I flew through this book — it was such a charming delight and not at all what I was expecting. As the title would suggest, there’s a strong grief theme (and a secondary romance of star crossed sapphic characters that’s bittersweet), but the writing, the characters, and the pitch perfect banter definitely push it more into romcom territory than most contemporary romances that are marketed with that label. Emily Henry fans will enjoy this one a lot, I think. I laughed aloud so many times, which isn’t an often occurrence for me when reading. The ending got a bit bumpy with a third act plot twist that I saw coming but was hoping would be a red herring, so that impacted my warm fuzzies at the end of the book a little, since the romance pacing was thrown off and I tend to find rushed endings to impact my overall feelings for a book a lot. Aside from that quibble, I adored this — it’s an astoundingly strong and vibrant debut. I’m eager to read what Sarah Adler writes next!

I couldn’t have loved this book more. It was perfection! I want something more from this author STAT.

I absolutely loved this book. It was a perfect book for summer, and I really enjoyed the road trip, and all the stops along the way. The banter was fantastic and the chemistry was excellent. I was so excited when the couple finally got together. I loved the bed-and-breakfast scenes as well. They were hilarious. I don’t love the cover though, and I think that might be what makes other romance relievers pass this one by. They shouldn’t though it’s fantastic and I can’t wait for another one from this author.

Millicent is shattered when all flight are cancelled leaving her no way to get to Key West. She has to find a way to get Mrs. Nash to Elsie before it’s too late. Well ok, Mrs. Nash’s ashes but still! When Hollis begrudgingly offers her a ride, she jumps at the chance. Naturally this road trip could not go smooth and the two end up taking a wild road trip down the coast, all while Millie tries to convince Hollis that true love does exist.

OMG this story was just so perfect. I originally put this one off for a bit and I am kicking myself for doing so. I loved Millicent so freaking much. She was just an absolute delight and quirky in the best ways. Of course that has to be paired with a curmudgeonly man that doesn’t believe in love! The story of Rose and Elsie though just added an extra dimension to this book that made it so much more impactful. This book was the heartfelt pick me up I needed this week!

My favorite fun read of the summer. I laughed and cried as this was such an interesting story with strong characters. The premise was great and the romance so believable along with the past and present storyline, I look forward to more from this author. This would make a great movie. 4.5 stars

In order to reunite her elderly best friend with her long lost love, Millie is taking three tablespoons of Mrs. Nashe’s ashes to Key West. When flights are grounded because of a computer glitch, Millie hitches a ride with Hollis.

This was just so cute. I loved the road trip aspect. I loved the sunshine-grump romance. I loved Millie’s child actress past. It was just so cute and quirky.

My oh my do I love this book with everything I got🥹 one of my favorites of the year for SURE. The writing in this book was top tier. It wasn’t cringey at all. It wasn’t full of fluff and I found myself wanting to read every word because I wanted as much of these characters as I could get. The characters were so perfect no words could do them justice. Our FMC Millie was so quirky but so confident in herself and the author didn’t use her quirkiness as an insecurity from which the conflict typically would stem from. And our MMC Hollis was stoic and grumpy but not in a typical caricature-type way but in a way that balanced Millie out so perfectly UGH I love them so much. The banter was top-tier and I was laughing out loud the entire book.

I think the thing that sets this book apart from other romances for me is the alternating timeline to an older love story (Mrs Nash) and how that ties into the current plot outside of the romance. The themes that ended up being covered in this book were perfect and I loved every aspect of it. DID I MENTION I LOVE THIS BOOK? Read it.

Millie, Hollis, and Mrs. Nash take a road trip like no other road trip. Millie is coming off a breakup and recently lost her best friend, the elderly Mrs. Nash. Millie had been living with Mrs. Nash after her breakup and they were close. Mrs. Nash told Millie about her great love story and how it tragically ended and Millie vowed to reunite them. This is why she's traveling to Florida with some of Mrs. Nash's ashes.

