This book was such a pleasant surprise and honestly I was so surprised it didn't have a higher star rating. Please ignore Goodreads and teybthis one out for yourself.

What I loved about this book:

1. This book is about two people who meet and have that instant chemistry so they spend the first part becoming friends and then that friendship involves in to a relationship. While there is eventually conflict that gives this story more depth, I liked that it's a beautiful love story that develops between friends.

2. This book has otters. You get to learn a bit about the animal, their breeding, and how important the conservation of their habitat is.

3. The characters are very likable and make this one a quick easy read. It was easy to fall for them both and root for their happy ending. Was Orla a bit indecisive and stuck on her five year plan? Yep, but that's why I was able to easily relate to her.

This fairytale romance is sure to brighten your mood and transport you to the English countryside (which is even more important because we can't leave the house). If you're looking for a sweet friend to lovers romance definitely pick this one up.

Orla has a five year plan, one that does not include a boyfriend. Aiden is a traveling up and coming photographer, he is definitely not looking to set roots. They meet when Orla interview him, they hook-up, they fall in love, and they go their separate ways to pursue their goals. Five years later...... they meet again.

I like this author quite a bit; I have read the majority of her books. She is a great writer- witty, clever, and clear. The writing in this book was no different than normal.

I just didn't like the characters. I read the first chapter and I was like instantly interested. Catchy first chapter, but then I guess their back story kinda bogged me down. I like the premise, but I guess their history was lacking something.

I would give this 3 out of 5 stars.

Thank you for the publisher for an advanced copy of this book. The opinions here are my own.

A cute story that will make you laugh and cry. It's a feel-good, heartwarming, relatable read. The Five Year Plan is a perfect palate cleanser.

A lovely feel-good story at a time when all is gloomy! Aiden is dreamy and I wish I could meet him! Orla was a little disappointing as she did not seem to have any drive or desire to go out and go up! I wanted her poersonality to be more parallel to Aiden's.
I did enjoy the book.

I am definitely getting more into contemporary romance these days; I think it provides a bit of levity during these strange and often isolating times. When starting The Five-Year Plan by Carla Burgess, I was immediately drawn in; I wanted to know these characters' stories and how they were interwoven. And overall, the story did not disappoint.

Things I Loved: A driven woman, dedicated to her career and potential. A hunky main-man, who I definitely pictured as a burly and hairy Gerard Butler. The electricity and chemistry between the two characters.

I appreciated that Orla was her own person, dedicated to her dreams and career. We often don't get heroine's so determined in their own way, so I loved that she didn't immediately cave to Aiden and his dreams. However, that ending bothered me a bit--it seemed a bit too easy. Orla was so dedicated the whole book--only just to give into Aiden with little thought or conflict.

I'm glad they got their HEA, and that Orla seemed comforted by the idea that she found a sense of belonging in Ireland--but it just seemed to wrap up too easily for me.

The novel started off really well and it did get my attention, however, as I got further and further into the book, it did lose its appeal for me and I just couldn’t pick up the interest in the novel again.

Orla and Aiden met 5 years ago and fell in love. Both in the beginning stages of their life and careers, neither one of them wanted to fall in love. But against all odds, they did. However, their desire to further their career came first and they broke up. Five years later, Aiden and Orla bump into each other and begin to ask the questions of "what if" and do second chances really exist.

I really enjoyed reading this book. It was cute and such a fast read. The chemistry between Orla and Aiden was off the charts. There were plenty of moments during their friendship where I just wanted to push their heads together and get them to kiss. Their relationship was the prime example of a natural progressing romance. Orla and Aiden began as strangers, then friends, then best friends, and then lovers. Nothing felt rushed or felt like it happened instantaneously. On the other hand, it didn't feel obnoxiously slow either. It was perfectly paced. They had such great banter with each other, and it was really cute to follow them along their journey to love. The same happened again when they met up again five years later. My heart squeezed with happiness and yet I was so frustrated (in the best way) when they weren't admitting their feelings. I loved Orla and Aiden, and I loved them together. Their relationship made me really happy and it was very easy to root for them.

