Charlie. I loved Charlie’s story and the depiction of his mental health issues. His constant drive to help other often at his expense after having to raise his brother and take care of his father’s failing business when his parents died when he was only 18, was heart-breaking to read. This was most moving for me it’s revealed that Charlie deliberately decorated his house in neutral colours for the hope that someday a possible future partner would feel at home, “love me. I won’t assert myself. I am made of space for you. I have emptied myself of any identifiable desires so that yours may flourish.” It speaks to how his trauma shaped how he thought he should love. By carving everything out of himself to care for those he loves. The resulting intrusive thoughts that arose as a result of this trauma was clearly written with a lot of care. I’ve never read a book that deals with intrusive thoughts and I appreciated seeing his coping mechanisms.

Rye, Charlie’s love interest comes to the small town after inheriting his estranged grandfather's house. Having been recently evicted and couch surfing, the chance to have a house of his own is hard to resist. But it turns out too good to be true when he finds the house falling apart and in need of costly repairs. Reading Rye struggle to find a home, desperate to make it out of the crumbling ruin and then to have Charlie hold out the rope and support Rye in a way he’s never been before was what I loved most about this book. In a similar vein to Better Than People, their relationship doesn’t magically cure their mental health struggles. It rather shows how they draw strength from each other’s support to help them deal with their separate issues.

If you like a heavy dose of hurt comfort in your romance and of course all the pets, then you will love this series!
I was given a free proof in exchange for an honest review.

Rep: pansexual MC, gay and lesbian side characters

After devouring each Corbin Wale and Better than people within a day I was super excited to get to this!
I loved Charlie already in book 1 and couldn’t wait for him to also find some love and happiness for himself.

It already started super funny with Rye and his cat taking a wild road trip to the house his grandfather left him.
Of course nothing came as he dreamed of and the house was more of a moulding cabin falling in on itself. And who would be better to handle it and to help than our dear lumberjack and local sweetheart Charlie?

Sadly I really didn’t fell the chemistry between them in the beginning at all! They had three little encounters and then there was already a kiss and I was like “what....?????”.
They didn’t even have a real conversation before!!!
It was all very weird and for me personally it was way way too rushed.

I’m glad Charlie was a little overwhelmed too, and the more I read and the more they REALLY got to know each other and talked more, the more I came to like them together.
I think they were a great fit, each longing for someone to love them for who they are. Both taking care for each other when they were not good at taking care of themselves or felt undeserving of love and happiness.

I absolutely loved seeing so much consent in this book. It is very sex positive and super neutral towards different things people like/don’t like and also there’s a lot of talk about that every possible thing is okay when it comes to sex. Also that not wanting or liking sex is okay; that sex doesn’t always have to mean or to end in penetrative sex. Loved to see it.

Also with Charlie’s background story there was talk about therapy. I love to see books normalising things like that!

All in all I didn’t love it as much as I loved the first book, but it was still a cute story and a very quick read for me.

I was incredibly excited to read Charlie's story and hear his side of things as him and Jack grew up. I feel like someone so tightly wound up from just the everyday stress of raising a child, running a store, and just surviving deserves all the love they can get. I had the same problem with Better Than People where I felt like the relationship moved way too fast, but it still worked for them in a way.

I absolutely loved this sweet romance featuring DIY, cats and owning your level of experience.

Content warnings include: intrusive thoughts, sex on-page, spanking, mentions of: homophobia, racism, unsupportive and abusive parents, eviction, death of family member, injury.

Best Laid Plans is a lovely romance following Rye, who is out of luck and more than happy to move halfway across the country with his cat to move into the house he just inherited from a grandfather he never met, and Charlie, lonely owner of a huge cat and a hardware store. Their connecting point is that the house Rye inherited is falling apart, so he naturally goes to Charlie's store to get supplies, where Charlie quickyly becomes intrigued by the stranger who keeps showing up in his shop and who clearly has no idea what he's doing.

What doesn't sound like a very out-of-the-box setup for a romance is made wonderful by the usual charm that most of Roan Parrish's books have. Despite seeming so much like your typical cis white m/m romance, the book and its characters do break the mold. More on that later.

Charlie has intrusive thoughts and hides his needs and wants behind a somewhat overbearing care for other people, and Rye, who is honest to the point of seemingly rude bluntness, is sharp in recognizing emotions and getting to the ground of them. Rye is also pansexual.

