This is a lovely book - both heartwarming and heart wrenching and a very emotional reading experience. I thought the characters were wonderful. I think that the topics presented in this book would be very good for discussion in a book club setting.
3.5 stars

More serious, but also more touching, than the usual road trip novel. It's poignant, the characters are good and you'll root for all of them. Thanks to netgalley for the ARC.

It was a bit heavier themed than I thought the road trip type premise first made me think. Iris, Terry and even Eugene go on quite an adventure, both on the road and in their growth.

4.5 stars. I absolutely love when I take away learning something about the human condition from a story I read. When it isn't just the formulaic journey from point A to point B, checking off the plot points as we go. This was as much Terry's story and about the things she needed to learn in her life, as it was about her friend Iris who has a progressive disease and chooses what she believes to be her right to see herself of out of this world with dignity and on her own terms. Add in Terry's father, who is battling dementia, Terry's relationship with her husband which has become stale, and a life that Terry feels leaves her responsible for so many yet unseen, and you have something pretty special.

Rules of the Road by Ciara Geraghty tells of a special friendship between two Irish women. After Terry picks up her father, who suffers from dementia, she drops in to her friend Iris’ home, only to find she has disappeared. She tracks her down and finds that Iris was on her way out of the country, without telling anyone. Concerned for her friend, Terry and her father spontaneously accompany Iris on her road trip (she fears flying). This will be a trip that will change the lives of these two women. This is touching and emotional friendship fiction. The author has created two beautiful and fascinating characters, complete with qualities and faults. The six-day road trip was not long enough and I would have spent many more days with Terry and Iris. Highly recommended. Thank you to Park Row for the e-ARC in exchange for an honest review.

Written with warmth and humor Rules of the Road, by Irish writer, Ciara Geraghty, explores the dark themes of loss in general and Alzheimer's and Assisted Suicide in particular. In the end, this is a book about love, friendship, self-discovery, and living your best day every day.

With her father in the car, Terry searches for her friend Iris to prevent her from doing something she could regret. After locating her, the three embark on a road trip from Dublin, Ireland to Zurich, Switzerland. 930+ miles and many adventures later, their lives will change forever. The road trip is quite eventful. Iris, Terry and her dad get themselves into some rather humorous situations, do a lot of self-reflection and get to know each other better than they ever thought they would. This is a story of self-discovery, friendship, family and acceptance. There are some tough subjects in this story, ethical suicide, dementia, new beginnings after losing your job, and more. There’s a bit of a race against time for Terry, trying to convince her best friend, Iris, that life is always worth living, but she soon learns more about Iris’s choices and reasons as they travel toward the border to Zurich; learning more about the parts Iris’s MS that she hides from Terry and the world.

There is not all doom and gloom in this story. I enjoyed the happy times they shared on this road trip which reminded me how important it is to look for the positives and happiness in life while you can. The Multiple Sclerosis and Dementia are dealt with in a serious and sensitive way, but do keep tissues nearby. This was an emotional story with a very human side and I definitely recommend this one to anyone who enjoys a human story.

I voluntarily reviewed a complimentary copy of this book

This was a little too cutesy for me. It's a hard line to draw between a happy and sweet book, and too cloyingly cutesy. Unfortunately this one was the latter for me! I think this will appeal to a large audience of readers, it's just not for me.

Rules of the Road by Ciara Geraghty is a touching story about friendship, family, and finding yourself. There is a mix of heavy and lighthearted topics that reflect the rollercoaster of emotions that Terry goes through in this road trip book. It is one that I highly recommend to fans of contemporary fiction.

This book really took me by surprise and I didn’t expect to enjoy it as much as I did. It starts off a bit slow and the main character, Terry, seemed quite tiresome at first. However, once the story starts rolling and the road trip begins, we see a side of Terry that has been hiding. It is really enjoyable to read about her self discovery and the many laugh out loud situations she gets herself into.

❀ AN EXPEDITION ACROSS EUROPE

When Terry discovers that her best friend has gone missing, she sets off on a mad journey to find her. Her accomplice is her elderly father who has dementia, as his nursing home is closed for the week. The two embark on an expedition across Europe where Terry reflects on her past, her future, and her beliefs. When they catch up with Iris, Terry must struggle to understand the choices her friend has made.

❀ AN INTERESTING LOOK INTO MULTIPLE SCLEROSIS

This is the first book that I have read about a character living with multiple sclerosis. While I do know a little bit about the condition, Iris’ character really opened my eyes to how someone living with MS might cope emotionally. She is in the early stages of the disease and is worried about her future. It is an interesting look into a condition that affects so many in our society. I am not able to speak on the accuracy of the author’s depictions, but they are compelling.

