This is the best debut I've read all year! I loved all the characters, and there was a perfect balance of silliness, seriousness, and steam. Can't wait to go back and re-read!

This book is a shining example of don’t judge a book by its cover! It looks like a light hearted romcom, but showed a lot of emotional depth and was surprisingly steamy! It also has a small historical fiction subplot.

Millie promised her elderly bff that she would bring her ashes to her great love in Key West. But after finding her, she’s nearing the end herself. Millie is on a race to get to Florida so she can reunite them. But after her flight is cancelled, she’s forced to do some desperate measures. Hollis is an acquaintance from her ex bf and he reluctantly agrees to driver her from DC to Florida.

But everything that could go wrong does. He’s grumpy and she’s trying to make the best of the situation. They hit traffic and are forced to stay in a creepy B&B- only one bed! Millie is a former child star and gets recognized in a small town and gets coerced into becoming the grand Marshall in the town’s broccoli festival (count me in!) in exchange to borrow a car so they can continue the trip. Through their forced proximity they get to know each other and even spill some secrets.

In between the chapters, we get to know Mrs Nash and her love Elsie. They met during WWII and their love ends when Elsie is reported dead during the Korean War. This was such a sweet story line that added to much to the book. Millie and Hollis were so fun to get to know and I appreciated that they had a small shared history. I also liked the explanation of Millie’s breakup with her narcissistic ex and her reason for not having social media. This was a wonderful debut novel and I can’t wait for more from Sarah!

Many thanks to @berkleyromance and @sarahadlerwrites. Mrs. Nash’s Ashes is out now!

✨ Review ✨ Mrs. Nash's Ashes by Sarah Adler; Narrated by Mara Wilson

This was the most delightfully silly, heart-felt, cozy romance. I was literally laughing out loud throughout the book!

Millicent Watts-Cohen, a former child actor, is on a quest to take three tablespoons of Mrs. Nash's ashes to Key West, to find her WWII-era lover who's in hospice there. After flights are cancelled, she encounters a grad school cohort of her ex's, Hollis Hollenbeck, who rescues her from a pervy fan and then gives her a ride to Florida, where he's headed to meet a woman for an annual "appointment."

Hilarity and a ton of banter ensue as all sorts of things go wrong for these two. From paint-by-number Jesuses to a broccoli festival to an Italian-Mexican fusion restaurant, I couldn't stop laughing. While Hollis puts himself out there as a selfish jerk, Millie's constant badgering opens up all of the layers of softness.

The book is interspersed with the story of Mrs. Nash, Millie's recently deceased elderly neighbor and best friend, who fell in love with a woman while working as a pidgeoneer at a base in Key West during WWII. The story is sweet and beautiful and sad, and I loved how this was interspersed throughout.

My only qualms with the story were that the silliness faded at the end, and I wanted a bit more levity to balance the story's more serious moments.

I loved this so much - I can't wait for what Adler writes next!

⭐️⭐️⭐️⭐️⭐️ (4.5-5)
Genre: m/f and f/f romance, historical fiction
Setting: road trip from D.C. to Key West
Reminds me of: Seven Year Slip (humor, banter, queer old ladies for whom the time wasn't right)
Pub Date: out now!

Read this if you like:
⭕️ broccoli crowns and road trip hijinx
⭕️ hilariously weird one bed settings
⭕️ great banter + grumpy and sunshine

Thanks to Berkley and #netgalley for advanced copies of this book!

Wow! What an awesome debut by Sarah Adler. I loved the creative premise of this story; the road trip element was so fun and the decades old romance mirroring present day was sweet and meaningful.

Thank you Berkley Publishing and Netgalley for my copy.

"Millicent Watts-Cohen is on a mission. When she promised her elderly best friend that she’d reunite her with the woman she fell in love with nearly eighty years ago, she never imagined that would mean traveling from D.C. to Key West with three tablespoons of Mrs. Nash’s remains in her backpack. But Millie’s determined to give her friend a symbolic happily-ever-after, before it’s (really) too late—and hopefully reassure herself of love’s lasting power in the process. She just didn’t expect to have a living travel companion.

