Ⓑⓞⓞⓚ Ⓡⓔⓥⓘⓔⓦ⭐️⭐️⭐️⭐️

𝕋𝕙𝕖 𝔾𝕦𝕟𝕔𝕝𝕖 𝔸𝕓𝕣𝕠𝕒𝕕
𝗦𝘁𝗲𝘃𝗲𝗻 𝗥𝗼𝘄𝗹𝗲𝘆
Literary Fiction
320 pages
Pub Day: May 21, 2024

Sʜᴏᴿᴛ Sʏɴᴏᴘsɪs
Patrick is on an adventure through Europe with his niece and nephew to teach them about love as they make their way to their father’s wedding.

The kids aren’t thrilled about the wedding, and Patrick hopes that his actions will help them look at their father’s marriage in a different light.

Mʸ Tᴴᴼᵁᴳᴴᵀs
Patrick is ripe with personality. Steven Rowley makes it jump right off the page! I love the snarky comments and the overall way he handles life.
Maisie really comes into her own as well. She is now a teenage girl and has plenty of snarky comments herself. I like seeing different sides of her as the story progresses.

The Guncle Abroad shows the love and struggles between family members. Many feelings and emotions are expressed as they make their way across Europe.

This enjoyable story jumps ahead five years from The Guncle’s adventure and continues as Patrick teaches the kids what he calls Guncle’s love language rules.

I felt a difference between The Guncle and The Guncle Abroad. Although it continued the characters’ stories, I felt it had a whole other feel on some level.

💕Thank you to NetGalley, the author, and the publisher for providing this ebook for me to read and review.

Confession - I’ve read and loved all of Steven Rowley’s novels and loved all of them. Guncle Abroad is no exception. Continuing the story from the first book, all of our favorites are back and while they are not in the same places we left them, they still have a lot of living and learning to do. 5 stars. Loved loved loved.

I adore all of Steven Rowley’s books. But, Patrick, the loveable Guncle, whose adventures with his nibblings continues here is my favorite of all of his characters (and, boy, can he write charming and quirky characters). Glad to be back.

I am so thrilled we got to return to the world of The Guncle with Maisie, Grant, and GUP. Just like the first book, The Guncle Abroad perfectly melds humor with heavy topics to create a book that is heartwarming. I hope Steven Rowley someday blesses us with another installment in this series.

The Guncle was one of my favorite books that I read last year. When I heard there was a sequel, I knew I had to read it!

It brings back all the fun elements of the first iteration: Guncle rules — or rather Guncle’s love languages explained, — witty banter, and heart-warming moments.

The book picks up five years later. Patrick’s sitcom is a hit, and he’s now landed new achievements as an actor… all while his romantic life has fallen apart. Patrick’s brother (and Maisie and Grant’s dad), Greg, decides to get married to Livia — who’s also a rich Italian client’s daughter.

Steven Rowley takes us on a tour of Europe as Patrick’s niece and nephew hope to convince their GUP to stop their dad’s wedding. (While Patrick grapples with somewhat of a mid-life crisis.)

In the end, I enjoyed the continuation of these characters’ stories even though I was satisfied with The Guncle’s ending. The second half seemed a little off with pacing, but it wasn’t enough to ruin the story for me.

At its heart, the story is about family, love, and moving forward with grief. It’s filled with bits of wisdom and even a “duel” between GUP and Launt (lesbian aunt) Palmina.

Thank you to NetGalley and Penguin Group, G.P. Putnam’s Sons for the e-ARC in exchange for an honest review. The Guncle Abroad releases May 21!

I was thrilled to see a sequel for Steven Rowley’s gem, The Guncle. The Guncle Abroad pulled me in from the start with Rowley’s whip smart and funny writing. The characters are engaging, multi layered and the dialogue was so fun. The plot took place five years after the original book and in EUROPE! Have the fun was delving into stories of places I have loved and experienced and imaging the characters seeing them too. Thank you so much, Net Galley, for the advanced copy of this wonderful book!!

Thank you, thank you to Penguin Group Putnam for the ARC of The Guncle Abroad via NetGalley in exchange for an honest review!

In Rowley’s follow up to 2021’s the Guncle, Patrick O’Hara is back! Its now been five years since the fateful summer that Patrick spent with his niece Maisie and nephew Grant following the loss of their mother. Patrick remains their fateful GUP, and continues to fill their heads with Guncle rules to live by – imparting his wisdom and wit in ways both big and small. But now Maisie and Grant have plans of their own. Their father is getting re-married unless they’re able to stop it, and they want Patrick’s help to derail the impending nuptials. Whisked away on a European excursion, Patrick attempts to craft unforgettable memories their mother would be proud of while teaching Maisie and Grant some of the most valuable lessons yet. But that doesn’t mean Patrick doesn’t have a few things to learn himself…

It’s so nice to read a book that’s just… easy. It’s like eating the exact meal you’ve been craving, and it satisfies with every bite. Rowley crafts something really beautiful here – an ode to blended families, to the power of memory (and what it means as we get farther from it), and the impossibility and necessity of reinvention. We only have this one life, as precious and fragile as it is. It’s quick. And it’s never too late to start over. Filled with pop culture references, incredible destinations, and great hilarity, The Guncle Abroad is the perfect breezy, feel-good summer reading. Patrick, while preoccupied with his age, is still plenty young, and certainly young at heart. As a character, he perfectly encapsulates growing up; a blend of knowledge and fear, straddling the blurry line between knowing everything and knowing nothing. Kids admire the adults in their lives for their intelligence, their protection, their love, but often those same adults are making it up as they go along, just doing the best they can.

