Wow! Talk about a thoroughly enjoyable read! I was attracted to the synopsis and the cover and thought, eh- give it a try. Loved every moment.

Carla is a seasoned traveler, more like “adventurer” heading to Ireland for her best friend’s wedding. She meets the best man/groom’s brother for the drive to the small town and… they detour a bit. Not only a romance story, this book has a great slice of travel adventures and some family dysfunction the characters need to get over before they can truly be happy. This book had me picking up a map (ok, the ‘google’ equivalent) and searching for photos of all the places Carla had visited and the places Eamon wanted to see.

I am not generally a “read a book in one sitting” person, but that’s what happened. Although I regret that the book is on the shorter side, I don’t know that additional length or adventures would be worth it. Now I need to poke around and see if any of the other ‘side’ characters have their own stories out there!

Off the Map by Trish Doller was a fun read for a time when you need a mental vacation. The Irish setting was everything, and totally gave me the itch to travel. I had a difficult time believing Carla and Eamon’s connection was so strong right from the beginning, but her depiction of caring for a parent with dementia was spot on.

It’s 1AM and I’ve been crying for the entire last hour of this book. So good. So poignant. More important than any romance with a cartoon cover has any business being.

Each book in this series has left me feeling something and this one has gone above and beyond. The importance of family (biological and found), making memories, and following your dreams are paramount. I feel so inspired and full from this book.

Trisha Doller has always hit my right in my stomach with her books and I joined NetGalley in the hopes of getting to read this story early. Booking my flight for a national park this summer ✈️

📚 Off the Map
✍ Trish Doller
📖 RomCom
⭐4/5
🌶️ 🌶️ 🌶️

Thank you to @netgalley and @stmartinspress for the eARC of Off the Map in exchange for my honest review.

💭"I'm realizing that following arbitrary rules isn't always the best way to go through life. Sometimes you need to make your own rules."

Commitment-phobe and perpetual nomad Carla Black never stays in one place for too long and has spent the past 7 years traversing the world in her Jeep Wrangler-avoiding going home and getting attached like the plague. In Ireland for her best friend's wedding, she's looking forward to exploring new terrain as she helps Anna prep for her upcoming nuptials. All plans go out the window though when the handsome Best Man/Brother of the Groom Eamon Sullivan arrives to drive her to the wedding and a journey that should take a few hours turns into a spectacular multi-day adventure. As the wedding week draws to a close, Carla will feel pulled away again, this time to home. But leaving may, for the first time, be the thing that breaks her heart.
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🎯What I loved: This was book 3 of the Beck sisters series but it was a total standalone. I haven't read the other two books (but will now!) and found that I didn't need any context to enjoy this one. The two main characters have immediate chemistry so there's no slow-burn here and the focus is more on turning that chemistry from a hook-up into something long-lasting. Eamon was a really interesting main character and I enjoyed reading about him spreading his wings as Carla reigned hers in.

🙅‍♀️ What I didn't: I liked the book but found it personally difficult to relate to Carla. She was portrayed as so independent and passionate about gaining life experiences that she seemed self-centered and closed-off. Carla and Eamon's adventures in Ireland were so fun but their decision to prioritize those over being there for family during a wedding week made me cringe a little bit.
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Read if you love:
*love at first sight/instant attraction
*anti-relationships main characters
*outdoor/exploration themes
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See also: A Thousand Miles, Flying Solo, All Rhodes Lead Here

Ok I was ECSTATIC for this NetGalley approval as a huge fan of the first two books in the series.

Carla has been travelling the world inspired by her adventurous father. Her current trip is to Ireland for her best friend’s wedding where she is meant to get a ride to the wedding with the groom’s brother, Eamon. They have chemistry immediately and end up detouring around Ireland on the way to the wedding. Can Carla run away from love forever?

What I loved:
- update on characters from a previous book
- sweet family/found family relationships
- believable chemistry
- Eamon! The sweetest book boyfriend
- well balanced story with elements of both grief and joy

I think all three of the books in this series have made me cry now. Characters with dementia are my Marley and Me equivalent.

I just wish this book had been longer!! I’m not typically a huge fan of the insta-love trope although this was more on the believable side. I would’ve just loved to see their relationship build gradually. I highly recommend this to romance fans!

4.5 stars rounded up.

Thank you to NetGalley and St Martin’s Press for the advanced reading copy!

I loved Linda Doller’s Off the Map. This is the first book I have read by her but it will not be the last. It started as an easy reading romance with a melancholy back story and evolved into a very touching read that left me with tears in my eyes. Much of the book’s appeal come from the characters, who are written with thoughtfulness and care. The two main characters are Carla Black and Eamon Sullivan, though Carla’s father, Biggie Black, is really at the heart of the book. His impact on Carla’s life cannot be overstated. 

