A new Joanna Bolouri book…yes please!! I state this is all reviews for this author, but she is one of my faves and so reliable when it comes to funny, feel good romance reads.

The Weekend Trip was another success. A story of a group of uni friends who have a reunion weekend ten years after university. Secrets and hidden truths are revealed and their friendships are tested along the way.

Only one small negative for me, it felt like a lot of characters were introduced in a short space and I had trouble remembering who each person was. However, as the book progressed this became much easier.

Characters were unique and well described. Their personalities were written clearly and contributed to the story.

Thank you NetGalley and publisher for my advanced copy of this book in exchange for an honest review 📚

BLOG TOUR REVIEW


Review for 'The Weekend Trip' by Joanna Bolouri.


Read and reviewed via NetGalley for Joanna Bolouri, Bookouture publishers and Bookouture anonymous


Publication date 7th August 2023


This is the first book I have read by this author but it most definitely won't be my last!!!


This novel consists of a prologue and 45 chapters. The chapters are short to medium in length so easy to read 'just one more chapter' before bed...OK, I know yeah right, but still just in case!


Wow!! Check out this absolutely laugh out loud perfect summer read!!!

This book is beautifully written with vivid descriptions and stunning surroundings I was absolutely captivated throughout. The cover and the synopsis work perfectly with the storyline.

I absolutely loved this absolutely fantastic and hilarious feel good book! Joanna's evocative writing skills ensures the reader disappears into the storyline with the are and characters coming ito life all around you. She leaves you smelling the sea air, feeling the sun on your skin and leaves you with a smile on your face and feeling much lighter and happier than before you started. It is one of those books that are rammed with feel good moments, laughter fun, friendship and absolutely everything that you could ever want in an addictive must read! The storyline is realistic and down to earth and the setting is picturesque. I was absolutely sucked in from the first to the last page of this laugh out loud feel good page turner. On several occasions I had to remind myself I was actually in the house and not on a holiday in Ireland as I was that lost in the storyline!! It is one of those books that I just could not put down and I ended up walking around with my kindle glued to my hands. Every time I thought I will just read one more chapter and then get on with some chores it ended in a way that there was no way I could leave it there so I had to read another and then the same happened until I very sadly came to the last page and its absolutely fantastic ending. I genuinely felt like I was on holidays and I was devastated when I came to the end and realised I'd have to pack my suitcase to leave gorgeous Ireland and return to rainy Wales after a stunning getaway. I am hoping she is busy writing her next book and I'm looking forward to escaping into more of her past and future successes!!! Each and every one of the characters are strong and realistic and thanks to Joanna's evocative writing skills they all came to life, jumping of the pages and sucking me deep into their lives. Whether I loved them or hated them they all came together to make a perfect story.

A stunning story of friendship, romance,laughter and so much more!! I absolutely love, love, LOVED it!! Grab the tissues ready for the tears of laughter and emotions and get stuck into this beautiful story of 5 friends meeting up after 10 years apart 💜


The characters are all realistic, a mix of strong personalities, memorable and larger than life. I loved watching the different interactions between Alex, Erin, Beth, Tara and Becky. They had completely different personalities but they compliment each other perfectly. There were so many characters that I also loved and are going to stay in my mind for a long time. Each of the characters had completely different personalities and I absolutely LOVED IT!! All of these characters and more make this an unforgettable, stunning book that will have you laughing, swooning, smiling and so much more!! They all came to life before my eyes and I am really hoping we get to meet them all again!!!



Joanna congratulations on an absolutely fantastic novel and welcome to my top author list. Your book is a page turning laugh out loud and soul lifting success and I cannot wait to get stuck into more of your books!

Make sure you read to the very end of the book to read the first chapter of Joanna's 'Bootcamp For Broken Hearts' which promises to be just as brilliant as this book and is one I'm definitely looking forward to reading myself!!

Overall an absolutely gorgeous book that will lift your heart and spirit. A page turning, addictive compelling novel that will leave you wanting more


300 pages.

This book is just £1.99 to purchase on kindle, free with kindle unlimited and £8.99 in paperback via Amazon,at time of review, which I think is an absolute bargain for this book!!!

Rated 5 /5 (I LOVED it ) on Goodreads, Instagram, Amazon UK and Amazon US and on over 30 Facebook pages plus my blog on Facebook.

