I loved her two previous titles, but this one just fell so flat - there’s arguably no chemistry with any of the characters aside from Addie and Deb, Marcus is given way too much lee-way, and also a very toxic romance in the middle of it all that we’re supposed to find aspirational?

A true road trip story, complete with sexy times with a stranger, a non-emergency emergency room visit, and five people in a mini cooper. The Road Trip is a story of falling in love when you are not quit mature enough (or in the right place emotionally) to handle it and what might happen if you reconnect again years later on your way to a wedding with four other people in a mini cooper.

3.50 stars
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TW; Alcoholism, Sexual Assault, Toxic Relationship, Stalking, Mental Illness, Rape, Emotional Abuse
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I went into this one blind thinking it would be a fun/lighthearted rom-com about two past lovers forced to travel together on their way to a wedding, let me tell you, by the end, my heart was shattered. Warning that this book deals with some pretty dark topics, and some of them aren't really well dealt with. Years ago Dylan and Abbie fell in love and were inseparable, after a messy breakup the pair haven't spoken since - until fate brings them back together on their way to a mutual friend's wedding.

My main issue with this book is the toxic relationship that the two of them have, the chapters in the book flip between the summer the pair met (and leading to their split), and the present. It acknowledges that their relationship wasn't the healthiest, but for plot movement, it seems as if they'll be able to put everything aside to rekindle the romance. I had a huge issue with Marcus, he was a garbage character (although we do see him redeem himself near the end), the star of the show was Addie's sister Deb who brought in a lot of comedic moments.

Overall, this was a cute read that had me sobbing by the end, it did feel like it dragged a little at times. I think it could have been a little shorter (some of the chapters from the past were a tad long), and still would have been a great book!
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I would like to thank NetGalley and the publisher for a copy of this book in exchange of an honest review, all thoughts and opinions are my own!

Okay, so I am officially a Beth O’Leary STAN and this might be my favorite. I am also a sucker for second chance love, so naturally this is a winner. Abbie and Dylan’s story was so complex and well done. I loved watching them explore and grow and learn. This felt a bit heavier than the previous two books by this author but it is what gives it it’s heart. So anyone on the fence about this, GO!

I can’t believe I had this ARC for so long and let it go unread for as long as I did. I really enjoyed this newest novel from Beth O’Leary. Having read (& loved) The Flatshare earlier this year, I had high expectations.

I was not disappointed. This book was much more than just a romance, though I absolutely loved the romance between Addie and Dylan. Even though they were so frustrating at times, I was really rooting for them.

I enjoyed the dual timelines so we got to see how they met, fell in love, and eventually broke up while also seeing present day. The story also alternates perspectives between Dylan and Addie. I understand why this was necessary but sometimes I would forget who was supposed to be narrating.

I loved the premise of the forced proximity and who doesn’t love a wild road trip story where nothing can go right? I really connected with Addie, but found Dylan to be frustrating at times. I hated Marcus, but I think we are meant to, and Deb was fine but nothing special.

This is another book that makes me wish I loved someone / someone loved me as much as Addie and Dylan. Books like this drive my standards and expectations way too high.

I am so disappointed. I loved LOVED The Flatshare, and I gave up on The Switch - mainly due to my own personal reading interests, not because I thought it was bad.

BUT WHY WHY WHY do so many contemporary romances HAVE to include sexual assault and other intensely heavy topics. This is why I love Emily Henry so much. I don't want to read about horrible things happening when I'm not led to believe that those topics are included. I get so angry about this!

Also, the character development for Addie & Dylan was weak, weak, weak. The characters were UNBEARABLE privileged butts! I couldn't deal with this one.

I just couldn't. No, thanks.

Thanks, NetGalley!

The Road Trip by Beth O’Leary is about a second chance romance between two people who met, fell in love, and had a traumatic break up all while they were quite young.

Addie and Dylan both met while on holiday in France, Addie was working as a housekeeper along with her sister Deb for their rich friend’s villa. Dylan and his family had rented out the villa for a few weeks and there was instant chemistry between himself and Addie. They fall easily into being consumed by each other since they are able to be around each other all day everyday during those initial honeymoon days of a new relationship. Problems and cracks started to arise in their picture perfect romance once they were both back home in England, and their relationship combusted.

