Such a cute love story! I loved Celia's acid humor and Lily's cuteness. I really enjoyed their unexpected friendship but I wish I'd had seen more of them as a couple.

This one had its up and downs for me.

In the beginning it felt too focused on process, narrating the minutia of their days, but the connection and banter between Celia and Lily won me over in the end.

I enjoyed that it wasn’t a typical rom-com. Their relationship didn’t happen in a heartbeat and was built somewhat slowly, by supporting each other through some challenging times.

Thanks to NetGalley for the ARC!

3.5 stars. What happens if two strangers, who most likely would never befriend each other, are forced together by a string of bizarre incidents. Read this book and find out!

Celia and Lily meet in an airport shop and immediately get off on the wrong foot, just to find out a little while later that they are sitting next to each other on the plane. Can things go more wrong? Yes, they can.
Both are on their way to Tokyo, Lily to meet her online friend, who she has never met but has a huge crush on, and Celia to collect an award that she doesn’t want to have. At some point they end up in Copenhagen and while it seems impossible, they become friends in Denmark. I really enjoyed their time there, especially in Tivoli. In fact, I once was held up for an afternoon in Copenhagen and also ended up in Tivoli, strolling around the gardens, theme park rides and restaurants. It’s a special place and it was good to enjoy that feeling again together with Lily and Celia.

This is an age-gap romance with Celia being 51 and Lily being 25. Besides their age being different also their personalities are quite different. Celia is a successful business woman, confident, used to getting what she wants, and well, rude. Lily on the other hand is caring and a bit naïve, but when necessary she stands up against the bossy Celia.
After their time in Denmark, their bad luck is still not over, and while their personalities clash the entire time some emotional topics are addressed as well and they unsuspectedly find support and strength in each other. The book is told in the third person with POVs of Celia and Lily, the non-stop witty dialogues keep things light and easy and I breezed through it.

As the title indicates, this is a romance. However, the romance is the thing that was somewhat disappointing to me. I already knew from other reviews that there were no explicit scenes in this book, in fact, there is even almost no physical contact between the two mains. That’s all fine, I don’t need that to enjoy a romance, but what I do need is attraction and chemistry and, to me, this was lacking. Yes, they are building a beautiful friendship, and they obviously care about each other, but I couldn’t help not feeling more then that.
Lily is a large part of the book in love with someone else and seems to crush in no-time on Celia after that and Celia is oblivious to the possibility of any more happening between them than a friendship. Only at the very end of the book (I’m talking 90% here) did I get the feeling that feelings were involved and that the romance started and then the romance is sort of fast forwarded in the last chapter. It felt rushed. Apparently, I’m the odd one out here as others seem to really enjoy the romance, so perhaps you should go see for yourself. Anyway, 3 stars for the romance, 4 stars for the overall experience.

In summary, a funny story about several crazy experiences leading to an unexpected friendship, with a bit of a very slow-burn, age gap romance.

Loved it!!!

Lily is on her way to Tokyo to meet the woman she has developed an online relationship with, and Celia is on her way to Tokyo to accept an award she doesn’t really want. Instantly clashing upon first meeting, both Celia and Lily are certain of one thing when they get seated next to one another on the flight, they don’t like one another. When fate plays a hand in forcing them to spend more time together than expected, both of them learn some very important lessons.

This was perfect! As usual, Amanda Radley has delivered an engaging, romantic, humourous, but important story and as is typical of her novels, and predicted, this one is now my new favourite (until the next!) I say this every time!!! There was something very special about Detour to Love, though that really gave me pause for thought subconsciously as I read but moved me. (There were also just some teeny tiny things mentioned that made me so happy!) When I was reading it, I could just imagine it as a rom-com and honestly if it was ever made into a film it would be so amazing!

Amanda has captured a bit of everything in this story, from emotional connection which left me feeling fully immersed in the story and feeling as if I was really a part of it. She lightly touches on darker subjects and misunderstandings that can affect mental health, self-esteem and wellbeing and does so sensitively, whilst balancing it against a touch of humour to lighten the mood. I was literally crying one minute then laughing the next, all whilst still feeling that emotion and sadness that surrounded them.

There is an important message in this story, and it’s not just about judging someone too quickly or getting the wrong impression; it was basically the truth about strangers. In this story Amanda has really captured that essence of being wary of some and yet carried away by others and asks that really important question of ‘do we really know who someone is’. It also highlighted the pros and cons of meeting, engaging with, and trusting strangers. The lessons to be learned from this were not just for Lily but also for Celia. You never really know how a stranger might just change your life and the experiences portrayed in Detour to Love were realistic and I could imagine the characters very much finding themselves in this situation.