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The Weekend Trip by Joanna Bolouri is a story about reconnection. Reconnection with the people who knew the real you and reconnection ourselves with the real us too. There is some romance as well, and the comedy comes from the hilariousness in some situations.

Erin, Becky, Beth, Alex, and Tara were roommates in Uni and were best friends. Though they keep in touch, they are not as close once they start living their adult life. Set in Ireland, Erin's grandfather's house plays an important role in the novel. Erin invites all of them one last time before she sells this house. What ensues is this book about.

I really enjoyed this novel. I could see some of my best friends in these different characters, and I want to do a trip with them now. There are vulnerabilities in each of these characters, which is very real. They want to share all their problems and worries, but the fear that they have not been in touch with each other keeps them back. It's a story about friendships and connecting with your framily.

Thank you, Bookouture and Netgalley, for this book.

When five best friends graduate college they say they will stay in touch, but life simply gets in the way. Ten years have passed and now the best friends and two sets of partners are meeting up for a weekend, but what could go wrong?

This book is full of the theme of friendship which I loved, although this still looks at mental health it is a light read filled with humour and fantastic description you won’t want to put this down.

Thank you to Netgalley for providing me with an ARC in exchange for an honest review!

I loved the friendship of the book. Even without the backstory, you could tell how close they were. And it felt very realistic for them to not keep in contact after school. It was a nice, relaxing read with not a lot of conflict. And the conflict was resolved quickly. I felt like the ending was a little rushed and wasn’t a fan of the wedding as an ending but I was nice to see them together again after another ten years.

Publish: August 7, 2023
4.5/ 5 stars
Thank you, NetGalley and Bookouture, for granting me access to EARC

A very engaging story just wanted to keep reading to discover what happens next.

Five best friends have just graduated from college and promised to always keep in touch. However, life got busy, and they drifted apart for ten years one weekend, they came together to reconnect and build a friendship that could last a lifetime. Does something happen with two sets of partners and five friends, what could go wrong? Will it be awkward after all those years, or will they be able to pick up where they left off


Overall, I love everything about this book.

I enjoyed The Weekend Trip!! A story of an eclectic group of friends reunited after growing apart, with a little love triangle action thrown it. When I read the blurb it sounded more like a love story, but to me the romance was a sub plot of the story, it was more about the friendship between the ladies. It was kind of inspiring to see the group of friends come together again after such a long time with little contact. I loved the flashback chapters to their college days! I loved how Joanna handled sensitive topics like chronic illness, mental illness and grieving and how she didn’t make them central parts of the story.

The blurb reads like this is a rom-com but in reality I think this book is more about friendships. There is some romance in this book but it's not the main focus Those friends that you might not speak to every day but the ones that have seen you at your lowest and still been there for you. Those friends that you haven't seen for ages but as soon as you do its like it was just yesterday. You know each other so well it just instantly falls back into place.

I loved all the university nostalgia in this one and really made me miss those uni days. The antics me and my friends would get up to and the simple lives we used to live. I haven't seen my uni friends in a while and there is something about uni friends that are different to other friendships. Whether its the bubble you live in while there or something else I don't know but there is this sense of almost family with uni friends I think.

I found this to be a fairly light-hearted read with some more serious elements of chronic illness and mental health issues added in. While they were talked about they weren't the main focus. I think Joanna was trying to show how these things do not define a person and you can be more than just someone with a chronic illness or an addiction.

If you are looking for a weekend escape with the most beautiful setting and all the nostalgic vibes then pick this one up!

I absolutely devoured this book. Five friends from college as they roomed together and the bonds that were formed. They vow to stay in touch but as the years creep by and life happens they loose touch.

Erin owns a beach house and has recently lost her husbands and is about to sell her home wants one last weekend to get her four best friends together and their parents for last time.

Ten years have passed and the ladies have all had their own trials and secrets.

I really don’t want to give away too much because is genuinely a feel good book about friendships and standing by each other no matter what. During the weekend secrets are kept, friendships tested and each one has to come to terms with something. Can they survive the weekend together after all these years?