The plot follows Rye and eventually Charlie renovating the house. There's a lovely subplot about a group of teens who used the house, back when it was empty, to hang out, and who have no place to go now that Rye is taking it over - and not all of them have it good at home. And of course there's the romance.

The initiation of the romance is a bit artless, but it worked. Similarly, the third arc tension was not my favourite, resolved quickly but almost too quickly, with the outbursts of tension brushed aside.
What I however absolutely adored and what made the book so special to me was Charlie and Rye's sexual relationship. I loved the explicit talk about consent, and generally how they talked about sex and sexual acts and experience(s). I especially liked the repeated conversations about how there are tons of way to have sex that isn't penetrative.

Best Laid Plans can be read as a standlone. Chronologically it plays after Better Than People, whose protagonists appear as side characters, and there's cameos from Riven, as Rye is a big fan of the band in the book.

Cozy cozy cozy! And caaaaaaats! Aaaaall the caaaaaats!

I have loved some Roan Parrish books in the past, been angry at one or two, and DNF’d some. When I requested this one, I knew nothing about it. Before reading it, I did not read the blurb. I have not read book 1. As usual, I did not notice the title. All of this was to the book’s advantage, as I went into the book with few expectations. These were all around Parrish as a writer. I expected the writing to be skilled and fluent, but knew there was a risk I might utterly hate something about the book. I was mildly surprised by the title, when looking for the book on goodreads, and then I read the blurb. Neither have much to do with the book. Ignore them.

This is one of those stories where you have to let the author take you on the ride, and shut down the awkward questions (“...how can charitable fundraising legal compliance in the USA not be a hellscape like everywhere else???...NO! STOP! Back into the story.....”). This may be particularly difficult if you do not like cats.

If you happen to live in a country where there has just been a failed coup attempt, this is pretty much the book you need to read. Talk about perfect for the Zeitgeist......the book is very intimate and closed in. In a nice way. It made complete sense that the author wrote this book while in quarantine. The focus is on the MCs, a few other people, and their homes and the woods, ...and the caaaats! The story is set in a ?small? Town in Wyoming, but you don’t get much of a sense of the community. This was absolutely fine, in terms of enjoyment of the story, but the quarantine thing really explained it. Another reason may be that there was more about the town in book 1. I will find out shortly, as I am about to go off and read it.

The story is all found home, found tribe, found family, found belonging, found stability, found connection, found safety and then sharing it. And Caaaaats!

I did particularly like the depiction of the way a mind and a life can be shaped and then frozen by massive traumatic events without you noticing. Years later, you notice, and can then shift and continue to grow and progress in life and as a person. Also appreciated was the MCs consciously learning to be vulnerable with each other and communicate. Romance as a genre has come a long way.


I received an advanced review copy in exchange for an honest review.

Best Laid Plans is a warm blanket of a novel, complete with cats, that will soothe your early 2021 anxieties. Along with a lot of readers of Better Than People, I was intrigued by Charlie, the older brother of People's MC Jack, who had been forced to both take over the family business and serve as surrogate parent to Jack when their parents died tragically and suddenly. In the ensuing years Charlie's caregiving has become a way of life, and he has learned not to even think about his own needs.

Into this bland but perfectly fine life of meatloaf every Tuesday comes Rye, a Seattle drifter who has inherited a broken down house from the grandfather he never knew. Rye is prickly and armed with an assortment of glares for every occasion. At first he resists Charlie's overly generous offer to help rebuild the ramshackle house, mistrustful of someone who would do so much without any real payment. But as the two men work and live side by side, Rye realizes that Charlie needs someone to help him name his own needs and desires. Rye may not have much, but he is more than willing to show Charlie how to explore them without fear or shame.

Calling Charlie a virgin MC would be an understatement; not only has he not had much sexual experience, he has no idea what he likes or even how to examine and articulate what feels good to him. Rye is a patient partner, and the scenes between the two of them are exactly what I look for in a love scene - they show character depth and relationship development, instead of just being an opportunity to describe two hot guys getting off together.

It's impossible not to like Charlie, and Rye's glares are obviously armor to protect a soft, gooey heart. There are bumps along the road to their HEA but no major break, which I greatly appreciated. Parrish includes just enough cameo appearances from Jack and Simon from Better Than People to satisfy readers, and the brothers' relationship gets a much-needed nudge towards better balance, thanks to Rye.