After a computer glitch grounds flights, Millie is forced to catch a ride with Hollis Hollenbeck, an also-stranded acquaintance from her ex’s MFA program. Hollis certainly does not believe in happily-ever-afters—symbolic or otherwise—and makes it quite clear that he can’t fathom Millie’s plan ending well for anyone"

What an incredible debut novel! I devoured this book in one sitting. Millie was what I imagined a real-life manic pixie dream girl, but with an actual personality and more reasoning to her actions. Hollis' was a really good grump that kept exposing his cinnamon bun-ny goodness that kept me rooting for them to get together. This was fun, emotional, and just cute. LOVED this one!

Former child television star Millicent is on an epic journey to reunite Rose, her elderly former roommate’s ashes, with Elsie, the love of her life, but when a glitch grounds all planes, she needs to find another way to get to her destination. Desperate to get to Florida, where Elsie is in hospice care, Millie is ready to fork over $400 to a stranger for a ride, but is rescued by Hollis Hollenback, a writer and member of her ex-boyfriend’s co-hort. Hollis seems surly, but doesn’t want her to risk possibly murder from hitchhiking, and offers to share his rental care. Their forced proximity allows them to actually get to know one another beyond the time he took her home, crying, after the ex was mean to her.

The author does a fantastic job managing multiple plot points and moving back and forth in time to reveal history, Rose and Elsie’s romance, and the present day road trip. The character’s push and pull of being vulnerable and pulling back was so real. Hollis was en route to a FWB type hookup that Millie obsesses over for much of the trip, and the third act breakup is predictable but well done. Of course, lots could have been cleared up earlier with better communication, but it’s the journey, not the destination, right?

I received a free advance reader’s review copy of #MrsNashsAshes from #NetGalley.

Thank you to Net Galley and the Publisher for this Advanced Readers Copy of Mrs. Nash's Ashes by Sarah Adler

I thoroughly enjoyed this book!! The way Sarah Adler wove the story together was just beautiful. I absolutely loved sunshine Millie and grumpy Hollis. I found myself chuckling often at their interactions and banter. I really liked the flashbacks to the past so we could get the story of Mrs. Nash and her first/true love. I highly recommend picking this one up!

A truly perfect romance that perfectly executes a grumpy/sunshine pairing to swoon for. Millie is a quirky character you can't help but root for, and Hollis is a true cinnamon roll hero.

Rose Nash was Millicent “Millie” Watts-Cohen’s nonagenarian best friend, former roommate, and overall life inspiration. Even though Mrs. Nash has now died, she continues to be an inspiration for Millie. Specifically, the story of Mrs. Nash falling in love with Elsie Brown during their service in WWII has prompted Millie to make an epic journey in the name of true love. Mrs. Nash might be gone, but Millie knows Elsie is still alive and she is determined to reunite these erstwhile lovers, even if it’s just symbolically. Armed with three tablespoons of Mrs. Nash’s ashes in her backpack, Millie books a flight from DC to Miami on a holiday weekend, only to be hampered by a computer glitch that grounds nearly all flights. Ever hopeful, Millie manages to find a good samaritan willing to drive her at least partway there. Just as she and her ride are bonding over Blues Brothers references, however, a distant acquaintance she knows through her horrible ex offers to take Millie all the way to Miami.

Hollis Hollenbeck is a grump and a writer with a “minor clog.” All he wants to do is get to Miami so he can “unclog” himself…with a weekend full of sex. As far as Hollis is concerned, helping Millie is helping himself. Offering to let Mille join him on the drive from DC to Miami means he can avoid the potential guilt he’d feel if she were killed and dismembered by a random fan of the Blues Brothers. Hollis’ past brief encounters with her failed to prepare him for the unstoppable force that is Millie. She finds the good in everyone—even insisting Hollis is good, despite his clearly selfish motives—and is trusting to a fault. She knows her mind, she knows what she wants, and she will move heaven and earth to get it. Like booking a last minute trip on a holiday weekend in the hopes that she can reunite Mrs. Nash’s remains with her (severely ailing) former lover one last time on this mortal plane.

What starts off as arguably a random act of kindness develops into a cautious friendship. As the miles roll away, Millie discovers that she finds Hollis a contradiction of good deeds and negative attitude. She starts to wonder how to reconcile what she heard about Hollis from her ex with the person Hollis proves to be. Far beyond merely traveling hundreds of miles in a car together, these two bond over shared experiences like their first trip to a Mexican-Italian fusion restaurant, navigating an olive oil spill, surviving a surprise deer attack, a broccoli festival, and more. Despite their diametrically opposed views on life, love, and seemingly everything in between, something real begins to unfold between them…until Millie discovers what Hollis has done to unblock his creative side in lieu of the intended sex-fest.