The Weekend Trip is a well written book, handling sensitive issues with humour and compassion, an enjoyable read by Joanna Bolouri.
A group of friends that haven’t seen each other since university days reunite to reminisce and share their experiences. It’s a wonderful storyline, bringing together Alex, Erin, Beth, Tara and Becky, friends with different life stories and secrets.
The characters are all relatable in their own way, they lost touch but are making an effort to reconnect. I enjoyed reading this book, particularly the depth of each character’s perspective on each others circumstances.
I recommend this feel good book, a wonderful lighthearted read.

Thanks to the publisher, NetGalley and the fantastic author for the opportunity to read and review this book.
I voluntarily read and reviewed an advanced copy of this book. All thoughts and opinions are my own.

This is a story of four college friends - Claire, Melissa, Jackie, and Nadia - who reunite for a weekend getaway ten years after graduating. What begins as a fun, nostalgic trip soon turns tumultuous as old secrets come to light and new attractions flare up between the friends.Each woman harbors regrets and wounds from the past decade that are subtly revealed over the course of the weekend.

A very well written and entertaing book, The Weekend Trip, delves into the complexity of adult relationships and the search for identity. A good read just for the sake of finding our own friends and ourselves amongst the fictitious characters.

My thanks to Netgalley for providing me a copy of the book for my unbiased review.

Joanna Bolouri - The Weekend Trip.

As young widow Erin prepares to sell her family home on the coast of Ireland, she plans one last weekend gathering with her closest friends from her Dublin university days.
As close as they were, this will be the first time that they have seen each other in ten years.
Life has pulled them all in their own directions and their contact with each other has been sporadic.
As the five friends gather, some bring partners, some bring grief, some bring posh shoes, but ultimately they all bring secrets that they aren’t sure if or how they should share.

Joanna Bolouri has written another stunning read.
The weekend trip takes us on a rollercoaster journey as five old friends, Erin, Beth, Becky, Tara and Alex reconnect.
Once I’d got my head around who was who, I really took to these five women and cared about their journeys.

Erin is gentle and likeable. (With a fierce streak hidden within) Her world has been torn apart by the loss of her husband.
She thinks that selling her beautiful coastal cottage will set her free and give her the fresh start that she needs.

Beth is courageous and strong. Married to her university sweet heart, settled in Wales where she was born and doing a job that she loves. From the outside looking in, Beth’s life is good. From the inside looking out, Beth is hiding secrets and just what is the truth behind her clumsy ways and her bad leg?

Alex, has achieved her dream career and bought herself the shoes to match.
I think I liked Alex the most of all the women. She is beautiful and kind, with a big heart and a strong moral compass.
A chance meeting on her way to Erin’s house, with a man who seems to just, ‘get her’ leaves Alex in a spin.
She doesn’t realise quite how soon she will see him again, but their next encounter will come as a shock to them both.

Becky has always been a free spirit, but her new girlfriend seems to be dimming her light.
Will the real Becky find her way back to the surface?

Tara is gorgeous and vivacious. She’s been living in New York, but it wasn’t all it cracked up to be. Now Tara hides a big secret and a vulnerability that she struggles to share.

The five women are a great mix. Joanna Bolouri has written them all to be real, well rounded and believable.

The setting of the book is spectacular. Joanna Bolouri paints a vivid picture of the cottage and it’s coastal position.
It felt very real, and I could almost smell the sea air.

The story is mostly based in the present day, with some throwback chapters dotted in to add background and depth to the story.

I have to admit, I am a massive fan of Joanna Bolouri’s books.
The Weekend Trip doesn’t have the guttural humour that some of Joanna’s books have, but her sharp wit is still there, just maybe with a little more subtlety.

#TheWeekendTrip is nothing less than fabulous. It’s a story that twists and turns as secrets are revealed.
A story that’s full of love and friendships.
Joanna Bolouri’s writing is, as always, captivating, engaging and unputdownable.

#TheWeekendTrip thoroughly absorbed me. I was rooting for everyone to get exactly what they deserved.
By the end, I didn’t want to say goodbye to this book, although a well written and heartwarming epilogue did ease the pain.

