Thanks to Quercus Books, Netgalley and the author for an ARC of this book. I am leaving this unbiased review voluntarily.

I am unspeakably happy as I write this review, and at the same time, so sad. It's just the right feeling to have when a book reaches inside you in the way this one did.

I don't do synopses - you can get those from the blurb on the book. And I try really hard not to give away too much of the storyline, which kind of makes it hard to review this book!

Mrs Nash's Ashes is ostensibly about two love stories, one happening during World War II between Rosie and Elsie, and one happening today between Hollis and Millie. They are all complicated, wonderful characters with so much depth and beauty that I wanted to take them in a little bag with me everywhere like Millie does with Rose's ashes.

I think, in a way, they all find their happy ending, even though the end is bittersweet. The writing is so good that I am going to be a fan of this author for life, I just know it. I knew from the first Pee Wee Herman reference.

I loved this book so much. Millicent and Hollis's story alone was so sweet and honest and hilarious. Then to add the beautiful story of Rose and Elsie my heart was so full. This book beautifully combined two very different but equally compelling stories that made you believe in love in all its forms.

Unfortunately a DNF for me - I didn't get on with the writing style. When it comes to writing first person, you're either going to get on with the narrator or you're not, and this one just didn't work for me. I always wasn't particularly thrilled to have multiple storylines in different eras woven into the text - I've never been a fan of that in novels, it just takes away from the pacing of the plot. It's fun and light, but it's not for me.

Best Romcom I’ve read all year!
This book was funny, sweet and well written. The characters are quirky but well written, the settings are lovingly portrayed and the plot has enough to keep you hooked. The interwoven stories of Mrs Nash and Millie fill this book with emotion. It has everything I love in a Romance, grumpy x sunshine, he falls first, quirky female main character. There are so many random funny moments in this book I couldn’t wipe the smile off my face. I’ll be reading this multiple times.

Thank you to the author, publisher and Netgalley for this arc in exchange for an unbiased review. All thoughts and opinions are my own.

Mrs Nash’s Ashes is the first book by American author, Sarah Adler. Too late, Millicent Watts-Cohen learns that the love of her best friend’s life did not die in the Korean War. But now that Millie knows where to find Elsie Brown, she’s determined to reunite them. In her backpack she has a very small portion of Rose McIntyre Nash’s ashes, and she’s headed for the hospice of a Care Facility in Key West.

Millie is in a hurry: she doesn’t know how long Elsie will last. But Memorial Day weekend isn’t the ideal time to fly from DC to Miami. And then the flight is cancelled. She somehow ends up sharing a ride to Miami with dishy Hollis Hollenbeck, the frenemy(?) of her rotten ex-boyfriend.

Millie and Hollis have a history, even if he claims not to remember it: he rescued her once before, on the night she broke up with Josh Yaeger; and today, in the airport, he rescues her from an obnoxious fan (“acting when I was a kid means I’m always going to be considered public property in some ways. If I don’t pose for the pics, they take them stealthily”); and now, the ride to Florida.

Like Josh, Hollis is a writer in his spare time, with a non-fiction novel due out in November. Towards Millie, he’s not very nice, but is kind, he’s grumpy but cute. But he’s heading for a Miami friend-with-benefits to break his writers’ block, which sort of puts him off-limits, despite the attraction.

Instead of putting up with Millie’s 80’s playlist, Hollis asks about her mission in Key West, so she shares the story Rose told before she died, of being a pigeoneer in the US Navy, meeting and falling in love with a Navy nurse who swam like a mermaid: Elsie Brown. Hollis is highly sceptical about life-long love; Millie is an incurable romantic; she vows to prove him wrong.

The road trip doesn’t go quite as planned: a deer, an AirBnB room populated by twenty-five paint-by-numbers images of Jesus, and a small-town Broccoli Festival delay their progress, and Millie and Hollis get to know each other rather well. But there are trust issues: one gives it too easily, the other withholds. Will they reach Key West in time?

Adler’s characters endear themselves to the reader even as, at times, they irritate and frustrate. The dialogue is smart and snappy, with lots of innuendo, and Millie’s inner monologue, vocalised more often than she intends, is often hilarious. Anyone in the mood for a sweet, sexy romcom should check out Adler’s entertaining debut.
This unbiased review is from an uncorrected proof copy provided by NetGalley and Quercus.

