While The Guncle is one of my favorite books of all time, I couldn’t wait to be back in the life of GUP and the kiddos. This one didn’t quite live up to the first book but I still really liked it. Patrick has a way of giving great life lessons while keeping it light and fun. If you liked The Guncle then this one is a must!

The events of The Guncle Abroad take place five years after the first story. Patrick's trip with his niblings on the way to their father's Italian wedding, of course, is the driving force of the story. [Nibling is a gender-neutral term used to refer to a child of one's sibling as a replacement for “niece” or “nephew.”] Grant is now 11. Maisie is 14. Maisie is a bookdragon, and she likes to talk about what she's reading/learning. I relate.

The second book includes all the same humor and sensitivity of the first book. Some scenes are riotously funny; some are overly dramatic, very much in keeping with Patrick's personality; some are poignant. The big focus is on love, in many different forms—sibling, parental, platonic, romantic, familial. I perceived less humor in the second installment, which might be understandable considering the kids' preteen and teen status.

There were some standout scenes for me. One touches on happy-ending stories as a salve for the dismal state of the world . . . using reading as a distraction. Again, I relate deeply. Another focuses on how unfair it is that there are different standards of behavior for boys and girls—that girls have to restrain and hide themselves, while boys are allowed to act and react however they feel, without challenge.

While a brief online search doesn't reveal any evidence that one is planned, I think the door is left open for a third Guncle story. I would be there for it!

For those who like to read with their ears, the audiobook is narrated by the author. I enjoyed this book enough that I might read it again quite soon, when my audiobook hold becomes available.

This unbiased review is based on an ARC supplied by the publisher—Penguin Group Putnam, G.P. Putnam's Sons. Publication is expected May 21.

A moving, heartfelt sequel to The Guncle that sees Patrick taking his niece and nephew across Europe as they gear up for their father's wedding to a new woman. Full of humor, heart and everything that made The Guncle so special, this was great on audio narrated by the author himself. Highly recommended if you're looking for a feel-good read/listen. Many thanks to NetGalley and the publisher for an early digital copy in exchange for my honest review.

3 - 3.5. Great vacation read. So good to be back in the Guncle world with Patrick and the kids. I laughed out loud several times and feel like there should be a Guncle themed European Vacation trip. It's not the original but how could it be?

THE GUNCLE was my favorite book of 2021 -- I still remember allll of the feelings I had while reading the absolute perfection of a book. I'm so glad Steven Rowley brought these wonderful characters back for THE GUNCLE ABROAD.

It was so fun being back in Patrick, Maisie, and Grant's world. The fact that the kids were a little more grown led to hilarious dialogue and antics. Patrick O'Hara is one of my favorite characters of all time.

While I love these characters SO much and this story was lovely, for me it didn't quite live up to THE GUNCLE. But to be fair, it's rare for me to love a sequel more, and this one had huge shoes to fill.

Everyone’s favorite gay Uncle Patrick is back in this funny and jet-setting story that’s a follow-up to Rowley’s original book The Guncle. This title, The Guncle Abroad, is publishing May 21 and centers around a fabulous Italian wedding at Lake Como. After Patrick O’Hara served as Grant and Maisie’s caretaker after their mother passed, he has now restarted his acting career, but remains aloof in love after breaking things off with his boyfriend Emory. When Patrick’s brother Greg announces he is getting re-married in Italy, Patrick takes it upon himself to come alongside Grant and Maisie again as they navigate feelings about the wedding and fly across Europe with their Guncle. Patrick has his work cut out for him with the kids unsure of the nuptials, a new Launt (Lesbian Aunt) interfering in Patrick’s territory, and his sister Clara keeping him on his toes with her new flirtatious style. Is an intervention necessary to save the wedding? Or can love really save the day? This has all of the same sharp and snappy humor of The Guncle and is filled with even more joy, travel, hope, and family. A fabulous wedding read to bring with you to the pool!

Patrick and the kids are officially back!!!

The Guncle Abroad
By @mrstevenrowley
⭐️⭐️⭐️⭐️⭐️/5

Filled with Steven’s quick wit and charm, The Uncle Abroad brings back our favorite characters. It’s been five years and they are facing a new host of problems. You always wonder if a sequel will live up to its predecessor. Honestly, when I love the first book I worry that the second won’t be nearly as good.

This is not the case with The Guncle Abroad. It feels familiar but different in its own special way. It has that magic that Steven is known for. Get your copy now!

Little reminder for Maine friends that Steven is from South Portland! He will be @print.bookstore on June 5th at 7:00pm as part of his book tour!

Thank you to the publisher, author, and @netgalley for this advanced copy.