#TheWeekendTrio is a must read. It’s emotional, raw, poignant, intuitive, warm hearted, touching and absolutely flipping brilliant!
⭐️⭐️⭐️⭐️⭐️

With thanks to Bookouture and Netgalley for a digital arc of this title.
#BooksOnTour

Once you clear past the confusion, the book is a true definition of a well intended RomCom.
I am not a huge fan of third person writing, especially when we are going through the thoughts and actions of 5 different people and perspectives — 5 different girls who have shared loving space at some point and who are so busy convincing everyone else they are happy and successful.

This is my second book by Joanna Bolouri and I have enjoyed them both. This one is about a group of university friends reconnecting after ten years. The author covers some difficult topics including drug abuse, bereavement and illness in such a way it’s only an undercurrent in the story itself. The story is a typical romance without feeling like a story rehashed that we have already read so many times before. The girls are all quite endearing and there are none that you don’t feel endeared too enough to care. You want the happy ending but don’t know how it could be possible. I don’t normally like books that jump around in years but this flowed nicely and was suitable for the story itself concentrating most on the present. I don’t know if it’s so much a criticism but I felt there wasn’t a lot of depth to the characters and it was such a light touch on the hard hitting topics I don’t know if they added much more to the story. Overall though an enjoyable read.

Thank you to netgalley, the publisher and the author for the opportunity to read this book in return for an honest review.

I received this ARC thanks to Netgalley. Opinions expressed in this review are my own.

A good , strong and fast read. This is a book of friendship first of all and I love it.

Joanne Bolouri had me laughing and I needed that this week. Thank you!

This was women’s fiction PERFECTION!
I laughed, I cried, I connected so much with these women.

It was a little confusing at first, but only because there are so many characters to be introduced to. It was a quick read with great pacing. The ending was absolutely everything it needed to be to bring this story to a close.

So much fun and I will definitely highly recommend.

After the devastating death of her husband, Erin invited her old friends for a reunion at her house that they shared during University, before she sells it and starts to move on with her life on her own.
Each friend arrives to support Erin, each with their own baggage, history and problems that are set to spill out over the weekend creating absolute havoc and hilarity.
Alex meets “an absolute ride” on her flight to Ireland and they instantly connect, knowing that her travel partner has a girlfriend she says goodbye and resigns herself that it was not meant to be, so when he turns up on the arm of her friend at the reunion, sparks are set to fly.
I adored this book, Joanna Bolouri’s best yet! I found myself invested in each and every character, they are so well put together-nobody felt like a side character as they all had their own story. I was so invested in Alex’s story and really wanted her to get a happy ending.

Thank you NetGalley and Bookouture for granting me access to this book in exchange for an honest review.

What a beautiful and heartwarming rom-com that will have you smiling, laughing and crying. The Weekend Trip is a romance but it is so much more than that! Do you have those friends that you can easily reconnect with no matter how much time has passed? Well this heartfelt story is about loving and cherishing those female friendships. Once I started reading I could not stop and finished it in a day!! I absolutely loved this book so much!!🩷🩷🩷🩷

Five best friends have just graduated from college and make a promise to always keep in touch. However, life got busy and gradually they lost touch. Now ten years later, they all reunite for a weekend-get-away which will include their partners. Can they just pick up where they left off or will it be awkward? The author did a fantastic job of balancing each characters story and making them real and relatable. Of course, Alex and Aiden were the highlight couple in the story. The tension and chemistry between the two of them was top notch!

Overall, I loved every moment of this inspiring and delightful read! This was my first book by Joanna Bolouri and it will not be my last! I highly recommend this book if your looking for a fun, sweet and quick read.⭐️⭐️⭐️⭐️

This was an enjoyable read about 5 friends who are reuniting after losing touch for the last 10 years. Some friends are coming to the reunion with secrets, some are going through life changes, some have lost themselves. The story is mostly told in the present, but there are some flashbacks interspersed. Although under the genre of romance, this book felt more about the relationship between the friends interspersed with some romance, although I would have loved more. Still, I would recommend this book for someone who is looking for an easy and enjoyable read about friendship and romance.

There aren't many authors who can make me proper snort liquid out of my nose through laughter, but Joanna Bolouri is definitely one of them! The friendship group is such a random bunch of people, yet somehow it worked. I adored Alex's humour - witty, sarcastic, and such fun to read, it really gave the storyline the oomph in my opinion! I really enjoyed the light hearted, not overly serious nature of this book, and once again, Bolouri delivered a cracking read.