The word delightful was invented for books like this, though the lighthearted nature of its pages doesn’t mean it sidesteps harder topics like loss, grief, self-doubt and uncertain times. If anything, it reminds us that in those moments, it’s the people we surround ourselves with that really get us through, and help us create something new. The past informs us, it shapes us, but it also ultimately has to make way for now. Now is pretty good, too.

I absolutely adored The Guncle so it put a huge smile on my face to see Patrick returning to our hearts.

I loved following GUP and the kids traipsing through Europe while learning the lessons of love.

Sweet story through and through.

Thank you NetGalley for the advanced copy to review.

It's been five years since Patrick took on the care for his niece and nephew after their mothers' death. Once again, the author explores grief in all its forms as everyone navigates their loss. There are so many layers to the story and Patrick's relationship with the children is refreshing and heartwarming. You will laugh, you will cry, and you will hope to see more of this family in the future.

The Guncle Abroad is a fun, uplifting sequel to The Guncle. It follows Patrick and his niece and nephew to Europe, where the kids' dad gets remarried after the loss of his wife, as shown in the last book. The story follows them from London, through Austria to Venice, and then to Paris, where the wedding will occur. Things don't go quite as expected, as the children are not excited about their father getting married. Patrick finds himself reflecting on his own relationships, especially his last relationship with a younger man. You will smile and laugh out loud while reading this book.

3.75 🌟

The GUP is back!

I was so excited to see a sequel to The Guncle and was so excited to get my hands on an ARC! But... I'm going to be honest, this wasn't my favorite. It does have a lot of the cute banter that I loved in The Guncle but the story didn't pull me in as much as the first. But still enjoyable!

Thanks, Netgalley for the ARC of this book!

"The Guncle Abroad" picks up 5 years after "The Guncle" left off, following Patrick, Grant, and Maisie on a new European adventure. Patrick's brother Greg is getting married to someone Maisie and Grant aren't so sure about, and Greg asks Patrick to take care of them for the month before the wedding to find out why. Patrick is also dealing with a breakup from his 5 year partner Emory, and the trio set off on this adventure to help each other through their grief and feelings.

Similarly to the first book, this one is full of pop culture references. Patrick continuously quotes movies, tv shows, and musicals throughout, one that go over the kids heads (an mine as well!). I think if you are a big movie buff, you'll love this aspect of the story! Patrick guides the kids through his "love languages"-or the reasons why people might love each other to try and persuade them to give their future stepmom a shot. It was basically a carbon copy of the first book, just love rules instead of guncle rules. (I preferred the guncle rules-the love languages didn't quite work for me).

What I really liked were the references to musicals, which is something I can definitely relate to. I thought the scene where they re-enacted sound of music was great! There were a lot of moments that made me giggle. Also the talk of food consistently made me hungry. I wanted to be in that Parisian cafe drinking hot chocolate, and in Italy eating the pizza because the descriptions were so good!

While this book still help some charm and many humorous moments, there were a couple things that made it so that this book did not live up to the first installment. Steven Rowley seems like he has never been in the presence of an 11 year old. As a long time teacher(music grades k-5, ton of experience with young ages), I've taught many kids Grant's age, and Grant should have been acting similar to Maisie. The way he was characterized in this book made him seem like he was 6. He was too naive and innocent and the random things that came out of his mouth were things that younger children would wonder out loud, not a 6th grader. I had the SAME issue in book 1 where I thought Grant acted too young for his age. My second issue was that this book had almost the same plot as book one. The trio has grief, Patrick makes up love language rules instead of guncle rules, they work out their feelings in the end. My last issue is that Patrick was SO immature! He is almost 50, why on Earth does he need a launt for a nemesis? Why is he getting jealous? He is too old for that, and I think that was what made this book a 3.5/5 star instead of 4 or 5. (Also, WAY too many pop culture references in the 1st half of the book; they needed to be sprinkled in, but it was basically one after the other)

If you are a reader of general fiction, give this book a try (but read the first installment first of course)! I liked book 1 better, but by no means was this bad; it was still enjoyable with many funny and sweet moments. I think you will like this if you are a fan of pop culture, traveling, and mild family drama.

3.5/5 stars

Thank you so much to netgalley and PENGUIN GROUP Putnam Books for providing an ARC of this book in exchange for an honest review.

