages.

This was another book that had me connect with both characters. After having their best friends' die in a car crash, both Zoe and Liam are thrust into a co-guardianship situation. Thing is? They tend to want to set each other on fire then be in the same room together for more than 1 second.
Zoe--I felt her hard. Single mommin is HARD. You throw yourself into it immediately just to make sure that everything you do is to make sure that baby is getting the best. You lose yourself in the new norm. And yes...you sometimes show up to a lawyer's office with dried macaroni noodles in your 7 day old dry shampooed hair.
She wanted so hard to make sure that Mira got the best of everything. How she paused her whole life to make sure she was honoring her dead best friends' wishes. She was even willing to set aside her 'hatred' of Liam to make it happen.
Liam--I didn't resonate with him on the normal fronts. I don't usually consider myself an asshole and I'm not British, or a dude, or play football. But what got me? How hard he tried to NOT be his dad on the daily. How high he built his walls to keep everything he wanted, but would never let himself have, out. Me over here trying to raise twin sons while breaking the cycle of abuse and NOT being anything like my 'mother'.
I loved watching him with his teammates. Being a respected veteran and making sure that they were a family and their best versions on and off the field. Reached right in and squeezed my heart to watch him crumble at the hands of this three year old little girl, with a duck obsession. "Little Duck" 🥹🥹🥹

Mira and her duck. Rosa and the book club ladies. The football teammates. Loved it all. Read it in one night. HIGHLY suggest y'all read it and be ready for the angsty, emotional slow burn.

If you loved the movie Life as We Know It, you will LOVE Liam and Zoe!!!!

Liam and Zoe can't stand each other. It's clear to the reader that under all that dislike is passion, and it's clear to their best friends as well. So imagine their shock when they are left as co-guardians of their friends' toddler in the wake of their friends' car accident. Liam and Zoe have to turn their life around completely, including getting used to the idea of living together and being parents.

Liam was a hero who grew up guarded after childhood trauma left him afraid of loving anyone. While he doesn't believe he is the best person for Zoe and Mira (the toddler), his actions say otherwise. He is a bear cub who loves hard without knowing he's doing it. Likewise, Zoe has her own demons to face after a divorce that left her feeling shaky about trusting herself to find the right partner again. It's a very slow burn, but Liam and Zoe find what they want and need in each other, and they both deserved it more than anything. Even better, they became the parents their friends knew they would be, and I think that's what made me the most emotional of all!

This was an emotional forced roommates slow burn romance which I loved! Zoe, the FMC, and Liam, the MMC, love to hate on each other and they have been for about a decade but due to the death of their best friends they end up guardians of an almost 3 year old girl, Mira. Mira is sweet, sassy, stubborn and beyond obsessed with ducks! Loved her!

Zoe was such a great FMC I loved how she was all in for Mira from the beginning and also so willing to put aside her differences with Liam for Mira. She really would do anything for that little girl! I loved her relationship with Rosa and the book club ladies too!

I loved that Liam actually had such a great support system with this team and coaches! The locker room talk was really him just opening up about his feelings and them for the most part being super helpful and pretty understanding towards him for acting out. His mom also seems to be so sweet and just missing him so much! I was living for all the cute moments between him and Mira, they were soo cute together!

🔥hate to love
🔥slow burn
🔥forced roommates
🔥single 'parent'
🔥forced guardianship situation
🔥grumpy/sunshine
🔥he falls first
🔥football player/sports romance
🔥grumpy, secret cinnamon roll Brit hero

Liam Davies and Zoe Valentine have had a contentious relationship for the better part of a decade. When tragedy strikes and the best friends that brought them together both die in a car crash the pair are forced to reexamine their relationship. To their surprise, they have both been granted co-guardianship of their 3 year old god daughter, Mira. Zoe steps up immediately while Liam has some demons giving him pause about the whole parenting thing.
When this story was teased in the first book for the Best Men series, The Best Laid Plans, I was ecstatic as the movie Life as We Know It is one of my favs! The Best of All did not disappoint, I couldn’t read it fast enough. In spite of the extremely heavy subject, Sorensen found ways to make me laugh throughout this book while also pulling on my heart strings big time! My only complaint is that I wish we got more time in the story with Liam and Zoe as a couple. Overall, I would definitely recommend this series but remember to check trigger warnings!

In The Best of All we get:
-slow burn
-forced proximity
-he falls first
-enemies to lovers
-sports romance (football)
-a zany octogenarian book club

4/5 ⭐️⭐️⭐️⭐️
🌶️🌶️

Thank you to Netgalley, Karla Sorensen and her team at Montlake for a copy of this ARC in exchange for my honest review.