Addie has avoided Dylan for the last two years and was mentally preparing herself for seeing him again at their mutual friend’s wedding when the man himself crashed into her car. Dylan and his best friend, Marcus, are also driving up to the wedding and they have now totaled their car. Leaving Addie with no choice but to offer them a ride, and so begins an adventurous road trip.

I really enjoyed this book, from the moment I started it to the moment I was done (which was within a few days) I was hooked on it. Beth O’Leary is a master at writing witty inner and outer dialogues for her characters and there were so many times where I actually laughed out loud and re-read sentences just to fully engrain it into my brain. O’Leary crafts the setting so well that you actually feel as if you are in the villa during a hot summer, and inside the small car feeling the tension in the air.

I really liked Addie, she really grew into herself and gained confidence throughout the book. It was easy to get into Addie’s headspace and understand how she was feeling and why she took the actions that she did. She was so likeable and relatable, I felt like me or my friends could have easily been Addie back in our early 20s. I also really enjoyed reading about Deb, and how much of a badass female she was – so liberated with her body and not apologizing for any of her needs.

I didn’t give this book a 5.0 for one reason, it was a tough for me to really sympathize with any of the minor characters and even with Dylan as I read, all of their issues just seemed like a bunch of rich kid problems. Dylan and his friends were all so entitled and not easy to like, their problems – while very real – just seemed like they could have been solved with some self-reflection and a reality check which none of them seemed to want to do.

While I liked present-day Dylan, the past-Dylan was awful: an insecure, needy kid who couldn’t take responsibility for any of his actions or even for the direction of his life. It was so hard to see what Addie saw in him outside of the physical attraction. Even so, O’Leary did a great job of developing the characters and their second-chance at romance. I recommend this book for anyone who enjoys a funny contemporary romance book.

~ Harshita

Loved it! {@berkleypub #partner} Beth O’Leary is the queen of quirky characters and meaningful love stories and this one totally worked for me! I’m a sucker for second chance romance & forced proximity, and The Road Trip combined those beautifully.

What I loved:
🚗 The premise- Addie and her ex, Dylan, find themselves stuck in the same car on the way to a mutual friend’s wedding. They haven’t spoken since their breakup two years earlier and the tension is HIGH
🚗 The dual timelines show is Addie and Dylan’s relationship back then, interspersed with the road trip happening now. This kept the pace moving nicely and I found myself increasingly invested in these two characters!
🚗 O’Leary infuses so much humor and warmth, balancing it with some heavy subjects as the story of the break-up is slowly revealed. My heart broke for both of them.
🚗 Some laugh out loud moments along the way with hilarious side characters!

This is a perfect beach read and is out NOW! The steam factor is moderate and the story is much more focused on the emotional connection between Addie and Dylan, which I loved.

I absolutely loved this book. I didn’t want it to end. Beth O’Leary writes such wonderful characters and dialogue. I was sad when this one came to an end.

I really love Beth O'Leary as an author, and while I did enjoy this one, sadly it wasn't as good as I was hoping. The story is very intriguing with two ex's forced to spend time together on a road trip trapped in a car and figuring out what all went wrong as we go back and forth in time. The plot is very fun and I enjoyed uncovering the relationship piece by piece, I just didn't connect with any of the characters which made it hard to really get invested. I know others that have really loved this book and I definitely will keep reading Beth O'Leary, this one just wasn't my favourite.

#TheRoadTrip
#BethOLeary

🚗The story starts off with a bang quite literally landing two exes together. Oops! On a long road trip; squashed in a Mini Cooper; along with three others!

I’ve enjoyed O’Leary’s ‘Switch’ and ‘Flatshare’ and I was looking forward to The Road Trip which begins with promise. Addie and Dylan strike up huge chemistry in dreamy Provence. But once real life takes over they are unable to nurture the relationship and end up arguing constantly.

The story alternates between ‘then’ when Addie and Dylan meet in steamy romance; and ‘now’ ( two years after their breakup) when they’re squashed in the car, on a long road trip, to attend a mutual friend’s wedding. The reason for their breakup takes so long in getting revealed that the inevitable resolution (and another reveal) seems rushed.

This read had the potential to be different touching upon serious themes like depression, alcoholism, drug abuse and sexual assault. Unfortunately it kind of falls between the lines of a deep read and a romance. The characters - who hold the key to a reader’s attention - did not grow on me, Dylan seems weak, Marcus is toxic, Rodney, an unnecessary addition. It is only the connect between Addie and Deb which redeems the storyline. Deb, in particular, is delightful.

