Best Laid Plans

Parrish soars in her deliciously soft second Garnet Run romance (after Better Than People). Rye Janssen is on the cusp of homelessness when he inherits a wreck of a house in Wyoming from the grandfather he never knew. While Rye’s life is all chaos, 36-year-old Charlie Matheson’s life has too much order. At 17, he sacrificed a college scholarship and his athletic dreams to raise his younger brother and run the family hardware store after the death of both his parents. He’s succeeded on both fronts, but still wrestles with anxiety, panic, and loneliness. When Rye wanders into Charlie’s store with vague plans to rehab his crumbling pile, Charlie jumps at the opportunity to help, offering Rye a temporary home. Working and living in close proximity, their attraction is impossible to ignore—but both men will have to work through psychological baggage before love can take root. Charlie spent so much energy caring for his brother that he never had time to think about his own needs, and he’s embarrassed by his arrested development. Rye, meanwhile, has lots of sexual experience, but he’s unused to relying on anyone and uncomfortable with “mush.” Parrish’s sweet and sensitive treatment allows the men to become partners in healing. This love story is heartrending, swoon-worthy, and extremely well-told. [em]Agent: Courtney Miller-Callihan, Handspun Literary. (Mar.) [/em]