DNF. I couldn't connect with this book at all and found it really hard to get into. I had high hopes for this, which is a shame.

This book is hilarious. I laughed and cried throughout it's so funny! Its light hearted, easy to read and the perfect pick me up. Such a fab read !!!

Unfortunately, I have not been able to read and review this book.

After losing and replacing my broken Kindle and getting a new phone I was unable to download the title again for review as it was no longer available on Netgalley.

I’m really sorry about this and hope that it won’t affect you allowing me to read and review your titles in the future.

Thank you so much for giving me this opportunity.
Natalie.

The Getaway Girls is another wonderful, feel-good read from Dee Macdonald. The book follows Connie McColl (heroine of The Runaway Wife*) as she heads off on another adventure - this time to Italy, in search of long-lost family. In a campervan. And her trip is made extra memorable by the unexpected addition of pals Maggie and Gill who are also intent on having a trip filled with fun and flings (that is, until trouble begins to follow them...)

This is a light, heartwarming novel that shows us its never too late for an adventure - and love. It's particularly refreshing to read about older heroines, as for some reason this seems rare? Would love to read about more 50+ women having adventures!

*The Getaway Girls can be read as a standalone, so it doesn't matter if you haven't read The Runaway Wife - although that too is a brilliant book so I would totally recommend it!

This book was so heartwarming! I laughed, I cried, and I cheered these 3 adventurous 70year old ladies on every step of the way! It was easy to see a little bit of myself in each of them, and I can honestly say I hope I am that brave at 70. Such an inspiring lighthearted story, full of quick wit, and memorable characters. I found this to be well written, and so very easy to get swept away into the pages of European landscape descriptions.

Also, now all I want is wine, bread, cheese, and olives.

Thank you to NetGalley, as well as the publisher for providing me with a digital copy of this book, in exchange for an honest review.

LOVE LOVE LOVE this book!!! Even though this is a follow-up you never had to read the first book I didn't and still loved and understood everything in this book! Three different women in their 60's head out on a road trip from the UK thru France and Italy in a motor home. Each has their own reasons for running away! I mean right there that sounds like its going to be funny and it is!

An amazing read!
This book is yet another proof to show how age is just a number. Gill, Maggie, and Connie are on a road trip and we are tagged along with them. As they seek new adventures and fall in love and escape a relationship, we are with them every step of the way.
An absolutely delightful book, go read!

Afraid I just couldn’t get into this one.... I attempted to push through but gave up. Might try again later. But thanks to netgalley for the opportunity!

***I received an e-copy of this book in exchange for an honest review. Thank you for this opportunity.***

This was a great book. The story was captivating and kept me interested throughout. Can’t wait for more from this author.

Connie is back on the road in this sequel to The Runaway Wife, but this time she has some pals. Connie, Maggie, and Gill meander from England to Italy in a quirky RV, trying unsuccessfully to avoid trouble, but thankfully managing to stay alive!

I liked the “journey” quality to the whole book – Canterbury-Tale-ish, meeting various characters along the way. But I had to suspend my disbelief just a little too much when the ladies “coincidentally” managed to avoid a certain stalker, like 50 times. Just a little too orchestrated.

What can’t be beat is the cross between girls’ night and a road trip for the memory books – and some big laughs along the way.
https://randombookmuses.com/2018/09/01/review-the-getaway-girls-by-dee-macdonald/

Thanks Netgalley and the Publisher. What a terrifically funny and heartwarming book. I thoroughly enjoyed it and laughed my way through most of it.

This is a great book with a wonderful story and well developed characters. This book will keep you reading long into the night. If you are looking for a great book, then you need to read this book. I am looking forward to reading the next book by this great author.

This book is the follow-up to The Runaway Wife but can easily be read as a standalone too.

