Guncle Abroad was the perfect sequel to the Guncle! We get a chance to watch our favorite characters come to life once again with another phenomenal story!

LOVED. I loved the guncle and i loved this one just as much. These characters feel like my family and i just love them. Steven Rowley does such a good job writing the experience of grief and how that looks different for different people. This series is so beautiful and adventurous and I highly highly recommend.

The Guncle Abroad reminded me of all I loved of The Guncle. I was so excited to go on vacation with him in Europe and see ALL (not all, but so many great) sights. It was great to catch up with the family and meet some new members. Such a fun read!
Thanks @mrstevenrowley for the gift of Guncle (and book 2!)
It was everything I hoped it would be.

Guncle Patrick O’Hara is in Europe, filming a show, when he gets the call that his brother Greg is re-marrying. The bride to be is a wealthy European herself with a title and the wedding is to be in Lake Como, Italy after a rather quick romance. The kids are not excited and are sent to Patrick for some uncle time to get them ready for the big day. He shares with them a few of his Guncle Love Languages, and reflects on his own love language and what caused issues in his own relationship.

The Guncle was cute when the kids were younger but now that they’re teens, they feel really bratty in Guncle Abroad. Plus a gay man focusing on love languages when the entire premise was created by a misogynistic homophobe without really discussing that really gave me the ick.

Thank you so much to Putnam for the advance copy!

This book will be published on May 21, 2024.

"What happened to you? You used to think I was fun."
"We grew up."

The Guncle & Steven Rowley will always hold a special place in my heart as that book was one of the first books I read and posted about on my bookstagram page. And Steven was one of the first author's I ever did a zoom q&A with. It is one book that I always recommend to friends!

So when the announcement came out that we were getting a second book, I was THRILLED! And this was just everything. Patrick's divaness was in full swing especially when he felt like he was in competition with Maisie & Grant's new soon to be launt (lesbian aunt).

The book takes place 5 years after the book (which I loved). This book had so much heart, adventure, love, & the best banter. I found myself laughing a many times at the dialogue. The conversations with children once again were the best parts! I absolutely just love Patrick's relationship with Maisie and Grant. It is so special and I only hope as the children continue to grow they don't lose that relationship.

One thing I did enjoy about this book was that we got to see more of Patrick & Sara's relationship as well more of Greg. This book takes place in Europe and we are taken to different countries and Patrick is trying to instill love lessons to both Maisie and Grant as they are having apprehension for their father upcoming wedding.

"Why is she so special? Like, what's the appeal?"
"No one really knows."
"Oh, so she's like you, then, Famous, but no one knows why."

I do wish I had done a re-read of the first book because I couldn't remember the specific personalities of each of the characters. With that being said I thought Steven did a good job with putting some throwbacks from the first book into this that I recognized. Another reason why I wish I did the reread was to see how much grief made up the first book. Because grief was definitely a side character in this book more so than what I remember in the first. We hear from all 4 key players in the book on how the lost of Sara is still hurting 5 years later. I did not get emotional while reading but the last couple of chapters I think could make those who have lost a parent figure could be put in their feels.

I do wonder if this will be a duology or if we will be getting a 3rd book.

If you were a fan of the Guncle, I think you will really love being back with this family!

Steven Rowley does it again with this heart-warming tale of another addition to Guncle duology. He writes for anyone who needs to feel love from family when maybe you aren't getting it from your real family.

The Guncle Abroad is the perfect foll0w-up to Rowley's hit, The Guncle. In fact, I enjoyed this book even more. Rowley has taken these characters that I love and made them more layered and given us a more in depth look into their lives. I wouldn't mind checking in on these characters, say every ten years or so.

“A guncle’s work was never done.”

“He would teach these kids about love, how to love others, and how to be loved in return.”

It was fun being back in the world of GUP (Gay Uncle Patrick), his niece Maisie and his nephew Grant.

This sequel takes place five years after The Guncle. Maisie and Grant’s father is engaged to an Italian heiress and they are traveling to the wedding at Lake Como. On their way there they are seeing the sites in Paris, Vienna and Venice.

The Guncle is a stronger book but this was fun, a little cheesy at times and full of heartfelt banter. The scenes in Italy were my favorite and I think this would have worked better for me as a short story.

Thank you to NetGalley and the publisher for an early copy in exchange for an honest review. [Quote is from the uncorrected review copy.]

Once again, my heart was squeezed at the Life Lessons and Guncle Rules that were brought to us courtesy of Steve Rowley. It’s been five years, and Maisie and Grant are growing up, and their dad is getting married. The kids are having a hard time, so GUP (Gay Uncle Patrick) takes them on a European journey to learn about expressing different love languages and applying them to the coming changes with their dad’s impending nuptials.