Will start this by saying that I have been reading Karla Sorenson for about two years now and this one is hands down my favourite book from her. It has everything I like exactly the way I like. My favourite thing about this book is probably the slow burn - I love that it's not insta spice and there is insane build up to that because their relationship and their doubts - especially Liam's needed that to be felt this deeply. And deep it was. I devoured every bit of the angst. Mira was so damn adorable - the way she won over Liam was just a special experience to read.

All in all, I can't wait to buy the physical book and read it all over again. Thank you Karla and team for the ARC 🥹

What a stunning slow burn romance from Karla Sorensen. This is in the same universe as The Best Laid Plans, another wonderful read.

Liam is British, he plays American football and grew up in the shadow of a famous English football (soccer) playing father. He’s cranky and withdrawn, repressed and angry - so angry. This must be Karla’s Roy Kent book (iykyk 😉) because Liam’s voice has all the foul-mouthed surly, snarky grumpiness you could wish for. He has been in love with Zoe for years, but they clash all the time. I loved how he wasn’t a player, he focused on football and getting through a pretty locked-down life.

Zoe is a romantic, she’s divorced, and feels the futility of all that wasted time - now she’s yearning for a happy life. She’s capable and clever and I loved her immediately. After a tragic accident, these two end up with shared guardianship of a little girl, Mira, and have to navigate their grief and all the complexities of parenting.

It’s a tribute to found family, and tenacity and, put simply, how powerful love is. The contrasts are brilliant - Mira is precocious but still real - her speech is hilarious! There’s grief, but it’s not a trauma dump. There’s passion, but it’s a slow burn 🌶

We are in really capable hands here - enjoy the read 😃

Thank you very much NetGalley, Karla Sorensen and Montlake for the ARC. Opinions are my own.

It is the best of all..

Karla Sorensen is fast become an auto click author for me.
Why? She writes complicated, interesting men.
Liam is slightly damaged from his childhood, which is why his mate decided he and Zoe would be co-guardians if any thing happened to their best friends. Well, something does, and now Liam and Zoe are forced to co-parent, Mira. Liam is a grumpy commitment-phobe, whereas, Zoe is sunshiny, family-centric. She, of course is very physically attracted to Liam (he is a hottie, after all).
Recommend.

Yes, yes, everything yes. Karla has worked her way up my list of favorite authors where I continue to love all her books. Even if they torture with the slow burn.

Here you have a forced proximity and guardianship that comes about in a tragic way. We meet all these characters in the book prior, and I for one was mentally preparing myself for heartbreak. The love, emotions, determination and sass is everything I needed.

simply loved this book!!!! there’s so much emotion and it’s handled with such care. the characters are super realistic and well rounded and mira was such a delight. had such a good time reading it, i honestly never wanted to put it down.

Karla Sorensen, The Best Of All, will have your heart exploding with love. It is Book 2 of the Best Men series. The story is about Zoe and Liam being forced into an unexpected co-guardenship and roommate situationship. They truly have a hate to love relationship that has been brewing for a decade. Mira is a 2 and half year old toddler who brings them together, and they become an instant family. It takes Liam some time to come around due to his past and not wanting a family. He is a cinnamon roll hero from Britian who plays American football. So yes, Karla, I would love for this read to be available in audio 🥰.

Karla, you did not disappoint. You had me grabbing for tissues, and little Mira stolen my heart. The way she melted Liam's grumpy heart just brought tears to my eyes.

Zoe and Liam had to learn how to lean on each other and get along for Mira. I loved the storyline, especially the fact that they had rival football teams, and Zoe is a romance reader who crunches numbers (same girl, same). The slow burn was amazing. Karla, you did an amazing job with The Best Of All.

This is not my typical genera, so me giving The Best Of All ⭐️⭐️⭐️⭐️⭐️ and a definite must-read status goes to show you need to get this book. Even though spice was not big in the read until towards the end, I give it 🌶🌶🌶🌶, because when it happened, it definitely happened. Don't forget to go out and get Book 1, The Best Laid Plans. Karla, I'm so glad I got to read this book, I am definitely now a fan of your work 🥰

This slow burn was chefs kiss 👌! In this book, we meet Liam and Zoe who come together to take care of their best friend’s daughter, Mira, after a tragic accident. At first, Liam is very hesitant to help Zoe to do his past, but after a while he has a change of heart and they come to an understanding and work together to raise Mira!