Connie is up for some adventure, and Gill and Maggie come along for the ride. All of them are in dire need of a change of scenery and driving through France and Italy is definitely a big change from their normal lives. Along the way, they meet interesting people (and some annoying ones!) and discover that despite their very different personalities, they get along very well and they have each other's backs, no matter what. This is like "Sisterhood of the Travelling Pants" but for 60-plus ladies :)

I enjoyed this book, just the thought of these ladies' adventures made me chuckle! 4.5 stars from me.

Thank you to NetGalley and Bookouture.

Didn't read the 1st book. Hadn't realised it was the 2nd book in a series. But that's ok you can just pick up on this book ok. The book was fun to read. It takes you on a journey and you feel as though your on it with them. Easy to read, and well written. good fun

This was a great book! Who would have thought a bunch of ladies taking off to Europe in a caravan would be so much fun!

Connie discovers that she may have some family over in Italy and is feeling like she needs a sea change so decides to buys a caravan and manages to enlist two acquaintances to travel with her to Europe. Soon these three women who are all after retiring age, find themselves having the adventure of their lives! Add some romance, humour and a bit of cash from a bank heist and you have a delightful, fun little novel which is just perfect for a little bit of escapism!

I thought it was just delightful! The characters were just fantastic! They were all different and relatable and I enjoyed all the backstories and it had some wonderfully funny laugh out loud moments!

I really enjoyed their trip around France. When my husband and I first started dating we went on a driving trip around France and parts of Europe and visited a lot of the sights that these ladies visited. The descriptions of the places and sights took me back. We didn’t use a caravan though! That would be so much fun! I am seriously contemplating it for the future!

The romance was really sweet. I really enjoyed the evolution of the characters as they became closer, spilling their secrets and becoming wonderful friends. I was sad when the road trip was over!

I didn’t realise that this was a sequel to the authors first book “The Runaway Wife”. I would really like to read that now to learn more about Connie’s backstory! It didn’t read at all like a sequel, so you don’t have to read them in order.

Would I recommend The Getaway Girls?
Absolutely! It was a delightful, fun read for any age. Something light in between a bunch of high fantasy and thriller books. Just what the doctor ordered!

Many thanks to the author and publisher Bookouture via netgalley for a copy of Getaway Girls to read and review.

What a fun experience, traveling with Connie, Maggie and Gill on a camper from England to France and on to Italy and the Amalfi coast. Connie is taking on this adventure, searching for lost relatives, while Maggie is escaping from an abusive relationship. Gill falls easily in love, and meets Alfonso along the way. The kicker is they are all in their late 60’s and 70’s, proving that it’s never to late to meet new people and have fun! A great little summer read. Enjoy!

A hilarious adventure! Couldn't put it down!

Many thanks to NetGalley, the author, and the publisher for my ARC. All opinions are my own.

