Thanks to Quercus for letting me read The Road Trip in advance! I was very interested to read The Road Trip - the premise is so good! Dylan and Addie broke up a year and a half before, but they're on their way to a wedding in rural Scotland - when Dylan's car breaks down and they're forced to share a car together. It's written over two timelines and I was really enjoying the first half, with a sexy Provence summer romance and all the promise of their broken relationship to be untangled, but the second half let it down for me. There was just too much going on in the past section that, for me, all the plotlines felt a bit crammed (especially considering all the action takes place over a year or so) and I felt considerably less gripped. 3.5 stars.

After reading and loving Beth’s previous books I was delighted to get my hands on her latest one - thank you NetGalley!
The story opens with two sisters, Addie and Deb, travelling to a wedding (with a stranger on board thanks to the Facebook wedding group) when they are involved in a minor car accident.. Turns out that the other car’s occupants are also en route to Scotland for the same wedding...and just happen to be Addie’s ex and his best friend.
Looks like this Road Trip just got interesting....

I loved this book. It made me laugh out loud and shed a couple of tears. I loved Addie’s character and her relationship with her sister. Would highly recommend.

I loved The Flatshare but didn't love The Switch so I was really pleased to love this one.

I really enjoyed this and found Addie and Dylan's story compelling and there was enough comedy to even out the darker parts of the story. I found Marcus' behaviour super problematic, but I'm pretty sure we were meant to. A really good read overall.

I LOVED all of this authors previous books but DNF at 20%, wasn’t anything terrible about the book but just wasn’t for me, really look forward to this authors next book and am sure many readers will love this one,just not me this time

Another joyous and fun romp with Beth O’Leary in this latest release. It was fun to watch the relationships between characters evolve both in the now and the past, and to see both what went wrong and how the intervening time has turned them both into better, stronger individuals capable of building a life together.

I absolutely loved ‘The Flat share’ but wasn’t mad about ‘The Switch’. This was more like ‘The Switch’ for me. O’Leary can write good characters but I just didn’t love the plot of this book. I’ve no doubt that this will be a big hit in my library. But it wasn’t for me.

Beth O’Leary has done it again and made another book that I really enjoyed!

The Road Trip follows Addie and her sister as they embark on a road trip to a friend’s wedding but then a car slams into the back of their’s and it’s none other than Addie’s ex - Dylan. Dylan and his best friend are also heading to the wedding, so when their car is unable to carry on and Addie offer’s them a ride, it’s ride that is sure to be bumpy.

I really enjoyed the concept of this book with the road trip and the things that happen along the way, it makes for a funny and enjoyable read. I also love how Beth O’Leary included sensitive but important topics like sexual assault and mental health like depression. Always great to see such topics included in books for people to learn from them.

The only thing that I wish was different was that I felt one of the characters didn’t face enough consequences for their actions along the book. But, apart from that I really enjoyed it and would definitely recommend.

'A coincidence reunites Addie with her ex on a road trip to a friend’s wedding in this funny and moving third novel from the bestselling author of The Flatshare and The Switch'
Beth O'Leary is my not so guilty pleasure, she has a great sense of humour, she writes of a life we all wish we lived, a little more care free and free spirited.
Perfect escapism for January lockdown blues…or shall I say 2021 lockdown rules

Another totally charming novel from Beth O'Leary. Smart, compelling, involving. Sweet, funny and very human. The concept was strong and the structure worked really well.. A delight.

Get your tissues ready for this heart-warming, sincere read. Addie and her sister Deb are heading to a friend’s wedding in Scotland. It’s going to take hours but they have each other… plus an extra travelling companion. When a car crashes into them, it’s not long before they also have two additional guests – who happen to be Addie’s ex-boyfriend Dylan and his BFF. It’s been two years since Addie and Dylan broke up and the idea of a long journey in a cramped car isn’t working for either of them. Addie, pragmatic, will focus on getting through, but Dylan, a poet, is more whimsical about the whole thing. Using flashbacks from the night they met to the night they broke up, we learn there’s a lot more to their relationship than meets the eye. Kudos to Beth once again for layering darker storylines with the lightness that many of the secondary characters bring.

