Thank you to NetGalley for the ARC in exchange for an honest review.

3 stars

Sadly, this Beth O'Leary novel did not live up to my expectations. It wasn't that it wasn't enjoyable, it just seemed like the pace was wrong. At times, it seemed like the story was moving at a snail's pace and at other points, it was blazing along. I enjoyed the characters and the overall arc of the story but the execution just was as polished as it could be.

A truly disastrous road trip to a mutual friend's wedding. The story jumped back and further between the main characters initial summer fling and present day, two years after their acrimonious breakup. With all the grace of O'Leary's usual story-telling, this heartbreaking tale is equally touching and hilarious. The ridiculous road trip antics balance the drama of the past nicely. While The Flatshare will always have a uniquely magical quality to it, this was a nice return to straight romance for the author.

When I read the blurb for The Road Trip I was absolutely hooked. The story felt like a delicious second chance rom com with all the feels. But after reading it, I can say the story felt like that and more! The Road Trip was fun and quirky but also full of unexpected and emotional gut punches. Addie and Dylan were cute, sexy and compelling to read!

What I loved about The Road Trip was how O'Leary literally started the story off with a bang. Addie and Dylan have a lot of history together and it was fun seeing the past and present interwoven in the story. (This is a huge deal as I usually HATE flashbacks in stories.) I think the author did a great job hooking the reader into the story and making you root for Addie and Dylan's second chance.

Overall, I enjoyed the shocking secrets and side characters and felt like the twists in the story were done really well. I enjoyed Dylan and Addie's romance, humor and character growth. This was a fun read to get lost in! 4 stars! ~Ratula 

I would like to thank Netgalley and the publisher for an advanced copy of this book for an honest review.

Unfortunately this was a miss for me. I found the plot very frustrating and did not like the characters. I will not be posting a review to any other outlets

What a fun read!! Dual perspectives, alternate timelines, AND a second chance romance?? I was in heaven. This book was such a fun read. During a time when I am not traveling at the moment this was a super fun and enjoyable read! I have never read anything my Beth O'Leary before but sign me up!!

A huge thank-you to NetGalley and Berkley Pub for this e-arc of The Road Trip by Beth O'Leary

If one could harness secrets for energy, we wouldn't need petrol - we'd have enough grudges in this car to take us all the way to Scotland.

I'm sitting down to write this review five days after finishing the book and I'm still unsure how to rate it. This is partially to do with the fact that it was so much better than I ever could have imagined it would be, and simultaneously, I feel as though it was just such an unexpected story. I went into this with the expectation that it would be a second chance romance with a splash of surprise reality (something O'Leary has mastered effortlessly with both The Flatshare and The Switch). I'm hopeful that by the time I've finished writing this review, I'll know how many stars it has garnered in my heart and mind.

[CW: familial and emotional abuse, sexual assault and attempted rape, codependency]

I don't often include my content/trigger warnings so early on in my review, but I find that they're needed in order to explain where I stand on the story. When Addie picked up Dylan and Marcus on the side of the road, she also picked up some really heavy baggage (about what, I was unsure until over halfway through the story).

The story presents two POVs - Addie and Dylan's - as well as two timelines - the past and the present. The past tossed me into a whirlwind, instant romance. It's steamy, fun, and swoon-worthy. It doesn't take long to love the two as a couple and immediately wonder what could've possibly gone wrong to ruin them as is obviously the case in the present timeline. As time goes on, red flags pop up, and before you know it, understanding begins to creep in.

I've said it once and I'll say it again: I really appreciate romance books that include reality. I think it's important for the characters to be relatable and for the challenges that they face to seem like something you or I might experience in life. I didn't quite expect the book to get as weighty as it did, however. There were moments that truly shocked me and I think?? that I appreciate their inclusion? I guess that it made the relationships between each and every character all the more profound, despite how hard the scenes were to read.

The secondary characters were surprisingly interesting. In the beginning, I wondered at their purpose, but as the chapters went on, I realized why all five of these individuals were in the car together in the present timeline. Without each and every one of them, the tale wouldn't have been complete. In fact, they added to the humor. Yes, there was humor, despite the heavy undertones, and it was great humor at that. I found myself laughing nearly as many times as I found myself sitting in sober silence. There was a really excellent balance.

