Not every book is for every person, but this book was, without a doubt, For Me.

Firstly, Ireland, the most beautiful country I’ve been to so far. Secondly, Carla’s relationship with Biggie hit so close to home, I was crying for the last sixty page out of a 200 page book. That’s 30%.

While it is insta-love (ish; more like insta-attraction), I really didn’t mind it. There really is no better way to get to know someone than to travel with them, so I think it’s reasonable for what Carla and Eamon went through to find love so quickly.

For this being a novella-length story, the emotions and memories stuffed in this book packed all the punches.

Thanks to Net Galley/SMP for the ARC!!

Hellooooooo, insta-love!
Carla flies to Dublin to attend her best friend's wedding. She's no novice to travel and all she needs can be found in a backpack. Her chauffer is none other than the groom's brother and best man, who just happens to be her polar opposite in every way from his clutter free flat to his regimented lifestyle. When he reveals his hidden dreams to travel and take his range rover all over the world, Carla convinces him to start on their way out to Tralee. Who cares if they're late getting there as long as they make it for the ceremony?
Sometimes this trope can work for me and sometimes it's my least favorite for a reason. In this case, I found the love story to be unbelievable. Do I think they were attracted to each other? Obviously, as it does start out with a plenty of heat & sizzling chemistry. Ultimately though, I found Carla to be largely unlikeable (she's selfish and fairly shallow) and the lack of plot disheartening. I can blame a big part of this to having high expectations based on my reads of The Suite Spot and Float Plan.
The setting and some of the support cast were the best parts and kept my nose in the book. I think any other MC would have shined for me in the adventures from Dublin to Tralee.
Thank you to St. Martins Press and NetGalley for the advanced copy. All thoughts in this review are my own.

A tale of misadventures that will have you laughing, swooning, and a little teary-eyed.

Off The Map is the perfect reminder that life's too short to have regrets, and to live each day to the fullest, while cherishing your loved ones.

Title: Off the Map
Author: Trish Doller
Series: Beck Sisters, #3
Genre: Romance
Rating: 3.00
Pub Date: March 7, 2023

Thank you to St. Martin's Griffin for offering me a DRC and to Macmillan Audio for providing me with ALC via NetGalley in exchange for an honest review. #Gifted #Ad

T H R E E • W O R D S

Adventurous • Brisk • Cliché

📖 S Y N O P S I S

Carla Black’s life motto is “here for a good time, not for a long time.” She’s been traveling the world on her own in her vintage Jeep Wrangler for nearly a decade, stopping only long enough to replenish her adventure fund. She doesn’t do love and she doesn’t ever go home.

Eamon Sullivan is a modern-day cartographer who creates digital maps. His work helps people find their way, but he’s the one who’s lost his sense of direction. He’s unhappy at work, recently dumped, and his one big dream is stalled out—literally.

Fate throws them together when Carla arrives in Dublin for her best friend’s wedding and Eamon is tasked with picking her up from the airport. But what should be a simple drive across Ireland quickly becomes complicated with chemistry-filled detours, unexpected feelings, and a chance at love - if only they choose it.

💭 T H O U G H T S

I knew I wanted to continue of with book three in the Beck Sister series, even though I didn't absolutely love the first two books, likely because I appreciated the off-the-beaten path settings of the first two books.

What I liked:
• the scenic destinations. Ireland is a bucket list destination for me, so I absolutely loved getting to 'visit' some tourist spots. I also liked learning about Carla's other travels, especially her visits to national parks with Biggie. It sparked my wanderlust.
• the depth. Each book in this series deals with grief in a different manner, and the inclusion of dementia was probably my favourite part.

What I didn't like:
• the instalove. This is one trope that just doesn't work for me. It always seems so unbelievable, and more build up would have made it better.
• the spice. This book is a lot spicier than the first too and at times it really feels like all they are doing is having sex, which felt unnecessary.
• the pacing. It felt too surface level and rushed. There wasn't space for so many aspects to be fully fleshed out. The death near the end felt like it came out of nowhere and like the author was just trying to wrap the book up quickly.

I am glad to have read this third book in the series, which can easily be read as a standalone, but it was a highly forgettable read. The narration by Sarah Naughton is okay. If you're looking for something quick for your road trip this would be a great choice though.

📚 R E C O M M E N D • T O
• fans of the instalove trope
• readers who enjoyed Float Plan and/or Something Wilder

⚠️ CW: dementia, death, death of parent, sexual content, drug use, alcohol, abandonment

🔖 F A V O U R I T E • Q U O T E S

"There isn't just one kind of family, you know? There's the people you find along the way."