Mama Mia 2 meets The Spice Girls – this book is like a breath of fresh air. What’s more, ‘it does exactly what it says on the tin’ and whisks you away. Catching a lift with Connie, Maggie and Gill, you are literally taking your life in your hands as you are scooped up and swept along for a very enjoyable rollercoaster of a ride. Following these golden girls down through France and into Italy, all aboard the ‘Bella’, I sometimes felt like the wild goose, she of the proverbial ‘chase’. I didn’t know where we might stop next, or what scrapes we might get into (literal or metaphorical) and I loved every minute. You too will enjoy the thrills and spills of this epic journey. It made me laugh out loud, squeal in squeaky-bum shame and shed a tear or two along the way.
A ‘joie de vivre’ flows through the story, carrying this reader along on a water slide of fun, slipping and sliding from one fresh escapade to another and spitting me out at the other end, delightfully dazed and beautifully bewildered as a result.
The book put a definite spring in my step. It has cheered me on to keep going into the present and has given me courage even though, by its very nature, the future may always be uncertain. I am not anywhere near my 70s, but I now believe I too can ‘boldly go’. ‘There’s a fire within my soul,' to coin a phrase and Maggie’s words in particular have stayed with me.
“She’d wondered if she’d ever have the courage to...but now she knew she had because that was exactly what she was doing.”
It’s good to know that there is a fresh start waiting for all of us, whatever age we are and that the future can be as bright as any tan might be.
This is a book that has you rapidly turning the pages. All told in a funny and fluid style, the writer releases each sentence with ease and grace and creates colourful characters, most of whom charm you into liking them more or less straight away – and that’s not just Otto the dog! I stepped off the ride filled with a fresh sense of girl power; with a punch in the air and a fresh look at my own surroundings – ‘C’mon then life! Here we go again!’
Coffee Cup Conversations and Teapot Talking Points:
If you and I dear reader were sitting down together today, on a couple of comfy camping chairs, having both read the book, here are a few of the points we could mull over together, as we sip our drinks and look out at the vista.
Have you ever gone on a road trip?
It has been a dream of mine for years to hire a motorhome and set out across America on a long haul road trip. I just love the idea of being able to stop wherever I fancy and yet have everything I need right there with me. I used to do something similar as a child. I’d take a simple picnic, a bike and a friend and head off out to explore the neighbourhood. We’d stop whenever we wanted and eat a little of our picnic. It was great to feel free, empowered and curious.
Have you ever made friends unexpectedly or found them from an unlikely source?
Some of the nicest people that I have made friends with have been at unexpected moments. I believe that friends can be with us for seasons – sometimes the long term and sometimes just for part of our journey. I remember fondly friends I made when the children were little at toddler group, neighbours we previously lived near and people I have worked with. I am encouraged by this book to look for friends that might be there in any given moment – I don’t want to miss out.
Have you ever stepped out of your normal routines and surprised yourself or your loved ones?
I love the call to arms in the book to be ourselves, and to not apologise for who we are. I love that the friends accept one another – beehives and all! Now I love a routine, and there is nothing that makes me happier than ticking off a ‘to do’ list, but I have also enjoyed this year – my sabbatical year – stepping out of routines and going with the flow instead. We all need a little time to say to our inner selves – ‘what do I feel like doing today?’ and ‘what do I not want to do?’ It is good to make room for the new – or simply a new way of doing something. Sometimes we just need to be one of those getaway girls even if it is just for one day.

I really enjoyed MacDonald’s debut, The Runaway Wife, which featured a 6o something Connie, fed up with the constant refusal of her husband and children ‘seeing’ or ‘appreciating’ her – so she packed her little green car (Kermit) and started driving- meeting new people, having adventures, and actually deciding that settling for what she had wasn’t quite enough. Now divorced, pushing 70 and living in London for the moment, she’s recently been given a box full of her family history – a history she never knew as her parents were killed in an accident when she was little, and she was raised by her aunt and uncle and their children. Discovering that she had a grandmother born in Italy is enough to get her feet itchy, and a half-formed plan is hatched.

But since her divorce, she’s been (mostly to get out and meet people) running a class on flower arranging, two of her “from the beginning” students are Gill and Maggie, and when she announces the end of the course, the two seem particularly downhearted – so she invites the two to the pub for a drink and lunch, and shares her plan of traveling to Italy and discovering her roots.

Gill is coming on 70, with six children and is finding life lonely and wants little more than a man to make her feel more complete. Maggie has been with the same man who brought her to London from Glasgow some years earlier: he’s a low-level criminal, who has currently been seen about town with a young blonde in tow. With a son who’s emigrated to Australia, and her fear of flying, she’s angry, neglected and feeling trapped. The three find a camaraderie in the pub, and set a weekly ‘get together’ before parting. But Connie’s determination to go to Italy hasn’t waned, in fact a chance sighting of an RV dealership have her looking at one of her own – a small, perfect for her trip camper – that soon is overcome by thoughts of the larger and more luxurious “La Bellisima” model , gently used and pushed by the salesman. Is it possible that she could survive (and thrive) on the trip by road, taking Gill and Maggie along?