Be aware that this is not your average "chick lit" or "fluff" book. It's meaningful and substantial, with topics that truly thought-provoking. And now that I have actually written all of this down and really thought it through, I can confidently give it five stars.

Ever since The Flatshare, I've been a fan of Beth O'Leary's books, and this new title is no exception. The book follows the relationship of Dylan and Addie, and switches back and forth between their perspectives, and past and present. The character development is really interesting, as well as the study of how external friendships have such a huge impact on D & A's romantic relationship. There were also moments that were genuinely funny - who doesn't relate to a hot, sweaty, stressful road trip on the way to a friend's wedding?! This is a perfect read for your summer road trip too!

This was just okay for me. I think maybe this book lacked character development and I didn't much like the characters.

Beth O'Leary is fast becoming one of my favorite authors. I loved The Flatshare, enjoyed The Switch and now The Road Trip! Cute story of young love and second chances. The characters are complex and relatable. I think we probably know one of each of these people in our own lives. The story is very well rounded, no loose ends. Just a few steamy scenes included. This is going to be a great summer read!

So far, I've loved everything Beth O'Leary has written, but The Road Trip might be my new favorite! It will be the perfect summer read for so many of my college-aged students & up!

Addie and her sister are taking a road trip to a friend's wedding in the north of Scotland. Soon after setting off, they get into a fender-bender with Addie's ex, Dylan, who she hasn't spoken to in two years after their traumatic breakup. Dylan and his friend Marcus are heading to the wedding too, so they all head off together.

This story was jam-packed with painful history and loaded secrets. Addie and Dylan's relationship, and subsequent breakup, were heavily influenced by the meddling of Marcus. He was a complex character that I admit I didn't like. He had reasons for the things he did, but he caused a lot of pain to the people he cared about.

The flashback chapters revealed Addie and Dylan's relationship slowly, and I liked the back and forth element of storytelling. Both Addie and Dylan had secrets and issues that they could've shared with each other but didn't, and hurt each other in the process. I like that their issues didn't just get swept under the rug and they were completely honest with each other in the end.

The side characters were brief but quite funny and added some lightness to the story. Overall very enjoyable!

This was a fun, quick read for me. I was definitely frustrated at times but I felt like that made it seem more real. I will definitely be reading more from Beth O’Leary.

2.5 stars rounded up

I got back into romcoms in a big way after listening to Ms O’Leary’s The Flatshare and I equally enjoyed The Switch, so it was with quite some eagerness that I cracked open The Road Trip (metaphorically as it was an ebook). Sadly, while it was a decent enough read, it did not live up to my expectations.

The Road Trip alternates between the past and the present. We learn all about Addie and Dylan’s whirlwind and steamy get together in the South of France followed by the gradual draining of passion as they go back into their everyday lives and finally their wrenching break up. Now, nearly two years later, they are both going to a wedding and, as can only happen in this sort of novel, they end up with three other people driving from southern England to Scotland in a Mini. There are multiple entertaining complications along the way, giving Addie and Dylan a chance to get to know each other again.

So why didn’t this hit the spot for me? Maybe it’s that I didn’t really like Addie and Dylan. They are younger, much more attractive, and much less down to earth than their counterparts in the author’s previous novels. Somehow this irritated me instead of making me want to root for them. Dylan, in particular, seems particularly privileged in a floppy haired Hugh Grant in Four Weddings and a Funeral sort of way (but with less charm). Addie as well as being gorgeous is frequently referred to as “tiny” - I’m not sure quite how small she’s meant to be but I, at 5’ 2”, never think of myself that way and so I found that annoying too.

As with the author’s previous novels, there is some serious and even upsetting stuff mixed in with the road trip shenanigans. This just didn’t sit comfortably with the frothiness of the rest of the novel, like a piece of broccoli dropped into your glass of Prosecco. In her previous novels, I had found this tonal shift to be smooth and confidently handled, more like a shot of bitters into your sweet cocktail, making it more layered and complex (sorry, I know this simile could have been worked through better but it’s getting near lunch time)

Maybe it’s that I read this rather than listened to it? Perhaps the right readers would have brought some more charm to a story which it lacked on my Kindle. Maybe I didn’t like the supporting friends and family quite as much as before? Maybe the plot just seemed to drag a bit?

