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!