A beautiful story that made me chuckle quite a bit. Cara Black has quite the adventures. I now have got to go read books 1 and 2. Trish Doller develops the characters so well.

I’ve enjoyed the Beck sisters series, but must admit, this is my favorite. It was a lovely, fun, smart, witty, romantic, emotional listen with a wonderful cast of characters. Carla may not have had the most conventional childhood after her mother left she and her beloved dad, but it was filled with adventure and a lot of love. As an adult she is finally learning to deal with some of the emotional scars, learning to open her heart to love, finally deciding to put down some roots and against her dads wishes, spending some amazing time with him as he slides into dementia. Its truly a wonderful literal and figurative journey to Carla opening her heart and mind to love. And wait until you meet Eamon! And not sappy at all. This is going on my list of favorites of 2023.

I fell for Trish Doller when I read her adult fiction debut, The Float Plan, last year, so I was thrilled to revisit some of those characters in Off the Map, her latest novel, due out March 7, 2023. While you don’t need to have read Float Plan to enjoy this book, I highly recommend it - Doller is a masterful romance author and it’s worth the time.

Off the Map wastes no time getting straight to the sizzling chemistry between Eamon and Clara. Clara is in Ireland to serve as the maid of honor for Anna and Keane’s wedding, and Eamon - Keane’s brother - is tasked with meeting her and driving her to the wedding location. When sparks fly from the moment they meet, the two quickly decide to live out the cliche of the best man and maid of honor succumbing to a fling.

Their fling quickly grows into something more serious when they realize how much they have in common - namely, the urge to explore. However, whereas Clara has been living out her dreams, spending half her year traveling the world in her Jeep, Eamon has hesitated to venture out of his comfort zone. Clara seizes on the opportunity and they decide to delay their arrival for the wedding in favor of taking a few days to explore Ireland’s countryside, encountering several adventures along the way (I am still laughing at the bull with a taste for sangria).

Ultimately, Clara and Eamon are both trying to cope with family expectations. We learn that Clara has been traveling for the past few years at her father’s urging. Following a dementia diagnosis, he doesn’t want her to watch him fade away, and tells her he wants her to live her life on the road for him instead of taking care of him. Eamon feels the burden of being the responsible brother; whereas Keane has been free to travel the world, Eamon feels pressured to hold down a responsible job and live up to his demanding mother’s expectations. Before they can find their happily ever after together, both Eamon and Clara have to first invest the time looking deep within themselves to uncover what will actually bring them joy, without giving in to what their respective families expect of them.

Doller crafts deeply relatable characters, and knows how to balance the emotional heft with moments of levity. The chemistry between Eamon and Clara truly sizzles off the page, and there are lighthearted moments that will definitely have you laughing out loud, only to find yourself weeping a few chapters later. I loved every moment of this story and flew through it in a single sitting, because I couldn’t tear myself away from the page.

This was cute! Though not my favorite. Out of the 3 in this series, nothing tops FLOAT PLAN, though.

This felt a bit too "insta" love for me. There was something missing in their connection, and I felt it was mostly just physical. I enjoyed the bits about travel and their adventures. I also felt for Carla and the situation with her dad, but overall, the pacing felt off in that regard. It was pretty steamy but not too descriptive in my opinion, and I overall enjoyed that aspect. Again, overall, it was cute, but I was hoping for more of a deep connection between the characters.

Carla goes where the wind blows, while Eamon creates the maps that lead people home again. So, they don't seem like a likely pairing. Yet when they meet, the sparks fly and it's not long before they're in his bed.

She's good with casual; he's not interested in starting anything new. So it seems like a perfect short-term fling that won't last any longer than it takes to get Carla's best friend married to Eamon's brother that weekend.

As Carla shares some of the wisdom her ailing father taught her along the way, she sees how Eamon needs to live a little. So, they set about checking off a few of the items on his bucket list as they make their way across Ireland to the wedding venue.

But with each checkmark they make, they discover just one more reason why short-term may not be the best thing for either of them in the long term.

Thank you to Trish Doller, St. Martin's Press, Macmillan Audio and NetGalley for an advance review copy.

I’ve really enjoyed all the Beck Sister series and this one did not disappoint. It has an insta love trope, which isn’t usually my go to but I loved the relationship between Carla and Eamon. Their is love, laughter, spice and even some sad spots. The characters were well developed and the story was really well written, I actually binged this book in one day! Highly recommend if you’ve loved any of the other books in the series but could also work as a standalone.