Whatever it was, I feel confident that Ms O’Leary will write plenty of novels that I will seek out and enjoy in the future.

Thanks to Berkley and Netgalley for the digital review copy.

Cue the popular Tik Tok/reels song: “Oh no. Oh no. Oh no, no, no, no, no.” I recently finished The Soulmate Equation and really liked it and wanted another lighter, fast read to combat work chaos/stress, so I decided to start The Road Trip. I haven’t read The Flatshare or The Switch but I have the latter and have heard good things in general. I know this was a highly anticipated read, and was excited to dive in.

This book is written in alternating “now”/”then” timelines. Now, exes Addie and Dylan are trapped on a road trip together to a friend’s wedding. Then, Addie and Dylan are meeting and falling in love. The first 20% was exactly what I hoped - light, fun, takes place at a villa in France (I want to go to there!). I became concerned around ~20% by the lack of character development -- were we supposed to be rooting for these characters? We don’t know them at all. Why is Dylan so pathetic? How on earth is he a POET? Oh my god, there is nothing less sexy than Dylan randomly reciting poetry. Wait, they’re suddenly IN LOVE? But...there was no development of their relationship whatsoever? What?? It was at this point I should have DNFed, but I am stupid and thought it would turn around. It did not.

Here are a few of the many things that I hated about this book:
- The love story. Seems to me that Addie and Dylan clearly don’t know or like each other yet we are told they are in love. They are apparently deeply attracted to one another, as we are told over and over and over, yet there isn’t actual chemistry in the book, we are just told there is.
- These characters are all the absolute worst. There is literally no character development for anyone. Marcus is one of the most unlikable characters I have ever read in a book. Dylan is the most annoying and I have absolutely no idea why we should be rooting for him and Addie to be together. They’re all so unlikeable, except for Deb.
- The Rodney storyline was strange and went nowhere.

However, this is what really pushed me over the edge: In the “now” timeline, we know that Dylan dumped Addie but there’s a layered “secretive” aspect to it and we are waiting for it to be revealed. I kept reading because I wanted to know what this big “secret” was. It was revealed ~80% and it was horrible and SO not worth it. I didn’t like the book up to this point, but the reveal turned this book from a 2.5 stars to a ZERO star read for me. I already wasn’t rooting for Addie and Dylan at all, but I became furious upon the reveal and was internally SCREAMING as I finished the last part of the book. These people SHOULD NOT BE TOGETHER. They are HORRIBLE, pathetic people and I hate them. I hate them. I HATE THEM. I HATE Dylan. Addie is pathetic for forgiving him, he doesn’t deserve her. I HATE THIS BOOK. GAHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHH.

A road trip to a glamourous wedding in Scotland with your quirky sister, your ex-boyfriend, his best friend who isn't your biggest fan, nor are you his, and a stranger that tags along for a ride to the wedding. What's not to love? I appreciate NetGalley for giving me the opportunity to read and review The Road Trip by Beth O'Leary. I think this will be a great summer-read. I enjoyed how the book alternated between their stories in the past and what was happening on the road trip, which was certainly an experience in Murphy's Law. Each of the characters was flawed, but I really could see the baggage that caused them to make the choices they made in the past.

I have been a big fan of Beth O'Leary since reading The Flatshare and was thrilled to get a chance to read The Road Trip.

That said, this book didn't give me the same urge to tell everyone to read it that I felt after The Flatshare, or the cozy vibes I felt with The Switch. Did I like it? Sure. I enjoy the way O'Leary reveals bits and peices of the story over time - something we also get in her previous books. She doesn't dangle information over your head, rather she doles it out at an even and enjoyable pace. I enjoyed that I was rooting for both Addie and Dylan.

On a personal note, I rarely enjoy the anything that can go wrong did go wrong sort of comedy in books and movies, so that put this book at a disadvantage for me.

