Karla SorensenReseñas

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

The Best Laid Plans is the first book in a new series by Karla Sorensen. The story is about a retired NFL player, Burke, who has inherited a decrepit old house when his best friend dies in a car accident. When he goes to check out this property he meets Charlotte who had been hired as a restoration expert for the house project that has been left in limbo. There are sparks and banter from the first meeting.

One of the things I liked about this book, was that the NFL hero was not an ex ladies man who needs taming. I liked that he was the opposite of that. There is also a lot of attention given to his grief journey. While we read often about characters overcoming the loss of a parent, spouse or sibling, we don't see this scenario as much. I felt it was treated honestly and with care.

I loved the banter between Burke and Charlotte. They are a fun pairing from the beginning. I loved the slow burn and the satisfying conclusion to their romance.

My sincere thanks to Montlake and NetGalley for giving me the opportunity to read The Best Laid Plans and give my unbiased opinion of it.

rounded down from 3.5

Best in the series.

4.5 stars
Fun continuation of the series.

Slugged through to about 65% but realized I just didn't care what happened so decided to move on.
Enjoyed first two books in series but couldn’t get into this one. No spark between main characters.

3.5ish to 4

A bit disappointed in this . . . same world as Penny Reid's Winston brothers and a follow on to Jen and Cletus. Same world and Jen and Cletus barely appear on-page. It was fine but not likely memorable. Took me forever to finish it.

It was cute. What more could I say? It didn't 'wow' me like I had originally expected it to considering the lead heroine being handicapped and the hero pretty much bringing the romance into the whole friends turned lovers trope. Additional to that, there wasn't much drama in the read to really captivate me into the storyline and wanting to know more about the characters. Overall, average read with little to no excitement.

Sono rimasta piacevolmente sorpresa. Vista la trama mi sarei aspettata di peggio, pensavo di trovarmi di fronte una storia con la tipica ragazza super sexy e ochetta, odiosissima e desiderosa solo di infilarsi nel letto del belloccio di turno e il playboy cavernicolo incapace di fare 2+2, ossessionato dallo sport e pronto a tutto pur di accoppiarsi con la protagonista, per fortuna mi sbagliavo, entrambi i protagonisti sono originali e per nulla scontati e la storia si è rivelata piacevole e molto scorrevole. Allie è si una ragazza super sexy e ricca ma per nulla oca, è una giovane che ha sofferto nella vita, che nonostante la ricchezza è disposta a lavorare sodo senza dare per scontata la sua fortuna, che non si vergogna a chiedere aiuto in caso di bisogno, è una ragazza un po' goffa e con un cuore d'oro. Anche Luke risulta essere un personaggio simpatico e divertente, nonostante si comporti inizialmente molto male con la protagonista dimostra di avere i suoi problemi personali e motivi, in poco tempo riesce a tirare fuori un carattere completamente diverso e a farsi perdonare i suoi metodi da orso. Nonostante sia un maschio alpha non pensa continuamente a ficcarsi nel letto della belloccia di turno preferendo piuttosto occuparsi di sua figlia e cercare di essere un buon esempio per lei. Suo figlia Faith è il suo mondo e farebbe di tutto per proteggerla. E che dire... Ho ADORATO Faith, di solito i figli in questi romanzi sono i pesi morti della storia, o non vengono caratterizzati e inseriti solo per dire "Uuu guarda lei/lui si che è un personaggio cazzuto essendo un genitore single" o servono solo per creare scompiglio e casini comportandosi da mocciosi e mettendo mille paletti nella relazione già complicata tra i due, in questo caso invece la bimba è dolcissima e astuta, capisce fin da subito che il padre potrebbe andare d'accordo con la goffa vicina di casa e fa da Cupido in ogni occasione, sfrutta ogni occasione per fare in modo che i due zucconi si mettano insieme. Insomma... i personaggi sono adorabili e mi sono diverta molto durante la lettura. La storia non è sicuramente delle più originali ma riesce ad intrattenere e divertire risultando molto scorrevole, fortunatamente non ci troviamo di fronte mille triangoli e non dobbiamo sopportare oche pronte a vendere l'anima al diavolo e maschi alpha pronti a far scoppiare la coppietta felice, i protagonisti principali sono ben caratterizzati e i secondari non danno troppo fastidio rimanendo sullo sfondo e aprendo uno spiraglio per i futuri libri. Una storia piacevole e perfetta per l'estate. Consigliato a chi cerca un romance "Enemies to Friends to Lovers" divertente e spiritoso

A cute romance that felt real. It was neither too rushed, nor did it once get boring. In fact, I read it in one sitting straight. However, I did feel that some loose ends were left untied. Apart from that, a great weekend read.

