This is a fun, road trip romance between childhood friends. There is forced proximity as our main characters are traveling in Ethan's camper van and there's only one, small bed.

It is so sweet to watch Charley work through her issues to be able to see Ethan as the person she's always been in love with.

When friends to lovers is done right, I think shared history between characters makes the love story so much richer. And Elle Palmer has accomplished that.

I have loved both of Ellie Palmer's books. I can't wait to see what she writes next!

“Love makes fools of all of us.”

Anywhere With You is a sweet friends-to-more story that showcases found family, sisters, and finding oneself. Ethan and Charley, along with Petey and Laurel (Charley’s sister and her on-again-off-again boyfriend) have been friends since they were young and it was a road trip in itself to see how the friendships and relationships ebbed and flowed over the years, as the chapters alternate between past and present, fully building the whole story.

Ethan lives in a van, writes music, was once in a band, and is the nicest guy ever. Charley has reasons for her rigid and unyielding personality, and is almost unlikable as she navigates the layers to discover who she really is and what she really wants, but as she takes this journey, I found myself warming up to her and adoring her. It was nice that this story isn’t the typical friends-to-more type, but was heartwarming and uninhibited.

Things to love:

🌳Minnesota woods
🌳Kayaking
🌳Guitar playing and music
🌳Friendship
🌳Van Life
🌳Nostalgia
🌳Romantic sparks
🌳Found family

This story made me want to throw life to the wind, buy a van, and go with the flow every day. I think I could enjoy living in “a van down by the river.”

⚠️Although this book is a closed door romance, it’s full of innuendo and details leading up to the door closing, including romping through the woods as a group sans clothing, and contains strong language.

*I received a complimentary copy. All thoughts and opinions expressed are my own and were voluntarily given*

I really enjoyed reading about Charley and Ethan being such dummies for the majority of their friendship.

This was a fun childhood friends to lovers story with a bit of abandonment wounds acting as the foil to them ever getting together before Charley's ill-fated marriage to Rich (not a spoiler, it's literally the prologue) came to fruition.

The language was fun and the banter was great.

Rating: 4.5 Stars

Following her surprise divorce, Charley was even more soured on romantic relationships and marriage. So when news of her sister's impending elopement reached her, she hopped in a camper van with her estranged best friend, Ethan, to stop the wedding. Along the way, Charley began to see her life, and Ethan, in a different light. Would she be able to forego the roots and stability she thought she needed and take a chance on love?

I am such a super-fan of Palmer's Four Weekends and a Funeral that I was bursting with anticipation to read her follow-up. Once again, she crafted another fun and charming story that had me smiling from ear to ear.

Charley was a very complicated woman. Through flashbacks, I learned about her past and her parents' tumultuous relationship which helped me understand why she made the choices she did. This was a woman who saw her mother disappear into her marriage, she saw her father leave when he was restless, she was forced to move around often and start over in new places. Once she was in charge of her life, she sought roots and stability, but she had compromised her wants and needs to have these things.

Her divorce may have come as a surprise to her, but it was actually a gift that sent Charley on a roadtrip and personal journey where she gained a lot of insight into herself. I won't say Charley didn't frustrate me. Throughout her history with Ethan, you could tell he was all in. It was always Charley who kept them in the friend zone. As she got older, she was even more weary of relationships and feared giving her heart to another person who will just leave. I could definitely related to Charley here, on some level, and that's why I was rooting for her to gather that courage to take a chance on Ethan, love, and herself.

I labeled this a romance because I felt like the Charley-Ethan plot was front and center, but it often leaned into women's fiction. With the story being told from Charley's point of view and following her personal growth, it seemed more her story most of the time.

But don't count Ethan out. Ethan, *smile*, I adored him from that very first meeting when they just 13 years old. This skinny boy with the bright smile who smelled like sugar and gave comfort to Charley. I think she loved him from the beginning but was afraid of what that meant for their friendship.

