Summary
The Best Laid Plans by Karla Sorensen focuses on themes of love, personal growth, and healing. The story is set in northern Michigan and follows Burke Barrett, a retired football player dealing with loss and grief. Charlotte Cunningham is a renovation expert who enters and shakes up his life. The novel explores the complexity of found family and friendship as well as the power of optimism and the potential for emotional healing and personal transformation.
Plot
The Best Laid Plans centers on an unlikely romance, self-discovery, and emotional healing. Set in northern Michigan, the story focuses on Burke Barrett, a retired NFL player dealing with the loss of his close friend and his wife. He unexpectedly inherits a neglected mansion, forcing him to address his past and seek a new purpose. The mansion, full of history, becomes crucial to his change.
Charlotte Cunningham, a restoration expert, enters Burke's life, altering its course. Her outlook contrasts with Burke’s reserved demeanor, leading to tension and attraction. When Burke agrees to collaborate on the renovation, they settle on sharing a small cottage on the property. In close proximity, their sexual chemistry sizzles. Charlotte proposes a "no strings attached" relationship, which only complicates their developing romance.
Working together, Burke seeks purpose beyond football, while Charlotte focuses on restoring the mansion. Their cohabitation gradually leads to personal growth and conflicts. After a significant breakup driven by unresolved grief and fear, both Burke and Charlotte realize the strength of their bond. Burke's choice to embrace love and renewal aligns with the mansion’s completed restoration, highlighting themes of healing and new beginnings.
Themes
Exploration of grief
In The Best Laid Plans, Karla Sorensen explores grief through Burke, a retired football player dealing with devastating loss. After the deaths of his best friend and his wife, Burke inherits an old family mansion filled with memories. He uses this property to connect to his past and begins his emotional recovery. The mansion's renovation serves as a metaphor for rebuilding his life. Sorensen presents Burke's journey as a complex process of healing and emotional growth.
Home renovation
In The Best Laid Plans, home renovation symbolizes Burke's inner journey and life's cyclical nature. Burke renovates a neglected house inherited from a deceased friend. This renovation becomes a metaphor for loss, renewal, and healing. Breathing new life into the home reflects themes of death and rebirth. Burke's process through grief mirrors changes in the house. Each alteration signifies his steps toward acceptance and hope. The renovation becomes a narrative of transformation and growth. Sorensen weaves personal healing into the elements of rebuilding, showing the power of overcoming emotional barriers.
Found family
In The Best Laid Plans, Karla Sorensen explores themes such as found family and personal growth. Burke forms new connections and rebuilds relationships following his best friend's death. This narrative reflects personal growth through Burke and Charlotte's development. Burke's grief parallels the restoration of a mansion, symbolizing healing and renewal. Charlotte's resilience and optimism further her self-discovery and encourage Burke to seek meaning beyond his past as a football player.
Love and friendship play a significant role as Burke and Charlotte's relationship evolves. Initially based on convenience, their connection grows into a deeper bond. The theme of self-discovery is central as characters confront internal conflicts, embrace change, and envision new futures.
Romance
In The Best Laid Plans, Burke and Charlotte's romantic and emotional dynamics unfold in a context of grief and healing. The story develops around their forced proximity as they renovate a house Burke inherits. Burke's initial brusque demeanor contrasts with Charlotte's optimism, creating a "grumpy/sunshine" dynamic. Their interactions involve verbal sparring and chemistry. Charlotte suggests a no-strings-attached arrangement, presented humorously through a PowerPoint.
Their relationship deepens as they address their emotional challenges. Burke learns vulnerability, while Charlotte's supportive nature allows him space to process his grief. Sorensen uses their evolving bond to explore themes of healing and emotional renewal. The narrative examines love’s transformative impact through the characters' growth.
Characters
Burke Barrett: A retired professional football player reeling from the tragic deaths of his best friend and his wife, compounded by the new responsibilities that come with inheriting an old family mansion. Teaming up with Charlotte, a renovation manager, Burke starts off as gruff and emotionally distant but changes over time. The story explores his evolving relationship with Charlotte as they work together.
Charlotte Cunningham: Charlotte is a renovation expert who approaches challenges with optimism. She balances Burke's demeanor with her commitment to the old house and their developing relationship. Her role provides depth to the narrative through her dedication and interaction with Burke.
Daphne: Charlotte's aunt, Daphne adds humor and wisdom to the narrative. She supports Charlotte by offering insights that bring lighter moments to the story.
Liam Davies: Liam's character hints at underlying dynamics and unresolved issues, setting the stage for future developments within Karla Sorensen's The Best Men series.
Quick facts
The Best Laid Plans is the first book in Karla Sorensen's The Best Men series, focusing on renovation-themed romance.
The main characters are Burke Barrett, a retired NFL player, and Charlotte Cunningham, a passionate renovation manager.
The novel features a grumpy/sunshine dynamic and forced proximity aspects, highlighting contrast between characters.
A renovation project on an old family mansion in northern Michigan serves as a pivotal setting, adding HGTV-like drama to the plot.
The Best Laid Plans emphasizes themes of personal growth, found family, love, grief, and emotional healing.
Burke inherits a historical house, leading to emotional struggles and unexpected relationship dynamics with Charlotte.
The storyline includes a surprise co-guardianship of a toddler, strengthening the bond between Burke and Charlotte.
An interesting narrative element includes a PowerPoint proposal in the story.
The novel's dual POV structure provides insights into the perspectives of both main characters.
The Best Laid Plans combines elements of sports romance with home renovation, appealing to fans of both genres.
Future storylines involving a character named Liam are hinted at, introducing new characters and plot potential within the series.
About the author
Karla Sorensen is a prolific and popular author of contemporary romance novels exploring themes of personal growth, healing, and unexpected, complicated relationships. She made her debut in the romance genre in 2015 with a trilogy, Three Little Words. Her subsequent series include Bachelors of the Ridge, Washington Wolves, Love at First Sight, The Best Men, and Wilder Family.
