"The Five-Year Plan" by Carla Burgess had the most phenomenal first chapter. It was breaking my heart and left me hanging and needing more and was just perfect. Then the plot went back five years and that was sort of a struggle for me. The story was still pretty good, it just wasn't as amazing as that first chapter and that was a little disappointing. Then that plot line got going and got really good, and then we switched back to the future and I'd lost interest in it by that point. I'm not sure if switching more frequently between the timelines might have helped, but I have read other romances that did that well. The ending also felt like it dragged on for quite a while and I started skimming a little because it felt like everything had wrapped up a while ago and I didn't care anymore.
Also, the literal title of the book is about Orla's five-year plan and how important her career is to her, but she hardly thinks or cares about it and Aiden quite frequently dismisses it entirely, acting like it should be something she could just give up to be with him even though she never asks him to do the same thing. That was pretty frustrating.
So, this is probably more like a 3.5 stars than 4 stars, but I like to round up for generosity. It was a cute story. I loved the falling-in-love-in-nature feel of it and Aiden was (for the most part) very dreamy and I flew threw the book in just a couple days. So I'd say for the most part it did its job, it just could've used some cutting and rearranging.

Loved the premise of The Five-Year Plan, but I think I couldn't really connect with these characters, and I think it's largely in part to the dialogue and Orla's POV. The characters don't sound like they are working people in their 20s and 30s - they sound much more childish than that.

The story also starts in the present for a little bit but then spent way too much time in the past, way more than just your usual flashback. Maybe if the book had started in the past, then worked up to the present instead of having a chapter in the present then going back five years for probably half of the book, it would have worked better? As a result, the plot sort of dragged at times.. There wasn't much of a buildup, in my opinion, to seeing if they get together: we get the cliffhanger of the first chapter in the present, half of the book in the past, a few chapters of a "will they, won't they?" (which I felt should have been the ending), and the rest of the novel with them together.

I really enjoyed reading about Aiden's passion for the environment and animals. At a climate change protest, Orla worries that he was about give a lecture on veganism, and honestly, I wish he had! I would have also liked to hear more about Orla's all-too-important career. In those five years,, how did she reach her goals? How did she end up in London? Why was she so passionate about her work in the first place?

BUT "I want to inspire compassion for these animals and the planet itself," Aiden says, then later "It'll be vegetarian, by the way, so there'll be none of your murdered animals." And Orla doesn't say anything bad or rude about vegetarians/vegans, she eats her veggie burger in peace. And she later reveals Aiden inspired her to go vegetarian (with the intention of going vegan)! Love to see it.

_The arc of this book was provided by the publisher via Netgalley in exchange of an honest review._

I did not complete it. I was so fucking bored while reading this one. I was excited about this one but it didn't go well. I didn't like Orla at all.

3 stars
I have mixed emotions on this one. At times it dragged, at times I loved Aiden more than I liked Opal. At times, I thought Opal was a little too much. But, in the end, it was an ok read

Thank you to NetGalley For this ARC. The book starts with Aiden and Orla seeing each other for the first time in 5 years. Next the book flashes back to when they first met, how they developed a friendship and then drifted apart. This was a cute story but I felt the argument as to why they couldn’t be a couple was hashed out so many times, it got old. #thefiveyearplan #carlaburgess

The story was was well written and the characters were interesting enough. Not sure I connected with either Orla or Aiden as much as wanted to but the book is worth a read.

I just love Carla Burgess! I love how she writes every emotion into her stories, how I feel like I know the characters and I am invested in their happy ending.
Yet again, another perfect book by one of my fave contemporary authors! Can't wait for the next!

I loved part of this story but other parts were a little lacking. My main complaint was that I thought the characters could have been developed a little bit further. Especially, that of the character Orla as I felt she was a little one-dimensional. The story though is cute so I don't regret reading it.

An interesting first chapter but then I unfortunately lost interest as the book focused a lot on the past.

I really wanted to like this book, it sounded so promising, but a few chapters in and I was completely bored with the book. I felt like I couldn’t connect to the characters of Orla and Aiden at all and it made me not really care about where they were heading on this journey,

Orla and Aiden meet during the summer when she's sent to interview him for the local newspaper. Orla has a five-year plan, to move up the ladder in her career, become a true reporter, and live in London. When what started out as a good friendship slowly turns in to more, she has to decide what's more important, love or her career. Aiden spends all his time outdoors photographing wildlife, traveling the world. He never wants to get married and never ever wants to have kids, until he meets Orla. When the summer draws to a close, Orla's fears keep her in London while Aiden travels the world. It's been five years and he's back, now all he wants in his life is Orla, all he has to do is convince her he's staying close.

The Five-Year Plan was a slower-paced read, but not in a bad or boring way. It was sweet to watch their friendship grow in the first half, a natural progression from friends to lovers. While it doesn't spend a lot of time on the breakup, you can feel the heartbreak that's stretched over the five years when Aiden comes back. I loved that they both followed their dreams even when it wasn't everything they dreamed it would be because they were apart. My heart ached a little while they were trying to find their way back to each other, Orla's fears and Aiden's frustrations felt so real. Overall this was a sweet book, there is no major drama or plot twists, sometimes you just need a good story with an hea, that's not going to destroy your heart along the way, this is one of those books.

The Five-Year Plan is a second chance romance about a female reporter and a male wildlife photographer whose career goals derailed their first relationship. Meeting a second time they realize they still have feelings. Will they let those pesky career goals stand in the way a second time? Written by British author, Carla Burgess, I think young adult readers should lap this story up. Dialogue is plausible, characters are well defined, and the environmental views of the author are clear. I voluntarily reviewed an advance copy of this book from NetGalley.