❀ WILL BRING OUT ALL OF YOUR EMOTIONS

If you are in the mood for a book that will bring out all of your emotions, Rules of the Road by Ciara Geraghty is one to try. It has a good mix of humour and seriousness. Perfect for a fall TBR.

Contemporary Fiction | Adult
Keep the tissue box handy for this one! Wowza. Terry lives a good if not exceptional life in Ireland with her husband Brendan, raising two daughters who are now grown-up though they still need their mum. She bakes, she washes, she cleans – boy, she cleans. She is also about to look after her father, who has dementia, for a week, while the nursing home deals with vermin. (We never find out precisely what vermin.) On the day she picks up her dad, Terry discovers her best friend Iris, who lives with multiple sclerosis, has decided she’s had enough of the disease’s steady progress, and has made plans for an assisted suicide in Switzerland. Terry is determined to get Iris to change her mind, and with dad in tow, rashly jumps on the ferry with Iris, headed to London as the first stop on a funny, sad, and touching road trip with three characters you’ll be cheering all the way. Think Thelma & Louise, with Alan Arkin in the back seat.
As they pass through England, France, and into Swizerland, Iris’s love of life inspires Terry to embrace impulsiveness and leave her pristine, carefully constructed approach to living behind. She surprises her self at every turn – she keeps hanging up on Brendan, she tries weed, she rides a motorcycle, she goes (literally and figuratively) to the edge of the cliff and looks over. Iris quite simply shrugs off all caution; she eats and drinks whatever she wants, she delights in every one she meets, including a handsome fellow or two, and enjoys every step of the journey to her final destination. Dad Eugene keeps looking for his wife, tries to drink shampoo, finds great satisfaction in a bakery tart, and generally keeps everyone he meets smiling with his easygoing manner, though the plaintive scene of Terry helping her dad take a bath left me choking back tears. Geraghty is a brilliant writer, and this North American release (it was first published in 2019) deserves much attention. The title is taken from a U.K. driving guide, and different rules introduce each chapter – a device that didn’t quite work for me, but it’s a minor thing. Superb characters and a gentle hand in delivering an emotional story that addresses many topics make this a winner. My thanks to Park Row for providing a digital reading copy through NetGalley in exchange for my honest review.
More discussion and reviews of this novel: https://www.goodreads.com/book/show/45422559-rules-of-the-road

Favorite Quotes:

But she’ll be stressed about it and pretending she’s not stressed at all, which, in my experience, makes the thing you’re stressed about even more stressful.

This must be a swanky part of London because the charity shop is like a proper boutique with an accessories section and an immaculately turned-out young woman with terrifying eyebrows behind the counter and a bright, fresh smell that has no bearing on old, discarded clothes and worn-out shoes.

Vera rummages through a chest of drawers in the corner, dropping various bras and scarves on the floor until she finds a T-shirt with a picture of Tom Jones’s face on the front and the word “Sexbomb” printed below it.

Dementia likes the quiet. I picture the disease like an olden day’s librarian; all tutting and shushing. And usually I oblige.

The awful thing about thoughts is there’s no getting away from them. They’re right there. Going around and around on a track in your head like a toy train.

Motorbikes are on my list of terrors. High on the list. I’d prefer the girls to tell me they were, I don’t know, drug addicts, rather than owners of a motorbike. You can always go to rehab. But there’s no coming back from the morgue.

There is a collection of words, queueing at the back of my throat. Jostling against the back of my teeth. If I open my mouth, they will tumble out and none of them will be sufficient. None of them will be enough.

My Review:

This poignant and emotive story held a highly unusual premise and was rather ingeniously plotted and narrated through the highly anxious, introspective, and frustrated lens in the first person POV of the main character of Terry. The writing style was agile, evocative, and cleverly amusing as well as heart squeezing. If you were hoping for a fast-paced adventure and a road trip full of hi-jinx, you need to keep looking. This is a thoughtfully written yet highly engaging character-based tale with real-world issues while generously seasoned with humorous observations and vibrant imagery.

Two best friends, Iris and Terry, along with Terry’s elderly dementia patient father, impetuously struck out on a journey from Dublin to Zurich in Terry’s older car, to complete a personal mission for Iris, one that Terry hoped would not conclude as Iris had meticulously planned. Terry had insinuated herself into Iris’s plan at the last minute hoping to change the end result before reaching their destination.

Iris was besieged with the progressive physical deterioration, discomforts, and limitations of a chronic disease and did not relish living the remainder of her life trapped in her body – which is an issue that resonated intensely with me, as this is a personal fear of my own. Terry’s elderly father’s advancing Dementia was a constant concern and bone wearying challenge, which was deftly and sensitively handled with a surprisingly informative and often humorous approach to the complications.

