Thank you to Berkley Books for sharing this e-arc with me.
Overall I enjoyed A Thousand Miles. I’m a sucker for a road trip/forced proximity romance. I absolutely loved Ben and Dee’s chemistry. My biggest complain would be that we never really got a lot of details or what happened in the past. It was all very vague and skimmed over. It was very quick and easy for Ben and Dee to make up and move past their old fight. I think it would have worked better if the author incorporated flashbacks to give us more context.

I knew I was going to love this book as soon as I read the blurb. Estranged friends to lovers is one of my favourite tropes because the tension and angst is always top notch. I loved following Dee and Ben on their road-trip across the country, watching them attempt to navigate their unresolved issues/feelings towards each other, while also trying to figure out exactly who they were to one another after not having spoken for ten years. I thought the chemistry and banter between the two were excellent, and I loved how easily they fell back into their friendship, even though so much had happened in the time that past. The pacing of the book was great too; I liked how we learnt more and more about their fallout in every chapter and the way the two characters slowly worked through their feelings felt very real. All in all, I really, really liked this! (It gave me People We Meet On Vacation vibes so if you liked that, you'll probably enjoy this too.)

I didn't expect to love this one as much as I did! It's tender and laugh out loud funny, with top-notch banter and podcast transcript interstitials. It's such a pleasure to watch Ben and Dee gently work through what drove them apart a decade ago, and what's keeping them apart even now. I think some things, particularly their relationships with their parents, could have been zipped up a little tighter, but the whole thing is such a fun ride (get it? because it's a road trip?) that there's little room for complaint. My first Bridget Morrissey and definitely not my last!

Review: This was a really well written Contemporary Romance novel, that I really enjoyed reading! Dee and Ben were great main characters, and I loved reading about them finding their way back to each other. Overall, I would definitely recommend this to anyone who thinks it sounds interesting!

I received an e-ARC from the publisher

I ended up enjoying this book after what felt like a slow start. It was emotional, introspective and sparked the kind of nostalgia that brought back a lot of my own memories from high school.

Ben and Dee were best friends in high school. They were heading towards becoming something more, but a misunderstanding ruined their friendship and Ben left after graduation without a word. Dee is left with the heartbreaking task of moving on and learning to live without him. She does this by starting a podcast with her friend Javi, where she talks about her life and sprinkles in bits and pieces about her relationship with Ben, whose name she refuses to say. After experiencing a heartbreaking loss, Ben shows up on Dee’s doorstep after ten years of silence asking her to take a 1,000 mile road trip with him…one they promised they would take together years ago.

The book really just boils down to two people on a road trip that haven’t seen each other in ten years and they have a lot to hash out. There’s forced proximity, hilarious banter and longing on both of their parts. I love how easily they slip back into their easy rapport and how much they both want things to work out. I’m glad we are able to see the story from both of their perspectives because it’s important to understand where Ben was coming from. This is a story of how to forgive, make amends and go after what you truly want in life.

I loved Dee’s character. She’s tough and feisty but fragile at the same time. She had a difficult childhood and Ben’s friendship was the one thing really holding her together. The conflict between Dee and Ben felt real and relatable and shows the right amount of hurt that Dee would feel after ten years of silence from Ben.

Ben’s character was harder for me to relate to. He made a mistake in high school and then just left…without saying a word to this person that allegedly meant the world to him? And in the world of social media, never tried to reconnect? All of this gets explained of course, but that was hard to reconcile as a true possibility. I felt like both characters grew a lot as people during their absence from each other and that point is driven home more than once throughout the story.

While the book was mostly about just these two characters, the few supporting characters that are present, like Dee’s costar Javi, are well written and bring a lot to the story. I really enjoyed the author’s writing style and the feelings of nostalgia it evoked. There’s a vulnerability in these characters that could only be brought out with great writing.

This book had me reminiscing about a time and place that I’ve mostly stopped thinking about. I laughed, I swooned and I even teared up at times. I would definitely recommend this to anyone who likes a second chance, friends to lovers romance with a lot of depth and heart. Thank you so much to NetGalley and Berkley for the advanced copy to read and review.

