“I’m starting to understand that some people come into your life when you need them, and go when it’s time.”

What You’ll Find:
✔️Second Chance Romance
✔️Cinnamon Roll Hero
✔️Disability Representation
✔️Sailing Adventure
✔️Singular POV

I truly loved this story. Its a beautiful romance, written with such fluidly. It’s about so much more than romance. It’s about overcoming loss, in a multitude of ways. About self perseverance and rediscovery. Also second chances at love and so much more.

Anna is lost in grief after her finances passing. When she gets a reminder about a trip they were suppose to do together, she decides to brave the seas and sail the trip alone. She soon learns she’ll need help along the way and hires Keane, a professional sailer, who’s struggling with his own future. Together they discover it’s never to late to start over.

Keane stole my heart from the beginning. Just so present. And aware. Intuitive. A sweetheart of an Irishman who has a zest for the sea life. Anna, lost in grief, yet still so brave. It was beautiful to watch her transform and heal. Their relationship takes its time to form. And I appreciated that in this storyline. It was a slow burn well worth the wait. And I don’t mean a wait for steam, though there is a little of that too. I mean for a connection that felt natural, real and even vulnerable.

The story was just the read I needed right now. It had me locked in from the start. I could picture everything clearly and enjoyed going on the journey with them. This story has everything from emotion to steam, to humour and relatability. And fantastic disability representation I loved. I feel like I learned so much.. not only about sailing and the Caribbean but so much more. This is a story that will stay with you. Highly recommend this one!

CW/TW: Suicide

LOVED this book! This book tackles tougher topics (grief, suicide, etc.) than your typical romance does so it is more Katherine Center than Christina Lauren, but it still is heartwarming and encouraging as Anna learns to navigates the world (and the Caribbean) without her fiancé, Ben. So many things that I enjoyed about this book, but my favorite was the Caribbean setting and all the island hopping -- YES, please! Maybe it's because traveling isn't happening too much right now, but I loved the escape to tropical destinations and getting to read about each island Anna visited and what made each of them unique. I think this will be a great spring/summer read to put in the beach bag and I look forward to sharing it with our audience. 5 stars!

TW: suicide, grief

Following her fiancé's suicide, Anna Beck finds herself swamped in grief and at a standstill. When an alert on her phone reminds her of a sailing trip they were supposed to take together, she makes the impulsive decision to do it alone. After a difficult night, she hires Keane Sullivan, Irishman and experienced sailor. As their journey progresses, Anna finds solace, healing and love.

Float Plan packed a lot in and covered a lot of ground (both literally and figuratively) without feeling rushed or lacking context. The elements of grief and healing added depth to the story, but Doller's writing style softened the edges of Anna's emotions, aligning with the Romance genre. As a reader, this was a relief, as I didn't have to internalize Anna's sorrow and pain to understand what she was feeling. I loved all of the people that Anna and Keane met along their journey, especially Joyce. While I have never sailed, I was completely charmed by the community and hope to experience it someday. I appreciated the extensive information regarding sailing, and I was extremely thankful that Doller accurately portrayed the knowledge and experience required for a safe journey.

There were two quotes that had a profound impact on me:
1. "Eventually - and I say this from experience - you'll start building a new house beside the ruins of the old. When you're ready, you'll know."
2. "The stages of grief are not linear. They are random and unpredictable, folding back on themselves until you begin mourning all over again."

Thank you to St. Martin's Griffin and NetGalley for an Advance Reader's Copy in exchange for my honest review.

Anna's fiance, Ben: <i>He pointed at a constellation...."There. That little star at the bottom. That one is yours, Anna. Forever and always." I didn't remind him that sometimes the light we see is left over from dead stars. It couldn't be mine if it was already gone.</i>

Float Plan is a classic quest story, with the outer journey mirroring Anna's interior. She emerges from her complicated grief to set sail on her fiance's dream trip, 10 months & 6 days after he has died by suicide.