The travels around Ireland made me want to buy a plane ticket, and when the action moved to the United States, the story found unexpected depth and heart. The idea of traveling the world and only working enough to be able to make that happen is intriguing. It’s like an unfulfilled dream.

I highly recommend this book.

I received an ARC copy of this book in exchange for an honest review. The opinions stated are solely my own.

A very cute read with some spicy. I really enjoyed the characters and the situation they found themselves in. It was definitely cute, spicy and a little funny. I do wish it wasn’t such a fast start and that there was a bit of build up regarding the connection between the two main characters, but that’s just personal preference!

DNF @33%

It hurts me to DNF this one since I loved the first two books in this "series". But I try to DNF when I have no desire to pick up a book and that is what happened to me. I would be reading this one and just not process anything that was happening on page.

I will say the two characters hook up very early in the book so a lot of the tension I like in my romance novels just doesn't exist.

I could see myself returning to this one once I'm in a better reading headspace bc I am in a weird reading mood and I want to see Anna and Keane on page...but this was just not working for me.

Thank you to Netgalley and St. Martin’s Press for providing me with an ARC of this wonderful story!

This book is perfect for people with adventurous souls who just want to get the most out of all this world can offer. And for people who appreciate vintage cars!!

The focus on friendship, romantic endeavors, and most of all family made this story truly special. While there were a number of heavier and uncertain moments, overall this story read as very warm and easy-to-digest.

I loved Carla and Eamon - they both felt so authentic, and I appreciated the natural progression of their relationship. They helped each other move forward and not have any regrets, and that was so wholesome. And I loved them rescuing Boudica!

Biggie… he made my heart happy. I think we all have a Biggie figure in our lives, and I’d bet anyone could grow attached to him. Carla’s and his relationship wasn’t perfect, but they loved each other so purely, and that was so special to read.

This book had plenty of funny moments (I’m thinking of a certain bull on an Irish farm) and I just loved getting to explore Ireland and other parts of the world. While it was mostly light and funny, there were heavier themes and I suggest looking up the triggers before diving in. This book tackled those themes tactfully and I just loved it. I highly recommend, and I look forward to reading more of this author’s books in the future!

Off The Map (Beck Sisters Book #3)
By: Trish Doller
Publication Date: March 2023
Rating: ⭐️⭐️⭐️⭐️⭐️/5

This is the first book I’ve read by Trish Doller and it will not be my last! While this book is part of a series, it can be read as a standalone. If you want a book to make you laugh, cry, and get really into the characters, this is the book for you!

Carla Black lived a life of adventure and travel with her father, Biggie Black. With her father declining from dementia he wanted her to continue traveling solo. Now she is off to Ireland for her best friend’s wedding and there she meets Eamon Sullivan, the best man. Instant chemistry between the two that they decided to do some adventuring together before the wedding. Being with Eamon made Carla realizes she’s been gone too long from home and finally goes back to face hard emotions. Will the distance between Carla and Eamon keep them apart?

Many thanks to NetGalley and the Publisher for an ARC in exchange for an honest review.

I am a big Trish Doller fan and have really enjoyed the Beck Sisters series. While Off the Map is my least favorite of the three, it is still and exceptionally well written and entertaining read.

Thanks to NetGalley and St. Martin's Press for sharing this ARC.

Off the Map is a story of adventure and romance that immediately made me feel like I needed to travel to Ireland. I was not aware that this book is part of a series and I am interested in reading the additional books to provide more background to the characters. I loved that it explored real human situations (father with dementia) that grounded the story and made it feel believable. The last third of the book was packed with emotion and it was wonderful to see a character evolve and grow.

OOH i enjoyed this one. Usually by the time one gets to a third book in a series, the characters/story start to feel tired/overdone, but this was such a delight! I enjoyed both of the previous books (Float Plan, Suite Life) and I enjoyed getting to know Carla and Eamon. Doller’s characters are complex and relatable, and she has a particular skill for writing grief and coping.
Carla and Eamon both have a spirit of adventure and an immediate attraction to each other, but they are also both at awkward crossroads in their respective lives. I loved that the choice to choose themselves/each other was not an easy one.

I really enjoyed all the characters in this novel and really love how Doller deeply understands and writes about grief and “growing up” in your 30s.
Thanks to NetGalley and St. Martin's Press for the chance to read this in exchange for a review!