Regardless of all that, Ethan was good for Charley. He was opposite her in ways that would help her find that balance she was missing. His free spiritedness was born from being tied down to the same town by his family obligations for so long. But with his parents' blessing, he embarked on a musical career and a nomadic lifestyle. No matter where or when, all roads led back to Charley, and I absolutely loved them together.

Anywhere With You took me on a quite roadtrip filled with shenanigans, family, friendship, love, and personal growth. I released as many laughs as tears while rooting for everyone to find their happy place, their person, their home.

Thank you for the e-arc G.P. Putnam 🤍

This was a cute best friends to lovers story, Charley & Ethan are meant to be!

The angst and emotional moments left me in my FEELS. Charley and her sister are so relatable, seeing them bicker but continue to have a strong bond is so REAL. Sisterhood for the win 🩷

The way that their argument is one that I have actually had with my sister so this was a def call out 😭.

Charley having so much anxiety about non-committal relationships, she’s an archer girlie through and through. Ethan showing up in the time where she needed him most was everything, that man stepped up!

I loved their declaration of love 😭, they are truly so cute. I would sob if I ever was confessed to in this way.

4.5 stars

I really liked this book! It had a bit of a slow start but once I got into it I couldn’t put it down. Such a fun adventure and with several laugh out loud moments. I will say Charley ‘Chuck’ annoyed me some with how really clueless she was about Ethan feelings, but Ethan was wonderful and he made up for where her character lacked. I really enjoyed this one and I ended up buying a physical copy for my shelves. Also lived the cover art on this. I’m super picky with covers, and this one I loved.

Things I like:
- Dual Timeline
- Chapter Titles (honestly it’s the little things)
- Friends to Lovers

Honestly, the first sentence of the book had me intrigued, and if I was going through a divorce that would be how I would want it to play out, comically. Overall, I did find this to be a decent palate cleanser.

Thank you NetGalley and Penguin Group for this arc in exchange for an honest review.

I loved Palmer’s first book; I think what was missing from this book were two things: stronger themes and caring about the main relationship. The subject material came off a tad immature, and as much as I wanted to root more for the main characters, I didn’t care enough about them to.

I would read more work from Palmer because I think she’s talented, but maybe this specific story wasn’t for me.

Thank you to @bookedwiththeemilys @elliepalmerwrites @netgalley and @putnambooks for a #gifted copy of this book.

Anywhere With You by Ellie Palmer
Pub Date: 8-5-2025

My obsession with parts of this book is fueled by my avid "Van Life" and "Van build" videos I watch on Youtube. I enjoyed several aspects of this book. I think watching Charley navigate divorce from her husband who was the physical embodiment of wet bread was very moving. I appreciated how raw that her feelings were shown on the page. I felt like the banter between the MC's was good. Ethan was and interesting and complex character he brought humor and tension to the road trip. He has obviously felt deeply for her for a long time, which we get with flashback timelines and actions from Ethan in the present day. I think Charley is very closed off emotionally because of her past and I think it was great to be able to watch her moving through that with all of her relationships. I think that Laurel was an interesting character but I feel like the communication could be better but I think it was meant to be that way. This was a quick read that will make you feel ALL the things. I want to buy a van and park near a lake now.

Tropes:
🚐Friends to lovers
⛺️Childhood best friends
🚐He's a musician
⛺️She's Type A
🚐He falls first
⛺️Camping
🚐Flashback chapters
⛺️Road trip
🚐Van life

Closed Door Mods: Mostly fade to black, part of chapter 17

One of the funniest books you will read all year! Instant 5 star read and likely one of my top books of the year!

Thank you to Putnam Books and the author, Ellie Palmer, for providing me a gifted e-arc! All opinions are my own!

Short Synopsis:
Growing up it was always Charley and Ethan, Laurel and Peter. Fresh from her divorce, and when Charley gets a call that Laurel is marrying her off again on again boyfriend Peter, she needs to get there in time to make Laurel see sense and stop the wedding, even if that means road-tripping in a camper van with her childhood best friend, Ethan. It doesn’t matter that she’s always carried a torch for him and they’re in the midst of a forced proximity trope, right?

