Can they get back to the future? Beatrix and Rocco had a blink in 1999 but now it's 2016 and he doesn't remember her. And he's going to play her father in the movie she wrote. But then there's a car accident and the two of them are zapped back to 1999. It's Y2K time! This has some engaging moments as well as poignant ones. I get why 1999 but why 2016? Thanks to Netgalley for the ARC. A fast entertaining read.

This book had a lot of potential but it fell flat. A time travel story that takes place in the late 90's sounds super fun but instead it was just meh.

The writing is generally weak, I can't tell you how many times "very" is used. Way too much. I never felt emotionally connected to either main character and absolutely did not buy that the hero wouldn't recognize the heroine from their past.

So they get in a car crash and end up in 1999 and it's a little funny. The story also tackles the death of the heroine's father and that was the only part of the book I liked a lot.

Overall this one is a miss for me, I won't recommend it.

I really liked the Tamberelli's first novel, which had a supernatural element to it, so I was really looking forward to this one.

Beatrix and Rocco have some history and when they meet again and Rocco doesn't remember her, Beatrix is pretty ropable. I could completely understand why she gives him a hard time at the start!

The last book was pretty hilarious. I chuckled less while reading this one, but still funny and entertaining. In fact, there were quite a few tear-jerking moments for me - very touching in places. The time travel aspect is a lot of fun and I really enjoyed the nostalgic 90's detail, which brought me right back to my early 20's.

LA is also a character in this book, both past and present. I am sure locals will get a kick out of mentions of Tower Records.

These characters go on a spiritual journey as well as a time travel one. They change and grow together, which is lovely to witness. The overarching theme of trust and forgiveness stayed with me, even after I had finished the book.

I received an ARC of this book from Netgalley and Kensington Books. All opinions expressed in this review are my own.

“𝘐𝘧 𝘐 𝘤𝘰𝘶𝘭𝘥 𝘤𝘩𝘰𝘰𝘴𝘦 𝘢𝘯𝘺𝘰𝘯𝘦 𝘳𝘪𝘨𝘩𝘵 𝘯𝘰𝘸, 𝘵𝘩𝘦 𝘱𝘦𝘳𝘴𝘰𝘯 𝘐’𝘥 𝘸𝘢𝘯𝘵 𝘵𝘰 𝘴𝘩𝘢𝘳𝘦 𝘵𝘩𝘪𝘴 𝘧𝘦𝘷𝘦𝘳 𝘥𝘳𝘦𝘢𝘮 𝘸𝘰𝘳𝘭𝘥 𝘸𝘪𝘵𝘩— 𝘪𝘵 𝘸𝘰𝘶𝘭𝘥 𝘴𝘵𝘪𝘭𝘭 𝘣𝘦 𝘺𝘰𝘶.”

Thank you to NetGalley and Kensington Books for this charming ARC. Written by a 90’s Nickelodeon star and his wife, this book is a funny, quirky, and nostalgic read!

Beatrix and Rocco reunite on the set of a movie that Beatrix has written about her relationship with her father, who had been falsely accused of murder. However, things take a messy turn when Rocco, her ex, is cast to play her father. Their relationship had broken apart on New Year’s Eve of 1999, and during a fateful car ride, they are sent back in time a couoke says before that night. To return to present-day 2016, they must work together and find out what went wrong on the eve of Y2K.

The time-traveling element of the story was entertaining to see. The characters' backstories were well-developed, especially Beatrix's, and their actions in the past had a significant impact on the future. I appreciated that their journey back to the future was not a smooth one, and they had to face more challenges to find their way back to each other.

The nostalgic references throughout the book were enjoyable, and Bea's relationship with her father was beautifully portrayed. Rocco and Bea's chemistry was perfectly built up with their banter and personalities. Overall, I highly recommend this book to anyone who loves second chances, road trips, and anything 90s and Y2K.

Thank you again to Kate and Danny Tamberelli and NetGalley for this delightful read. The Road Trip Rewind is set to release on May 21st!

This is such a joyful blast from the past.

I loved ALL THAT and THE ADVENTURES OF PETE AND PETE growing up. As a redhead myself, I was obsessed with Danny Tamberelli for years! It’s great to see his joy and funny personality have carried into adulthood in this witty, heartfelt rom com.

