Beth O’Leary is fast becoming one of my favourite authors.

I loved The Road Trip- a tale about an ill fated journey from Chichester to Scotland, for a friend’s wedding.

The journey starts disastrously when our heroine is involved in a minor car accident, and she discovers that the other party is her ex boyfriend, also on his way to the wedding. Addie ends up inviting him and his friend to car share with her, her sister and a chap called Rodney as they make their long journey up north. Inevitably there are hitches along the way, and we also flash back to how Addie and Dylan met and ultimately split up. There’s awkward moments and humour in spades.

It’s a really easy read, you’re drawn into the story from the start, in fact I was glad I had a day off work as I read it in one sitting! I would definitely recommend, a great feel good story, if you enjoyed The Flatshare and The Switch, you will love this!

Thanks to Netgalley and the publisher for the ARC in exchange for my honest review.

This was the third Beth O’Leary book I’ve read and is the first one of hers that hasn’t completely blown me away. There were certain aspects of the book that made me smile…truly funny moments, but there were also points in the story when I thought “yeah right, that would never happen.” I also found the “Then” and “Now” settings a little confusing, as it was “Then and Now” for Addie, or “Then and Now” for Dylan, so you had to remember whose side of the story you were reading and at times I got lost.

Rodney was a lovely character, and strangely, I really liked him, but felt that his storyline was just thrown in at the end and his purpose for travelling to the wedding was a bit flimsy.

The idea was a great one, ramming five adults into a Mini Cooper (can you really get that many people into such a small car) and driving all the way to Scotland, with a boot full of suitcases and a carload of emotional baggage makes for interesting reading, however it felt like the longest and weirdest car journey of my entire life.

Addie and her sister Deb are on their way to their friend's wedding in Scotland...they are all prepped for the 300 mile road trip when a car crashes into the back of them. To her horror, the driver of this car is her ex boyfriend Dylan and his is not how she imagined meeting her ex after 2 years...at 5am with no make up on.

Dylan and his best friend Marcus are also on their way to the same wedding but when he realises its his ex girlfriend in the car in front of him he panics and manages to crash into the back of her, his car is ruined but luckily the robust Mini that Addie is driving just has a few scrapes. Desperate to get to Scotland on time they all cram themselves into the mini and head up there, with the added bonus of Rodney, the random man that needed a lift from the wedding group chat! What could possibly go wrong?!

I LOVED this book! It's told from two POV's, Addie and Dylan, and it also flips from a "then" narrative looking back at their relationship, to a "now" narrative following them in the car. It was a great way to view how their relationship had changed through time whilst also having an element of suspense to see why they broke up. Also special shout out to Deb, she was such a fabulous side character, she was so headstrong and a great comedy addition!

This books also dealt with some tougher issues such as substance abuse, sexual assault and.toxic relationships which were handled sensitively yet had an impact on me as a reader.
I flew through it and enjoyed every second!! You are going to want to pre order this one!

Thank you @quercusbooks for my gifted copy.

Thanks to the publisher and Netgalley for an early review copy.

Addie and her sister are about to go on an epic road trip, that’s to a friend's wedding in rural Scotland. Everything’s is all planned from the snacks to the playlist for the journey.

A short while later, after they set for the trip, a car has slammed into the back of the yes. Addie is shocked at who the driver is, as it’s none other than her extra ex, Dylan, the man, she avoided since there break-up two years ago.

It seems that Dylan and his mate are going to the wedding too. But as their car is not now worthy of being driven, Addie finds she doesn’t have any choice but to offer to take them in her car.

As the car is so packed with luggage, not to mention their four-hundred miles journey, Dylan and Addie, it seems they’ve no choice in avoiding to speak about the history of their past.

So, will they get to attend the wedding, but more than that, have Addie and Dylan really reached the end of the road?

Recommend It.

I loved it! At the start I wasn’t sure this book could ever live up to The Flatshare, but I was wrong.

The road trip is hilarious and tender, heart-warming and tear jerking! I love the way we observe Addie and Dylan’s second attempt at love while simultaneously learning about their first.

I love (in a love/hate kind of way) the character of Marcus, who reminds me somewhat of Sherlock, a tortured soul who is trying to reform himself.

I could not stop laughing at the scene of Rodney in the river!

I loved all the characters, so real, so believable, so complex.

The road trip is not your usual rom com, it is deeper, it deals with the good and the bad in people and gives hope that things can be resolved.

I’ll start by saying that I was expecting this to be a funny lighthearted story, maybe with a lot of funny and silly parts. That is not what i got with this book at all and to be honest I’m really disappointed by this.