Surprisingly, the one thing that pulled me out of the story was animal-related. Both Charlie and Rye have cats, and when the two felines meet they immediately bond. I've introduced new cats to a household with already established cats, and believe me, they are extremely territorial, and it is often a long, tedious process to facilitate their mutual acceptance, if not affection. But this is fiction, so I'll allow it. Also, both cats have distinct personalities, and Parrish does credit her own cat in the acknowledgements for keeping her sane during COVID quarantine. And without spoilers, I will just say that cats feature prominently in the plot's resolution in a charming way.

A young nonbinary teenager named River is introduced halfway through the story and I suspect they are next in line for a story. I'll be there for sure; Roan Parrish has made Garnet Run one of my favorite places to visit.

ARC received from Net Galley in exchange for honest review.

Rye Janssen hasn't had a "home" in a very long time…. And it's been a while since he's even shared one. When he inherits a home from his grandfather it's all a big surprise and he decides it's time to pack up his cat, Marmot and move.

What Rye hasn't counted on is that the house is an absolute mess. He basically has to gut it and start over. The thing is, Rye doesn't know anything about working on a house. He starts watching YouTube tutorials and visiting the hardware store.

Charlie owns the hardware store in Garnet Run and he notices Rye on his repeat visits. Despite Rye refuses many offers of assistance at the store, Charlie eventually persuades the man to let him drive some lumber out to the house. He's horrified once he figures out that Rye is staying at the rundown house… and offers to let Rye stay at his house.

Once the two men are living under the same roof if becomes even more obvious how different they are. Charlie has lived a rather simple life. His parents were killed in an accident when he was young, and he spent his youth taking care of his younger brother. He doesn’t regret it, but it meant that he put everything else in his life on the back burner. So much of his life has been on the back burner that he hasn't even really dated anyone. What he's done… is build a house that he's built with a future partner in mind. He's kept it as plain as possible in case he falls in love with someone and they move in… then they can leave their mark on the place.

Rye is a wonderful character. Despite all the challenges he has faced in life, he's pretty determined to try and make a life for himself. He wants a home more than anything, somewhere that he and his cat, Marmot can be safe.

Along the way, these two men sure learn a lot about each other. I loved the way that Roan Parrish has written these two characters. They're opposites in some ways, but there's a lovely bond between them. Though he has very little, Rye is a very free spirit. On the other hand, Charlie's life has been characterized by the way he takes care of other people… to the point at which he doesn't know how to focus on himself.

Charlie was adorable. I particularly loved the way that Roan Parrish worked Charlie's challenges into the story. I was surprised by what he'd been through and how it had shaped him. It was really enjoyable to be surprised by a character I had been introduced to in the previous story.

This story is the second in the "Garnet Run" series. I feel like it could be read as a stand-alone, but I'm sure you will be curious about the characters that appear from the first book. Charlie's brother, Jack and his partner Simon appear throughout the novel and they remain the lovely characters I remember from the first book. My recommendation would be two read these books in order. I'm confident you'll love the characters and that way you'll get the full story on everyone!

I'm a fan of Roan Parrish's writing… if you are too, you'll even notice some little references to characters from other books! It was a nice surprise.

I can't even sugar coat this. Underdeveloped primary characters, insta-love, and very little substance to the story...It's difficult to know where to jump in and review this one!

After fleeing his homophobic father's house at 16, Rye spent the past few years (5ish?) flitting between shared apartments and roommates in Seattle. When he finds himself out of work (doing something - the author never actually tells us!), evicted - again, and down to his last thousand dollars, salvation arrives in the form of an inheritance from a grandfather he never met. The inheritance, a house in Wyoming, could change his life. So he leaves Seattle with his cat and crappy car and heads for Wyoming - and a new start.

Unfortunately, the house is falling apart and not fit for living. Rye ignores the dangers - sinking floors, leaky roof, wild animals, signs of trespassers, and moves in anyway. He then promptly begins spending his life's savings (WHERE IS HE GETTING ALL THIS MONEY) on renovating the house. By himself. With no knowledge of construction. In the dark because NO ELECTRICITY. NO WATER. NO HEAT. NO NOTHING. But he can still google how to do things on his magically powered phone. Oh, and he gets a little author magic too - he shops at Mathieson's Hardware store, where the proprietor gets one look at him and knows he needs help.

FFS. Rye clearly needs help. And a backstory beyond shitty parents. Where is this info??!!