In 2016, Beatrix is a 36-year-old divorcee with many regrets. She writes a screenplay about her late dad, who is played by a 90s heartthrob actor named Rocco. Beatrix and Rocco had a moment together in the late 90s but he doesn’t remember …. Until they’re both transported back to the end of 1999, the height of Y2K panic, Tower Records, and cash only establishments. Together they have a chance to repair past wrongs, potentially creating a future for themselves as a pair.

There’s a lot of comedy in these pages, but sentimentality in equal measure. Having lost my own dad 18 years ago, I related to Beatriz’s desire to say goodbye to her dad in the past. No one can introduce their future partners to a deceased parent in real life, but I’ll take it in fiction. This is an adorable, fun read.

My Initial Thoughts

To be completely honest, this story had a slow start. We are introduced to Rocco and Beatrix right away and it is clear that while Rocco has nothing but neutral feelings towards Beatrix, she is not so neutral. She definitely doesn’t like him. But it’s a slow reveal so as readers, we are left to wonder why. I didn’t love that. I wasn’t sure if I would be able to get into a story where the female protagonist was so negative.

You Really, Really Have to Suspect your Disbelief

*Spoiler Alert*

Beatrix is annoyed with Rocco because the two of them dated when they were younger, and he doesn’t remember her.

That’s fine, but in the beginning it seemed like they kissed and maybe hooked up once and then they both got busy and moved on with their lives. But then as the story progresses, we learn that the two of them were legit dating and that as an adult, Rocco had noooo idea who Beatrix was because she went by a different name when she was younger: Trixie.

​I found this VERY hard to believe. Lol. As the story progressed more and more memories were uncovered between them and they apparently had very deep feelings for each other, and I just find it so hard to believe that Rocco didn’t remember her at all. Even with different haircuts people don’t look that different as they get older. I know 17 years has passed, but come on.

That was a difficult thing for me to get past. Haha. I really had to suspend my disbelief.

What I Liked About The Road Trip Rewind

But with that being said, once I put that small detail aside I found this to be a really hilarious tale of time travel and second chance romance.

One fun fact about this book is that the main character Rocco has a couple of scenes with Lucy and Rudy, who were the main characters of Kate and Danny’s first book, The First Date Prophecy. In this story they are living in LA where their new business venture gives live comedy show nostalgia. It makes me think of how when my brother lived in LA I visited him and he took me to see a show at The Comedy Store.

I really enjoyed the 90’s nostalgia of this novel. I could tell that the authors really knew their stuff with all of the references and pop culture moments that they added into their writing. There were also a ton of LA hotspots and locales that were mentioned that sounded familiar, even though I’ve never been to them.

What Surprised Me About The Road Trip Rewind

I felt such a heartfelt emotion for both Rocco and Beatrix by the end of the book. Like I said, I had a hard time getting into this story at first But once they started revealing their back story, I felt so invested in them and their family drama and personal situations. Beatrix especially. I don’t want to spoil anything so I’ll just say that the things that she works through with her family made me tear up by the end of the book. It was such a satisfying ending.

In Conclusion

I thought this book was such a good combination of second chance romance and fixing past mistakes. For a time travel novel, it actually felt very real life. I know that sounds crazy but the things that the characters were going through were equal parts realistic and futuristic. I really hope for more books from them in the future. Both of their books have had laugh out loud comedy, with cool settings and interesting characters.

I feel like they really appreciate their characters’ eccentricities and try to write top-notch humor with a compassionate look at each character’s situation. I can’t wait to find out what writing projects they’ll be working on next.

This book was cute, but didn’t hook me really. I got about 70% through and it wasn’t hitting for me. I’m sure other people will enjoy it. Just wasn’t my cup of tea.

If you love Back to the Future, this book is for you! I won’t lie, the beginning dragged a bit and left my struggling but once the story got going I was hooked. I really enjoyed the time travel aspect and all things space time continuum. The love story of Bea and Rocco was perfect as well. To see Bea finally let her walls down and for Rocco to prove who he really is. But the best highlight was all of the 90s nostalgia. This book is truly a mix of Back to the future and a rom com.