The story is very well written and easy to follow so i have no complaints with this aspect just the story here wasn’t for me.

I think my main gripe is that the characters are just way too unlikeable and to be honest I felt that Addie deserved so much better.

*Trigger warning*

There is a part of this story that deals with sexual assault and to be honest how the characters dealt with this for me wasn’t good enough and I felt Addie was too easy to forgive after all of this. She was let down when it happened and not believed by the most important person to her. So I would have preferred a much different ending to this story where she walked away stronger than before but....whatever...

All in all not for me

The Road Trip was a quick and light-hearted read but I felt I needed a bit 'more' because it literally was as the name suggests just a road trip. I shouldn't compare to Beth's other novels but Flat Share was better. I loved that.

The characters in Road Trip had their own stories and they each had a reason to be on the journey. I liked how you knew enough about them as some books don't go into enough detail and I hate that. I wish Rodney was more angry - that's all I'll say without spoiling.

It has officially got to the point where I will read anything Beth O’Leary writes; she is so talented and comes up with really unique stories and scenarios. Granted, I didn’t love this one just as much as The Flatshare but it was still a really enjoyable read with a lovely second chance at love story and great characters. Perfect escapism.
Thanks to NetGalley and Quercus for this ARC in exchange for an honest review.

I voluntarily read and reviewed an ARC of this book. All thoughts and opinions are my own.
Thank you so much NetGalley and Quercus books for giving me an opportunity to read this book. I'm sorry my review couldn't give more stars.
I know I'm in the minority here, when I say I enjoyed The Flatshare and The Switch more. This novel is just... really tragic. Each villain we meet is worst than the next, and it feels like high school drama that has carried on until adulthood.
The writing is amazing as always and the plot pacing is really well done and keeps a reader's interest. I think if you're in the mood to read something sombre, then this is perfect.
3.5 stars

I loved Beth O'Leary's first two books and had high hopes for this one. While I did enjoy it I didn't enjoy it to the extent that I did the first two. The main story was interesting and I do like Dylan and Addie, even if I did think communication would have helped them reconcile their differences a lot sooner but that tends to be a theme in chick lit anyway. The supporting cast are generally okay but the one thing that made me drop a whole star was Marcus, the man was a total arse and people just forgave his really bloody awful behaviour. I would have punched the pr**k in the face tbh and the fact that it felt like he never really suffered any proper consequences from his actions really annoyed me.

But without Marcus I did like the book and I am glad I read it.

I'll be honest, and I really hate to say it, I massively struggled with this book. Having loved both The Switch (which I bought for my Gran as a present, and she loved it so much we now have a running joke about doing a switch ourselves and The Flat Share (which has the best success rate of any book I've ever recommended to both friends and family) I literally squealed when I was approved this book to read.
But I struggled getting into within the first chapters, so gave it a break and returned to it - thinking it was my mood or me in general that was getting in the way. Upon returning it, and essentially forcing myself to finish it, I don't think this book was for me.
I found Addie and Dylan immensely unlikeable, their relationship baffling and impossible to understand. The hopping between 'now' (years after break-up on the way to their friend's wedding) and 'then' (their meeting and relationship) really frustrating and got in the way of me getting to know them.
As someone who has been relying on romcoms to live through vicariously to get a romance fix to fill the void, I didn't find it here - instead I found it all really nauseating. We're constantly told how brilliant both Addie and Dylance are, but are given little reason for why they're actually so wonderful.
I really wish this book had worked for me., instead it was biggest reading disappointment of 2021 so far.

I'm not sure I can place a finger on exactly why, but this was a rare misstep for me from a writer that I really like.

I think the first issue might be mine alone, in that I really don't like stories with Oxford chums - something about these privileged and usually awful people really makes my skin crawl, and I think they really seem to hold on to nasty teenage nonsense a lot longer than the rest of the population.

It was also too long. The ending felt like it dragged for me.

Rodney was pointless until he wasn't and then that was just annoying.

I think it veered a bit too much into farce for me on a few occasions and I don't like a farce unless it's incredibly well done.

There was a bit too much going on which meant that nothing was explored in as much detail as a few key things should have been.

I will still read whatever she writes next but sadly this wasn't as enjoyable as I hoped. Thanks to netgalley and the publisher for a copy of the book in exchange for an honest review.

I loved this book so, so much. Second chance romance is not my favorite romance trope but I thought it was done perfectly here. I loved how the story unfurled, and I loved watching Addie and Dylan’s relationship evolve. The way they came back together was so believable and I fell completely in love with them both. It was heartfelt and lovely and so wonderfully written. Very highly recommend this one!