Mrs. Nash’s Ashes is a contemporary road trip story starring what is, as far as I can tell, a cis-het pair of main characters. Cut into their story is a glossy overview of Rose Nash and Elsie Brown’s love story. By word count alone, the Millie/Hollis part of the story forms the bulk of the book, but there is an interesting sense of balance. First of all, it was Mrs. Nash’s reveal to Millie that she never stopped loving Elsie that both inspired Millie’s road trip and affirmed Millie’s belief in true love everlasting—something that Hollis is adamant does not exist. Second of all, while we only get to see Millie and Hollis bond over the period of several days, we get intimate snapshots of Rose’s life from the time she met Elsie, first fell in love with her, made love with her, and had to navigate life without her as the war ended and forced the two women to embark on non-war-effort careers. All of which is to say that the main characters are not identifiably queer, but there is a queer love story that forms and shapes significant elements of the book.

I loved Millie and Hollis. They are such delightful embodiments of sunshine and grumpy. I loved reading about them as individuals and, when they interact, they just mesh together so superbly well. I won’t accuse Millie of being a manic pixie character, rather she has unbridled joie de vivre and doesn’t tend to let nerves or embarrassment stop her going after what she wants. Maybe it’s to be the grand marshall of a broccoli parade or to discover what the inside of a taxidermied bear feels like. Hollis takes this energy in stride and, in his own way, matches it. He rolls with the punches, like actively helping Millie discover more about that taxidermied bear, while supplying his own surprises, like having Millie’s best interests at heart. Honestly, I couldn’t put the book down because I enjoyed their dynamic so much; this ended up being a one-day read for me. Adler captured such wonderful energy in Millie, I found myself literally laughing out loud from her witticisms, jokes, and charmingly dated references.

Peppered throughout Millie and Hollis’ road trip are stories that center on Rose Nash. Rose was a pigeoneer during WWII stationed in Key West, where she met and fell in love with Elise Brown, a war nurse. Rose already had a sweetheart back home, a man called Dickie, and it was so sweet reading how Rose comes to discover that she loved Dickie in a way, but that Elsie was the love of her life. Rose’s conflict over having a man back home, but having true love in Florida, formed a major conflict for her and Elsie. I thought this was a bittersweet way to explore bisexuality in an era where such things seemed to have been verboten. This rings especially true, because Rose seems so torn over having genuinely affectionate feelings for both Dickie and Elsie, and over Elsie’s encouragement to Rose to return to Dickie after the war.

I thought this was a great story that made terrific use of the sunshine/grumpy trope for Millie and Hollis. These two may view the world through drastically different lenses, but the way they play off one another makes them complements to each other. If you like road trip stories, there are a lot of fun antics these two get into. If you like historical stories, Rose and Elsie’s story will probably appeal to you. Mostly, if you’re looking for a good romance with interesting characters going in a literal and figurative journey and finding romance along the way, I think you’ll enjoy this book.

What a perfect road-trip read! Mrs. Nash’s Ashes is a delightful debut from Sarah Adler.

Millie is on a time-sensitive mission to reunite the ashes of her late (elderly) best friend. She’s desperate to make it to the deathbed of her late friend’s former love with a few tablespoons of her ashes in tow–before it’s too late.

A plane snafu grounds Millie, and she ends up hitching a ride with an acquaintance of her ex-boyfriend. Millie–a former child star–is as vivacious as Hollis is prickly, but he reluctantly agrees to help get her from D.C. to Key West. The forced proximity really escalates the feelings situation for the pair, but it feels really natural, and not too insta-lovey. It’s a dual timeline, with peeks back into the past between Rosie and Elsie, which gives us deeper reasons for Millie to reach her goals in time. You’re rooting for them to get to the ultimate destination ASAP, but also cheering when chaos ensues and they are forced to spend more time together.

It’s laugh-out-loud funny, with endearing characters, seeeeexy scenes, and the sweetest story. I adored this one, and am so happy to get a review copy from Berkley/NetGalley!

“You can always judge a person by the quality of their apology.”