Thank you to NetGalley and Kensington Books for this eARC!

A fantastic follow-up to The First Date Prophecy. Flawed, loveable, fully developed characters. The blend of genres (a rom-com, but with sci-fi/time travel and even a touch of true crime) was done really well, which is so rare. It was funny, touching, and at times, truly moving. I would have loved to hear a little more from Rudy and Lucy (from The First Date Prophecy), but hopefully they'll be prominently featured in another book!

Thank you to net galley for the opportunity to read and review this book!

Time travel, nostalgia, and 90s fun! The book tells the story of Beatrix and Rocco who met in the 90s and had a brief romance that came apart on New Year’s Eve as the new millennium began. They are reunited in 2016 on the set on movie Beatrix has written about her relationship with her father when he’s falsely accused of murder. Beatrix and Rocco then time travel back to 1999 in a Beatrix’s car Delilah and must figure out how to get back to 2016. That seems like a lot for plot and it is, but it works! I really liked the story and could definitely see it as a movie. Sometimes the pacing wasn’t my favorite, with some parts feeling rushed and others lagging, but by the end I was satisfied. Very fun, easy read that keeps you interested and it’s fun to see all the 1999 references!

I assume I'm not the only one out there who struggles with the concept of time travel, but I may struggle more than most? So knowing that this romance had a time travel element made me a little apprehensive, but I think that the Tamberellis handled this really well, and it didn't take me out of the story too much. If you read and enjoyed the First Date Prophecy, I feel confident in saying that you'll like this second novel by the married couple as well. The male main character is Rocco, former childhood actor turned legit movie star, and brother to Rudy from the first book (so there are some good Rudy and Lucy moments here, which I enjoyed). The female main character is Beatrix Noel, a screenwriter whose current script - a very personal story of her own father's very public arrest and incarceration - is Rocco's big chance to be taken seriously as an Actor. Rocco isn't sure why Beatrix seems so angry at him until she reveals that she used to go by the name Trixie and that they two of them had a fling just before the turn of the millennium, which ended when Rocco jilted her for a famous actress. The two are arguing when, somehow, Beatrix's 2000 Volkswagen Jetta becomes a time machine and the two of them are sent back 17 years. They have to figure out how to get back to their real timeline, and that means putting their differences aside and working together. I really enjoyed this, and I would recommend it for fans of contemporary romance novels that have just a tough of a fantastical element (Kylie Scott's End of Story and The Last Days of Delilah Goodluck come to mind, as well as Kate Robb's This Spells Love, and Rainbow Rowell's Landline [though I don't know if I would call that a romance]). If you miss your JNCOs and your Airwalks and other late 90s/early 00s nostalgia, this is particularly fun.

I feel like this would make a fantastic movie. And the 90s baby in me absolutely loved this book. It gave me such a great nostalgic feeling and I loved it.

What do you get when you bring together an A-list actor and a screenwriter with a shared past only one of them remembers, a 2000 Volkswagen Jetta, and the perfect hit from a taco truck? A very fun time travel adventure!! (bet you didn't see that coming)

The Road Trip Rewind is the story of Beatrix (Trixie, Bea), a daughter mourning the relationship she lost with her father who passed before she could fix it and a screenwriter telling that story via film only to have her ex play her dad AND NOT EVEN REMEMBER HER, and Rocco, a-list actor who has been hurt in the past and refuses to get too deep with anyone and constantly seeks praise from the one source he's not getting it from in the form of the screenwriter he's long since forgotten (okay, but in his defense she has a different hair color, isn't fawning over him, and goes by a different name now). With their past revealed, the two (thanks to a perfectly timed hit and run) end up back in December of 1999, when everything fell apart when Beatrix chose Rocco over her dad, but Rocco chose someone else over her. Through following all the classic "back in time" tropes, the two make discoveries about themselves and each other, make amends for previous errors, and may dabble a bit in changing their own future.

This was a light, quick, and enjoyable read! It was especially fun that a husband and wife each wrote the different perspectives of the characters, which gave each character's chapters a unique and fun vibe!

Thank you so much to Kate and Danny Tamberelli and NetGalley for a chance to read this in exchange for an honest review! The Road Trip Rewind comes out May 21, 2024!