There were some laugh out loud moments but the book picked up for me only when about 80% in! I wish there had been more of the present and that the read were shorter!

I’m glad I read the book since I’m a fan of Beth O’Leary. This one didn’t work for me but I’m always hopeful subsequent publications will.

TW: depression, alcoholism, substance abuse, sexual assault.

Thank you @netgalley and @berkleypub for the gifted digital copy.

#AD

#andsoiread
#theroadtripbook

This is the perfect summer romance novel. I loved the back and forth between timelines and how they joined together at the end. The "then" timeline could get a little slow at times but it was still vital to the story. Overall, a super cute book that everyone should read!

The Road Trip by Beth O'Leary joins The Flatshare and The Switch in a trio of delightful books I've read by this author.

What we have in this book is two groups heading to a wedding and there being a car wreck. I've been in the situation have having my car in an accident right as I was setting off on a big trip, so this premise is not as outlandish as some might think!

What makes it close to unbearable is that it's Addie's ex Dylan who is in the other car, and the fates intervene so that they have to now head to the wedding together with her sister and his friend. And, it's going to be an adventure.

Many thanks to the author, publisher, and NetGalley for sharing this book with me. All thoughts are my own.

Dylan and Abby broke up four years ago, and both struggled to forgive each other for the reasons that caused their breakup. Now, thrown together for a road trip to a mutual friend’s wedding, they are forced to confront their reasons for the break-up and work through the past events. Pegged as a second chance romance, this story has a lot of promise.

Unfortunately, the plot line got muddied by too many side stories - the struggling relationship between Dylan and his father; the triangle of Abby, Dylan and his best friend Marcus; the toxic history of Dylan and Marcus; and then, out of left field, the Rodney and Cherry’s storyline. Most of these side storylines have nothing to do with Abby and Dylan’s breakup or reunion. And they caused the “Abby and Dylan” story to lose traction.

Mostly, I think the book struggled to find its identity. The typical rom-com feels never surfaced. I believe O’Leary was striving for a message of growth and forgiveness. Unfortunately, the message got lost on the way to the wedding.

Thanks to @NetGalley and @BerkleyPub for the eARC in exchange for my honest review.

This is my new favorite of Beth O'Leary's books!! Addie and Dylan's story was a rollercoaster ride. Every character in this story was entertaining. Addie's fiercely independent sister, Dylan's toxic best friend, and a stranger along for the ride made this Road Trip unforgettable. TW: Sexual Assault, Drugs/Alcohol Abuse, Mental Illness. Thank you NetGalley and the publisher for the opportunity to read this book in exchange for an honest review.

If you enjoy books by Sophie Kinsella, which I do, you will love the books that Beth O’Leary writes. She has the same talent as Sophie, for writing light stories that make you laugh and fill you with happiness. I loved The Road Trip, her latest, and pictured it as a movie for the entire story.

Here’s the plot:

Four years ago, Dylan and Addie fell in love under the Provence sun. Wealthy Oxford student Dylan was staying at his friend Cherry’s enormous French villa; wild child Addie was spending her summer as the on-site caretaker. Two years ago, their relationship officially ended. They haven’t spoken since.

Today, Dylan’s and Addie’s lives collide again. It’s the day before Cherry’s wedding, and Addie and Dylan crash cars at the start of the journey there. The car Dylan was driving is wrecked, and the wedding is in rural Scotland—he’ll never get there on time by public transport.

So, along with Dylan’s best friend, Addie’s sister, and a random guy on Facebook who needed a ride, they squeeze into a space-challenged Mini and set off across Britain. Cramped into the same space, Dylan and Addie are forced to confront the choices they made that tore them apart—and ask themselves whether that final decision was the right one after all.

The Road Trip is out now, get it and read it immediately!

THE ROAD TRIP is a perfect addition to Beth O’Leary’s previous gorgeous, slow-burn contemporaries THE SWITCH and FLATSHARE. She truly has a way of creating these dynamic, unforgettable characters that burrow into your heart.

THE ROAD TRIP is a second chance romance recounted in Then and Now vignettes. It sort of starts in the middle of road trip wreck, and explores how Addie and Dylan’s relationship, which began during a dreamy summer in Provence, unravels into a breakup followed by years of zero contact. We learn both Addie and Dylan’s sides of the story, including how their families, friends and jobs affected their relationship. The road trip to a mutual friends’ wedding provides a hilarious backdrop for our reluctant protagonists (and their travel companions) to process why Dylan and Addie’s relationship broke down.