Many thanks to NetGalley and Penguin Group Putnam for gifting me a digital ARC of this wonderful book by Steven Rowley. All opinions expressed in this review are my own - 5 stars!

He's back! Patrick O'Hara, lovingly dubbed The Guncle (gay uncle) or GUP (Gay Uncle Patrick) by his niece, Maisie, and nephew, Grant, is finally getting his career back. But he's pushing 50 and missing his partner, Emory, after breaking things off with him. His brother Greg is getting married in Europe but his kids aren't happy about it, still mourning their mother's death. So Patrick decides to take the kids for an adventure before the wedding, hoping he can teach them a few things above love.

These books are such fun, yet filled with so much heart and good advice. You could certainly read this as a stand alone but please read The Guncle first to understand all the back stories. This one felt like you were going on a European vacation along with them. While the kids' grief and sadness over their father's impending remarriage, Rowley handled that subject lightly with so very many teachable moments. It's about family, second chances, and of course, love. But it's still laugh-out-loud funny. These are must read books!

I loved being back in this world, The Guncle was a book that I loved and I was happy to see where they are now. I was laughing at the antics they got up to and crying at Patrick showing Maisie and Grant more about love. I also enjoyed all of the new characters we got to meet and how Rowley discusses grief's impact over the years.

The Guncle Abroad is a wonderful follow up to the Guncle, which I adored. This story picks up five years later and follows Patrick (GUP), niece Maisie and nephew Grant across Europe as they head toward the children’s father (and Patrick’s brother) Greg as he prepares to remarry in Lake Como, Italy.

The kids are not thrilled about the wedding and try to cajole Patrick into putting a stop to it. For his own part, Patrick is nursing a broken heart after his recent break up with Emory. But still, Patrick wants to show the children what love is, replacing his Guncle rules with some new Guncle love languages. What follows is a story full of Rowley’s signature humor laced with warmth and tenderness. This book is like a giant hug from your favorite person!

Also, I am now dying to go to Austria for a Sound of Music tour! Round up to 4.5 ⭐️.

Five stars!! Steven Rowley has done it again! Patrick O'Hara is one of my absolute favorite characters, and this sequel is just as funny and heartfelt as the first book. I loved getting to see how Maisie, Grant, and Patrick have evolved over 5 years, and their new relationship is a bit different but the love is still there. Getting more insight into Patrick and Sara's relationship was such a treat, and Patrick and the kids' trip around Europe was so funny and made me want to be in all those places, If you are a fan of The Sound of Music (who isn't), you will absolutely LOVE their stop in Austria! Steven Rowley has a way of intertwining the feelings of grief and humor in a way that feels relatable and comforting. I will read any adventure of Patrick O'Hara and I hope there are more in the future!

Thank you to Penguin Group Putnam and NetGalley for an eARC in exchange for my honest review.

I was so excited to meet back up with Patrick O'Hara and his family for this much-anticipated sequel to The Guncle. I'm sorry, did you say we are going to Italy?!?! Adiamo!

"Patrick O’Hara is finally in a league of his own…professionally. Inspired by his stint as Grant and Maisie’s caretaker after their mother’s passing, Patrick has "un-stalled" his acting career with sit-com, Guncle Knows Best. Still, some things have had to take a back seat. Looking down both barrels at fifty, Patrick is single and lonely after breaking things off with Emory. But at least he has family, right?

When his brother Greg announces his big, second wedding in Lake Como, Italy, Patrick feels pulled toward Grant and Maisie and flies to Europe to attend the lavish event, only to butt heads with a newfound Launt (Lesbian Aunt), curb his sister Clara from flirting with guests, and desperately restore himself to the favored relative status in the eyes of the kids, as they struggle to adjust to a new normal. But is it Patrick’s job to save the day? Or is simply celebrating love enough to quell the family chaos?"

I love these characters. This book was definitely more atmospheric than the first, but duh, it takes place in Italy, so describe away! With this comes a little different pace and perhaps a different type of humor, but I appreciated the honest, raw, relatable feelings present in this sequel. I hope this is not the last we see of this fun, quirky family!

Thank you Netgalley, Putnam Books and Steven Rowley for the ARC.

This book was just like book 1, family, funny, heartfelt. Greg is getting married, and it’s been 5 years since they lost Sara, the kid’s mother, Patrick’s best friend, and they are all in some way still mourning. Greg needs Patrick to help with the kids while they get everything settled for the wedding, hes getting married in Italy. So Patrick is back on uncle duty this time taking the kids around Europe to occupy their minds, I will say this, these kids along with Patrick are so funny. Throughout this book I see that Patrick is also growing up, along with the kids, the heartfelt parts when he speaks to Sara through the book when they finish an adventure, knowing that Sara would be proud of them. I couldn’t get enough of this book, the humor and the family MESS is something to laugh about, the wedding and even the new Aunt in the family lol, I couldn’t get enough. There better be a book 3!!