My thoughts:
I loved this story so much! It kept me laughing the whole time and I absolutely fell in love with Charley and Ethan! I adored how they balanced one another out, she being much more rigid/planned, and him being more of a free-spirit. He really brought out the best in her and she also seemed to rub off on him in some ways too! The running scene was also pure comedic gold! I was laughing so hard that I was crying! Even with the comedy, the romance aspects were very present and kept me rooting for them to end up together!

Read this one if you like:
🚐 Romantic comedy
🚐 Forced proximity
🚐 Childhood friends to more
🚐 Just one van
🚐 A cast of hilarious side characters

I liked this book even though I struggled with liking Charley. I understand where she is supposed to be coming from, but she grated on my nerves at times. Ethan is almost too good for her. I would still recommend this one as the story is solid otherwise.

Thanks to the publisher and NetGalley for advanced copy, and I give my review freely

Charley and Ethan are so fun. Charley I wish would have seen how much Ethan cares for her earlier, but I like how we learn about their past and see how it affects things now. Their road trip to stop her sister from eloping is fun.
I enjoy going along for the ride with these two.

Thanks NetGalley for this ARC.

Short synopsis: Charley just got divorced, and now her sister is jumping at the chance to elope. She goes on a road trip with her best friend Ethan to stop the nuptials.

My thoughts: I absolutely adored Ellie’s debut Four Weekends and a Funeral, so I couldn’t wait to get started on her sophomore novel. This one hit the mark perfectly for me. The one liners had me giggling out loud, and might just win the award for best first line in a book.

I always adore the friends to lovers trope, and this one was so perfectly done. Ethan was so smitten with Charley from the minute he first met her and I just wanted her to realize it sooner. I loved the childhood flashbacks and watching their friendship develop.

The camper van travels had so many great hysterical moments, along with tenderness as the characters grew to understand themselves and each other.

Read if you love: Friends to lovers • Road trips • He falls first • Childhood flashbacks • Only one bed • Camper Van • Gas station snacks • Emotional support beverages

Anywhere With You by Ellie Palmer is a friends to lovers romance that gives me the rollercoaster of the “will they, won’t they” feelings. Told in a dual timeline that flashes back to different times in Charley and Ethan’s friendship, we get to watch the evolution of the friendship through the years and who will fall first. I really enjoyed this read. There are some laugh out loud moments and some scenes between Charley and her sister Laurel that shows their bond over the years. Ellie Palmer makes me care about the characters and root for Charley. Thank you Netgalley and PENGUIN GROUP Putnam | G.P. Putnam's Sons for the eARC.

I loved this book. Ellie Palmer writes with so much heart, humor (I literally snort laughed multiple times), and tenderness. If you enjoy friends to lovers this really is the perfect book. Charley and Ethan have been best friends since childhood when Charley’s family moves to Llewellyn, MN, following the unstable career of her father. There’s an easy camaraderie between them that comes from knowing a person for so long and yet for the past year, Charley and Ethan haven’t seen each other. The night of her bachelorette party was the last time they spoke, and as the book opens with Charley’s divorce being final, the door on their friendship reopens with Ethan showing up in his van.
Charley and Ethan’s relationship felt so natural and playful. They easily slide into the teasing affection they’ve held for each other for years. Charley is a Type-A patent attorney Ethan has fondly nicknamed “the clock” for how regulated she is, and he’s a musician that lives a somewhat nomadic life depending on the locale of his venues. They could not be more opposite and yet it works. When Charley’s sister Laurel decides to propose and marry her on-again off-again boyfriend off the beaten path, Charley pleads with Ethan to travel with her to talk sense into Laurel.

This romance combines some of my favorite things. There’s travel with surprises along the way adding to the humor, there’s forced proximity that can only come from sharing a van mattress with another person, there’s sisterly bonding (and fighting), and there’s the kind of friendship most people dream of between Charley and Ethan. The majority of the book takes place in the present, but Palmer seamlessly writes in chapters from the friend group’s past that slowly reveal an unmistakable amount of pining that’s gone unaddressed for years. This is not just the miscommunication trope, but years of denial that “surely my best-friend can’t be in love with me” changes the way Charley sees herself and thinks of Ethan. I appreciated that even though Charley really struggles to see beyond her controlled life plan, she was not made out to be the villain. There’s heart ache for sure between Laurel and Charley and Charley and Ethan, but because they all love each other, forgiveness is just around the corner.