Moving on. Charlie is a doer and do'gooder. After his parents died in a car crash when he was 18, he was forced to raise his younger brother Jake (Better Than People), pay the bills, run the hardware store, and...well, he grew up fast and loves to help other people, too. Rye is catnip for this softie and despite Rye's dismissal each time he tries to offer help or advice, he keeps trying. And then he visits Rye's house. And he has so many ideas! But they cost money! Rye doesn't have money...or does he? So he offers him a place to live! And to co-sign on a mortgage since Rye can't get one with his bad credit, lack of any job history, and grungy appearance. FFS. No way. No one is this nice or so derange-ingly generous. FOR REAL MS. PARRISH.

These two have stars in their eyes from the moment their cats fall in love with each other and this story just goes absolutely nowhere from this point. We're supposed to be wholly invested in Charlie's sexual awakening (you know, he was too busy from 18 - 35 to even consider sex), sympathetic that his once high school hook-up ended days before his parents died and so now sex equals the struggle-grief bus (I struggled to make this connection & how would he know? He doesn't hook up/date/flirt...), and believe that a person who we only know has shitty parents and lots of tattoo's is some sort of sex savant who knows exactly how to coach Charlie in Sex 101 and intuits when he is struggling. He knows exactly what to say, how to say it, and the language to reach through Charlies sexual frustration. Okay, okay, so that's really sweet right? NO. IT'S REEEEFUCKINGDICKULOUS. THEY BARELY KNOW EACH OTHER AND we know ABSOLUTELY ZERO about his romantic past aside from the fact that he's pan. Which is a random dropped in detail. I mean, random.

I know nothing about Rye until he arrives in Wyoming, and Charlie - well, he owns a hardware store. No hot guys ever come in? YES THEY DO. They do. He's never noticed anyone else? Okay. So he picks someone who appears to be homeless and is rude and dismissive. Um. Sure, whatever. I guess Charlie is the teacher on the job sites, and Rye is the teacher in bed. Right. Neato.

This story goes absolutely nowhere very very very very very very slowly. I didn't like it and I don't recommend it.

Roan Parrish delivers another deeply emotional story of two men piecing together their lives and building a future. You'll be drawn in immediately by sweet yet tough Rye Janssen who needs to reno the house falling down around his ears. Charlie Matheson, owner of the local hardware store, saunters to the rescue in more ways than one. This 5 star read will keep you hooked to the last sweet sentence.

((This review will go live on my blog on February 4th, 2021))

Thank you to the publisher and NetGalley for providing an advanced copy of this book. I am providing a voluntary review. All thoughts and views are my own.

Ever since I read Better Than People, the first book in the Garnet Run series, I’ve been champing at the bit to get my hands on Charlie’s story. In Better Than People, Charlie was Jack—one of the MCs—older brother, and I fell sooo hard for him. He’s just this insanely loveable caretaker without a single selfish bone in his body and I needed him to find his HEA. Like, it was a physical pain I needed it so bad. And in Best Laid Plans, Parrish gives Charlie everything I’d dreamt of and more.

I love the small-town Wyoming setting of Garnet Run. While I’m a city girl (mostly) through and through, there’s just something delightful and dreamy about the idealized small-town life. And because of my own connection with mostly bigger cities, I could relate to Rye when he left Seattle and found himself in the very, very different world of Garnet Run.

Parrish does such a stupendous job with character development. Her characters are all extremely unique, with their own personal backstories that help to build who they are, and with individual motivations and desires. Parrish also tends to not shy away from harder-hitting character issues, such as mental health battles and deep-seated insecurities. Her characters always feel so fleshed-out and real because of this. At the same time, I feel like she gives voice to many marginalized communities and does so with care and a focus on honest portrayal.

I would recommend this entire series (which, thus far is only two books, but I hope continues forever and ever, amen!) Anyone who loves love, or who loves to see real people represented in their romance will truly adore these books. Oh, and if you’re an animal lover? You will absolutely fall head-over-heels for the way Parrish depicts the fur-characters in her books! They have true personality and feel like they could jump off the page and curl up in your lap at any moment.

When Charlie Matheson sees something broken, his first instinct is to fix it. A broken machine, run down house, strange new man. Charlie can't help himself. It's all he's done since the age of eighteen when he set aside his own dreams to take on the role of "parent" to his younger brother Jack after the death of their parents. Now several years later, he lives his life on auto-pilot, running his hardware store, caring for customers and going home alone to his remodeled house and cat.