The story was dramatic, exciting, fun and filled with wonderful moments and experiences but the best thing was the characters. Amanda is a pro when it comes to writing an age-gap and again she has captured it perfectly. A lot of the thoughts and feelings for both Lily and Celia were relatable, especially for me and just as I expect them to be in a potential relationship like this. I love Celia and Lily, and as soon as we met Celia I knew she was going to be my favourite, although Lily was quite infectious at times it was Celia who stole my heart!

A brilliant addition to the growing collection of Amanda Radley novels and a fantastic read that I couldn’t put down and can’t wait to read again!

Dead pan humour meets romance .

I’m here for this book, the slow burn was SLOW and had me reaching, like mam please let them be. But it’s slow in that greatly written way where you enjoy the pain of them being so oblivious.

The plot was fairly basic but incredibly sweet, however there are definitely numerous trigger warnings for their backgrounds (a lot of fairly heavy things are mentioned, and definitely help shape the characters in a way that draws you in)

If you’re looking for a quick overly sappy romcom this probably isn’t for you, however if you love some dead pan sarcastic humour (like I really bloody do) and are happy to have some more depth to your romance with heavy past lives, then this is exactly for you.


Really great Lgbt read!

Rating: 3 1/2 stars
Detour to Love is a slow-burn, lesbian age-gap romance, with an "enemies to lovers" vibe. As this was my first Amanda Radley experience, I wasn't sure what to expect. What I found was an enjoyable read with some room for improvement.

The prose was easy to read, and the story flowed fairly well, with some slow spots. The characters were realistic and relatable, though both started out a bit extreme in their personalities. That was my big hurdle in enjoying the book: getting through the first part of the story when Lily was acting like a spoiled brat and Celia was borderline mean. It was a bit over the top at first. Once they evened out, though, I enjoyed the book much more.

I liked that I could witness the evolution of Celia and Lily's relationship from antagonistic and disdainful to trusting and loving. It was a believable progression, for the most part. A few scenes had me raising an eyebrow, such as Ceclia's sudden sobriety. Overall, though, I stayed in the story with the characters.

The book does touch on a number of heavy issues, including suicide, homophobia, alcoholism, and grief.

I would definitely recommend the book to folks who like slow-burn romance with intense characters.

Thank you to NetGalley and the author and/or publisher for providing this arc in exchange for an honest review.

Thank you to NetGalley and Bold Strokes Books for an e-galley of Detour to Love.

This book was such an unexpected rom-com. Complete with a flight from hell, online romances that do not appear as they seem, and Alan who WILL. NOT. DIE. From seat mates to unlikely comrades - friends might be too strong a word to describe Lily and Celia's relationship - this book is a journey from start to finish. There was an emotional depth to Detour to Love that is explored and it only serves to add to the blooming friendship between Celia and Lily.

Overall, this book was a delightful detour from day-to-day life.

Super sweet, slow burn romance with an age gap AND an ice queen? This hits allllll the tropes I love.

Celia and Lilly, two VERY different women, meet on a plane to Tokyo and experience some travel mishaps that force these two unlikely lovebirds together. They are very different and their witty banter is one of the best parts about the book. I also just loved watching them get to know each other, become friends, and eventually fall in love. It gave me all the good *feels* that make me love romance novels.

I have never read a book by Amanda Radley before but the writing was really good and the characters well-developed, so I will definitely be on the lookout for more books from her. Thanks to Netgalley for the copy of the book to review!

This is a slow read for me. I love age difference romance so that was a plus. Also it kept getting better the more I read, it is just im looking for lots of romance and this just wasn't for me.

A simple yet heart-warming slow-burn romance story with some deeper looks at some deeper topics, such as suicide and homophobia, which are both discussed. This is my first Amanda Radley novel and it won’t be my last as this was a very enjoyable novel. It is a great story of strangers to friends to lovers with a genuine progression that is very believable and heart-warming.

Two characters meet at the airport randomly and it is very apparent that they are polar opposites. First, we have Celia, who is on her way to Tokyo to accept an award that she did not want, for her obtaining a large account at her insurance firm. She is older, her exact age is later revealed to be 51, but she is described as older and more sophisticated early on. She is used to her first-class treatment and seating that she always gets and is upset and sour when she learns that she has been bumped from her first-class ticket due to a plane change and must be assigned to a seat in business class. Our other character, who happens to be Celia’s seatmate, is Lily, a 25-year-old illustrator for children’s novels. She is originally ecstatic to learn that she can upgrade to business class from her economy seat for an extremely low rate but is unsure she made the right choice when she learns her seatmate is sour Celia. However, Lily still remains excited for her first trip to Tokyo as she finally gets to meet Asami in person. Asami and Lily have been pen pals and Lily is hoping that the closeness that she feels with their online connection can translate to the real world.