If I haven’t stressed how much yearning there is in this book then let me tell you just how many passages I highlighted that were all about potential feelings with how these two see each other. I think this is a book everyone could love. It has amazing tension, so so so many laughable moments, banter and nicknames only long time friends can create, and a sense of belonging that’s cured when you’re with your people. Thank you to Putnam for my early copy. All opinions are my own.

Rating: 🌟🌟🌟🌟🌟
Yearning: 🥺🥺🥺🥺
Steam: 🪭🪭

Friends to Lovers with a road trip!

This was a fun romance that gives off summer vibes.
The friends to lovers was really well done and felt realistic while reading it.
The characters were relatable and real and I really liked the past timeline that was part of the book.

Thank you to NetGalley and Penguin Group for the ARC.

Anywhere With You by Ellie Palmer had me hooked from the very first page. Friends to lovers with years of pining and secret yearning? Uh, yes please. This story is the epitome of right person, wrong time, and it beautifully explores the terrifying leap between friendship and something more.

I loved how deeply rooted the characters were in each other’s lives- there was a history, a tenderness, and an understanding that made every glance and every almost-confession hit just a little harder. Their friendship felt real and lived-in, and watching them wrestle with their feelings (and fears) made the payoff all the more satisfying.

Palmer captures that aching tension of not wanting to risk something good for the chance at something incredible, and all the vulnerability that comes with it. As someone who knows firsthand how dysfunctional parental relationships can affect how you approach love and process intimacy, I deeply appreciated how the book captured both sisters’ unique emotional struggles in the aftermath of their parents’ tumultuous relationship.

Thank you NetGalley, Ellie Palmer, and Putnum for this ARC. Available everywhere August 5 2025!

🌟🌟🌟🌟💫

This was such a fun book that gave me early 00s RomCom vibes. It was a super slow burn with lots of tension and a good build up. I loved seeing Ethan and Charley's relationship throughout the years. I also love when a book has flashbacks.

The book is told from Charley's POV, but you can tell how much Ethan loves her throughout the book. I also loved that we kind of got a second love story with Petey and Laurel, Charley's sister's,story. I enjoyed watching Charley find herself in this book, and realize that sometimes like can't be stable and predictable.

I love an MMC who is a musician, and Ethan did not disappoint. He had such a sweet soul, and you could tell he would do anything to make Charley happy. I liked the twist of him living in his van part of the time. It was fun reading the description and imagining how it looked. My husband and I hope to rennovate an air stream one day, but we won't live in it. 😂

If you love sweet romances that will make you a little bit nostalgic and have you giggling then this book is for you!

✨Read if you love✨

🩷 Friends to lovers
🩵Forced Proximity
🩷 Road trip vibes
🩵 Childhood friends
🩷 Only one bed
🩵 Slow burn

Anywhere With You
Ellie Palmer
Publication date: August 5, 2025
4/5 stars

I really enjoyed this book! Charley and her childhood friend, Ethan, go on a roadtrip after her divorce to stop her sister from getting married. Ethan was my favorite character and I liked the alternating timelines.

Thank you NetGalley and Ellie Palmer for the eARC in exchange for my honest review.

This was a cute, fun, friends to lovers romcom. The beginning and Charley’s inner monologue had me cracking me up! And let’s not forget about the chapter names! So funny, it kept me entertained, although, I would have loved to have Ethan’s POV.

I really enjoyed the easy going and teasing friendship that Charley and Ethan had, along with many hopeful and sweet moments. I also loved the relationship between Charley and her sister.❤️

If you enjoy friends to lovers and a book that will make you laugh and relate to the characters, you should give this one a read. Charley and Ethan’s journey is worth the ride. 💕

Thank you to NetGalley and Putnam for this arc copy.