Rye Janssen is a couch surfer, staying in one place until he's asked to move on . . . yet again. He doesn't have a family or a place to call home and has been a drifter since he left home at the age of sixteen. When he gets a letter from a lawyer telling him his unknown grandfather willed him a house in Garnet Run, Wyoming, he strikes out cross country in his rusty, old car to find a rotting down house in dire need of repair - one inhibited by creepy, crawly things in the dark . . . and a forlorn, hungry cat. Rye's stayed in worse places so he throws his ragged sleeping bag in the corner, shares his scarce food supply with the cat, rolls up his sleeves and goes to work. By the way . . . how does one go about fixing a house? First stop, local hardware store where he meets Charlie Matheson.

Best Laid Plans is Charlie and Rye's journey - two polar opposite, emotionally damaged men coming together, learning to accept, trust, and love. It's a sweet story of innocence, in many ways second chances, and learning to embrace the true meaning of family and "home". As Charlie teaches Rye how to remodel a house and recognize his true life calling, Rye teaches Charlie how to let go of the past - how to relinquish control and trust that someone else has his back. The story that unfolds is low-angst, slow-burn romance at its finest with pages of laugh out loud banter, emotional turmoil and lots of steamy chemistry. Readers get an intimate view of both men's journey to emotional stability and a brighter future through insight into their thoughts and feelings as the story is told through dual points of view. Best Laid Plans is a great addition to the series. Highly recommended to fans of m/m romance.
*A special thank you to Carina Press for an arc and blog tour invitation for this book.

This second entry in Roan's Garnet Run series gives us Charlie's story and oh, how my heart hurt for him so many times.

Unlike his brother Jack, who we got to see fall in love with Simon in Better Than People, Charlie hasn't really ever had a chance at relationships, other than a brief encounter shortly before their parents were killed just before his 18th birthday.

So, seeing how he struggles when he finds himself attracted to Rye and not knowing what to do about it was both heart-breaking and uplifting at the same time.

Thankfully Rye, for all his prickly nature, is actually a truly kind-hearted soul who is dealing with his own demons and his own stumbling steps into a relationship are just what Charlie needs.

There is a little tension here, many of the beats in the story come from Charlie's growing self-awareness and awakening that he can put himself first and take things for his own pleasure.

There's a bit of angst, as a whole it's lowish steam, and it makes perfect sense within the narrative, although there are lots of heated kisses and cuddles which lead to emotionally charged conversations.

But there is also a seriously sexy spanking scene which went in a direction I wasn't expecting and I loved it all the more for it. Overall, it's a quiet romance, not a lust-packed one, although the attraction between the two men is still clear to see.

The relationship development feels organic and has few of the irritating misunderstandings or lack of communication issues which are often thrown in just to cause tension.

I liked both characters, but felt this one perhaps lacked a bit of the otherworldly or magical feel which made Better Than People a more engaging read.

That's not to say I didn't enjoy this, because I did and I read it all in one go, but I didn't have that same sense of excitement at the first book, which felt far more significant given the difficulties Simon faced in his daily life.

However, it also stars two fabulous cats, which as a lover of that most magnificent of animals, really made me happy and the usual feel-good, if somewhat in your face, meddling of a small town local community who seek to embrace the newcomer Rye.

3.5 stars

I could not wait to read this book since the first book in the series, Better Than People, was my top read last year. This book is about Charlie, who featured in the first book, and Rye, a new character who moves to Garnet Run from Seattle. Like the first book, this book features animals predominantly, mainly cats. I have 2 cats and I love cats so I was enamored with both Marmot & Jane in this book.

Unfortunately this wasn’t as enjoyable as I hoped it would be. I loved Charlie, he is a quiet man who runs the hardware store in town and was left to raise his younger brother Jack (who was an MC in book 1) when their parents died shortly before Charlie’s 18th birthday. Charlie gave up his own future of college and football to raise Jack and he is content with his life but he is also a fixer. He likes to make sure the people in his life are happy and he puts everyone else before his own needs. When he sees Rye come into his hardware store in a beat up car looking lost his immediate reaction is to help. He also sees how beautiful Rye is. There is an immediate attraction for Charlie but Rye is standoffish and does not want help.