Thank you NetGalley for providing me with an ARC of this book for an exchange of a fair review. I give this book FIVE STARS ⭐️⭐️⭐️⭐️⭐️!

Mrs Nash’s Ashes is a book about believing love, healing and grief.

From the beginning, this book bewitched me body and soul and took me on a journey of love and friendship and healing.
I devoured this book, page by page I found myself entranced with every word.

I absolutely loved Millie and her quirky personality so full of life. Hollis was such a grump and at times I wish his character was a bit more developed but I still adored him so much.
However, Mrs Nash and Elsie complete stole the show. It was so wonderful to read Rosie and Elsie’s story and how they fell in love while at the same time, reading about Millie and Hollis growing relationship.

In this book you will find:
- Grumpy vs sunshine
- Dislike to friendship to love
- Amazing storytelling about two women falling in love in the past
- Quirky side characters and so many funny scenes (the Jesus paintings)

This book is absolutely delightful but I liked how it also dealt with heavy topics such as grief, exploitation of children actors, invasion of privacy, toxic relationships, dysfunctional families.

This book was gorgeous, the characters are beautiful and so well written and the plot is enchanting and it will feel like you are part of the story too.

Again, thank you so much NetGalley for the chance to read this ARC.
Sarah, this book is amazing and I absolutely cannot wait to read more from you. You are so talented, thank you so much.

An emotional and a cute read. It had its touching moments but it feels like I have read this story so many times before. It wasn't something that I will remember reading in a year or so. I didn't like the chemistry between the two MC's either. But I think many people would enjoy and like this kind of story.

REVIEW
⚠️cw: grief, bereavement⚠️
Extreme extrovert and former teen star Millicent Watts-Cohen (Millie) is on a mission to reunite her elderly best friend, Rose Nash's ashes, with her long-lost love When Millie's flight is cancelled, she finds help from an unlikely source: Hollis Hollenbeck, her exes frenemy. Hollis is the complete opposite of her. Grumpy, blunt, and seemingly frustrated by everything Millie does. But as their road trip progresses and they grow closer, she starts to wonder if he might just be her perfect match.

Wow. What a debut! I absolutely adored everything about this book. It was heartfelt and hilarious in equal measure. Both Millie and Hollis were such complex characters. I really loved Millie's confidence, as well as her quirky and sometimes self-deprecating humour, which was counter-balanced by Hollis's dry sense of humour. Seriously. Their banter was perfect, and I laughed a LOT. Secret cinnamon rolls are one of my weaknesses, and Hollis was definitely a huge cinnamon roll, particularly when it involved Millie. I particularly loved his acceptance of all of her little quirks. They were SO adorable together, and woah! Hollis might just be the king of dirty talk. Their chemistry was palpable, and the intimacy was well worth the wait.
But this isn't just a story about Millie and Hollis. There's also a truly beautiful yet bittersweet sapphic love story running throughout the book about Rose and her wartime girlfriend, Elsie. I won't spoil the ending, but it really was perfect. This was a truly stunning debut and one I won't forget.

Overall Rating: ❤️❤️❤️❤️❤️
Heat Rating: 🔥🔥.5
Emotional Rating: 🤦🏻‍♀️😊😂😬😉💓😂🥰💓🦌🙈😍🥧😂🥦🙈😍🔥🥰🤬🥰💓😢💔💓😬💓😢💔😍💓😭💔💓🙈😂💓🥰

*Thanks to NetGalley for the opportunity to leave an honest review. Mrs Nash's Ashes is published on 25th May in the UK*

A starry-eyed romantic and a cynical writer set off for Key West to reunite the ashes of an old lady with her former lover - and things only get wackier from there.

I absolutely adored this. A sweet, sexy romance with all the charm of an old-school screwball comedy - it’s hard to imagine a romance this year that will beat Mrs Nash’s Ashes for me. I adored the characters, the dialogue, the twists and turns of the story, the plotting, the pacing - it all worked so smoothly you can barely even see the skill behind the mechanics of it, resulting in a top-notch romance that will leave you with a fizzy feeling. Perfect for fans of Emily Henry, I will be recommending it to everyone all summer long.