Dee and Ben were best friends, until after a roadtrip their senior year of high school to Ben’s Grandma’s house ended in them sleeping together, which led to a huge fight. 10 years later, they haven’t spoken since that fight, until Ben shows up at Dee’s door one night. He is there because they promised to take that roadtrip again in 10 years, and since his Grandma has recently passed away, he needs to go to take care of her house. Dee agrees and the two of them undertake 1,000 miles on the road together, reliving old memories, creating new ones, and finding they still have feelings for each other.

This book really had me feeling all the things, I laughed, I got emotional, I wanted to punch the main characters for being so dumb…truly, the full spectrum of emotions. I loved the transcriptions of Dee’s podcasts - they were hilarious. Another highlight was Abe the kitten and his antics. I love a good second-chance romance and the road trip aspect was a fun twist. From the beginning, I adored Ben. He was so sweet and caring and an all-around great person. Dee, on the other hand, definitely had a lot of growing to do. While she was hilarious, she hid her pain behind her humor and that definitely caused some problems in her life. By the end, however, she showed tremendous growth and I really loved her and Ben together.

A huge thank you to Berkley Publishing for the advance copy.

Exactly what I didn't know I needed, this story of estranged best friends embarking on a road trip is funny, heartfelt, messy, and achingly human, and I devoured it as fast as I could. In real life, Dee and Ben probably would drive me crazy with either love or exasperation or both — and actually, that's exactly what they do in fiction, too — precisely because they are so realistically jagged and beautiful all at once. Morrissey does a great job of portraying teenage and adult hurts that feel real without veering into melodramatic screaming matches, and she's great at undercutting tense moments with humor and grounding romance with sincerity. In short, this was a good read that gave me a lot to think about, and I can see myself coming back to it next time I need some therapy by way of fiction.

My thanks to NetGalley and Berkley for providing an eARC in exchange for an honest review.

A second chance romance! Dee is a podcaster who has made her name (and money) talking about all those things most people don't about their lives. Everything except Ben, known on her podcast as Name Redacted. They were BFFS and she loved him until he ghosted her without explanation. Now, he's turned up at her door and wants to take the road trip they planned ten years ago to dug up the time capsule they buried in his now (sadly) deceased grandmother's back yard. He's also hoping she can help him (although he's not going to admit this) deal with the news that his father is not his bio-dad. It's a lot to carry but a road trip, a road trip with someone who knew you when, is a good opportunity to clear your head and the air. Despite the serious underpinnings,. this is light and funny thanks to the dialogue between these two opposites. Thanks to Netgalley for the ARC. A good beach or travel (hah!). read.

A Thousand Miles by Briget Morrissey is just as cute as can be. This second chance romance and road trip romance is a perfect summer read.

Dee Matthews runs a podcast with her best friend Javi named “Did I Forget To Tell You?” where they overshare about their love lives, home life, and past. They share everything with their listeners which is why the podcast is so popular. The only thing Dee refuses to share is the name of her first boyfriend from high school, her first love, Ben. They bleep out his name, and they use [name redacted] whenever they discuss him.

Dee and Ben broke up right after high school, and they have not been in touch in the past 10 years, so when Ben appears on Dee’s doorstep, she’s completely surprised. Ten years ago, Ben promised Dee they would repeat their road trip from Chicago to Denver. The original trip was made during spring break of their senior year in high school, and Ben is determined to keep his promise to Dee. Dee can’t say no, so they embark on the 1000-mile road trip together.

I love a road trip story, so this book was just right for me. Dee and Ben were best friends until that fateful road trip in high school, and then just when they became more than friends they broke up, never to see each other for the next 10 years. This second chance romance is full of witty banter. Both Dee and Ben come to some realizations during the trip and both learn more about each other and themselves that make them better people in the end.

I recommend A Thousand Miles to anyone who enjoys romance and women’s fiction. I received a complimentary copy of this book. The opinions expressed in this review are completely my own.

This was just an ok read for me.

I didn't really feel connected to Dee and Ben as a couple. I didn't feel like they had real, thoughful and productive conversations about their friendship and what ended it so many years ago. There felt like a lot of build-up to what caused the rift but was pretty anticlimactic when the reason comes out. It felt like they spent so much time apart with years for their hurt to build up but just sort of jumped right back into their relationship.

I enjoyed the story enough to finish it but can't say that I'm particularly blown away by any part of it.

*I received an ARC from NetGalley for voluntary review

When a book is about a road trip, former high school sweethearts and second chances - I'm ready to dive in. A Thousand Miles is filled with humor, sweetness and the perfect reconnecting of old flames. Dee Mathews and Ben Porter were characters that had me connected in the beginning.