When Rye inherits the house of his grandfather he never met he decides to leave Seattle and move to Wyoming. He has no job and no home, going from one friends couch to another with his cat Marmot. When he gets to Garnet Run and discovers the house is falling down he thinks he can fix it up by watching YouTube videos. Never mind he has no building experience. He is a proud guy who doesn’t trust many people since he’s been on his own for so long so he declines help from Charlie at first. When Charlie sees just how bad the condition of Rye’s house is in he insists he help Rye.

I never really warmed up to Rye. I just didn’t ever feel like him & Charlie were great together. I understood where the book was going but I thought Rye was rude and I didn’t like his reactions to certain things. At one point he rips into Jack and I thought it was inappropriate even though I knew he was speaking a truth that needed to be said to a degree. I also felt like after all Charlie put on the line for him the one misunderstanding they had was all Charlie’s fault according to the way it was resolved even though Rye should have understood Charlie more. I don’t want to get into specifics but it all left a bad taste in my mouth and I almost wanted to not finish the book. The magic that Roan usually weaves with her stories felt lost here and forced to a degree.

I loved the entire part of what Rye’s house turned into but the last part of the book was so much about that and I wanted more relationship development shown to me. It’s there but it just didn’t capture me like I wanted to be captured. The sex was different also and I understood why but it fell flat overall.

I wished I liked this book more. It’s written well as always but I wasn’t satisfied overall with Charlie’s story.

I already loved the first installment in this series, Better Than People, but with this sequel the series is really cementing itself as one of my favourite romance series by one of my favourite romance authors.

This book just has everything I could ever want from a romance: a fun premisse, banter, yearning, domestic fluff, a hint of angst, a lot of emotional growth. CATS. Blend it all together and you get a perfect romance if you're looking for comfort.

I picked this book because I read the first one. Which I remembered that I liked quite a bit. Charlie was a character from the first book that finds love unexpectedly in this one. The book was a fast paced one and I finished it in one day. It was a cute and sweet romance between two great guys that love cats. Cats was a huge theme in this book so if you’re a cat lover, you will love this book. Though to be honest I don’t know if this will be in my top ten for this year. It was a cute story but there was nothing that really grab my attention besides the cats in the story. I needed more of the couple or maybe a bit more drama. Overall, cute but perhaps forgettable love story.
I received this ARC from the publisher and Netgalley in exchange for my honest review. Thank you for my copy!

3.5 stars. Two people lost in different ways find a home together. A very sweet story filled with love, cats, and wood. Lol. I probably liked Better Than People a teeny bit better. But the cover of Best Laid Plans is just gorgeous.

Thank you Carina Press and NetGalley for the ARC!

I definitely went into this read with slightly lower expectations than I did going into book one; and while this isn't going to be a favourite it definitely worked better for me. Mostly because of Charlie.

Characters (people) like Charlie just break my heart. And I thought Parrish did such a good job of making him big, tough, and caring but also giving him complex feelings and layers and a good chunk of angst. He felt so beautifully dimensional and the few parts that got me close to choking up were all for him.

<i>Charlie Matheson wasn't a Boy Scout. He wasn't Mr. Perfect. And he wasn't a goody-goody. Charlie Matheson was an adult who'd never gotten to be a child, and Charlie Matheson was finally mad about it.</i>

As for Rye, I liked him, too, prickly little man that he was but sadly he definitely didn't stand out in comparison to Charlie. Not that many people would! While he is definitely his own person, I liked him best as Charlie's champion. Those moments are definitely my kind of catnip.

This is definitely a more wholesome feel-good kind of series than Parrish's rockstar reads, though there are tie-ins!, but still with a good portion of steam, and plenty of four-legged characters running around for even more sweetness. All that and a gorgeous cover, too? I enjoyed this read and think you will, too!

Charlie finally got his own book and he is as precious and darling as I expected him to be!! I say finally like I’ve been waiting a very, very long time for his story, and not like he was the natural sequel protagonist after reading Better Than People four months ago, but 2020 has been a year where time has no meaning. Charlie is the older brother to Jack, the MC in book one, and has been looking after Jack for many years. Charlie has never had time for anyone else in his life, and when a new guy shows up at his hardware store one day, his interest is peaked.

Trigger warnings for grief throughout the book for parents who died before the book starts, and mentions of homomisia.