As with “The Guncle,” we are treated to humor and witty comments from Patrick, who has an ulterior motive to slowly bring the kids around to the idea of the marriage. Those of you who came of age in the 1980s will enjoy the references to the Robert Palmer Girls, Air Supply, and The Sound of Music.

We learn lessons, too: acceptance, change, family, and that it’s okay to be scared.

The Guncle is back - this time traipsing across Europe trying to teach Maisie and Grant about love as they make their way to their father’s wedding to their soon to be Italian step-mother. Patrick O’Hara is on point - helping Maisie and Grant learn that love after loss is possible and necessary, while also making me laugh out loud while doing so. As soon as I saw this on Netgalley, I knew I just had to have it. And as expected, it most definitely did not disappoint! A must read (but read The Guncle first!)

Thank you to Netgalley and the publisher for providing me with a digital ARC of this title!

So happy to be back in the Guncle world! I adored the European setting, specifically Italy and the grand hotel tremezzo! These characters are so enjoyable and their banter so much fun! I love the witty comments throughout this. I really enjoyed the guncle love language tips, they were so cute! The ending was emotional, it was a great conclusion. However, I didn't feel like I got interested in this one like I did the first book. Overall, still recommend this wonderful read.

"And I finally moved, not on, but forward.”

I've never requested an arc so fast in my life!

Gay Uncle Patrick is BACK with more adventures and guncle lessons but in Europe. This was such a fun read that had me laughing out loud and tearing up at work at the same time.

Picking up 5 years after The Guncle, Maisie and Grant are thrown into a whirlwind of change: dad is getting remarried. This marriage comes with not only a stepmother but, to Patrick's demise, a super cool new Lesbian Aunt aka launt-- which absolutely doesn't exist according to Patrick.

As the kids and Patrick navigate lessons about love, they also begin to unfold lessons about loss. Maisie and Grant are learning to accept a new maternal figure in their life, and Patrick is fearful of being replaced by Gay Aunt Palmina while also confronting his own romantic relationships and his fear of losing more people who are close to him.

Y'all, this was cute.

I loved The Guncle so much! It was a story filled with so my heartbreak and healing that I felt was very relatable. The sequel definitely hit its mark with the one liners and more healing. I love this cast of characters and I especially loved all of the European travels. This is the perfect book to read on vacation that has a bit more than a typical beach reach. An enjoyable sequel that I would recommend to fans of the guncle!

It was so nice to be back in the world of The Guncle! Maisie and Grant’s dad is getting remarried in Italy and Patrick is helping them navigate this new life. Patrick experiences a lot of growth in this book, examining his own relationships. Just like in book 1, I laughed and cried. I just didn’t love it quite as much as the first.

I absolutely loved The Guncle and was so excited to see this book! Set five years after the first book i felt like I was catching up with old friends. And there is some tongue and cheek humor but I love from the first book back in this one...

This was as cozy and comforting as I hoped it would be! It took a while (for me) to get back into the rhythm of the characters -- but the book hit it's stride about half way through and then I sailed to the end. I hope that a third book comes out that focuses even more on Maisie!! Until then, I look forward to what Rowley comes out with next!

I was nervous that the sequel to The Guncle, a book I completely adored, would let me down. Thankfully the GUP’s still got! Getting to revisit Patrick’s world with the heartwarming characters and relationships was like catching up with an dear friend.

Maisie and Grant are near grown and adjusting to the idea of yet another big change to their lives and aren’t thrilled, to put it mildly. Fortunately, Uncle Patrick is there to make things better while also working on his own path forward.

I loved this next chapter in the Guncle’s adventure and we get more!

Thank you to NetGalley and Penguin for the advance copy.

Thanks to the comfort of characters I know and love, sprinkled with Europe and a few new characters, the return of Guncle is everything I wished for.

If you love The Guncle you'll love The Guncle Abroad. If you havent read The Guncle, what are you waiting for?!

PS If you have a Guncle it may hit in a deeper way. It did for me!

Thank you #Netgalley for the advanced copy!

I was so excited when I saw that the The Guncle book was expanding into a series! This is the second book following the Guncle story line, picking up right where we left of! Patrick is filming abroad and in typical fashion finds himself watching his niece and nephew for an extended period of time. But this time they are older, more opinionated all while Patrick is going through his own midlife self analysis. I enjoyed seeing all the characters back together again. It is such a fun and quick read and really comes full circle for all the characters.

I'm so happy the Guncle is back.! Oh how I enjoyed traipsing through Europe with Patrick, Maisie, and Grant. I look forward to future adventures.