My main complaint about the book was the lack of exploration of side characters and Orla's personality outside of Aiden. While I loved Orla and I especially loved when she was spending time with Aiden, I also felt like I knew very little about who she was without Aiden. Why did she want to be a journalist? What motivated her? Who was she without Aiden? I felt like I got a really good sense into who Aiden was a character, but I didn't feel the same about Orla. This was mainly due to many of her thoughts revolving around Aiden. I understand having constant thoughts about a person you like, but it felt like she never thought about anything else.

This brings me to my second point about side characters. There were plenty of great opportunities where we could have gotten to know the side characters more in depth. Katie had a brief cameo in the beginning and then was only mentioned by name throughout the rest of the book. Same for her family, and work colleagues five years down the road. It felt like they only existed to make sure Orla was okay and to get her to talk about Aiden. I thought it would have been interesting to further explore her relationship with her parents, especially her dad and half-sister since they were a little unsteady. I also wanted to know so much more about Katie since the brief glimpse of her made me want to know her more. I think exploring these deeper relationships would have not only expanded on Orla's character development but brought more depth to the story as a whole.

Overall, I really enjoyed this book. The romance was amazing and for that, I can overlook some of the issues I had with the book. Orla and Aiden has natural chemistry and they made you want to root for them. I would highly recommend this book to anyone who wants a quick, simple romance with a lot of feelings. This book is perfect for people who love friends to lover romances and second chance romances.

The story has such an adorable meet cute-it just gets you hooked right away. The two MC are very likeable and will have you rooting for them. So if you enjoy friends to lovers, cute otters and banter, this book is for you

Rating: 3.6/5
Orla, a trainee journalist with the local daily meet Aiden, a wildlife photographer during an interview.They stuck up a chord, one thing led to another.But the commitment phobic Orla was not ready to give in, she instead followed her dreams.Five years later, doing her dream job she faces Aiden again.But does the old flame ignite again? or they settle in their own world? Read the book to find out.
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The first few chapter gripped my attention.The story moves between different timelines, slowly grows on the reader.The detailed premise and well developed central characters made it a breezy read.The climax is quite predictable.
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James made a fleeting appearance in the story, would had liked to see him more in the plot.Despite the tale narrated from the POV of Orla, very less was discussed about her career which played significant role in major decisions.As a character, I found Aiden quite intruding in the life of a person whom he met only once.
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I would recommend the book to bookworms looking for a light read.

I sped through this book so fast, I loved it.
The characters were interesting and a joy to read about, it was humourous and the relationship between Aiden and Orla was fun to see progress. The countryside setting was so lovely, it really helped rekindle my love for the great outdoors and sparked an interest to reconnect with nature.
I enjoyed Burgess'writing a lot, it felt so natural and this book just worked well for me. Definitely my cup of tea! It had a lot of charm and it was gloriously fluffy, which is what I was hoping to read. I do love a happy ending!

The only negatives from me is that I do feel the book was a little too long and there were quite a lot of exclamation marks. Like everyone was shouting random lines.
But other than that, I really enjoyed this!

Very cute story, I loved the overall message, and it definitely was fun to escape to the countryside.
I've already recommended this to friends.

Orla is a trainee reporter with a five-year plan: work her way up the career ladder, move to London and secure a job on a big national newspaper. She doesn’t want a boyfriend, he’s only going to hold her back anyway. Aiden spends his life traveling the world and living in a tent. He knows his goal: to photograph animals and raise awareness of global warming and wildlife conservation. He’s definitely not looking for a relationship past the odd casual hook-up! So when Orla and Aiden’s lives collide, they do everything to not fall for each other – with the opposite effect. But they stick to their plans, and go their separate ways...Five years later, they meet again.
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This book was adorable - I love second chance romances. I have seen so many mixed reviews on Goodreads and was super confused why! Orla was such an empowering female lead character. She didn’t put her life on hold for Aiden! She had a five-year plan and stuck with it. I can appreciate this type of mentality. I adored how Orla and Aiden fell for each other. You could tell that they both built their foundation on their friendship and let it blossom from there. This was my first Burgess book and I loved that the ending mentioned all of her previous books. I am definitely going to enjoy these in the future. Overall a cute read!
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Thank you NetGalley for this ARC in exchange for my honest review & opinion.