I loved The Flatshare so I was keen to read this next book from Beth O'Leary. I was not disappointed. It's not a sappy romance, which I appreciate, and it's just quirky enough to keep me smiling. Thanks for the ARC!

There's an old literary joke that always makes me laugh - 'What's long and hard and makes you cry? Paradise Lost.' Beth O'Leary's new second-chance romance borrows more from Spenser's Faerie Queene than Milton, but at times I found it a bit hard-going for a commercial romance. Not that this was even a surprise - I liked that O'Leary's first book, The Flat Share, dealt with the aftermath of an abusive relationship through the flowering of a new one, exploring themes of gaslighting, love-bombing, and coercive control.

The Road Trip is the story of Addie and Dylan, and Dylan's friend Marcus. After an enforced absence, the three of them - plus Addie's straight-talking sister Deb and a tagalong called Rodney - end up trapped in a Mini on the way to a friend's wedding in Scotland. Marcus's feelings for Addie are complicated and cause him to warn Dylan that she's more 'raw and messy' than his Manic Pixie Dream Girl image of her allows. This is likely to be a projection by Marcus, as there isn't much evidence of this messiness and raw sexuality - Addie is a multifaceted young woman with a functional family and a life outside the relationship, things Dylan lacks, but not the temptress Marcus thinks she is. Will they be able to find paradise again? A sweet story about the work that needs to be done for all relationships to thrive, and the importance of not giving up.

I love this book! I really needed to read something like this right now. I love how Beth O'Leary always brings up important messages in her books. When the readers see the cover, they probably think that it's just another cute story about a couple falling in love and having fun during a road trip. But it's so much more than that! The characters are very complex. They've been through a lot in the past and need some time to readjust their emotions. It's not an easy journey... But it's worth it.

It's one of my best reads this year. I'll be adding it to my "High Recommended Books" section in 2021.

The readers should know in advance that it might contain a few triggers, though. I know it's complicated, since trigger warnings are often spoilers, but it's important to include them. The author did a great job addressing the sensitive topics, and the message is very positive... but still, some parts might be hard to read for some audience.

Bethan has done it again with a brilliantly funny and bright read - there’s wit and warmth all the way in The Road Trip. I absolutely loved it!

I was lucky enough to receive an advanced reading copy of this title and I am so grateful as Beth O’Leary is one of my absolute favourite authors. I liked that she continued with her style of writing a book from two perspectives. That was great. The earlier part of the book where the characters were in the villa was amazing and reminded me of normal people by Sally Rooney who is my fav author. And then the second half of it was just.. eh not my absolute favourite Beth O’Leary novel but I do love her so I couldn’t hate the book.

I've gone off ebooks recently (something about the whole pandemic isolation forcing us to spend our lives looking at screens for everything) but I made an exception for this book.

Normal People meets Beth O'Leary's charm, and I loved every second of it. One of those books you simultaneously want to savour yet canot put down. Highly recommend and very grateful to read it!

I absolutely love Beth’s writing and I was so intrigued by the premise of this book.

The Road Trip follows an ex-couple, their friends and a stranger on a road trip up to Scotland for a wedding, and it explores the messy history they all have. Each character has their own stories, and the way their lives intertwine is ingenious. Quite often with romantic comedy style books, I find that it’s only the main couple who have their own lives. But with Beth, I feel she adds more depths to her secondary characters, and that makes the whole book so much more enticing.

I read this book in less than 24 hours, which probably says a lot about how much I loved it. It had the easy to read style I love of Beth’s, but with a level of intrigue and mystery, I felt was really different from her other books. The flashbacks and the uncovering of what happened really grips you and you can’t put it down.

Beth O'Leary keeps getting better.An absolute Doosie of a book. Full of wonderful characters and laugh out loud moments I loved it. Keep 'em coming Beth.

Another amazing book from Beth! I loved the build up from the two time points, where we learn about their relationship as we also see the, broken up and meeting again. Appreciated the humour and lightness to the book despite the serious topics, and wow Rodney you can never trust the quiet ones!