The road trip shenanigans are hilarious and relatable, the dialog and banter is on point, and I loved O’Leary’s descriptions of those heady early days of falling in love in Provence. I adore how O’Leary takes time to fully develop not just her protagonists, but also the supporting characters. Nothing is flat, and each supporting friend, family member, and coworker is fully realized. I’d recommend this book to anyone who loves stories of rage and reconciliation.

This is such a sweet, easy read. It is a story about forgiveness and friendship and finding yourself.

The story being written in the then and now gives the characters the ability to develop massively throughout the story. This also gives the reader to fall in love with each one of them.

This is a great beach read when you’re looking for something light.

Favorite Quotes:

My family. They’re like a bad cold I can’t shake, a dreadful pop song I can’t stop singing. How do I get rid of them?

Easy and casual is what I’m aiming for, and I think I come pretty close— or, at least, as close as one can get when making a huge effort to make no effort at all.

I don’t care about almost. I care about what really happened. Everyone’s got the potential to do the wrong thing—if we were measured that way, we’d all come up short. It’s about what you do.

I have a feeling that if this journey had been any longer, it would have become progressively more Lord of the Flies, and Marcus probably would have eaten somebody.

My Review:

This was my second exposure to the sharp insights and sparkling wit of Beth O’Leary and I am forevermore her fangirl. Not only were the premise and storylines original, smirk-worthy, and entertaining; but this tale involved an extremely interesting and extraordinary mix of odd and eccentric secondary characters. The character of Marcus was complicated, deeply damaged, and obnoxious, yet also quite fascinating, he was basically a train-wreck laden with hazardous materials.

I’ve noticed that Ms. O’Leary’s characters tend to be complex and multi-layered and while not always likable, they remain strangely endearing and uniquely appealing. These characters were on the go in multiple timelines with the current period being the most fraught with tension and peril as well as being highly eventful as the travelers faced a series of snags and challenging mishaps while make their way across England’s roadways to attend the wedding of a mutual friend. While the characters were stressed and struggling with each other as well as the journey, their adventures and problem-solving methods were quite comical and engaging. I vastly enjoy Ms. O’Leary’s writing style and tend to lose myself in her storytelling. I am already looking forward to her next contrivance.

This book is getting a lot of mixed reviews but I ended up really enjoying it! Admittedly, I preferred the “Then” story versus the “Now” and I also liked the second half much more than the first. If you like heavily character-driven novels with messy relationships and flawed individuals, I definitely recommend this one!

THEN: Addie and her sister Deb are caretakers at a friend’s mansion in France for the summer. When Dylan’s family decides to abort their annual summer plans, he goes alone. Instantly, he and Addie have an undeniable physical attraction that quickly turns into much more. But their relationship is plagued by poor communication, toxic friendships, and mistrust which eventually leads to a messy and devastating breakup.

NOW: On their way to their friend’s wedding, Addie and Deb get in a car accident with none other than Dylan and his toxic friend, Marcus. Forced to give them a lift, Addie and Dylan must decide if they can put the past behind them in order to get through the road trip without incident. But relationship drama or not, the road trip is anything but smooth sailing.

The relationship between Addie and Dylan was confusing and slow building as far as the storyline went, but also shockingly fast in that they met, had insane physical chemistry, and almost instantaneously fell in love. I didn’t always understand their connection and admittedly didn’t feel a whole lot for Dylan’s character (or really any of the male characters in the book - they all kind of sucked!) but I did really like Addie. Addie and Deb’s relationship was the glue to the story for me and I loved both character arcs and their development.

The road trip was totally over the top and a little drawn out, which is probably why I preferred the flashback stories more. However, there was a pretty fun twist I wasn’t expecting over halfway through that really added a fun layer to the story.

The storyline took a while to get interesting for me. It was a ton of character building up until that point. But, I do like character-driven novels and the buildup was worth it for me in the end. I wound up feeling super connected to the characters and the storyline and much of the last quarter of the book had me in tears.

There are some serious trigger warnings in this novel (hence my tears) including toxic relationships and alcoholism and one other I won’t mention for fear of spoilers (message me if concerned and I’ll be happy to share!).

Thank you to Berkley and NetGalley for a copy of this novel.