It pains me deeply to give only 3 stars because I LOVED the Guncle so much. I would recommend it to everyone. However.. I just didn’t think we needed a sequel. This one just didn’t have the same charm. The kids were older. (I miss Grants lisp). I didn’t care about their new “Launt”. I still enjoyed it and would recommend, it just didn’t hit the same! I feel like the author was pressured to write a sequel based on the positive reviews of the first.

I wanted to love this as much as I loved the Guncle but it took me a while to get back in to. I wish I had read the Guncle right before as well.

Guncles & launts & classic movie references, laughter & tears & heartwarming moments, wonderful moments from page 1 to the end, these are a few of my favorite things.

#TheGuncleAbroad #StevenRowley #NetGalley #MyFavoriteThings #Groot #IYKYK

Buckle up bookworms, our favorite Guncle is back and sassier than ever in 𝑻𝒉𝒆 𝑮𝒖𝒏𝒄𝒍𝒆 𝑨𝒃𝒓𝒐𝒂𝒅! Five years after 𝑻𝒉𝒆 𝑮𝒖𝒏𝒄𝒍𝒆 takes place, Patrick takes Maisie and Grant on a hilarious and heartwarming European adventure leading up to their father’s wedding in Italy.

Patrick’s one-liners are sharper than a chef’s knife and sassy as ever, and his life lessons (“Guncle Rules” and “Guncle Love Languages”) are heartfelt and deep. With familiar characters making a comeback and new ones to love to hate/hate to love (hint: there’s a 𝘭𝘢𝘶𝘯𝘵 in the mix!! *gasps*), this sequel felt like a reunion of your favorite sitcom cast.

That being said, The Guncle Abroad isn’t just funny. There’s so much more. There’s love, there’s loss, there’s depth, there’s life lessons, there’s second chance romance, there’s whole scenes and running inside jokes surrounding The Sound of Music and another about Grease (did Steven Rowley and I just become best friends!!!??… My mother forced me to love these two movies specifically, and they basically defined my childhood), and… there’s ITALY… (I included some memorabilia from my own Italian adventures on slide 2!) I mean, I just don’t even know what more you could want?

Bravo, Steven Rowley! An easy 5 stars from me!! Thank you @netgalley for early access to this lil gem! Get yours on May 21st!!

𝑹𝒆𝒂𝒅 𝒊𝒇 𝒀𝒐𝒖 𝑳𝒐𝒗𝒆:
❤️ Second chance romance
🤣 Funny dialogue/witty banter
🫶🏼 Reflective/life lessons
🎭 Family drama
🇮🇹 Italian (and Austrian 🇦🇹) backdrop

The banter! The love language lessons! The European backdrop, complete with the Austrian Sound of Music reenactment! The lesbian aunt nemesis! This sequel has it all. GUP (Gay Uncle Patrick) is back and ready to teach Maisie and Grant about love as they travel through Europe and wrestle with the emotions arising from their father’s upcoming wedding to Italian marchioness Livia.

Was this sequel necessary? No. Was it a delightful, perfect summer read? Absolutely. If you loved the original, I think you’ll love this one too, if only for the opportunity to revisit these dear characters. 4 out of 5 stars.

Pub Date: 5/21/24
Review Published: 4/4/24
eARC received from NetGalley and the publisher in exchange for an honest review.

****Publishing May 21, 2024****

When Patrick is in London filming, he receives an invitation for his brother’s wedding in Lake Como, Italy. Even though it’s not great timing with his recent breakup and short notice, he will go and fulfill his Guncle duties. Another adventure begins with taking care of his niece and nephew while their dad is remarrying. Patrick takes them on a tour of Europe before they end up in Italy for the wedding. Patrick is there for his niece and nephew to help navigate coping with their dad remarrying and the grief they still feel from the loss of their mother. They are not thrilled about a new stepmom. The eye rolls, the questions, the drama, and the arguments. Can Patrick get them through? Will this be the distraction Patrick will need?

I really felt it was a great follow-up to The Guncle. The nephew and niece really needed this time with Patrick and the same for Patrick! I loved how Patrick bonded with his niece and nephew over movie references! The real emotion, the characters, and the story, are what makes this book so fun and entertaining! A great book to take on vacation!

Thanks to PENGUIN GROUP Putnam (G.P. Putnam's Sons), I was provided an ARC of The Guncle Abroad by Steven Rowley via Netgalley in exchange for an honest review. #TheGuncleAbroad #NetGalley

A good combination of funny and touching, just like the original. I would read anything about this family.

I loved getting to spend more time with GUP and the fam! Revisiting these sweet characters and watching as they grow and navigate their new “normal” is beautiful and honest. As someone who has experienced a similar situation, this book resonates for me in many ways. It paints a beautiful picture of what it is to move forward, not move on - and all the comes with it - the good, the bad, and the beautiful. This is a must read for fans of the first book, but also for anyone who has loved and lost someone, then forced to figure out what life looks like without them. It’s heartbreaking and heartwarming. 🩷