Member Reviews
Off the Map is the third stand-alone book in the Beck Sisters romance series. Float Plan (book 1) follows Anna Beck and her life after her fiance died by suicide. The Suite Spot (book 2) follows Rachel Beck and her life of being a single mom after she loses her job AFTER she was sexually assaulted by a guest at the hotel she worked at. Off the Map (book 3) follows Carla Black, Anna's friend, and thus making her an honorary Beck for the series.
Carla Black is on her way to Ireland to be part of Anna's upcoming wedding. Eamon Sullivan, the brother of the groom, is tasked with picking up Carla upon arriving in Ireland. Carla is constantly on the move, as she is always traveling and exploring. She only stays in Florida only long enough to earn enough money to start her next adventure. Eamon is sensible, though constantly bogged down by responsibilities and doing things he'd rather not be doing in life. Eamon wants adventure and to live the dream he's always had for himself, and Carla is just the person to help him. From the moment they meet in that pub, everything clicked into place for them.
As Carla is an honorary Beck in this series, her story line doesn't follow that of Anna or Rachel. Whereas Anna and Rachel needed time to find themselves and heal from the aspects of life that changed everything, Carla's story is a bit different. Carla was raised exclusively by her father after her mother left them, and so his solution was to keep her mind off things and instill a love of travel instead. After Carla's dad was diagnosed with dementia, her travels become a bit more reckless and Carla continually struggled to truly connect with anyone on a romantic level. After meeting Eamon, she does not believe she could ever possibly fall in love and that Eamon will become just another fling.
I received this book as a free ARC on NetGalley for an honest opinion. Thank you to NetGalley, the publisher, and Trish Doller for providing me with this opportunity to read this book.
Thank you Netgalley and St. Martin's Griffin for providing an ARC in exchange for an honest review.
Ironically, I DNFed the novel before this one in this series but continued on anyway since it's a companion-novel series. I did finish this novel, but I did not enjoy it as much as I hoped.
The couple are insta-love after sex. Now while I enjoy steamy scenes in a romance, I do not really care for the sexual nature of the novel if the romance/romantic parts are lackluster. Then aside from the romance, the couple were sort of acting a tad immature in actions made getting to the wedding and creating more Lust moments. I did not find many moments to show how they grew as a couple.
I typically love road trip novels that go off the rails, (especially in such gorgeous places like Ireland) but I often found myself rolling my eyes or getting annoyed at the characters.
Thought this was a lovely book with two relatable main characters, well-described scenery, and a beautiful happy ending.
Thank you St. Martin's Press and Netgalley for the ARC of Off the Map! Trish Doller truly knows how to write an romance! As a bonus, through her books we can escape all over the world. Off the Map is a book that will make you smile, laugh and feel all the warm fuzzy feelings inside. Carla & Eamon were such a cute match. As a bonus, we got to experience this whole other side by experiencing Carla's relationship with her dad who has dementia. I adored it. :)
This was the first book I've read by this author and I really enjoyed it. This book made me want to quit my job and travel the world. I liked the relationship between Carla and Eamon, they had great chemistry. This one definitely was a rollercoaster of emotions though with her dad. I'm definitely going to go back and read the rest of this series!
this was a fun light romance and I really enjoyed the characters and setting! It was the perfect summer read.
🛣🏞Book Review:
Title: Off The Map
Author: Trish Doller
Rating: ⭐️⭐️⭐️⭐️/4 stars
I really enjoyed this book! Carla Black is my type of gal! She's traveling the world in her passed down, vintage Jeep from her father, who is struggling with the early stages of dementia. That's my dream life!
On her travels, she meets up with Eamon Sullivan, a groomsmen in her upcoming best friends wedding that they will be arriving together at. Across Ireland they go, with many spontaneous stops on the way, all of them showing them a different view of life. Feelings are growing on the road! Such a fun book to read!
(P.S. I did not realize this was a part of a series! I can't wait to read the first two books!)
Thank you @netgalley and @stmartinspress for this ARC in exchange for my honest review!
Published: March 7th, 2023
I am a Trish Doller stan!! After reading and loving FLOAT PLAN, I have been loving keeping up with the Beck Sisters. This is book #3 and of course, it's everything you expect from Doller.
It's an insta-love story that takes place in Ireland, the most romantic place on earth, so of course, there's nothing not to love. I loved how they were so opposite but so perfect for each other. Carla lives to travel, does not have her life together, and loves to be independent. Eamon is the classic business man beau that never takes a risk or goes against the grain. I was obviously grinning ear to ear the entire time. If you love the outdoors and adventure and off roading, this is the book for you.
Of course, it wouldn't be a Trish Doller book, if it didn't also rip at your heart strings. The entire time Carla is on the journey with Eamon, her father's health is rapidly declining as he battles dementia. As seen in FLOAT PLAN, Doller does a fantastic job of providing you with a gooey romcom with hints of real life events that make you feel for these people!
Overall, this is perfect vacay read!! You have to add it to your list!!
**trope(s):** close proximity, slow burn
content/trigger warning: death of a parent, dementia
### my incoherent thoughts
- oh god where do I start with this book?