I struggled with this book. I don’t mind books that flash back to previous events or years gone by; however, I like my flashbacks to be relevant, exciting, filled with vital information. This felt lacking and a tad boring.

Characters were written well, except I feel Orla was overlooked slightly by the author. Maybe that’s just me?

I’m not sure comparing this to a Mhairi McFarlane or Jo Watson book is a fair assessment.

I’ve never written a book but appreciate that the author must have spent hours, weeks and months working on this. My review is purely personal and based on my own likes and dislikes. I am grateful to NetGalley for my advanced copy in exchange for an honest review.

Special thanks to Netgalley and the publisher for an e-ARC in exchange for an honest review

He's a wildlife photographer, she sprains her ankle trying to interview him, he takes care of her, they become really good friends, have the most boring and shortest sex I have ever read in my life, he peaces out cause he's a traveling photographer, Orla can't go cause she's too focused on her journalism career, and he comes back five years later.

The whole reason Orla can't travel with Aiden when he has to leave is because she is so entirely focused on her career, which I find to be hilarious considering the fact that there isn't a single chapter, nor a page that talks about her career in depth. The entire novel is told from Orla's perspective and we know alllll the details of Aiden's career, but none about hers. She repeatedly says to Aiden, "It's just not practical" anytime he asks her to come with him and it drove me nuts. Not a page goes by where she doesn't mention how much she either feels about Aiden, thinks about him, or wonders what she should do about him. It's insane.

The amount of repetition with the dialogue and the internal monologues was extremely frustrating and made this book feel very long and fluffy. It also reads as a 14-16 year old's diary, but these characters are 22 & 27 (Orla) and 28 & 32 (Aiden). You would NEVER know these characters are adults without being told.

Also, I think it would've been cool if Orla truly was a career driven woman to actually read about that story and how it would work out between them, but Aiden literally gets every single thing that he wants, and it felt really strange. When he starts talking to her about the prospect of having sex, it honestly made me super uncomfortable. He doesn't really push it on her, and she does want it, but it just was not cute or romantic to me at all. Plus, the sex was so dull. Orla finishes within like 20 seconds, and I'm sorry, I don't buy it.

When he comes back after five years, they go through the EXACT same situation a second time even down to having the same exact conversations and dialogue. It was so bad. I don't wanna read the same story twice within one book.

Every single side character in this book exists solely to get the main character talking about her love interest. Not a single one of them has their own personality. Seriously, it's painful to think about how every side character was just like Oh, what about Aiden? He's so hot! Wow! What are you guys up to now? You should be together! It seems like something is up between you two! UGH.

There were two very awkward paragraphs in this book that really stood out to me because they did not match with the rest of the dialogue at all, I even talked to my boyfriend about it because I thought they were so strange. At one point, Aiden has a long monologue about otters, which is nice cause he's taking pictures of them, but it didn't match any of his previous or later dialogue. Then, towards the end of the book, he has a monologue on climate change that comes out of nowhere at a protest (that our amazing career driven journalist Orla has NO IDEA about by the way). They felt so out of place and different from the rest of the book, it felt like the author's voice was really pushing through and that always bothers me. If you want your novel to advocate for otters and climate change awareness that is 100% okay with me, but make it make sense. Or at least, make it feel natural!

That ending was such trash and honestly made me upset. I said this earlier, but Aiden literally gets everything he wants. No compromises. Ultimately, the whole plot depends on the fact that Orla is too focused on her career to leave it for a man, but her actions beg to differ and that completely ruins the book for me. I wanted a strong female character, but ended up with a submissive woman who has this man's babies and worries about him leaving her all the time.

I loved this adorable story, made especially timely and captivating for me because of Aiden's career as a nature photographer and filmmaker, advocating for the environment. A great love story and relaxing read for anyone wanting to escape for an afternoon.

This book was interesting, or at least the introduction and the first chapter was.

The first chapter was in the present, it really drew me in and i wanted to keep reading more and more, but then when that chapter ended on a cliffhanger and we got a long recap about their entire relationship. I', going to be honest, i was absolutely NOT interested in their past.

I thought we would be getting like 1 chapter in the past but this went on for quite a few chapters, i was really not interested in their past together and it was extremely boring, their past could have pretty much fit in into the description itself or just one short chapter, I understand what the author was trying to do but I didn't find their past together particularly interesting and just a waste of book pages.
I found myself just staring into space countless of times when i really should have been reading the book instead,

Ending the first chapter on a cliffhanger and then starving me for more content really didn't make me want to read more, it just made me want to stop reading all together.

Thank you to netgalley for this advanced copy to review.

The structure of the book was a surprise to me and it was partially why I took a star off the rating. The first half of the book is told in a flashback. The build to the romance is a slow burn but enjoyable. When the sparks fly it’s an open door romance. The second half of the book is about what happens when Orla and Adien meet again five years after. I don’t want to spoil the book so all I can say is that I wanted more romance from a romance book. Still a pleasant read.

This is the first book I have read by Carla Burgess. I loved it! This was a cute, feel good second chance romance.. Orla and Aiden have a 'meet cute', but eventually part ways. Fast-forward to the reunion and the chemistry is as strong as it was five years prior when they first met. This was a fast, fun read and I'm looking forward to reading some of the author's prior (and future) works!

I heard about this book on a podcast the other day and immediately wrote it on my TBR. I was so happy to receive this book and it didn't disappoint! I love the story and it just keeps you wanting more!