Their odyssey was slow, quite arduous, and fraught with anxieties and a plethora of imagined catastrophes for Terry, a nervous driver who was afraid of the motorway and drove so slowly that even elderly drivers honked and swore at her. The trio experienced numerous detours and escapades as well as eye-opening insights and out of her comfort zone adventures that powered profound changes for Terry. The ending was not one I expected yet was realistic and surprisingly satisfying as I continue to ruminate over Ms. Geraghty’s clever missive. I have a feeling these characters are going to continue to inhabit my headspace for quite some time.

***** Blog Tour *****

The rules of the road are literal and figurative. In a book that includes serious issues - dementia, multiple sclerosis, and assisted end of life, Rules of the Road by Ciara Geraghty is really about a woman navigating through her own outlook and approach to life. A book dealing with such serious issues ends up a sweet story of self-discovery and friendship that leaves me more nostalgic than sad.

Read my complete review at http://www.memoriesfrombooks.com/2020/04/rules-of-road.html

Reviewed for NetGalley and a publisher's blog tour.

Rules Of The Road, by Ciara Geraghty, is a novel that moved me and will stay with me for a very long time.
Terry discovers her best friend Iris has gone missing. Finding her takes Terry, Iris and Terry's befuddled father, Eugene, on a remarkable journey that will change their lives forever. What should be the worst six days of Terry's life turn into the best.
This story is an unexpected, bittersweet journey of self-discovery. A tale about true friendship and going that extra mile for someone.
Highly Recommended!

Thank you to NetGalley and Harlequin - Trade Publishing/Park Row for an arc of this novel in exchange for my honest review.

I’m trying to come up with the words to describe this book. It’s powerful and moving, heartbreaking and uplifting. It explores the meaning of friendship and getting lost in one’s own life. It left me with a whole mix of emotions, but ultimately it gave me hope, which may seem a little weird.

I don’t want to give away any spoilers, but I do need to add a trigger warning for suicide, as the topic is pivotal to the story. In addition to suicide, MS {multiple sclerosis} and dementia also play key roles.

The story takes us on a road trip from Ireland through London, across France and ultimately to Zurich. Along the way Terry, her dad, and her best friend Iris run into some interesting people who help them out along the way.

Everything happens from Terry’s point of view as we get a first person look at her fears, hang ups, and belief that everything will ultimately work out ok. Even as she struggles through caring for her father, whose reality is limited by his advanced dementia, and trying to keep Iris from making what Terry is sure is a huge mistake, Terry learns that she is stronger than she ever believed. As Terry comes to know herself in new ways, she starts to question everything about her life.

Terry’s character has great evolution, as does Iris’s character as well. Iris opens herself up to needing a friend, namely Terry, more than she originally believed. The two friends experience a stronger bond and a greater understanding of each other, and of life through their trip.

This book make me think, made me laugh, and it made me cry, but it was a great read!

Disclaimer: I received an eARC of this book through Harlequin Book Tours on behalf of Park Row through Net Galley. All thoughts and opinions are my own.

The good; Ciara Geraghty is a beautiful writer; the story is told smoothly and in a voice that immediately makes you perk up and pay attention.

The not-so-good; between a friend determined to end her life due to the onset of MS, a father riddled with dementia, and a mother who has already passed on, this is very heavy material, and it won't be for everyone. As much as I appreciated the bittersweet nod to the changing seasons of life, in fact, this wasn't for me.

I am hoping by the end of the read it reached a point of being more uplifting but I didn't reach that point.

Women's fiction can be a hit or a miss for me, and all too often leans toward the former. This one landed firmly in the hit category. The story is emotional and it touches on some tough topics, some harder to read than others. Hard to read or not, the whole thing is beautifully done, and Ciara Geraghty has a writing style that is both compelling and compulsive. I realize that I'm being vague, which is intentional so I don't spoil the read for anyone. I will say that this story is so much more than the blurb suggests. These characters certainly touched me, and I won't soon forget them or their journey. If you enjoy women's fiction and drama, I would definitely recommend this one.

RULES OF THE ROAD by Ciara Geraghty is a beautifully written and poignant women’s fiction story of friendship, family, and love. It is an emotional journey from start to finish and I was in a complete book hangover/coma when I was hit the end. (Have some tissues handy for not only the sad tears, but the happy.)

Terry is a wife, a mother of two grown daughters, the rock of her family and an all-around worrier. Everything must be in its place and every precaution must be taken. The girls are gone now, but she has found out she needs to pick up her father, who has Alzheimer’s from his care home for the week.