ALL of that said, this was still a fine three star read.

Review // The Road Trip by Beth O'Leary

❓Rom-com, Travel Fiction

💗 Funny, Silly, Romantic

📖 Addie and Dylan, exes with a stormy, passionate past, are stuck in a car together for hours on the way to a friend's wedding. What could possibly go wrong?!

⭐⭐⭐⭐

"The road of friendship never did run smooth..."

A rom-com that I actually loved?! Who knew?!

The Road Trip was so much fun! It incorporated two of my favorite romance tropes - forced proximity and second chance romance. I can't think of anything worse than being stuck in a car with an ex for three days - unless, of course, there's still some unfinished business, some unresolved passion, bubbling beneath the surface. Throw in a couple of wacky friends and we've got ourselves an adventure.

The story was told in dual perspectives - from both Addie and Dylan's POVs. We also jump back and forth in time, to slowly unveil the beginning, and ultimate end, of Addie and Dylan's previous relationship. There was a lot to keep track of, but it certainly kept me on the edge of my seat.

I love traveling, so I'm a sucker for destination romance - take two flawed yet pretty people and set them on an island/cruise ship/road trip/European adventure, and I'm sold. I loved being out on the open road with this gang, getting into all kinds of snenanigans and mishaps.The humor was very slapstick and would make for an excellent movie.

My only issue with The Road Trip was that it was very tame. Addie and Dylan's relationship was romantic and I bought them as a couple, but there was no steam whatsoever. None. Give us a little something, O'Leary!

That being said, I really did enjoy this one and I'm looking forward to finally reading The Switch and The Flatshare.

Read If You Like:
🚗 Always Be My Maybe
🚗 Making road trip playlists
🚗 Drama!

The Road Trip will be out on June 1st. Thank you so much to @netgalley and @berkleypub for the advanced copy!

Well, this wasn't the best Road Trip to go on my friends haha.

The Road Trip is about a second chance romance between Addie and Dylan told in the different timelines of then and now. Each chapter alternated between Dylan and Addie. I feel like we were stuck in the SLOW lane for the majority of this book. I was bored and kept putting the book down multiple times.

I also felt like Dylan's best friend Marcus was a complete ass who was in the car with them... along this road trip. And...... well wasn't a big fan of Dylan either and was rooting for Addie but hoping that she would be happy without him. This wasn't the romance/second chance novel that I was hoping for.

I've read Beth O'leary's previous books and felt that I enjoyed those more! Although, I look forward to what she has up her sleeve next.

3 stars

Thank you to Berkley publishing and Netgalley for the arc in exchange for an honest review.

Pub date: 6/1/21
Published to GR: 4/22/21

2.5 rounded up very generously by me (you’re welcome) okay I’m going to start by saying 2020 was a rough year so I’m giving a pass to the author on this book because just like 2020 it was rough. The concept adorable and fun? Definitely! Did I laugh out loud? Yes quite a few times actually so what went wrong? Basically everything else. The characters were a hot mess, plot lines that made no sense, time lines that were confusing and just overall poorly executed unfortunately. 🤷🏻‍♀️ I just struggled with too much in this book.

Thank you Berkeley Publishing for my arc

PUB DATE: 6.1.21

I read this book two months ago and kept putting off sharing thoughts and feelings (T&F) because I loved Beth O'Leary’s first two books. But. . . I just liked this one.

There is a lot to like: a well-written second chance romance with interesting side characters (funny and frustrating), all in a crammed Mini-Cooper trying to get to Scotland for a friend’s wedding.

It follows a THEN and NOW timeline told from both Addie and Dylan’s perspectives. While I loved watching them fall in love twice, the timeline structure is ultimately what dampened my enjoyment. The then/now device didn’t allow for key points of their relationship to be revealed until the last ¼ of the book. The way the issues were, or were not, addressed felt rushed. Almost as an afterthought vs. an integral part of the story. I blame the timeline structure.

So. . . I liked it.

Will Beth O’Leary remain an auto-hold/auto-request/auto-buy author? Absolutely!