Mrs Nash's Ashes is a contemporary road-trip romance, with sunshine×grumpy goodness, lots of humor, so much heart and just wholesome.
While I did enjoy it, some things I was meh about - for example, the Mrs Nash/Elsie story I pretty much skipped. I was more invested in Hollis and Millicent. And the fact that they fell in love in four days (even though they knew of each other for two years) is too much of an insta- for me, but they do acknowledge that, so that takes the wind out of my sails a bit.
I really loved the grumpalicious Hollis, and the banter with Millicent, and how the fact that he cared for her was shown in his actions, however grudgingly.
Overall a beautiful enjoyable story!

Thank you to Quercus Books for the ARC via Netgalley. All opinions are my own.

I received a copy for this book from Netgalley to review.
I loved this book! It has a sweet love story but also has themes of acceptance and optimism and bravery. It is the ultimate grumpy-sunshine trope novel. It was a realistic exploration of the traditional happy ever after trope in a way that felt optimistic but also realistic and achievable at the same time.
A must read!

This was a DNF for me. I like Millicent and Hollis and was excited to read their story, but then it started to show Mrs Nash’s love story with her girlfriend which I didn’t like. I hate stories say in the world wars, which this was, and this wasn’t mentioned in the blurb or I wouldn’t have gotten it. I expected this to be solely following Millicent and Hollis as the blurb indicated, so was disappointed when it also started following Mrs Nash’s story instead of just referencing it, so I stopped reading. I would recommend the author update the blurb so readers aren’t mislead

Sarah Adler debuts with Mrs Nash's Ashes, an utterly delightful road trip story that is two love stories in one.

After splitting from her pretentious ex-boyfriend, Millie becomes caretaker to Mrs Nash, who, upon dying tells Millie the story of her love for Elsie whom she met during World War two, but then loses her. When Millie learns Elsie is alive, but barely, in a Florida nursing home, she makes a plan to take her ashes to her.

Along the way she encounters Hollis, her ex-boyfriends writing rival. As their plane is cancelled, Hollis reluctantly allows Millie to accompany her.

This book was truly a gem as we see the two opposites slowly bond. Interspersed with Millie and Hollis is the unfolding story of Millie and Elsie.

I am a sucker for a good road trip story and this was thoroughly enjoyable, with Adler steering clear of the tired roadblocks that often accompany road trip stories, like outlandish reasons why they can't get to their destination. Instead Adler focuses on how their forced proximity changes each other.

The two of them are perfect together, written skillfully. While we have a 'grumpy/sunshine' trope, these characters are more than this, they aren't cartoonishly so, which I found characteristic of so many other books that use this trop.

Millie is offbeat and optimistic, and yet Adler skillfully ensures that isn't her whole personality. She has relatable with her insecurities and heartaches. Hollis, on the other hand is a darkly humoured grump, but in a way that is never mean. He too as his insecurities and issues.

This book is definitely one of my reading highlights for 2023. It's heartwarming, poignant and a joy.

Thanks to Quercus Books and NetGalley for the ARC.

This was a highly enjoyable read. I laughed out loud and even cried a little because EMOTIONS!! Millie was, as she said herself in the first few pages, a delight from start to finish. Funny, weirdly wonderfully relatable and full of hope, but with a thread of vulnerability due to her trust being shaken by recent events. I loved her and it was great going on her mission with her. Her inability to not blurt out her internal thoughts had me giggling. Hollis was rude, sarcastic and a completely kind cinnamon roll masquerading as a grumpy, “selfish ‘curmudgeon. The interactions between Millie and Hollis were funny and full of lovely witty, energy and chemistry.

You get two romances for the price of one in this with the flashbacks to Rose and Elsie. Their story was beautiful and heart breaking and I loved how it flowed seamlessly alongside The `Millie and Hollis of it all.

This is the second unexpected road trip book I have read this year and it’s another hit (5 ⭐️)

A witty, romantic, and funny debut novel.

