Review: The Best Laid Plans by Karla Sorensen (The Best Men #1)

Note: An advance reader copy (ARC) was provided by the author.

Karla Sorensen's new series, The Best Men, is off to a resounding start with a grumpy/sunshine, forced proximity romance in The Best Laid Plans. We meet thirty-six-year-old Burke Barrett, a professional football player whose career abruptly came to an end due to an injury. You would think that would be what devastates him, but it's the sudden passing of his best friend and his best friend's wife that has left him at such a loss. Finding out that they've left him a decaying house that once belonged to his best friend's grandparents has Burke bewildered; learning that it comes with a restoration expert who specializes in historic homes adds to Burke's frustration. Instead of spending his retirement with his younger sister and her children in Florida, he finds himself splitting his time between there and Michigan with Charlotte Cunningham. Forced to share the same living quarters, the simmering attraction between them threatens to boil over. The solution? A temporary arrangement involving dealing with their physical desires without emotional entanglements. After all, once Campbell House is renovated, Burke and Charlotte will go their separate ways. But you know what they say about best laid plans...

It's been a REALLY long time since I last had to put together a Power Point presentation, but I'd be more than willing to dust off those skills in order to properly explain just how much I adored reading Karla Sorensen's The Best Laid Plans. This book had a slow-burn romance with healthy doses of wit and humor and some much appreciated angst. (What can I say, I'm an angst addict at heart.) There was well-thought-out and clear development, both for the main characters and for their story, with a great deal of emotional growth, especially from Burke. Knowing Burke's and Charlotte's back stories highlighted why there was some caution and trepidation in terms of involving themselves in a romantic relationship, choosing instead to engage in a fling with a pre-acknowledged end. I loved seeing these two fall in love, and they certainly had some noteworthy support from those nearest and dearest to them, with special mention going to Charlotte's godmother, Daphne, and Daphne's non-boyfriend, Richard, and Tansy, Burke's sister. Speaking of Tansy, dare I hope for her to get her own happily-ever-after, maybe with a certain builder named William? And I'm definitely eager to see what awaits Liam and his co-guardian. While waiting to see what's next in the Best Men series, I'm happily handing the first best man and the woman who made him even better five stars.

Release Date: 03 October 2023

Date Read: 01 October 2023

Learn more about Karla Sorensen.

Pre-order The Best Laid Plans on Amazon.