Hollis is trying to write a book and experiencing a block. He thinks a week in Florida will unblock him. A cancelled plane flight has Millie and Hollis road-tripping. Previous causal acquaintances (Hollis was in an MFA program with Millie's ex), they get to know each other quickly as their road trip is full of mishaps. Holiday is a cynic who has convinced himself life isn't real. Millie is looking for a reason to believe that love actually is real. Watching them get to know each other was fun. Watching their personal growth as they faced some of their own blocks was poignant and lovely.

Given the short timeline, it's a zero to sixty relationship, but the close quarters of road-trips can do that, plus, romance novel!

Mrs. Nash's love story is also told in alternating chapters- I liked having the two stories.

Thanks to the publisher for a gifted copy. All opinions are my own.

This was really fun and unexpected. I loved the way the storylines wove together between past and present, and thought the convention of a romance road trip novel with ashes in tow was surprising and delightful.

MRS. NASH’S ASHES caught my eye based on the premise first. As I got into the story I fell in love with the characters, the banter, and the journey of this one so much. I thought it was paced well with decent depth. There were plenty of lines that had me absolutely swooning in this one too.

A great romance and summer read!

This is a fun road trip romance but it’s not just a frivolous romance. Millicent promised her elderly best friend that she would reunite her with her love. The only catch is her best friend has passed and she is carrying her ashes in a backpack. This gave a bit of Evelyn Hugo vibes which is always a win for me. It’s interesting because this is a bit sad but it’s also fun and romantic. I love when genres bend.
.

Huge thank you to @berkleypub @berittalksbooks @thephdivabooks @dg_reads and @netgalley for an advanced copy in exchange for an honest review.

This is the best debut I've read all year! I loved all the characters, and there was a perfect balance of silliness, seriousness, and steam. Can't wait to go back and re-read!

This book is a shining example of don’t judge a book by its cover! It looks like a light hearted romcom, but showed a lot of emotional depth and was surprisingly steamy! It also has a small historical fiction subplot.

Millie promised her elderly bff that she would bring her ashes to her great love in Key West. But after finding her, she’s nearing the end herself. Millie is on a race to get to Florida so she can reunite them. But after her flight is cancelled, she’s forced to do some desperate measures. Hollis is an acquaintance from her ex bf and he reluctantly agrees to driver her from DC to Florida.

But everything that could go wrong does. He’s grumpy and she’s trying to make the best of the situation. They hit traffic and are forced to stay in a creepy B&B- only one bed! Millie is a former child star and gets recognized in a small town and gets coerced into becoming the grand Marshall in the town’s broccoli festival (count me in!) in exchange to borrow a car so they can continue the trip. Through their forced proximity they get to know each other and even spill some secrets.

In between the chapters, we get to know Mrs Nash and her love Elsie. They met during WWII and their love ends when Elsie is reported dead during the Korean War. This was such a sweet story line that added to much to the book. Millie and Hollis were so fun to get to know and I appreciated that they had a small shared history. I also liked the explanation of Millie’s breakup with her narcissistic ex and her reason for not having social media. This was a wonderful debut novel and I can’t wait for more from Sarah!

Many thanks to @berkleyromance and @sarahadlerwrites. Mrs. Nash’s Ashes is out now!

✨ Review ✨ Mrs. Nash's Ashes by Sarah Adler; Narrated by Mara Wilson

This was the most delightfully silly, heart-felt, cozy romance. I was literally laughing out loud throughout the book!

Millicent Watts-Cohen, a former child actor, is on a quest to take three tablespoons of Mrs. Nash's ashes to Key West, to find her WWII-era lover who's in hospice there. After flights are cancelled, she encounters a grad school cohort of her ex's, Hollis Hollenbeck, who rescues her from a pervy fan and then gives her a ride to Florida, where he's headed to meet a woman for an annual "appointment."

Hilarity and a ton of banter ensue as all sorts of things go wrong for these two. From paint-by-number Jesuses to a broccoli festival to an Italian-Mexican fusion restaurant, I couldn't stop laughing. While Hollis puts himself out there as a selfish jerk, Millie's constant badgering opens up all of the layers of softness.