The lovely yet damaged Keane eventually becomes her companion for the voyage. You have to love a guy, who, when you're forced to admit "you were right," responds with "I didn't want to be."

Beautiful, poignant writing, evocative descriptions, (mostly) likeable characters, flashes of humor, and portrayals of people navigating tough situations with grace make this a good fit for those who like Abby Jimenez, Talia Hibbert, Sarina Bowen...perhaps even Fredrik Backman.

Comes out March 2, 2021. Thanks to NetGalley and the publisher for an e-ARC.

This was an emotional and moving book that at the same time felt like an adventure! Anna decides to follow her fiancé's dream of sailing the sea after he dies by suicide. Confused and unmoored, she hires Keane (who is also experiencing a life different than what he had planned) to help her sail her boat, and the meditation on grief and love after loss that follows is beautiful.

Learning about all the islands and settlements they traveled to was so fun, and although I wasn't incredibly interested in the sailing descriptions, they were short and important enough to the plot that it didn't feel boring! I appreciated the depiction of Keane's disability and how it did not hold him back, but was simply part of him. Their relationship was realistic and emotionally impactful.

Thank you to St. Martin's Press and NetGalley for providing me an advance copy of this book! I loved it!

A bit more than your typical rom com, this title features two characters hiding from the world to process two different kinds of loss. Tropical locales and strong narrative make for a diverting read.

Cute as a button! I loved following Anna as she embarks on a sailing adventure, grieves her late fiancé, and grows as a person. I loved Keane and his kind heart. This book makes me want to go off on an adventure in the Caribbean ASAP. This book is cute, sweet, and funny. A lovely escape!

Thank you St Martins for the ARC!

In a world in which travel is mostly restricted, reading Float Plan was the perfect take-me-away I needed to start the new year off right!

Trish Doller’s story of Anna and Keane is so detail oriented it will literally leave the reader feeling as though they were along for their trip across the islands. I loved that the characters also had depth to them, they were flawed individuals looking for happiness - not knowing if they would find it on their crazy trip. TD’s writing also has you feeling all the feels - you will laugh, cry, and fall in love with Anna and Keane along the way.

This is the first of Trish’s novels I have read - I am going to have to go back and add the rest to my TBR list!

I can’t wait till more of my reading friends take the journey with Anna and Keane!!

Thank you NetGalley for an ARC of this book, Float Plan by Trish Doller in exchange for my honest opinion.

Okay y'all, this book. I cannot even tell of you all of the ways I loved it!! I could have read this book from start to finish in one sitting if I would have had the time. Once I started reading this story I was so invested I could not stop. Oh the feels!!

The book begins with us reading a suicide note from Anna's fiance, Ben. Anna is lost and sad and heartbroken after Ben committed suicide and the day her alarm goes off for their planned boat trip she packs up and takes off on an impulsive sailing trip.

Anna quickly learns that she is in way over her head and hires a professional sailor to help her complete her trip, one that Ben had mapped out, from Florida to Trinidad.
This a story about friendship and grief and overcoming fears. It's about learning to start over but never forgetting. It's about building a new home right alongside the old one.

I also loved the setting of this book. I know virtually nothing about boats or sailing, but felt like I was right along with Anna and Keane as they venture through their trip. Also, Queenie the rescue dog was such a sweet part of the story.

Oh my gosh! This book is so amazing!! friends to lovers, slow burn romance, close proximity, Irish good guy, amazing setting. Read this book, you will not be disappointed! I will recommend this book over and over again!!

I love when a book falls into your hands just when you need it. I wanted desperately to start the New Year with a story of adventure and a fresh start, and Float Plan was that and so much more.

It was also a story of self-discovery and finding your place after tragedy, as Anna decides to set sail as she had planned to do with her fiancée. There’s a bit of suspense waiting to see what adventure awaits, and a side of romance as a bonus. The author navigated a sensitive subject matter like suicide and bringing strength, hope and courage from it.