I would watch the heck out of a movie version of this. So many nostalgic 90's references! It took me back to my 16-year-old self at the turn of the millennium.

This was just as good, if not better than The First Date Prophecy (loved the Rudy and Lucy cameos!) There was the quirky dialogue I've grown to enjoy and multi-dimensional characters, but this book dealt with more emotion and grief than I was expecting. I appreciate that the conflict was resolved beyond what happened during the time-travel, that there was growth and higher stakes at hand.

Kate and Danny have a chemistry that translates to the page and I'm already anticipating what's next!

Thank you so much to NetGalley and Kensington for the digital ARC in exchange for an honest review.

A 90s time travelling road tripping celebrity romance co-written by someone with lived experience of Hollywood? Hell yes. Co-authors Kate Tamberelli and Danny Tamberelli return with the sequel to their debut, featuring Rudy's movie star brother Rocco. Rocco time-travels to 1999 with Beatrix, the screenwriter of his current film which is based on her life. To Beatrix's fury, Rocco doesn't recognise they dated in 1999. Both must figure out what past wrongs they need to fix if they want to return to 2016.

This book was such a fun romp, and while the pace did drag a bit around the halfway mark, it was still the sort of book that had me glued as it was so well-written with the perfect blend of comedy, banter but also emotional beats that made me tear up. There was so much depth to the characters. Beatrix is nursing a lot of grief and guilt over her dad, while Rocco is trying to learn from his past mistakes. It was also refreshing to see Rocco communicate clearly and ensure they left no room for miscommunication. These were characters that acted their ages (late 30s), carrying their baggage of past mistakes and working through how to be better, which is so relatable to anyone looking back on their youthful mistakes.

I loved this book even more than the first, and the first was a delightful surprise. I think this is because I felt the first was too close to Kate and Danny's real life love story, so I was curious to see them write something different. I was certainly not disappointed. As I said in my first review 'I think the Kate and Danny Tamberelli are onto a good thing here. More, please!'

Thanks to Kensington Books and NetGalley for the ARC.

I'd like to thank the publisher and NetGalley for allowing me a chance at reading this.

I had read their previous book, and again I sadly seem to have the same issue I had there. The plot is good, but the characters are flat, and so is what is going on in the story. There has to be some sort of problem / issue popping up. The problem / issue does not crop up until they return to their jaunt into the past.

Way, way, WAY too many references and didn't seem natural. Reminded me of Ernest Cline's Ready Player One but

The dude's name honestly annoyed me. While he himself wasn't, the name when it cropped up was just off putting.

I think the crux of the issue I had with the book was that we followed them - and yes, they art the main characters - but it felt like they were just spending 60% of the story reacting to things, you didn't really meet other people, you didn't really get any sort of depth from what you're reading.

I really wish I enjoyed this one more, it just didn't hit hard.

I wasn’t expecting this book to hit the way it did. As anticipated, it was funny and sweet, but it also carries a surprising amount of emotional depth. Going in, I didn’t anticipate crying. Twice.

While this book can be read as a stand-alone, it is the follow-up to The First Date Prophecy and an improvement over the first book (which is lovely in its own right.) While The First Date Prophecy flirted with a touch of magic, The Road Trip Rewind fully embraces the fantastical, taking Beatrice and Rocco on a time-traveling road trip to the eve of Y2K. They must decide what, if anything, they would change about that night - one that had long-lasting repercussions for both of them.

The late 90s nostalgia was great. The romantic element was well done. I loved getting to revisit Rudy & Lucy. And the whole storyline with Bea’s dad was beautifully handled. .

Thanks to NetGalley for the advanced reader copy of this book.

I absolutely loved the characters in this book and this is what made me want to keep on reading and I enjoyed it so much overall.

What would you say to your long-deceased father if you had the chance for one last conversation? That’s a thought that I’ve pondered for more than 20 years. And what if you had a second chance at love? This was a fun, nostalgic ride through 1999 LA - the music scene, fashion, film, and Hollywood life.

This book was SO much fun! I love time traveling books so much. I immediately loved Beatrix and Rocco. There were so many funny moments and great banter, but also sadness and more serious moments that make you FEEL.