I have been lucky enough to be part of this series from the beginning, and the books keep getting better. Carla is so used to running that she doesn’t know how to slow down. She tells herself she has a life anyone would dream of, but it’s a lonely life. She’s running away from close ties and her father’s dementia. But this is the life he told her to have, so she’s doing what he asked, right? Enter Eamon. Carla is down for a fling; that’s what people do at weddings. But her week in Ireland might toss everything Carla has believed out the window.

I love how fun this book is. It starts with a bang and takes off running. At the center of everything is Carla’s love of life, her love of exploring. Eamon is down to show her Ireland, and together, they experience something really beautiful. My heart hurt for Carla time and again. She has a good father, but his summer habit of exploration instilled in Carla a nomadic life, which has enabled her to shut herself off from feeling anything deeply. Her walls are thick, and those kinds of walls aren’t broken overnight. I loved watching her walls come down as her circle grew. This was such a lovely and fun read from start to finish. Thank you, St. Martin’s, for sending over an advanced copy.

Trish Doller is quickly becoming a favorite author for me. I loved both Float Plan and The Suite Spot, I think I loved Off the Map more. It was heart breaking and beautiful, Carla and Eamon's chemistry was instant and electric and I adored them as a couple from the start. This perfectly captures grief, but in a different way than Float Plan, it shows the struggles when a loved one has Alzheimer's and balancing who they were versus who they are now. Eamon has his own struggles with having always been the responsible sibling and learning how to stand up for himself and step out of that role his mom put him in. Their adventures on the road were amusing and charming and I loved that Carla was the one who was the mechanic of the two. It is a bit heavy but has moments that help lighten it, over all it's a fantastic read. You could read it as a standalone, but I really think you'd be missing a good amount of important background information. Highly recommend.

From the first chapter, Off the Map feels (mostly) lighthearted and energetic. Carla Black spends most of the year traveling the world, and her latest stop is Ireland. She’s actually here for her best friend’s wedding, but when she meets the groom’s brother Eamon, Carla is instantly down for a little vacation fling. I’m no stranger to steamy scenes in romance, but I was surprised how quickly these two get physical. What should be a quick trip from Dublin to the small town on the other side of the country turns into detour after detour as Carla and Eamon explore both each other and Ireland’s lesser-known landmarks.

Off the Map hits the ground running, and as ridiculous as Carla and Eamon are, it’s fun to see them go camping in a nearby forest and attempt some off-roading on the way to the wedding. Sometimes they just get side-tracked, and sometimes things actually go wrong to slow down their journey. But over the days they spend together, they really bond on an emotional level (in addition to their lust for each other!).

The first half of the book may be deceptively fun and action-packed. However, there are clues along the way of the emotional depth that will hit readers in the second half. Carla occasionally muses about her childhood, being raised by a single parent who took her all over the world. But when her dad was diagnosed with dementia, Carla closed herself off and used travel as a distraction from her feelings. After the wedding takes place, will Carla be able to keep growing closer to Eamon and pursue something serious with him? Will she continue to run from her real life and a shot at a real relationship? Or will she mend her scars and finally face her dad after all this time?

In contrast to the first half of Off the Map, the second half gets surprisingly emotional. My own grandmother also had dementia, and I could understand Carla’s pain at seeing her dad becoming disoriented and forgetting who she was at times. This latter part of the book made me cry quite a bit, but while it’s heavy, it’s also pure and honest.

Between the two halves of Off the Map, the pacing may feel uneven. From seeing Carla and Eamon constantly together and having a good time to seeing Carla work through her relationship with her dad, it can feel unbalanced. And yet, both parts are enjoyable in their own ways. Whether you like the tourism and easy-going romance or the emotional weight of seeing a parent with dementia, both halves offer something valuable.

The book does end nicely, and I love seeing where Carla and Eamon are at with each other a year later. I’m not sure how the book could have been better balanced, but for what it offers, it is a joyous and sweet ride.

Off the Map is a surprising book, from the instant connection between Carla and Eamon and their romp through Ireland to the heart-wrenching scenes between Carla and her dad. Be prepared for some whiplash between the two halves of the book, but if you can appreciate both the fun and the depth, this is a book that explores the range of emotions.

Off the Map is my third read by Trish Doller and I found it just as enjoyable and captivating as her first two books. She is absolutely a must read author for me. Her stories are a good mix of fun and complexity. I love how she writes emotionally messy characters usually from some sort of trauma and allowing them to grow while writing a romance. Doller also includes great descriptions of an activity and destination in her stories, camping/hiking in Ireland in this one, which lead me to adding places to my travel bucket list. For those who have read the other books in this series, this one is much more open door and the attraction/spicy scenes start quickly.

CW: a loved one with dementia

Thank you to St Martin’s Press for the ARC by a favorite author. Pub Date: March 7, 2023.