To note: there is a trigger warning of suicide, which has impacted my life in a big way, and in some ways this book healed raw emotions I still have over losing my Father this way.

*many thanks to Netgalley and St Martin’s Griffin for the gifted copy for review

I'd heard many great things about this book before reading it, but this story about grief, forgiveness, moving on, and falling in love again absolutely exceeded my expectations. The pace wasn't rushed at all, which gave the reader time to fall in love with Anna and Keane at the same rate they were falling for each other. But it wasn't too slow either. It was perfect. I'm not typically a big fan of description, but I loved hearing about all the islands on their journey and it made me wish so hard I wasn't stuck inside during a pandemic and unable to travel! It's clear the author was familiar with all the legs of the trip, and I felt like I was along for the ride. I really want to go sailing now. And find my own Keane. He was delicious.

It's very early in the year, but I suspect Float Plan will be among my favorite reads of 2021.

Love, love, love this book. Anna and Keane have both lost something significant in their lives. Anna needs Keane to help her make the sailing trip she was planning with her now deceased finance. Keane is an out-of-work sailor who lost his leg in an accident. The two find each other and help one another heal from the pain of each of their respective tragedies. We watch Anna slowly recover from her loss and learn to love again. Keane's kindness and patience help Anna move on with her life. Eventually Anna discovers that she can complete her journey without Keane's help, but does she want to be alone anymore? Float Plan is somewhat of a slow burn, with a sweet ending. It is a romance but so much more than just a romance. Highly recommend this book to readers who enjoy Josie Silver type novels!

Content warning: depression, suicide, death of a loved one, grief

I really like the premise of the story. About a year after the death of Anna's fiance, she decides to go through with their original plans to go sailing, following the float plan her husband had made for them before he died. Somewhere along, she puts up an ad looking for sailors/basically anyone who knows their shit and that's how she meets Keane.

Though the story deals with heavy topics, I love that underneath it all is Anna trying to move forward with her life. I have to applaud her for her independence and courage. I love her growth throughout the entire book. It’s something that kind of grew quietly and she became stronger and braver towards the end.

Keane is such a sweet, respectful, and capable character who always wears his heart on his sleeve. He’s been sailing for most of his life but ever since he got a prosthetic leg, people wouldn’t hire him anymore thinking he wouldn't be capable. He agrees to sail with Anna in hopes of finding a job opportunity in Portugal.

The pacing of the romance was good enough. The story is all in Anna's POV so initially, her uncertainty and second-guessing about her developing feelings were shown. They went from strangers to sailing partners to friends then lovers, and I loved that there was a right amount of development between Anna and Keane to make me actually root for them.

What I didn't like:
- Up until the 60%, I admit it got kind of draggy for me hence why I didn’t give 5 stars. I’m conflicted because although I feel that way, I understand the need for that kind of pacing at the initial parts of the story. Anna is still grieving and to move the story forward at a faster pace would be less believable.
- Another reason: all the boat/sailing terminologies... it makes the story more genuine but it just flew over my head esp since I know none of those things.

What else is there to say? Writing was good. Characters were wonderful and grew throughout the story. The romance tugged at my heartstrings. Please consider the content warnings before reading, but I do recommend this book ♡

If you're a fan of sweet romance novels with strong female characters, some steam, you will enjoy this story of Anna whose husband to be has committed suicide and she decides to go on their dream sailing journey anyway.

Along the way, she finds help, kindness, love and herself. I really liked that she's strong and capable and he's kind and generous. I also really enjoyed some of the transient but sweet secondary characters.

Sometimes a sweet, semi-predictable love story is exactly what's needed and this one hits the spot beautifully.

with gratitude to netgalley and St. Martin's Griffin for an advanced copy in return for an honest review.

This book was a delight to read. Doller does a fantastic job balancing heavy topics like suicide and grief with moments of effervescent joy. Seeing Anna discover a new love, gain self-confidence, and come into her own in the process, is the kind of heartwarming story we all need right now.