- I’ve reread it 3 times since I first finished it, and I still laughed and cried at the same places every single time
- I mean I knew Eamon’s going to be my fav Sullivan brother but damn I didn’t expect him to just bury himself within my heart like this
- Carla’s bravery in every aspect of her life truly inspires me, I want to be her
- probably I will be able to talk about this book more coherent after the 84th read
### best bits:
- Carla x Eamon’s sizzling connection please I want my person so badly where is he?!
- Carla’s relationship with Biggie
Trish Doller does it again with a cozy, travel-bug-activating romance! Although there were some extreme coincidences and near misses, I would recommend this to anyone who loves books set in Ireland.
Off the Map is a delightful, binge-able adventure romance. Trish Doller has given us the perfect summer read that will take you to Ireland and of course...fall in love. Part of a series but I read as a stand alone. I loved this book about Carla who works to travel, has a father battling dementia and is off to Ireland to see her friend get married. Then walks in Eamon Sullivan who is a cinnamon role with his own baggage. Hold on for an adventure to the wedding in this super quick, perfect summer read!
This was just a fun story. Loved the main characters and could feel their chemistry through the book.
This is the third book in the Beck Sisters series and follows honorary Beck sister Carla as she arrives in Dublin for her best friend's wedding. The plan is to meet up with the best man, Eamon, and the two will drive to the wedding destination together. But when Carla, who has spent her life following her wanderlust, finds out that Eamon has similar interests - the two end up taking a few detours. Along the way, they end up giving into their chemistry and both end up finding something they didn't know they were looking for. I really enjoyed Carla and Eamon's romance from the very beginning. Their chemistry was popping off the page from their first interaction. And while the two did have sexual chemistry for days, they also had the type of chemistry where they really felt like they belonged together. This is the type of feeling that I absolutely love when romance books can pull off, but it is also one where I can't put my finger on exactly what makes me feel like this. I generally prefer my contemporary romances on the lighter side and this takes a pretty sharp turn when Carla returns home to help take care of her ailing father.
Thanks to NetGalley and St Martin's Press for the ARC. Publication date was March 7, 2023
I loved the premise of this book, a free-spirit traveling heroine embarks on a fling with a member of the wedding she is also a part of. The fling feels like something more on both sides and that is the question for the reader. How is this going to work out? He lives in Ireland and she lives in Florida when she isn’t traveling the world.
The writing is good, the dialogue is realistic and the traveling is loads of fun. Carla and Eamon have many adventures along the way including a kitten rescue which turns into an adoption.
There may need to be some content warnings for dementia and death of a parent, but it also is a spoiler, you can’t have it both ways here. I did think the handling of dementia was sensitive but the story also mostly showed the easy side of things, not when things get really difficult.
All in all, I liked this book a lot and the story was different and modern. I would definitely recommend reading this and I may go back and read the two books prior to this one.
I first discovered author Trish Dollar when I read Float Plan, and I love how books find you right when you need them. As a book that had themes of grief and overcoming loss to suicide, I felt a strong connection to the story, and have added Trish to a list of favorite authors ever since.
OFF THE MAP features a woman named Carla Black who is now in her thirties and looking for the adventure in her life to travel the world. I both read and listened to the audiobook format, and really enjoyed this adventurous romance.
*many thanks to St Martins Press and Macmillan Audio/Netgalley for the gifted copy
Trish Doller really knows how to write a book that will pull at your heartstrings!
I really enjoyed this installment of the Beck Sisters books!
-Easy to read
-Bingable
-handles grief and dementia well
-travelling/sight seeing
-insta love
-open door
I enjoyed reading about Carla and Eamon's quick love story. It's very insta love, but that's a-ok with me! They really hit it off when they decide to to a little sightseeing road trip before the wedding they are apart of.
This one hit home for me because I have a grandma who has dementia so I feel like it's very relatable for those of us who have a loved one that with dementia.
THANK YOu to the publisher and netgalley! I cannot get enough of these destination romances. There is nothing better than reading about someone finding themselves and love in a new to me setting. Awesome book!
Another winner from Doller. Carla was such a strong independent character and her interactions with Eamon were enjoyable. The way dementia was written into the storyline was perfectly covered. This was a fun read and I hope there will be more in this series.
I didn’t realize this was part of a series, but it held its own as a standalone. A lighthearted, spicy rom com that reminded me a bit of Leap Year. I loved the family dynamics included on both sides of the pond. I will definitely be going back and reading Float Plan.
Off The Map by Trish Doller surprised me and exceeded all of my expectations. This travel romance in the Beck Sisters series was absolutely adorable. In this book, Carla, a wild and experienced traveler who can’t be tied down, goes to Ireland for her best friend’s wedding where she forms a connection with the reserved and cautious best man, Eamon. While this opposites attract romance was a bit insta-lovey with the timeline of the book only being 4 days, I truly did not care. There was enough character and relationship development that I totally bought into their love. Even though I had a little trouble relating to Carla, as I am definitely more like Eamon, I loved them together and how they brought out new things in each other. It also helped that Eamon was entirely swoon-worthy. They had fantastic chemistry and the spice was great. I’d rate it a 3 out of 5 on the spicy scale. In addition to their romance, this book packed an emotional punch and dealt beautifully with grief, complicated family dynamics, and self-discovery. I will 100% be going back to read the other companion novels in this series because I loved this.