LOVED this book. Adorable voice. Great chemistry between the friends-to-lovers couple. Wonderful strong representation of a disabled character in a wheelchair in a romantic relationship. Joss got a virus when she was 14, and when it spread to her spine, loss sensation in her legs. Her best friend Levi fell in love with her the moment her saw her, but she wasn’t ready for a relationship back then. Years later, they’re still besties, but when another guy comes on the scene, does that change things? I loved getting to spend more time in Green Valley, in the bakery, loved the strong characters all around, and seeing these two fall in love. LOVE LOVE LOVE this one!!! And yay that the Green Valley expanded series is available in KU!! 5/5 stars.

Please excuse typos/name misspellings. Entered on screen reader.

More of a2, tipping up to 2.5 for the references to Michigan State (Go Green! Go White!) There is nothing wrong with this, it is so generic it is almost a parody. In the last year or so I have found, to my surprise, that I rather like many sports themed romances, but here the characters were not well developed enough. Rather than build the characters the author simply substituted a poor little rich girl with complicated feelings about her recently deceased father and an NFL quarterback single and devoted father, both of whom are uncommonly attractive and hard-working, and let us fill in the rest of their stories from our assumptions about who they are based on that. It was not enough for me, but it was perfectly pleasant.½

4.2 stars

I thought i has this all figured out when I started this book. I figured it would be a twin switcharoo and that it would be obvious how it was going to go from there. Boy, was I wrong. I liked how the characters evolved and came into their own. I liked the ease that they connected. Moreover, I liked the characters together.

Looking forward to the next book.

4 stats

Solid book with likeable characters. I related to Lia since she was pursuing a degree in English Literature. I would have sold my soul to go to oxford when i was getting the same degree.

Cute banter and chemistry. The steam was mellow this story. Anotner great addition to this series.

this is definitely a Ted Lasso romcom of your dreams.

I'm giving it 3 stars because of how short this book was and because I don't love grand gestures, but if you like this trope, then you'll definitely love it!

Surprisingly sweet. I honestly thought it was just going to be a fun trashy read. Actually its quite a slow burn and a true love story, quite light on the sexy times.

I hate to bring sores and boils up when talking about romance, but I had an allergic reaction to something which left my arms covered in a rash, and I have been on prednisone for a few days as a result. For me prednisone=no sleep so plenty of nighttime audiobook listening time opened up. Its not great literature, but it was mighty fine trying and failing to sleep listening content on my vacation.½

A cute romance that felt real. It was neither too rushed, nor did it once get boring. In fact, I read it in one sitting straight. However, I did feel that some loose ends were left untied. Apart from that, a great weekend read.

This was one I set aside on 12/31, thinking that maybe it would work for me....

Instead, it might end up being my breakup book for the author. Looks like I've tried another, and finished another, and probably one of those authors that unless I see some reviews convincing me otherwise, I just don't need to read anymore.

It was just kind of...boring. And it tried to do some things with the Bronte sisters that I skimmed because that was boring too. And I didn't really understand that conflict. The humor relied a bit on the football-soccer-NFL distinction, making fun of soccer/football and British usage vs American usage but not the clever kind.

[(Note: there are legitimately funny and meaningful potential differences (see this twitter thread: https://twitter.com/kj_charles/status...) or many discussions here for that matter, but most of this ain't it.)

Focused is a sports romance. The two main characters, Molly and Noah, knew each other 10 years earlier. Noah has been focused on playing football for so long and so hard that he is called "the machine". Molly is charged with helping a film crew do a story on the team based around Noah. I enjoyed the first half of the book where Molly and Noah are trying to figure out what to do about the attraction they feel between them. Molly's relationship with her brother, sisters, and sister-in-law is interesting. Her brother Logan was the subject of another book by the author and some background is given which intrigued me. I did feel that the second half of the book moved too quickly with a big chunk of time skipped over. All in all, it was a good romance and interested me enough to want to check out Logan's book as well as the next book in this series.½

Really good story.
Quite funny.
No intimate scenes with anyone other than the Hero and heroine.
No other woman or man drama.
No cheating.
Secondary characters from previous books appear.
HEA.
Epilogue.

Bit wierd setup for relationship of convenience.
What happens when his mum lives bit longer than expected?
No intimate scenes with anyone other than the Hero and heroine.
The couple are sweet together.
Secondary characters from previous books appear.
No cheating.
HEA.

Good story.
Hero is not a manwhore type.
Single dad.
No intimate scenes with anyone other than the Hero and heroine.
No cheating.
HEA.

Broody Hero.
Super positive heroine.
Cute dog.
Excellent secondary characters.
No intimate scenes with anyone other than the Hero and heroine.
Pushing away for a good bit.
No ex drama.
No intimate scenes with anyone other than the Hero and heroine.
HEA.
Epilogue 18 months later.

DNF.

I'm bored, super bored.

Wasn't keen on the premise of every girl he meets hitting on him, come on ladies let's do better then that it's now 2020.