I am not a big of fan of single parents in my romance books but somehow Karla always makes it work and be perfect in the end. I mean one of my favorite books of hers is Forbidden! I actually loved Mira, she was so cute and had Liam and Zoe wrapped around her finger. The scene where Liam finally hugged Mira was adorable and heartbreaking and so well done. That had to be my favorite part. And the way Liam’s personality is so quiet but also thoughtful and takes care of both Mira and Zoe! Zoe was so strong in the way she didn’t even stop to think to take care of Mira, and took her in immediately and gave her all of her love. I really enjoyed this story and how they progressed to enemies to lovers. Even the way they communicated and were truthful of their feelings was amazing- very mature. The reason I gave it a 4 ⭐️ was because I just didn’t feel the connection between Zoe and Liam 100% when they got together. I wish there was a little more buildup and teasing to their relationship, because when they finally got together I didn’t feel the automatic connection and I love yous. Overall, I really enjoyed this book and you do not need to read the first one as it is their own storyline!

Thank you the author agency for an ARC for an honest review!

I love a good slow burn. It creates the best sexual tension, longing looks, accidental touches and this book has all of the above.
Liam and Zoe are beautiful. He’s been in love with her for years but because of childhood trauma he feels that he can’t be with her. The only thing Zoe knows about Liam is how much he dislikes her, or so she thought.
The interactions with the smartest, cutest, grownup 2 1/2 yr old are breathtaking. Zoe loved little Mira immediately and knew just what to do with her. Sharing co-parent duties with Zoe, Liam has no idea what to do. Mira, however knows exactly what to do and that is to just love them. That beautiful little duck tears down his walls and in doing so, Zoe takes notice that Liam is not the grump she thought he was.
When he finally tells her how he feels and she starts to reciprocate, the sexual tension heats up but so does the most romantic date ever.
The romance was worth the wait. Liam’s growth… stunning and his vulnerability… devastating. Zoe, realizing she wants Liam…everything.
“It’s even worse when you realize the person you want to be with has been in front of you the entire time.”
Mira was a scene stealer (“I hold you?” Mira asked.) and I absolutely love the family dynamic they build together.
I haven’t read a book by Karla I don’t love. But the ones she writes with kids and parent dynamics, make my heart ache. I need Mira to hold me.

After reading The Best Laid Plans, I could not wait to learn more about Liam and little Mira. Liam was such a grump, but I had a feeling that he’d be a big teddy bear for the right person. A grumpy guy falling in love is my kryptonite! Watching Liam’s walls crumble as he lets Mira in and admits his feeling for Zoe was everything I had hoped for. Both Liam and Zoe are best friends with Chris and Aimee, but they never got along well with each other. When tragedy strikes, they become the guardians of Chris and Aimee’s daughter Mira.They had to learn to navigate their own grief, as well as parent a toddler who’s whole world was turned upside down. Zoe stepped up and was ready to do everything she could for Mira but Liam was hesitant.
I loved everything about this book. It was emotional and sweet, and although Liam and Zoe lost their best friends, they had so many people in their lives who loved and supported them. They had to face their pasts to be the best versions of themselves for Mira and they did! Their relationship blossomed slowly into a beautiful partnership. There was always tension between them and when they (let’s be honest Liam) finally admitted their feelings, their chemistry was off the charts. Karla Sorensen did an amazing job balancing the sweet and emotional moments in this story.I loved every moment and can not wait for more!

The inheriting a kid trope when their friends pass, is a trope I don’t often get to read, and I’m kinda thankful, because it is one of the more emotional storylines out there. Adding in the fact that Liam didn’t want a family at all cause of his backstory, and I was wrecked. Especially in the therapy scenes towards the end of this book. I also loved how much of a slow burn this book was, it felt real, and honest as why they waited, rather than having them fall into bed quickly.


I also loved the balance of humor and emotion in this book, especially with Mira often being the trigger for both, it really showed her personality, but also how children don’t quite understand things, and don’t fully understand being sad all the time, so you have to laugh with them at the hardest times.

Liam and Zoe having this long complicated backstory, that spans years, full of longing on one side and hatred on the other is also perfect to force them to live together! Their relationship changed throughout the book so many times, and I loved every moment of it!

This is book two of the Best Men series by this author. Once again, Karla develops excellent character in this forced proximity co-guardianship situation. Slow-burn romance that keeps you wanting more to see when the grumpy hero will allow his feelings for the MFC show. Recommended read!