The rift between Dee and Ben felt completely earned and not at about the typical miscommunication, but the exact type of conflict and hurt that would after ten years of silence. They both never forgot about each other over the time and just lied to themselves they were ok without being in each other lives. But when an opportunity comes up to take a promised road trip...second chances start to happen.

DNF at 29%. Everything about the book is fine except…there doesn't seem to be a discernable plot? I expect more of a plot in romance. Maybe this book is too literary for me

Thanks, NetGalley, for the ARC I received. This is my honest and voluntary review.

Just okay. It never really hit the mark for me. There are some shining moments and fun scenes but it was lacking in explanations. I never felt like Dee and Ben’s high school split was given enough time or clarity. And the big climactic breaks toward the end didn’t have enough build, they seemed to come out of nowhere. I didn’t feel like the characters were genuinely struggling with the emotions until they were suddenly upon us.

Still, it wasn’t bad. I loved the road trip. The settings and situations were vibrant, mildly harrowing at times leading to some classic tropes, and funny. And the podcast interjections gave a little more depth and glimpses of secondary characters so the leads weren’t in a complete bubble.

Overall, it was entertaining at times but not a total success.

Podcaster Dee makes it her business to share all her secrets with her audience...except for one. Name Redacted has long been a mystery to her listeners, while Dee shares stories of their childhood relationship. But after ten years of silence, he shows up on Dee's doorstep, asking her to roadtrip to Colorado with him, because "a promise is a promise." Will forced proximity help the pair come to terms with their high school fight or will the ten years apart prove to be too much for the pair to overcome?

I absolutely loved "Love Scenes" by Bridget Morrissey, so I was really hoping I would feel the same about A Thousand Miles. Ultimately, the book fell flat for me. I wanted to love it so much, but many times, I felt bored with the back and forth road trip commentary and even though a lot happened, it also felt like very little happened.

In a similar vain to People We Meet on Vacation, the reader spends the first half of the book trying to figure out what happened to break up Ben and Dee back in high school. The pair dance around each other in a state of awkward, neither taking about the elephant in the room or being brave enough to face their feelings. At times I wanted to shake them both out of pure frustration. But then when they finally get together, it feels like they go from 0 to 100 without truly facing their demons, which is just setting them up to fail in the future.

Dee's character took some time for me to get behind. She is extremely impulsive, saying things for shock value in the moment in order to hide her true feelings. Her backstory does justify her actions (toxic relationship with mother, poverty in childhood), but it took some time for those stories to come out, which added to Dee's at times frantic behavior. However, the maturity Dee shows in the last 20% of the book really redeemed her character for me.

Ben was the saving grace in this book for me. I loved the depth of his character arc, from the grief of losing his grandmother to the truth about his childhood. The stakes were higher for Ben and instead of shutting down and being emotionally unavailable, Ben was vulnerable, sweet, and so tender with Dee. Not afraid to cry, Ben wears his emotions on his sleeve and I loved that a hero was depicted this way. It's not common in books, which ultimately made me love Ben more.

I also loved the inclusion of the podcast transcripts. This mixed media element added depth to the story, while allowing readers to see a different side of Dee. It also introduced us to her podcast partner, Javi, who was absolutely hilarious and totally stole the show for me.

Thanks to Berkley Romance and Under the Covers Blog for the advanced copy of the book.

The idea of this book had me SO excited to read it. Honestly, a second chance romance with a podcaster and middle school teacher? On a road trip after they haven’t seen or even spoken to each other for TEN years? Sign. Me. Up.

Unfortunately, around 40ish% I got bored. Little things on their trip were fun, but ultimately it didn’t catch my attention. I just wanted them to talk about things that mattered.

Their relationship wasn’t spectacular like I wanted. What originally drove them apart wasn’t heart wrenching painful, like I expected. Maybe that was the point of the book? I’m not sure, I ended up skimming the last 20% just to finish it. ):

Thank you Berkley Publishing and NetGalley for an advanced copy, this review is being left voluntarily, all opinions are my own.

I've always wanted to go on a summer road trip with the love of my life and this book gave me a little glimpse into a fun adventure.