Going into this book, I was a little worried that I wouldn’t enjoy it because I hadn’t read the first two books in the series, but I was quickly proven wrong. I really really enjoyed this book and plan to read the other two books ASAP! I loved both of the main characters and really enjoyed the descriptions of all of the adventures Carla took, both alone and with Eamon. I thought the story was really sweet and their relationship really genuine. I know this was a novella, but I still found their romance somewhat rushed. I think the book would’ve benefitted from a bit more build up between to two. I also loved Biggie and the relationship between him and Carla. This book had me in tears at the end, it was beautifully written and authentic. It had a great message about going after what you want in life and putting yourself first. I loved watching Eamon and Carla go after what’s important to them in life, I just wish we had a little more time with them and their story.

There's just something about Trish Doller's writing that gets me every time. She writes such heartfelt characters that come to life. Her style is my favorite and I always look forward to seeing a new book out from her. Off the Map was such a fun book that I can't wait to talk about with even more people on social media when it comes out.

Trish Doller does it again! I continue to be impressed with her beautiful storytelling. Though I’m usually not a fan of an instant connection, Eamon & Carla were absolutely irresistible.

Constantly traveling around the world on her own, Carla Black finds herself on an unexpected adventure with an unlikely companion. She was supposed to be headed directly to Anna & Keane’s wedding week, but can’t resist the opportunity to explore a bit of Ireland with the extremely attractive Best Man.

A little uninspired in his mundane everyday life, Eamon Sullivan is suddenly feeling the urge to venture out of his comfort zone. After meeting Carla Black, he’s inspired to take his Land Rover, and put it to use as it was originally intended. So what if he and the Maid of Honor are a bit delayed arriving to the wedding festivities?

Together, Carla & Eamon embark on a short, yet meaningful adventure, during which they connect on so many levels. Their relationship is a bit of a whirlwind, beginning with undeniable physical chemistry, and realizing deep feelings for each other in only a few days time. But all of that changes when Carla suddenly feels an unrelenting pull to return home to her ailing father.

I absolutely loved this story from start to finish. The characters were relatable, the imagery was gorgeous, and the romance was sublime. I never wanted it to end.

⭐️⭐️⭐️⭐️ Wander+lust=Off the Map! This has been my favorite Trish Doller novel so far. I devoured it in one sitting.

Plot: Carla is traveling to Ireland for her best friend’s wedding. Her ride? The handsome brother/best man, Eamon. Carla is a well traveled, free spirit who helps Eamon unlock a part of him that he thought was dormant.

Spice: 🌶🌶🌶🌶/5

Triggers: dementia, abandonment, Catholic Guilt

The instant connection between the characters was so hot 🥵! The traveling, camping and exploring makes me want to go jump on a plane ✈️ right this minute! I would love to see this as a movie and experience all the lush cinematography of Ireland.

Throughly enjoyed and any romance reader will love it!

Thank you NetGalley for an advanced copy in exchange for my honest opinion!

This was the third in a series, but it was my first to read. It follows Carla, who is journeying to Ireland for her best friend's wedding, as she meets Eamon, the best man in the wedding, and they travel from Dublin to the wedding venue. There is immediate chemistry between the two, and their drive to the wedding is delayed by romance and adventure. While Carla has long been a free spirit, spending most of her summers traveling the world in her Jeep, Eamon has played it safe, being the reliable son for his mother, even though he longs for travel and adventure too.

Carla has attachment issues as she tends to travel to avoid the grief of her father's dementia as well as her mother's abandonment when she was a child. She doesn't have a desire to be tied down to a place or a person while Eamon longs to find the right person for the long term and also to travel. However, I didn't find Carla or her internal struggles to be very believable (Her dad is her only living relative who she is extremely close to and loves dearly, but she hasn't seen him in seven years just because he didn't want her to see him lose his memory? I don't buy it.) And she quickly is falling for Eamon which her actions suggest, but she can't be with him just because she likes to travel? It didn't come off as a genuine thing. While the chemistry was fun, I thought it was kind of boring. I'm sorry! It wasn't a bad book, but it was not my favorite as I just couldn't relate to the main character much.

This was cute. Super cute. In the same vein of the other two Beck sisters books, there's humor, self-awareness and a clear easy plot. Very light-hearted which is great for someone who wants a fun read.

Reading Off the Map was like taking a whirlwind trip around the world with the quirky yet loveable 30-something Carla Black.

Traveling was something Carla had done with her dad, Biggie, since she was a young girl following her parent’s divorce. When Biggie’s illness put an end to his travels, he encouraged her to continue to explore and she did.

When Carla’s best friend, Anna, invites her to Ireland for her wedding weekend nothing could stand in Carla’s way. She didn’t expect to meet Eamon Sullivan.

From there their adventures as they head to the wedding seemed never ending and exciting. But Carla thinks twice about the idea of sitting still especially while her father’s health continues to deteriorate.

Sometimes we just need to go with the flow. Well written enjoyable read.