Best Laid Plans
(Garnet Run #2)
Roan Parrish
Release: February 23, 2021
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A man who’s been moving his whole life finally finds a reason to stay put.
Charlie Matheson has spent his life taking care of things. When his parents died two days before his eighteenth birthday, he took care of his younger brother, even though that meant putting his own dreams on hold. He took care of his father’s hardware store, building it into something known several towns over. He took care of the cat he found in the woods…so now he has a cat.
When a stranger with epic tattoos and a glare to match starts coming into Matheson’s Hardware, buying things seemingly at random and lugging them off in a car so beat-up Charlie feels bad for it, his instinct is to help. When the man comes in for the fifth time in a week, Charlie can’t resist intervening.
Rye Janssen has spent his life breaking things. Promises. His parents’ hearts. Leases. He isn’t used to people wanting to put things back together—not the crumbling house he just inherited, not his future and certainly not him. But the longer he stays in Garnet Run, the more he can see himself belonging there. And the more time he spends with Charlie, the more he can see himself falling asleep in Charlie’s arms…and waking up in them.
Is this what it feels like to have a home—and someone to share it with?
Review:
You all know how much I love Roan Parrish's books and she's done it again! I finished this book several weeks ago and I've been trying to think of the right words to review it ever since. I'm having trouble conveying why I loved it so much.
I was intrigued by Jack's big brother from the first time he appeared on the page in Better Than People. I knew Charlie's story was going to be fascinating but I wasn't prepared for how heartbreaking it was going to be. I knew that he must have given a lot of stuff up in order to raise Jack but I didn't realize how much that would be. Maybe that's why I was so invested in the romance between him and Rye.
And Rye! He was a delightfully grumpy disaster pansexual and I fell in love with him and his weird cat almost immediately. His prickly outer layer hides a gooey, cinnamon roll center and I loved watching him open up to accept Charlie in his life.
I love Roan Parrish's books but this one was even better than normal. Her stories always run my emotions through the ringer but this one hit a bit closer to home for me. And it was so delightfully diverse in its queer and gender rep (there is a character I would place on the Ace spectrum)! Plus, we got to see Jack and Simon again. I didn't think I was going to love Charlie's story more than theirs but I did.
Why should you pick this up? This story was heartbreaking and heartwarming all at once and has an amazing queer romance to root for. I am a sucker for a good grump and sunshine romance and this book delivered on that and so much more! I would also highly recommend this series if you are looking for adorable contemporary romances with non-typical leads.
I hope we get more books in this series. Maybe following the teens Rye befriends? Or Jack's best friend? I just want to see more of the people in this little Wyoming town!
ARC provided by the publisher via Netgalley.
1/2