The plane needs to make an emergency landing due to an issue with the plane, which leads the passengers to be temporarily stranding in Denmark. Celia initially takes this as a sign to head back to the UK, but later decides to stick it out and continue the journey. However, she is without a hotel as she told the airline she was not going to Tokyo anymore. Luckily, Lily has family in Denmark who she planned to stay with during this unexpected layover and Celia ends up tagging along. While at Lily’s grandmother’s house, we learn that her family has not been very accepting of the fact that Lily is a lesbian and they have a hard time comprehending that this is not a phase. Celia helps Lily with the visit as best she can, given that they are still semi-strangers. Later on, the two of them continue on their journey to Tokyo together as acquaintances.

Their friendship grows little by little as Celia helps Lily out of some jams and Lily, in turn, helps out Celia. There is an attraction there and Lily is more forthcoming about her want to be with Celia whereas Celia is attracted to Lily, but it is not clear throughout how Celia feels until much later in the story. The two of them bond over Celia’s family and background, where we learn a lot about why Celia does not want to accept the award. We also get to learn more about Lily through their growing friendship. They do not have a lot in common and had tons of moments where they bicker and need to come to an understanding to move forward. The writing made this aspect feel very natural as their relationship was not perfect. They were complete strangers when they met and they had to work to get to know the other, including the nuances for each that the other might not fully understand.

The two characters bring out the best in each other, but also keep the other in check. Celia and Lily both have an excellent emotional connection and I like that they start their relationship emotionally rather than jumping into the physical, even though they do feel that physical attraction for the other. I was surprised at how in-depth this novel goes for the character growth as I did not expect it based on the synopsis alone. I went into this novel thinking that it was going to be a little shallower and not go into as many emotions as the book set out to accomplish. It was an excellent surprise and, even though the book does not have a super involved plot, the character development is what shines.

Overall, this is a very nice easy read for the writing alone as you can read through it fairly quickly without too many pieces to complicate the plot. Each character goes through their own development while assisting the other and they become each other’s emotional support. Their relationship seemed very genuine and I loved reading about how their bond grew from start to finish. The two of them were ones that you found yourself rooting for and their banter is very entertaining. This novel was a great read and I would definitely add more by this author to my TBR list.

**I give a special thank you to NetGalley, Bold Strokes Books, and the author, Amanda Radley, for the ARC to read and review. The opinions expressed are completely my own. **

This book was really a struggle to get into. Celia was terrible at the beginning (rightfully so). To me, this shouldn’t have been a romance novel but instead women’s fiction. There was zero chemistry between Celia and Lily, and any feelings were slightly one sided through most of the book. Celia wasn’t even sure of her sexuality throughout the book. I would have enjoyed it more if they just became friends who helped each other grow in their times of need. I also didn’t care for the age gap and they were in completely different places in their lives. I would have actually preferred Kaye and Lily to have found something together!

This was an enjoyable light hearted, easy to read story and I read it very quickly over a couple of days. The main characters, Celia and Lily, are very different and it was interesting to see how their story unfolded. I chose this book not realising that the main characters were a same sex pair, but the romance and feel good factor was very real and made this an enjoyable read.

This is my first read by Amanda Radley , and I really like her writing style! I found this book so entertaining. It was a quick and light read for me. I enjoy traveling and have definitely experienced an array of seatmates but I found their encounter amusing. Definitely would recommend!

Amanda Radley has created a terrific romantic tale of an unlikely couple in her newest book, Detour to Love. This is an age-gap, slow-burn, ice queen, and witty love story; the kind that we have all come to expect from this author.

Celia Scott is an insurance company executive on her way to Tokyo to receive an award she really doesn’t want, when she finds herself flying next to Lily Andersen, a young artist of children’s books on her way to Tokyo to meet an online friend for the first time. Obviously these two are going to clash, and they do, from the first moment they lay eyes on each other, but they are stuck for many hours together as they both head for Tokyo.
Ms. Radley really puts this couple through the ringer with travel problems, life problems, and the push/pull of an unwanted connection between the two. The settings are grand, the characters are well developed, and the story is exactly what you expect from this accomplished author, but what kept me really entertained was the witty and sometimes hilarious conversation these two women had through the whole book. I almost rolled on the floor laughing at their discussion of the “dancing man” in Copenhagen (you’ll have to read the book to understand), and that’s only one example of many entertaining moments in this tale.