And here comes the fun – from Gill’s determination to flirt with everything and anything in trousers, to Maggie’s sudden windfall taken from a duffel bag shoved in her oven, the ladies are adjusting to personalities, new sights, changes and a bit of tension as Maggie’s ex is following them everywhere. From meeting other Brits who are almost caricatures of an earlier time, to finding friendship, support and hope in the next chapter, the story is clever and light – with plenty of lovely descriptions of place and journeys with these women who are far different from what one would expect from these three woman who find that sometimes it’s only the journey that matters, not the destination. It’s not necessary to read Connie’s story (The Road Trip) to enjoy this book, but if you want a modern-day finding yourself story a la Kerouac with a heroine in an age where slippers, knitting and that birthday card with a fiver are expected, these two are books for you.

I received an eArc copy of the title from the publisher via NetGalley for purpose of honest review. I was not compensated for this review: all conclusions are my own responsibility.

Review first appeared at <a href=” https://wp.me/p3OmRo-9Y2/” > <a> I am, Indeed </a>

This is the second of Dee’s books that I have had the pleasure of reading and reviewing. I thought that the first one ‘The Runaway Wife’ was good but ‘The Getaway Girls’ blows ‘The Runaway Wife’ out of the water. I loved, no make that adored reading ‘The Getaway Girls’ but more about that in a bit.
I loved all three of the main female characters, who all meet at a flower arranging class run by Connie, but I had a definite soft spot for Maggie. She is a breast cancer survivor who has had a mastectomy She has a significant other but he puts no effort whatsoever into their relationship. There is a certain amount of resentment there because Maggie is convinced that Ringer has a bit on the side. Ringer has also been known to cross the boundaries and embrace the criminal lifestyle on a fair new occasions. Maggie has had enough and she makes the decision that she will join Connie on her adventure of a lifetime. Ringer doesn’t seem to be too cut up about her leaving, which strengthens Maggie’s determination to leave. Maggie also takes a rather large amount of money that Ringer has stashed in the oven. Maggie knows that Ringer will come after the money and she decides to enjoy spending the money whilst she can. Maggie is quite a placid character who appears to hate major confrontations and she acts as diplomat in a sense. Maggie gets on well with the other women. Connie is the woman, whose idea it is to go to Italy to find out more about her Italian grandmother. She is so looking forward to her adventure although at first she is reluctant about the other two ladies coming along. Of course certain people try to put her off by saying that she is too old for all that, she will hate it and she will never cope with not only driving a large vehicle, but also driving it on the wrong side of the road. If anything this strengthens Connie’s resolve to go and to make a success out of her trip. Gill is a bit more of a funny old fish. She is always glamourous and is the sort of woman, who doesn’t like anybody seeing her looking less than her best. Gill is determined that whilst she is on this trip with Connie and Maggie, she is going to have a fling or two. The phrase I thought best to describe the three ladies and their trip was ‘watch out Europe here comes the girls’.
Oh my days, this is one of those books that had me chuckling away from the moment I started to read it. The characters and most of the situations they found themselves were just so funny that I couldn’t help but laugh. The characters were so realistically written that I just couldn’t help but take to them and before I even got halfway through the book, I had begun to think of Connie, Maggie and Gill as friends. It’s certainly true to say that they are not letting their ages hold them back and they are determined to show that they are certainly not past it. I became hooked on this book from the moment I read the synopsis. For me, ‘The Getaway Girls’ was a real ‘CPID’ (can’t put it down) book. My Kindle wasn’t glued to my hand but it might as well have been because it came everywhere with me. When I had to be parted from the book, I was almost counting down the time until I could get back to it. I first picked the book up only intending to read a couple of chapters but that intention soon flew out of the window. I was enjoying the story and the characters so much, I just kept reading and when I checked up on how much I had read, I was stunned to see that I was 40% through the book. I hadn’t realised because I was enjoying the book so much. ‘The Getaway Girls’ is ideal summer holiday reading material.
In short I adored reading ‘The Getaway Girls’ and I definitely recommend that you read it. I can’t wait to read what comes next from Dee MacDonald. The score on the Ginger Book Geek board is a well deserved 5* out of 5*.