such a cute story! loved the period-accurate LGBT representation without it being horribly depressing; really cool concept to have one love story sandwiched inside another.

This book is excellent. It's funny as hell, while still full of emotional depth and connection. Millicent is such a delightful character and Hollis is the perfect counterpoint to her. I can't wait to read this with my Romance Book Club.

I wanted to like this but found the plot hard to understand and I couldn't relate to the characters at all. It didn't feel like something I'd want to read.

Only one word can truly describe this book: SPLENDID! The dynamic between Grumpy and Sunshine, a perfect blend of opposite attraction tropes, is a hilarious and poignant story that also includes a heartwarming and powerful queer love story between Rosie and Elsie.

Millicent Watts-Cohen is a brilliant, quirky, and lovable character with a gold heart and an unwavering optimism. As a former child star known for her role as Penelope Stuart- time traveler, she is a one-of-a-kind heroine that you'll want to be best friends with. She made me laugh and cry, and the world would be a much better place if there were more people like her. In fact, if you Google "sunshine," her name might just pop up on your screen.

Millie is best friends and chosen family member to Mrs. Nash, and her caretaker after separating from her narcissistic ex. At Mrs. Nash's last days, she confesses her love for Elsie, a nurse she met during World War II, but lost to the Korean War. However, Millie discovers that Elsie is not dead, but rather, in an assisted living facility in Key West. Unfortunately, Mrs. Nash passes away before she can share the news. Now, Millie is grieving and on a mission to reunite Rosie with her love by carrying three spoonfuls of her ashes in her backpack and heading to Miami.

On her journey, Millie crosses paths with her ex-boyfriend's frenemy, Hollis Hollenback, a grumpy, handsome man with writer's block and commitment issues. Despite his gruff exterior, Hollis may just be a cinnamon roll in disguise. When their flight gets cancelled, Millie needs a ride, and Hollis becomes her travel companion. The grumpier he gets, the more time he spends with Millie, who is quirky, beautiful, and truly one-of-a-kind. The two of them find themselves in humorous circumstances as they embark on their road trip, and they begin to see the universe has other plans for them. Hollis starts writing again, and Millie tries to resist her growing attraction to him. Will they arrive at the assisted living facility in time, learn the real story of Elsie and Rosie, and fall for each other in the process?

This book was a great surprise and exceeded all my expectations. I didn't plan on falling in love with the characters, but I did. It's a heartwarming, inspirational, and sentimental reading experience that will awaken many emotions within you. There aren't enough words to express how much I enjoyed this splendid read.

A special thank you to NetGalley and Berkley Publishing for providing me with a digital reviewer copy of this wonderful book in exchange for my honest thoughts.

Such a fun read about finding love where we least expected. I adored the voice in this one, a well as the slightly prickly, slow-to-love hero.

Like Hollis Hollenbeck, I, too, would follow Millicent Watts-Cohen to the end of the earth (or Key West). It was a privilege to spend a few hundred pages in Millie’s head. She’s delightfully quirky with tons of heart, and I loved watching grumpy Hollis fall for her exactly as she was. This is road trip romance at its best, enriched by flashbacks to Mrs. Nash’s beautiful and bittersweet love story with Elsie. I’ll be rereading this one!

Mrs. Nash's ashes went on quite an adventure and I thoroughly enjoyed reading about it. A young woman, Millie, had an elderly roommate and she promised Mrs. Nash that she would help reunite her with the nurse she fell in love with in World War II. The nurse was in a nursing home in Key West and Millie decided to fulfill her promise and take Mrs. Nash's ashes to the nurse before she also dies. The trip to Key West does not go as planned. Her flight is grounded and she accepts a ride with Hollis, who is an old acquaintance. They have an event filled journey with an eventual happy ending. I found this book to be very entertaining and fast moving. Thank you to Net Galley for letting me read this book in return for my honest review.

The epitome of bittersweet, this book was a love story within a love story that’ll take you on a journey both down the east coast and back in time. It’s full of engaging and endearing characters, humor, heat, and poignancy. Well-written and well-paced, this was a stunning debut from the author.

This book was a ride. By ride what I really mean is the amount of emotions I felt throughout my entire read. It made me feel so many things. But one the of the most important thing I loved was how beautifully author has portrayed the beautiful and humane feelings, us human beings are capable to possess for one another. Undoubtedly, it was a full 5 stars read

This was a good read. There characters were well drawn, even the flashback characters from the past. The end devolved into a little too much melodrama. But, overall very solid. The chemistry between the male and female protagonists was fun. Millie is a great character and unapologetic for being who she is, which is refreshing.

There is so much to love about this book. It's perfectly balanced between funny, heartfelt, and steamy. In particular I enjoyed that Hollis is a truly grumpy character. His actions played so well off of Millie's genuine brightness and made their love story satisfyingly dynamic. Plus Elsie and Rose's romance!! Ah!! Just perfect.

My first five-star read of 2023. I initially picked this up because I love a good road trip trope but what actually hooked me was when Millie started to tell Hollis the story of Elsie and Rose. Their story together was so beautiful and heartbreaking to the point that I may have cried once or twice. I read it all in one sitting.

I enjoyed reading Mrs. Nash’s Ashes. Millie and Hollis, who don’t really know each other, go on a trip together. Through some mishaps along the way to Key West to spread Mrs, Nash ashes, they get to know each other. There is also backstory about Mrs. Nash in her younger years and why the ashes are to be spread in Key West. I couldn’t put it down. Thank you to NetGalley and Berkley for the E- ARC. This is my own opinion.

I loved this book so much. The entire time I was texting my friends’ funny parts – so thank you to them for sticking with me through some corny dad jokes that made me lol. I also recommended they all pick this one up as soon as it is out. IT IS THAT GOOD!

Brief blurb from the publisher: A starry-eyed romantic, a cynical writer, and (the ashes of) an elderly woman takes the road trip of a lifetime that just might upend everything they believe about true love.

I can’t remember the last grumpy / sunshine book I’ve read, honestly can’t remember. It worked so well with this laugh out loud romantic comedy. The story of the ever up-beat Millicent on her quest to deliver Mrs. Nash’s Ashes while running into the ever-grumpy Hollis. When they find themselves in a small-town bed and breakfast, I was rolling with them being in a room full of Jesus. Can you imagine! It was hilarious. But deep-down Hollis is a deeply bruised romantic and when he finally realizes how much he cares for Millie, he is at risk of losing her. I didn’t want to put it down to see if Hollis would be able to keep Millie and her love. I really adored the look at the past to the relationship between Mrs Nash and the love of her life – it added so much depth to the story.

If you want to read what is probably going to be my favorite rom-com of the year than grab this one May 23rd! Thank you to Berkley Romance, @berkleypub, the author, and @netgalley for a copy of this e-ARC in exchange for this honest review.

Near-strangers Millie and Hollis find themselves on a long and winding road trip to Key West in this delightful rom com. The moving secondary timeline involving a pair of mid-century thwarted lovers is also well-told.

I really enjoyed the book alot it was funny and so good and I couldn't out it down I would definitely recommend to buy for my library

So cute!! I loved this book. I will purchase this for my library and I will keep an eye out for more books by Sarah Adler. I highly recommend this funny romance!

I really enjoyed this one a lot! I found it emotional, sweet, funny, and charming. There's a lot to love here. The characters are well rounded and fun to read. The road trip story works well and the bits with Elsie and Rose's story peppered in is so moving.