The story follows two love stories, Millie and Hollis in the present time and Elsie and Rose in the past. While Millie is trying to take Mrs. Nash’s (Rose) ashes to Elsie to reunite the long-lost lovers, she ends up on a road trip with her ex-frenemy. I love the dynamic of jumping from present to past and narrating both stories, giving a background to the love story that Millie is telling us about since page 1. Through that, we readers can understand why Millie is putting so much effort into traveling down to Miami.
I loved so much the chemistry between Millie and Hollis. I was not expecting to like them so much! Mainly because he is so guarded and uninterested in her as a friend at the beginning. Their grumpy/sunshine banter was on point! The development of their relationship is so pretty to read, and it feels so real. We end up finding love where we least expect it. And that’s what happened to both Millie and especially Hollis.
I couldn’t put this book down. I highly recommend it to anyone looking for a fast-paced, forced proximity, charming, romantic story.

Thanks to NetGalley UK and Quercus for sending me this advance copy in exchange for an honest review.

This was a simple, fun, easy and quick read. The perfect type of book for your holiday, beach, pool kind of read. This is a first for me by the author and one I enjoyed and I would read more of their work.

The E-Book could be improved and more user-friendly, such as links to the chapters, no significant gaps between words and a cover for the book would be better. It is very document-like instead of a book. A star has been deducted because of this.

This is a first for me by the author and one I enjoyed and I would read more of their work. The book cover is eye-catching and appealing and would spark my interest if in a bookshop. Thank you very much to the author, publisher and Netgalley for this ARC.

3.5/5.

2.75/5

overall, mrs. nash's ashes, was a really cute story that had its touching moments, was easy to read, and a nice debut, but wasn't anything special in my opinion. i liked how there were flashback scenes throughout the book that told flashes of rose and elsie's love story, i personally appreciated how the book also showed the effects of being a former child actor had on millicent, and how people act around her. millicent was a sunshiny and quirky main character, and hollis was the grumpy pessimistic love interest, they had cute moments, but i personally was not a fan of how quickly the story unfolded.

arc provided by netgalley and quercus books in exchange for an honest review.

I loved this book so much! I thought it was a very good debut and Sarah has a lovely writing style that reads very easily. She sucks you into the story immediately and doesn't let you go.

It really pulled at my heartstrings. I was so excited when I realised I was getting two romances in one book! I thought that was very clever and well executed. The relationship between Elsie and Rose was really cute even though we didn't get a lot of their story. It was just the right amount and it felt like we were told everything we wanted to know. I was excited everytime I saw the time stamp indicating a flashback.
Millie and Hollis' relationship was heartwarming. I loved their dynamic and loved their relationship. They really are perfect for each other.

This book made me laugh so hard at times and I liked the sarcasm very much. It also made me tear up sometimes. It basically made me feel everything.

I'd definitely recommend this one to everyone!

BLURB: Former childhood star and die-hard romantic Millie is bound for Key West from Washington DC, determined to fulfil a promise to her elderly best friend, Mrs Nash, by reuniting her ashes with her long-lost love. And if this grand gesture also happens to reassure a recently heartbroken Millie that believing in love isn't foolish, all for the better.

When flights are grounded, Millie is forced to catch a ride with Hollis, an also-stranded near-stranger from her ex's grad school. Hollis, a rising literary star, doesn't believe in forever-loves (or even for-now loves). He was headed to Miami for a no-strings-attached hook-up, in the hope of curing his writer's block.

But as Millie and Hollis make their way across country, racing down open highways and staying in questionable hotels, will their trip turn into a love story all their own?

REVIEW: This is a super light-hearted read, nothing heavy or complicated about it. The simple, well-known, plot flows easily, the characters are likeable, and the romance is sweet. Easily read in a single sitting. If you are wanting something light and uncomplicated, give this a try.

Thank you to NetGalley for a copy of this in return for my honest review.

I loved the two love stories interwoven in this book. Both the past relationship and the one just beginning. Millie was a quirky lovable character but I wasn't sure what to make of Hollis. He was a bit of a closed book for a lot of the book. I think Millie really brought him out of himself and they were clearly made for each other in the way their personalities complimented each other.

Mrs Nash's love story was bittersweet, we know from the outset that things didn't work out and Mrs Nash has passed. The author portrayed a forbidden romance in a wonderful way. A lesbian romance in the 1940's would not have been ok and it was an emotional read.

This is a great read, emotional, funny, thought provoking.

I received an arc of this book via NetGalley in exchange for an honest review. All thoughts and opinions are my own.