A starry-eyed romantic (Millie), a cynical writer (Hollis), and (the ashes of) an elderly woman (Mrs. Nash) take the road trip of a lifetime that just might upend everything they believe about true love.

The banter between Millie and Hollis was gold! So funny and quick witted. This is the quintessential beach read as there is a bit of the book that quite literally takes place on the beach. But also, what a feel good book to read with the sun on your face and your toes in the sand.

And at the heart of this sweet and often funny story is old love. And what is better in this world than love? Old love. New love. It’s all just…love. 💕

Hollis is so prickly and the audiobook narrator really captured that, while also giving him heart. I enjoyed reading this one with both my eyes and my ears.

“‘I’m taking three tablespoons of her ashes to Key West to reunite her with the love of her life. Give her the happily ever after she deserves.’

‘Sure. I know I never leave my house without my wallet, keys, phone, and a dime bag of cremains.’”

Thank you also to Netgalley, Berkley Publishing, Penguin Random House Audio, and the author for the ARC and ALC. All thoughts and opinions are my own.

🌊 REVIEW: Mrs. Nash’s Ashes 🌊

⭐⭐⭐⭐.5

SUMMARY: Millicent Watts-Cohen makes a promise to her octogenarian best friend on her deathbed that she’ll do whatever it takes to deliver her ashes to her lost love. But a strange airport interaction with an acquaintance combined with grounded flights results in a wacky road trip race against the clock.

This was such a silly and fun book!! Although Millicent was a legitimate Manic Pixie Dream Girl™, it works because she’s a well-written lady who’s legitimately unusual (not just quirky) and the story is told from her perspective. She’s not a placeholder for a mediocre white man’s dreams—just ask her ex!

Along for the ride is Hollis Hollenbeck, a writer who DoEsN’t BeLiEvE iN LoVe. I’m sure you know what’s coming. The chemistry between this pair was so fun, and their journey down the East Coast was a wacky jaunt a la Ferris Bueller’s Day Off.

Check it out if you like:

💛 Madcap adventures
💛 Grumpy x Sunshine
💛 Legitimately funny romcoms
💛 Secondary plot lines featuring FF historical romance

I loved it!! I strongly recommend it as a perfect summer read for all y’all.

What you can expect in Mrs. Nash's Ashes:
-road trip
-only one bed
-grumpy/sunshine (he's so grumpy)
-second chance-ish
-laugh out loud moments
-moments of grief

Millicent Watts-Cohen is on a mission. She needs to get a few tablespoons of Mrs. Nash's ashes to Key West Florida asap. But, as luck would have it - her flight gets cancelled and Millicent ends up on a road trip with grumpy (but also secretly a cinnamon roll) Hollis Hollenbeck.

Hollis is a writer who remembers Millie from a few years ago when they briefly met at a party - the same party where Millie's ex-boyfriend broke up with her. She doesn't remember much as she was distraught, but Hollis seems to remember Millie just fine. Hollis insists he doesn't mind driving Millie since he's on his way to Florida anyway - for a sex appointment no less (eek!). Hollis is a cynic and doesn't understand what Millie is doing with Mrs. Nash's ashes. But the more Millie describes Mrs. Nash's love story with her first love - the more invested Hollis becomes. Will their forced proximity lead to something more than just friends/acquaintances?

I loved this rom-com that included a secondary love story set in the past. I was invested in both stories equally. I truly enjoyed how grumpy Hollis was and what a ray of sunshine Millie was. They complimented each other so well and had me laughing out loud on more than one occasion. And yes, while Hollis and Millie's relationship might be "insta-love," it never felt that way to me. It felt like a natural progression and I couldn't wait for their slow burn to finally pay off.

Rose and Elsie's love story was equally as beautiful. Their love story was one of unconditional love, but with a lot of heartbreak. I never felt as if I wanted to flip through their love story to get to more Hollis and Millie - their love stories were tied together and I loved how it was done so beautifully.

If you are looking for a funny and quirky rom-com I would highly suggest Mrs. Nash's Ashes. I look forward to reading more from Sarah Adler!

~Grumpy/ Sunshine
~Great Banter
~Road Trip Romance
~Opposites attract
~ LGBTQ+ representation
~Dual Timelines

Oh Man! This book was so quirky and adorable.
I didn't expect it to be such a just purely fun read!
I loved the duality of the 2 love stories. I thought they complimented each other well, and showed wonderfully different dynamics.