The author has a wonderful way of revealing just enough backstory to keep you reading. I found a wonderful need to find out why these two characters fell apart when they obviously loved each other very much. The laughed and cried with each other and took care of one another. It was enduring.

There was a moment when I was lost, and I think that was when the story fell apart for me a little. When Dee and Ben made it to grandma's house and Ben's family showed up. That was the big reveal when we find out why they fell apart in the first place and it felt a little chaotic. Other than that, I was able to get back on the band wagon and finished this wonderful story.

It really was a wonderful and emotional read that was very relatable. A great rainy day read.

I adored this second chance, road trip romance!

Dee and Ben haven't spoken in ten years, Yes, ten years. And now he wants her to accompany him on a commemorative road trip. Out of the blue.

She never got over him. He never got over her. They were inseparable the entirety of their childhood and adolescence, the yin to each other's yang. And then everything that had been growing between them was suddenly there and they couldn't ignore it. And then he broke her heart.

Dee is finally in a place in her life that she can escape the doubt and insecurity that riddled her past. The last thing she wants to do is make herself vulnerable again,. She may never recover this time.

But the heart wants what it wants. And Ben and Dee want each other. No one else is just right and nothing seems complete unless they have each other.

Thank you from the bottom of my heart to the publisher and Netgalley for providing me with an ARC of this title in exchange for an honest review.

This is the second time in the last few months that I’ve read a second chance romance that I’ve really enjoyed. I’ve always said that it’s not my favorite trope, but after two standouts I may need to quit saying and thinking that. Maybe I just need them to be really well executed to adore them and I think the author did a great job here. Dee and Ben are the real stars of the show here, I mean duh they’re the main characters, but what I mean is that the majority of the book is filled with scenes of just the two of them. This gave the book a really intimate feeling as they reconnect after ten years of total silence and have to really hash out some old issues if they want to move forward together. The road trip aspect was fun and summery and there was a real sense of nostalgia as well as they spend some time reminiscing about their high school days. Ben was the cutest most lovable hero and Dee was as well, but in a neurotic but wholly endearing way. I really enjoyed my time with these two, their connection was heavily apparent and the way they bantered back and forth showed just how true their friendship was and maybe still is.

"You're not the most important person in the world to me. You are the world."

Dee and Ben. What a cutie OTP. Their teasing banter and bits were adorably hilarious. Ben is an illegally handsome ray of sunshine, cinnamon roll! Filled with funny memories and charming anecdotes, A Thousand Miles would be an excellent beach read for romance readers!

THINGS AND STUFF
-dual pov
-second chance romance
-childhood friends
-road trip = forced proximity
-friends to lovers
-exchanging quips
-oh no, you're wounded (hurt/comfort)
-"the Twizzlers incident"
-taking a cat to a baseball game & rushing the field
-cheez it's
-logrolling off a bed with grace and much flourish
-#IsThisAKissingBook: open door. "I rest one quick peck on her forehead. Featherlight and meaningless."

Thank you Berkley Romance for an advanced copy.

Song: Mr. Brightside by The Killers

Dee and Ben had a falling out 10 years ago, but when Ben's Gram passes away, he knows he needs to contact Dee to go on the roadtrip they promised they would take.
When Ben shows up at Dee's door after 10 years of not talking, Dee is right to not accept him in immediately. She's been doing a podcast and anytime Ben comes up in conversation, he is known as Name Redacted. She can't even speak his name after what their falling out has done to her. Ben knows it's a lot to ask, but there is no one else he would rather take this trip with. As soon as he sees Dee, the memories start to flood back and it's like no time has passed at all. He knows one thing, he isn't supposed to feel the things for her that he does, especially after how they left things, but he does.
I really love second chance love stories, this book looked exactly like something that was up my alley and there were so many parts I enjoyed. Ben was such a sucker for Dee that it warmed my heart. They immediately started falling into old feelings, like as soon as they get into the car together. While I understand this, Dee literally broke up with someone meer minutes before Ben showed up on her doorstep. I know the book was set in a matter of days, but I felt like there needed to be a little more time for things to develop than they had.
I was confused about a few things in the story as well, mostly about Ben's family and things that happened at the end of the book. There were a few holes that I would have wanted filled in.
Overall it was a light enjoyable read that had me laughing and gave me some butterflies with things that Ben said. 3.5 Stars.
Thank you to Bridget Morrissey, Berkley and Netgalley for an early copy.