The road trip follows a group with shared history (and one stranger) sharing a car to travel to a wedding. The problem Addie and Dylan haven't seen or spoken to each other since their awful breakup. What doesn't help is that Dylan's best friend Marcus is also there and he spent a lot of time sabotaging their relationship.

I enjoyed the dual narrative of this book as well as the two timelines. It was interesting starting from the perspective of exs. Beth O'Leary weaves in plenty of humour which made me laugh at loud. This works nicely alongside the more serious subjects this book tackles and the unlikeable way some of the characters behaved.

A fun, second-chance romance book plus a roadtrip. What's not to love? Sadly, the characters, I just didn't warm to any of them really. Will likely be enjoyed by fans of Beth O'Leary and chick-lit in general. It was enjoyable but not as special as the first two.

I absolutely loved this. It was witty, genuine and yet poignant too. I can’t remember the last time a book made me laugh out loud like this one did, yet the humour wasn’t silly or ridiculous but bone dry, original, acutely observed and even quite dark at times, with characters that I feel like a group of friends that I’ll actually miss.

I loved the journeys the characters in this went on, both literally and emotionally but this was essentially a second chance romance and the chemistry between Dylan and Addie was there from the start and only built as the story went on; even though I was ready to throttle Dylan’s buddy Marcus and Dylan himself for being so gullible, the author did a great job of turning me around and helping me to understand why Dylan was Dylan. That’s no easy feat with me, if holding a grudge was an Olympic event I’d be a medal holder.

This is by far my favourite of this author’s books, so much better than the flat share. Highly recommended if you’re looking for feels, warmth, wit and a story you can immerse yourself in. Complete story.

I've loved Beth O'Leary's last two novels so I was really happy to receive an arc of The Road Trip.

What I love about her writing is that while the tones of her books are kind of similar, the stories are all different, and when you reach the last page, you're left feeling warm and happy because everything always works out in the end for the characters.

If you've read The Flat Share or The Switch, then I would recommend you check out The Road Trip!

Beth O’Leary’s ‘The Road Trip’ offered a good dose of escapism, especially in times when travelling and road trips are not really a possibility (I wish they were!).

‘The Road Trip’ follows Addie and Deb, her sister, as they travel for their friend’s wedding from London to rural Scotland. It was meant to be a perfect road trip, and a little escape for Deb – a new mother – but things don’t go to plan, when they end up being forced to share a car with Dylan, Addie’s ex, Marcus, Dylan’s annoying friend, and Rodney, a random wedding guest who asked for a lift in the Facebook group. Let’s talk about awkward.

I really enjoyed the road trip dynamic, the struggles they encountered, and the awkwardness of being stuck in the car with your ex as well as other people who are making the situation often worse. It’s been twenty months, and both Dylan and Addie are supposed to be over each other, only that they aren’t, and being stuck in the same car on the road to the wedding, brings back many happy and bad memories. The road trip part of the book was entertaining, funny and a little awkward (as the situation dictated), and I had enjoyed it a lot, even if there were some ridiculous moments during it, especially at the end of the story. I think I enjoyed the author’s style more than in ‘The Flatshare’ overall, but too many backstory elements were a little overwhelming. It felt at times like you were reading two stories. While some flashbacks could be useful in the story, I felt they often overpowered the main narrative and felt disruptive to it. But overall, I have enjoyed the book, and I would recommend it to those looking for a little escape we all need sometimes.

The Road Trip takes us on a journey with 5 people in a Mini. Individuals with a tangle of current and previous relationships and one random interloper, forced by circumstances to travel to a wedding together.

Addie and Dylan have been in a relationship. Dylan’s best friend Marcus is a wayward and prone to misbehaviour. Debs is Addie’s straightforward but far from straight-laced sister. And Rodney was just getting a lift. Told over two timelines - the earlier history of Addie and Dylan, interlacing their friends and family - and the comedy mishaps of trying to get to the wedding, this is a fantastic blend of misunderstandings and prior knowledge unspooling.

It is a departure from The Flatshare and The Switch, both of which I loved, in that the humour is less prevalent and the characters have more angst and depth. I really enjoyed reading something well beyond what I was expecting. It is a fabulous read which I couldn’t put down.

Thanks to Quercus, Hachette and Netgalley for the ARC.

Beth O'Leary's writing style and stories are absolutely my cup of tea, engaging, sincere and heart-warming, and these are the merits of this novel, as well. Unfortunately, I did not vibe with the characters of "The Road Trip", however much I wanted to, but, overall, I had a lovely reading experience.