The book is interspersed with the story of Mrs. Nash, Millie's recently deceased elderly neighbor and best friend, who fell in love with a woman while working as a pidgeoneer at a base in Key West during WWII. The story is sweet and beautiful and sad, and I loved how this was interspersed throughout.

My only qualms with the story were that the silliness faded at the end, and I wanted a bit more levity to balance the story's more serious moments.

I loved this so much - I can't wait for what Adler writes next!

⭐️⭐️⭐️⭐️⭐️ (4.5-5)
Genre: m/f and f/f romance, historical fiction
Setting: road trip from D.C. to Key West
Reminds me of: Seven Year Slip (humor, banter, queer old ladies for whom the time wasn't right)
Pub Date: out now!

Read this if you like:
⭕️ broccoli crowns and road trip hijinx
⭕️ hilariously weird one bed settings
⭕️ great banter + grumpy and sunshine

Thanks to Berkley and #netgalley for advanced copies of this book!

Wow! What an awesome debut by Sarah Adler. I loved the creative premise of this story; the road trip element was so fun and the decades old romance mirroring present day was sweet and meaningful.

Thank you Berkley Publishing and Netgalley for my copy.

"Millicent Watts-Cohen is on a mission. When she promised her elderly best friend that she’d reunite her with the woman she fell in love with nearly eighty years ago, she never imagined that would mean traveling from D.C. to Key West with three tablespoons of Mrs. Nash’s remains in her backpack. But Millie’s determined to give her friend a symbolic happily-ever-after, before it’s (really) too late—and hopefully reassure herself of love’s lasting power in the process. She just didn’t expect to have a living travel companion.

After a computer glitch grounds flights, Millie is forced to catch a ride with Hollis Hollenbeck, an also-stranded acquaintance from her ex’s MFA program. Hollis certainly does not believe in happily-ever-afters—symbolic or otherwise—and makes it quite clear that he can’t fathom Millie’s plan ending well for anyone"

What an incredible debut novel! I devoured this book in one sitting. Millie was what I imagined a real-life manic pixie dream girl, but with an actual personality and more reasoning to her actions. Hollis' was a really good grump that kept exposing his cinnamon bun-ny goodness that kept me rooting for them to get together. This was fun, emotional, and just cute. LOVED this one!

Former child television star Millicent is on an epic journey to reunite Rose, her elderly former roommate’s ashes, with Elsie, the love of her life, but when a glitch grounds all planes, she needs to find another way to get to her destination. Desperate to get to Florida, where Elsie is in hospice care, Millie is ready to fork over $400 to a stranger for a ride, but is rescued by Hollis Hollenback, a writer and member of her ex-boyfriend’s co-hort. Hollis seems surly, but doesn’t want her to risk possibly murder from hitchhiking, and offers to share his rental care. Their forced proximity allows them to actually get to know one another beyond the time he took her home, crying, after the ex was mean to her.

The author does a fantastic job managing multiple plot points and moving back and forth in time to reveal history, Rose and Elsie’s romance, and the present day road trip. The character’s push and pull of being vulnerable and pulling back was so real. Hollis was en route to a FWB type hookup that Millie obsesses over for much of the trip, and the third act breakup is predictable but well done. Of course, lots could have been cleared up earlier with better communication, but it’s the journey, not the destination, right?

I received a free advance reader’s review copy of #MrsNashsAshes from #NetGalley.

Thank you to Net Galley and the Publisher for this Advanced Readers Copy of Mrs. Nash's Ashes by Sarah Adler

I thoroughly enjoyed this book!! The way Sarah Adler wove the story together was just beautiful. I absolutely loved sunshine Millie and grumpy Hollis. I found myself chuckling often at their interactions and banter. I really liked the flashbacks to the past so we could get the story of Mrs. Nash and her first/true love. I highly recommend picking this one up!

A truly perfect romance that perfectly executes a grumpy/sunshine pairing to swoon for. Millie is a quirky character you can't help but root for, and Hollis is a true cinnamon roll hero.