When they return to home, Terry realizes she has not seen her best and basically only friend and neighbor, Iris recently. Iris loves life. She is bold, says anything and is willing to try anything. But since Iris was diagnosed with primary progressive MS, Terry worries. Iris has been dealing with her disease, but it is and will get progressively worse. When she checks out Iris’ home, she finds her friend has made plans for a journey that will be her last.

Terry knows the only way to stop Iris is to join her. Terry, her father, Eugene and Iris take off on a six-day road trip from Ireland to Switzerland that will change all of their lives.

For me, this book is written with some of the most realistic and memorable characters of any women’s fiction book I have read so far this year. A friendship that at first glance seems strange, but then you realize their friendship is based on a deep love and caring that may not always be spoken, but it is heartfelt and strong. Iris had decided on her path and she enjoys the trip to its fullest, but in the end, she discovers she needs her friend to be with her and she does not want to be alone. Terry is the character that grows and blooms the most along every hour of their trip. Her interactions with her father, her wanting to change her best friend’s mind, the discovery of her own freedom and strengths, all converge in an emotional awakening that this author was able to capture beautifully with the written word. All the secondary characters were also fully fleshed and add an additional depth and realism to the story.

I cannot say enough about this beautiful story!

I highly recommend Rules of the Road!

Enjoyed the story but found it hard to read when I found out about Iris's illness. Solid writing and believable characters makes it worth reading up until the end. Check it out and see if it's your thing. Happy reading!

I liked the idea of Rules of the Road much more than the actual book. It ended up being just OK for me. I found it a bit predictable, especially the ending. Terry and Iris ended up exactly where I expected them to end up. I had a really hard time warming up to either Terry or Iris. I think this book will make you think. It deals with the tough subject of euthanasia. It also shows the reality of Alzheimer's. So keep both of those things in mind if you choose to give this one a try. For me it made me uncomfortable and that kind of ruined my reading experience. I did like Terry's father. He was an interesting character and added some well needed relief. I think this is one that you will have to try out for yourself.

Rules of the Road is a story of two lifelong friends who set out on a journey, a journey that one friend had planned to take alone. What she did not plan on, was what lengths a best friend will take to be by your side, no matter what.

Iris wants to go on a one-way trip as she is suffering with MS and thinks it is better that she tells no one what she is planning to do. When her best friend Terry finds out, she makes it her mission to go with Iris at all costs along with her father who is suffering from Alzheimer’s who happens to be with her at the time.

This journey takes them through different adventures, meeting new people and discovering what friendship is truly about. Saying any more would give away the ending of the book!

Ciara Geraghty’s writing style wraps the reader right into the story and the characters. It was beautifully written, and I loved that this story touched on so many emotions. It is a story you won’t soon forget. I rated it 4 stars only because of topic of the book. For me it was a little hard to deal with until the characters started evolving. Thank you so much to the author Ciara Geraghty, Harlequin and NetGalley for an advanced copy of the book to review. All opinions expressed for this review are unbiased and entirely my own.

When I got an email from Harlequin Publishing with a list of their summer reads this one was listed in the group. I read the description (although apparently not very well because once I started to read it, it was nothing that I expected) and excitedly signed up to read and review this book.

Terry is living the Irish dream. Gorgeous house in a good address area, two children are grown and out of the house living their own lives and a loving and caring husband. She has a best friend named, Iris. One day Iris isn’t at her home but she finds a letter addressed to her and finds out that she is going to Zurich to end her life with assisted suicide. To make matters worse Terry also has her father with her since his nursing facility is being fumigated for vermin. Her father has Dementia that is progressively getting worse. First off, this book is emotional. I wasn’t sure how I actually liked it. The subject matter is deep. I was left drained while reading it. There is no happy ending and I think that is what left me drained. I knew what was coming the whole entire time. The author did an amazing job of writing about subject matter that isn’t exactly for the faint of heart.

In the end, I really did like this book. It may have taken me a little bit to get into it but when I actually did it definitely flowed. I could relate to Terry in so many ways. She used the trip with Iris and rediscover who she is or actually discover herself. She lost herself somewhere along the way while raising her children. Not that I have lost myself in the raising of my kids but as my kids get older I need to work things I used to love back into my life again. She desperately wants to save her friend, she doesn’t want to lose her. She is struggling to care for her father who doesn’t remember much except for a Frank Sinatra story. I have lost a Grandfather to Alzheimer’s. Shortly before he died he didn’t recognize me, he called me several other names but not one of them my actual name. This was a man that I spent a lot of time with during the summer since they lived close to us. It was heartbreaking. In the end, before he died my Dad didn’t want me to visit him. He wanted me to remember him for the good times and not the end. For that I am grateful. In the end, I definitely think that I will be putting this in my top 10 round-up of books for 2020. While the subject matter wasn’t pleasant it was still a powerful read. If her other books are like this I will probably be checking them out.