4 1/2 stars rounded up to 5.
Trish Doller is quickly becoming one of my favorite authors. Carla is a friend of Anna’s (from Float Plan), and she is headed to Ireland for Anna and Keane’s wedding. Keane’s brother, Eamon is charged with meeting Carla and driving her to the wedding. Their attraction is instantaneous and they immediately act on it - hello spice!
Anna has spent her life working hard and then traveling for months on end. Eamon still has traveling on his bucket list. So instead of heading straight to the wedding, they take a few detours and even go off-roading on an old rail trail. Along the way, they get to know each other, experience a few mishaps, unpack some major issues they are each facing, have some fun, and most importantly, have some sexy fun!
However, Carla and Eamon have just met, live on different continents, have their own plans for the future, and have family responsibilities that they can’t just walk away from. Woven throughout all the fun of their story are real-life struggles and tough decision-making. Thankfully, they have an amazing supporting cast of friends and family on both sides of the ocean that’s between them.
Carla and Eamon stole my heart. Their story is one of patience, understanding, and hope. Everything that resolved, in the end, was a bit quick but definitely satisfying and heartwarming. I’m hoping more of Keane and Eamon’s siblings get their own hea in future books!
Thanks to NetGalley and the publisher for the eARC to read and review. All opinions are my own.

The Beck Sisters has been one of my very favorite series (FLOAT PLAN is a top romance of all time), so obviously OFF THE MAP was one of my most anticipated romances of the year! Much like the two previous books, there were a lot of emotions packed in here. Dollar always does a great job of mixing thoughtful women’s fiction into her romance.

What to expect::
•Ireland setting
•Best friends brother in law (is that a trope?)
•Instalove
•Great father/daughter memories
•Wanderlust
•Camping and adventure
•Both MCs finding their path
•Updates on Anna and Keane
🔥Open door, light details

I did feel like the insta love was just too insta for me… I mean the best part is that build up! BUT, the forced proximity made up for most of that. Not my fave of the series, but still a great read!

I loved this follow up to the Float Plan! The characters were lovely, the travel bits funny and inspiring, and the bittersweet, real-life family issues had me tearing up. Definitely shed some tears through this one! Highly recommend~

I am a big fan of Trish Doller and this series/world of hers. Float Plan had me in the feels for ages and this book did the same. Road trips are hit or miss, but instead of hijinks, these stops and unexpected events were more intentional and fun. I loved how we slowly got to see Eamon and Carla's story unfold and how each little bit of information gave us a closer look into their family and their heart. My friend and I read this together and both decided that at times, insta love is just what we need. This is insta love, but the depth that we get from their romance on a deadline is so very good.

This is a very emotional yet at times funny story. The characters are delightful. Carla is a treat as a free spirit with a rapier wit. Eamon comes off as a geek but is actually a sexy up for anything guy. Together they go an adventure that is an easy to read page turner with a happy ending. A great buy!

4 stars!

I have enjoyed each of Trish Doller's Beck Sisters' books, and "Off the Map" is no different! I just love her writing style. She manages to balance deeply emotional plot points with simmering attraction and a hefty dose of self-realization that is neither forced nor preachy. "Off the Map" has everything: intrigue, spice, a simmering connection between two likable but flawed protagonists, travel across the (very detailed) Irish countryside, drama, weddings, Jeep rides, car sex, beer, and bluntness like no other! I adored Carla and Eamon. Their insta-love/lust connection might come about too quickly for some readers, but if you've read Doller's other two novels, it's on par for her. I like how the women characters always come first in her books (literally and figuratively). Carla is such a wonderful character! I like how she has to learn about herself and learn how to let a stable love into her life. Eamon has to do the same but also has to break free from the shackles of his family's expectations. I also loved learning about Carla and her dad, Biggie, who has dementia and sent Carla off on her own adventures so she didn't have to watch him forget her. Having had an extended family member go through this, I thought Doller's depictions were spot-on, albeit heartbreaking.

Sarah Naughton returns for the audiobook version of this novel. Naughton previously did the narration for "Float Plan" and "The Suite Spot." She does a blood awesome job narrating Doller's stories and bringing her characters to life. She's got such clever delivery! She has perfect inflection and does spectacular accents for Eamon and his siblings. Absolutely phenomenal narration, I'll listen to anything she reads. Naughton breathes such storied life into whatever she reads!

This is another terrific entry into the Beck Sisters series, and I cannot wait to see what's next from Trish Doller!

Thank you to NetGalley, Trish Doller, St. Martin's Press, and St. Martin's Griffin for providing me with an ARC copy of this book! All opinions are my own, and I was not compensated for my review.