The Five Year Plan introduces us to Orla, an aspiring journalist who has a 5 year plan to achieve and nothing will get in her way to working her dream job and living in the big city of London. Enter Aiden - the subject of her first solo interview - a nature loving traveler who lives in a tent and never stays in one place for too long. Neither want a relationship, yet they find themselves enjoying each others company for the summer, but Aiden is always ready to leave at any moment. Orla is set on her five year plan and let's Aiden take off to his next adventure, leaving them both heartbroken. Yet, five years later, their paths cross again, and Orla doesn't have another plan. Will Aiden become her next 5 year plan?

This book felt really, really long. It started off strong, with Aiden and Orla meeting again after five years, but once it jumped back to their initial meeting, I was quickly bored. There was way too much explanation and description of otters (which I love) and living in tents. It felt unnecessarily explained just to add filler to the book, which almost made me lose interest. I enjoyed Aiden's character, however Orla was extremely unlikeable and rather annoying. She was so stubborn and hard-headed, which was the point, however it really turned me off from her character.

While it was a cute story overall and I enjoyed the progression their relationship took as it felt pretty real and true, it was just too much and too long. The ending was one of my favourite bits and it felt rushed when it could have been more descriptive instead of how long the past part was. If you're looking for a sweet, easy read, I would recommend this one for a palate cleanser.

The story of Orla and Aiden. When they meet they both have plans that are the opposite to each other, They still fall for each other, but did they ever have a chance?

When they meet again 5 years later will anything have changed.

A great read.

I was really torn reading this book. It had moments of greatness, and moments that were just ho-hum. All in all, it was an entertaining read, but it didn't grab me like some other novels have. There didn't seem to be a lot of give and take in this relationship, and compromise on both ends. It was a little lopsided, and the resolution seemed really rushed at the end. I would have preferred more time spent on the now and finding their way back together on a permanent basis.

The book centres around Orla and Aiden. They meet when Orla is sent to interview a Wildlife photographer who sleeps under canvas. She has a five year plan which stands in the way of a beautiful blossoming romance. I loved their relationship and the way that she enjoys the pleasures of an outdoor life with the delightful Aiden
I couldn't wait to see where this book was leading.

I absolutely loved this little story! Orla and Aiden's relationship was so precious and I felt myself falling in love a little too. This was the perfect read at the perfect time. It was lovely to escape into their hilarity for a little while. I would definitely recommend this to anyone who is looking to get lost in a light read.

Wow! It’s not often that a book grabs my attention, so completely, from the first page but this one did just that.
I was immediately pulled into the tension between Orla and Aiden, willing them to find a happy ever after. I can honestly say that although the story followed an honest path, I was truly sorry to read the final words.
If you need a book to get you through this lockdown, this will only cover a short period of time because I couldn’t put it down and finished in a few hours.
Carla Burgess nails the art of creating sexual tension, she understands what her readers want and delivers in true romantic style.

I was so excited to receive this ARC through Netgalley. I wanted a lighter read in preparation for Crescent City and this was perfect. A light romance. Not a new favorite author or anything to be honest but it was light and had an interesting premise.
I enjoyed Aiden's love for wildlife and conservation and Orla's drive towards her career and goals. Of course there was the frustrating back and forth that all romances have where one party doesn't just out and talk about their thoughts or feelings pertaining to the relationship. I feel like so much could get accomplished if these people were just open and truthful with each other but hey, it's a story and wouldn't be half as long if it didn't have all that.
Oh and there were a lot of exclamation marks which made me feel like everyone was yelling at me all the time :/

I enjoyed the character development orla and aiden were good together. I knew the characters and the epilogue was great! It was a slow start but after the first 20% of the novel, it went really fast, I read the rest in a sitting. At times Orla was slightly annoying, but Aiden and the rest of the book made up for the slight annoyance. I really liked the banter between Aiden and Orla, and the passion between them was written really well. Overall, fun and quick read, that was well written!

I didn't enjoy this one. I thought the premise was a good one and was really enjoying the first chapter. Then, I get to chapter two and it is the backstory of the characters' relationship. I get to chapter three and the same thing, a recap. I understand that the author needs to establish a connection between the characters for the reader so that they become invested in them. I thought it would have been a lot better if the author had done a brief summary of this versus several chapters. I found it hard to get back into the story after reading so much of the backstory of the characters.