This book is a hilarious romcom full of love and hope, and would make for the best beach read.

So, I found one of my 2023 favorite books! Mrs. Nash's Ashes by Sarah Adler is an amazing romcom that had my totally laughing out loud but also pulled on my heart strings. The characters are amazing! Millie and I are new best friends....ok well in my head! So bottom line Mrs. Nash's Ashes is a hilarious, emotional, sexy and a MUST READ!

Mrs. Nash's Ashes is a wonderful, can't -put-down-able book. I highly recommend it to anyone who needs a good beach read and a happy ever after romance.

Millie is flying to Florida with Mrs. Nash. Well, 3 tablespoons of her ashes. Millie lived with Mrs. Rose Nash for the last months of her life. Before they were roommates, they were neighbors, when Millie lived with her ex-boyfriend Josh. But she broke up with him when she realized how narcissistic he was and how he was using her. Luckily, she was able to move next door and heal her heart with Mrs. Nash.

Mrs. Nash was married with two children, but the love of her life was Elsie, who she knew during World War II, when she was a WAVE and Elsie was a nurse in Key West. Elsie told Rosie not to stay with her, to marry her almost-fiance from before the war, because Rose wanted children. Elsie knew she could never give her that, but she could give Rose her freedom.

Rose thought Elsie died during the Korean War, but after her death, Millie finds out she is in hospice care in Key West. She immediately books a flight to reunite Rose and Elsie. Unfortunately, there is a problem with the airlines, and all flights are cancelled.

At the airport, she runs into an old classmate/friend of her ex Josh, Hollis Hollenbeck. After a few false starts, Hollis reluctantly agrees to give her a ride to Miami, where he is going for a short break to cure his writer's block (and meet a friend with benefits). Hollis is grumpy and Millie has no idea why he even agreed to take her with him. But she likes him, likes teasing him, and is oddly pleased at how much he actually dislikes Josh.

After they hit a deer in South Carolina, they are forced to share a room, and soon find themselves sharing a bed, their secrets, and more. The question is, will they make it to Key West in time?

Millie and Hollis are the perfect odd couple. Their dialogue is snappy and the situations they find themselves in are ludicrous yet still believable. Millie is very much like me, which made this book fun to read. The book gets a little spicy, but not too graphic.

This book made me smile, and sometimes that's just what you need in a book! Thanks to Netgalley for the advance copy of this book.

Very sweet romance centered around a former child star and her quest to reunite an elderly friend with her WWII lover. Fun dialogue that did have me laughing out loud many times, believable love story. My only minor critique is that it ends rather abruptly in my opinion.

The way I thought this book was going to be cute, fun, and witty. I was heavily mislead.

But that’s okay because Mrs. Nash’s Ashes was a book that surpassed my expectations and a book I didn’t know I needed right now for the summer.

The story focuses on former child star and self-proclaimed optimist/weirdo, Millicent, who goes on a mission to reunite Mrs. Nash with her true love, Elsie — a nurse whom she met during World War II. However, Mrs. Nash had passed away, so Millie technically is on a mission to reunite Elsie and Mrs. Nash’s ashes (three spoonfuls of her ashes that is). Along the way, she encounters Hollis, her ex’ boyfriends “nemesis” from college, and the two embark on a road trip to Key West to find Elsie.

Mrs. Nash’s Ashes (I love rhyming in titles) took me by surprise with its heartfelt story and endearing characters, providing a great balance of emotional and heartwarming scenes, comedic bits, and romantic moments. This book is, personally, the equivalent to a warm hug.

The flashback chapters between Mrs. Nash — or Rose — and Elsie were moving yet heartbreaking. The chemistry between Millie and Hollis was fantastic despite being “insta-love”, but the author made it work.

I also appreciate the layers within Millie and Hollis as characters, each one having an internal struggle that they both try to overcome while also staying true to themselves and not changing for others. The themes of grief, identity, and letting go is poignant and I praise the author for both handling such topics and weaving them into both the story and the characters in such a graceful manner.

An entertaining, witty, and poignant book to read during the summer and help you get out of a reading slump.

A good summer pick, but it had a lot more sex in it than I was expecting. Too be fair, I wasn't expecting any! Oddly, my favourite part was the author's note at the end. Thank you NetGalley for the ARC!

As posted in goodreads