Float Plan is about Anna, a woman who is deeply grieving for her fiance, who committed suicide. They had planned to sail the Caribbean together, and after his death, Anna decides to take the trip alone. It doesn't take long for Anna to realize that her sailing skills are not up to par for a solo trip. So she hires a professional sailor named Keane, who is also Irish and handsome and single, to be her sailing partner.

This story was such a fun, romantic, sailing adventure! I adored these characters and thought it was so fun to sail around the Caribbean with them. Anna is dealing with serious grief, but the story doesn't dwell on her grief. It is more about her moving forward with life and the second chances that she has with life and friendship and love. The overall tone is inspiring and upbeat, making this a delightful read. It would be just perfect to read while sitting on the beach in the Caribbean. Actually, I think I might just need to take a trip to the Caribbean now so I can read this book again in that setting.

During the last third of the book, I started to feel a little restless. I felt like the story slowed down a bit and there just wasn't enough conflict to keep me fully invested. I actually feel this way often with romances, so it may be be more of an issue with me and the genre than the book itself. With a romance, I always know the couple will ultimately get together and stay together, and I think sometimes I just lose a little interest because I already know what is going to happen.

However, overall, this book was just a lovely story with great characters, a little bit of adventure and gorgeous settings. I would definitely recommend it!

Thanks to Netgalley and St. Martin's Press for sending me an advance copy in exchange for my honest review. This one is available on March 2, 2021!

I was really hesitant to read this book when I realized it starts with a suicide. It's not my favorite way to start a book and I was worried this book would be too depressing for me. But, once I was past the first chapter I found the book really easy to read.

Too many books lately have taken a turn from love story to suspense so honestly I kept thinking someone else was going to die or something else tragic was going to happen.

I was so happy that this book was just a good story with a happy ending. Overall I think this would be an amazing beach or vacation read. I loved that it was set on a sailboat in sunny locals.

Thank you to NetGalley for my copy of this book.

Wow, what a read. I went into this book much like the main character sets sail -- without any real expectations or any real idea of what was going to happen. And let me tell you, I was more than pleasantly surprised.

This book takes you on a physical and emotional journey right along with Anna and Keane. Your heart will break with them, you'll laugh with them, you'll fall in love with them, you'll worry with them, and you'll travel to incredible destinations with them. This story tackles love and loss and everything that comes in-between in a beautiful way, and by the end you'll be aching for more.

A huge thanks to @stmartinspress and @netgalley for an ARC of the Float Plan by Trish Doller.
Anna embarks on a journey of self discovery, hires Keane, and finds not only the strength to move ahead but also her voice to do so.

I found myself googling locations to see the various islands she was visiting. Talk about paradise! This book also centered on them being at sea, and it made for a nice escape, as it seems like something that could happen during a pandemic. Look for this in the new year (March)! There are some steamy scenes to thaw the cold winter.

I have been a fan of Trish Doller's writing for ages it seems, but when I saw she had a contemporary adult romance coming out I freaked out a bit (in a good way)!

Doller seems to hover just under the radar which is unfathomable to me because her books are always spectacular. Float Plan, like her other books, just made me feel so so much while I was reading. Do NOT let the summary scare you - yes there are sensitive topics explored here, but they are done wonderfully.

There aren't many books that are based on a boat - I imagine it was really hard to do as a writer when part of what you're trying to do is have your characters do stuff, but Doller makes you feel like you are on that boat with Anna, fighting waves, catching fish, swimming in the water... And the locales that are shared... I've never had the urge to sail to any of these places in my life, but a few of them may now be on my bucket list for someday!

The romance here is subtlely done but Keane delivers the swoons like nobody's business.

This is a story about figuring out who you are and finding who you are after everything in your life suddenly changes, but it's also a story about strength and perseverance and I highly recommend this one for your reading lists in 2021.