I thoroughly enjoyed this novel. If you love an easy to read, slow-burn romance with lots of witty conversation, you’ll like Detour to Love.

I received an ARC from NetGalley and Bold Strokes Books for an honest review.

4 stars. Insurance Executive, Celia Scott is dreading her flight to Tokyo to appear at an awards ceremony for her company. She does not like flying and has other reasons why she is dreading this flight to Tokyo. She winds up sitting next to Lily Andersen, an artist who is excited to meet her Japanese online girlfriend for the first time after talking for a long time. They keep running into each other and start to talk. When the plane has a malfunction and they wind up spending more time together, they start to get to know each other better and see what they are really like. Lily likes Celia when she is not stressed out over her flight, and sees how Celia is a good person. She can't help the attraction she feels towards her.

I enjoyed this novel. I enjoyed their tension throughout the novel and how they each got to know each other better throughout. They had interactions that evolved and made me like their relationship more and more. There was only one thing I did not like about the book, maybe a little bit of a spoiler but it seemed to rush the ending. I wanted more of the characters together and see how they interacted, not just the tension between them. There was very little of that and I wished there was more. I wished there was more about their evolving romantic relationship and not just their friendship leading up. That is the only downside to the book, otherwise I would recommend this one as I could not stop reading it.

I really enjoyed this book! The characters were great and realistic, I loved the representation of both a lesbian relationship and the real ness of homophobia. The storyline was fun and movie like. I think my favourite part was that each chapter had a unique name. It was a quick and easy read that I would highly recommend

This was my first book by Amanda Radley and I quite enjoyed it, the main highlight is definitely the banter, facilitated by well written characters the dialogues end up being a pleasure to read and the humor made me laugh repeatedly.

The romance builds slowly, most of the book solidifying a friendship relationship first, which I was very thankful for. Both the characters pass through traumatic events, and they are given enough time to process and recover from it, which is rare in romance books and something I deeply appreciated.

That being said, while often funny and cute the book does revolve around grief a lot. The best thing is that this isn’t done in a bad way, the approach is very thoughtful and gave me immense respect for the author who could’ve used the grief theme as just a footnote to bounce romance off, this was not what the author did and the book is so much greater because of that.

My first book by Amanda Radley and I am very pleasantly surprised by it. In general, the reviews for this book are great but you never know if you will click with it. There is a lot of quirky banter in this book and if that isn't your thing, or it misses its mark for you, you won't enjoy this.

Celia is in her fifties, has a very demanding career in the financial industry, and is now on her way to accept an award in Tokyo she doesn't even want. She blames herself, and the deal she closed to get this award, for the death of her son. Extremely grumpy she sets out to Heathrow in the early morning. Lily is treating herself to a trip of her lifetime, she is finally going to meet her internet friend, who she hopes will become more than a friend. While browsing food options Celia comes up behind her and makes a snide remark (something about poking all the sandwiches). As luck would have it they end up on the plane next to each other. Some serious unlucky events later has them spending the night at Lily's Mormor in Copenhagen before they continue their trip to Tokyo. Lilly pokes through the icy veneer Celia has in place and sees the caring person behind the facade.
They support each other when it's needed and their romance unfolds.

This is a romance, but there is very little to no physical contact between the main characters. I really didn't mind this, on paper they only share a couple of kisses, but the most important part of this book is the emotional bond they develop. The relationship from complete (annoying) strangers to friends to more is beautifully written and feels natural and real. Celia doesn't struggle with liking a woman, but she does struggle with liking a woman half her age. Lilly has a complicated relationship with her Danish Mormor (grandmother) and this feels real. Both of them not having real friends with whom they can share everything and find this with each other is nice and refreshing. The age gap and melting ice queen have been done lots of times of course, but this feels different.
I for one love banter and quirky, sarcastic, edgy jokes, that is right up my alley and I enjoyed it all. I think I had a smile on my face the entire time I was reading this book. What more could you ask for these days?

For the sake of an honest review, I'll be real: this book wasn't very rewarding to me. I didn't connect with either of the characters, the plot was overdone, the writing was bland, and I wasn't feeling the connection between the love interests. I felt that the time I spent reading this was wasted for so little pay off.

My first read by Amanda Radley. I enjoyed the story. The bond the main characters Lily and Celia built was great. I thoroughly enjoyed the humor between them. I will definitely be reading more of her books. I recommend 4 stars.

I received an ARC from the Publisher Bold Strokes Books via NetGalley for my honest opinion.