When Rye hears from a lawyer that a grandfather he’s never met has left him a house in a state miles and miles away, he takes this as an opportunity to leave the life he’s ever known and moves to Garnet Hill, Wyoming. Rye has lived in Seattle pretty much his whole life and has been couch surfing on his friends couches for months, and his job hunting hasn’t been fruitful as of late. He takes his bags, an old car, and his cat Marmot and drives off into what he hopes will be a great start to a new life. But when he discovers the house he’s inherited is falling apart around him, Rye takes it upon himself to try to fix it back up by buying random materials from Charlie’s store, but it soon becomes evident that he has no idea what he’s doing.

Charlie likes to fix things. He likes having a PLAN. And the man is super handy. He can’t simply just stand on the sidelines when he sees Rye struggle with his house. Is this a book for all of us who love binge-watching shows on HGTV? Yes.

This book is told in alternating POVs in third-person past. I loved seeing the story from both Charlie’s POV and Rye’s. The story is heartbreaking at times that made me cry, but also super lovely when Charlie and Rye come together. There are some Easter eggs back to Roan Parrish’s other books (Riven) and I really liked how there wasn’t a long drawn out third act breakup. Just a really small one that they needed to talk about anyways.

There’s some really light kink in this book that I wasn’t expecting at all, but fits the characters I think. This is another book with a virgin MC but the story stays true to the characters and what they’ve been through. I mean, in Charlie’s case, he’s done nothing BUT look out for his younger brother since he turned 18 and essentially turned into Jack’s guardian and be an adult overnight. And living in a small town where everyone knew each other’s business, I can see how he wouldn’t have had time to go out and find anyone to hook up with.

I really liked how much this book emphasizes consent and how everyone can be into different things when it comes to sex, and that it’s totally okay. In some ways, I think Charlie reads as demisexual to me? It’s not mentioned as that on the page, but that’s just how I read it.

Where you have Simon’s anxiety in the first book, here you have Charlie’s uncertainty about sex and anxiety over all the bad things that could happen if he doesn’t have full control of things, and it breaks my heart and makes me want to give Charlie a great big hug.

If you’re a cat lover, or really just a lover of animals, you’ll really love this book. Charlie has his own cat, Jane, and Rye’s Marmot as well who are just adorable together. And cats come into the story in a really big way near the end of the book. So I think animal lovers who liked the first book will not be disappointed.

I do think it was confusing that this book kept changing titles for awhile there (to Our Level Best before returning back to Best Laid Plans) and because Best Laid Plans is a common title across so many books recently. So, I think I liked the other title more, but it is what it is, I suppose.

While I think it would be best to read these books in order, it’s not necessary to read book one first. Jack and Simon are an established couple in this one, so if you do want to read a series in order, you can do that too. There’s two women in a relationship in this book too and they...don’t have their own book? I would have loved to read a f/f book by the author since Rachel and Vanessa seem awesome and we don’t know much about them except kinda/sorta meet them in Better Than People (Vanessa is Jack’s best friend). Then there’s also Marie at the store who totally deserves her own book!!! She’s shy and doesn’t talk much but everyone needs their own book! Yes? YES.

One complaint I have for the publisher is that the covers of these books, while pretty, don’t match at all and don’t look like they’re even in the same series. There are two more books in this series (characters are not introduced, I don’t think, in either of these books) and I’m just confused how the covers will look going forward - just completely mismatched?

And another thing, the kids just almost all disappeared by the end of the book? Where did they go?? One character is important enough to stick around through the end of the book, but where are the other kids? Are they okay? Are they all still hanging out? I guess we’ll never know.

Overall, I’m super glad we got Charlie’s book and that he found his well-deserved HEA with Rye! I’m not ready to leave this world yet so I’m super excited that we’ll be getting more books set in Garnet Run and I can’t wait to read those books too!

This book is so enjoyable and I liked it even better than the first entry in the Garnet Run series. Charlie has spent his life in a small town taking care of everyone else but never making time for what he wants.. Rye is essentially homeless in Seattle when he inherits a house (that turns out to need a complete overhaul) in Wyoming from a grandfather he never met. How they slowly realize perhaps they each are what the other needs is a journey filled with discovery, multiple cats, and the return of Jack and Simon from the previous book. Recommended.

Thanks to NetGalley and Carina Press for this eARC.

What a treat to have a new Roan Parrish! We're back in Garnet Run, and this time it's CAT PEOPLE.

Everyone in Roan Parrish world just needs a little care to bloom, and Charlie and Rye are no exceptions. Just one complaint, I did want it to snow (it was summer, but you never know in Wyoming). Jack and Simon from the first book are very present, which was nice.