Adored the first and last few chapters, but sadly the middle dragged for me. I wanted Patrick to behave a little more maturely and felt like his bickering with the new launt was petty and childish. The author nailed the themes of grief, and moving on with new loves as well. Would recommend to any readers who enjoyed the first Guncle book!

When I saw that The Guncle was getting a sequel, I couldn’t wait! I finished this book in 72 hours and it wasn’t sooner due to me having to work and sleep. From the first page, I felt like I was back with old friends again. It was good to be see the kids, Patrick, Clara, and Emory. I loved seeing just how much the kids still needed their Guncle in their lives. As someone who is child free but adores her nephews and now a niece, I related to the deep love you can feel for children in your lives. Especially when they need you more than they know. Also a trip around Europe when I was a kid would’ve been the DREAM. This was a 5 star read for me y’all! Go pick it up!

📖: It’s been five years and The Guncle family is back! Patrick’s brother is getting remarried in Italy and Maisie and Grant, now moody young teens, are not happy about it. Patrick tries his best to help them understand love, much as he once helped them comprehend grief. All the while trying to repair his own love life after breaking things off with Emory. A new cast of characters enters the family dynamic making things even trickier. Steven Rowley charms us again with a beloved story about the complicated bonds of family, love, and what it takes to rediscover yourself, even at the ripe age of fifty.

🤔💭: Patrick is the Uncle everyone wishes they had. Funny, caring, and just irreverent enough with the best kind of humor and advice that you can’t help but love him to bits. He has no kids of his own, but he lovingly scoops up and protects his niece Maisie and nephew Grant, nurturing them as if they were his own while adding just enough playful jabs to keep them on their toes. Being able to read about them again was a true joy!

The Guncle Abroad had me in stitches with its perfectly placed comedic nuggets and brought unexpected tears.

I read a question once that asked “when you read a book do you see pictures or words in your mind?”

Rowley’s prose conjures vivid, colorful, and moving images, making each scene come alive. The emotions he conveys are deeply felt, allowing readers to imagine and experience every moment.

Thank you to @mrstevenrowley and @putnambooks for early access to my favorite characters!

🩵🩷𝚃𝙷𝙴 𝙶𝚄𝙽𝙲𝙻𝙴 𝙰𝙱𝚁𝙾𝙰𝙳🩷🩵
𝙻𝚒𝚝𝚎𝚛𝚊𝚛𝚢 𝙵𝚒𝚌𝚝𝚒𝚘𝚗
𝙿𝚞𝚋 𝚍𝚊𝚝𝚎: 𝚃𝙾𝙳𝙰𝚈 (𝟻/𝟸𝟷/𝟸𝟶𝟸𝟺)
𝙼𝚢 𝚛𝚊𝚝𝚒𝚗𝚐: 𝟺 𝚜𝚝𝚊𝚛𝚜!⭐️⭐️⭐️⭐️

🤏𝚃𝚎𝚎𝚗𝚢 𝚝𝚒𝚍𝚋𝚒𝚝...the sequel to the Guncle! “-a story about the complicated bonds of family, love at the ripe age of fifty”

🩷🩵🩷🩵🩷🩵🩷🩵🩷🩵🩷🩵🩷

🗯️𝙼𝚢 𝚖𝚘𝚛𝚜𝚎𝚕 𝚘𝚏 𝚝𝚑𝚘𝚞𝚐𝚑𝚝𝚜...I love Patrick! His quick wit, humor, sarcasm & deep love for these fam members is something to really cherish. The European setting in this sequel is next level amaze. These much more grown kids do not want their father to remarry & Patrick helps them navigate through this time. The bonds & family love will make you smile so big while also aching for their still palpable grief. The sarcasm & banter was my fav though👏🙌. A great sequel, indeed. 🩷

He did it again.

Sequels give me the scaries, but this second visit with Grant, Maisie and Patrick was just as charming, hilarious, and touching as the first. Mr. Rowley, sir, you did it again.

It’s always a risk — taking such lovely characters who were perfectly written, and moving them ahead five years, dumping them into a new disaster.

Choosing a wedding as that disaster seems perfect.

——
Patrick, our favorite GUP, is back and this time he’s taking our favorite precocious niece and nephew across the pond to explore some of Europe before ending in Italy for their dad’s impending marriage.

But now Maisie is a sullen preteen and Grant has lost his lisp and Patrick has broken up with Emory.

In short, they’re all a mess.

So this time, instead of Guncle rules and lessons in grief, Patrick offers the kids wisdom in the form of love languages (Air Supply anyone? — the answer here is yes, obviously) this time around.

But with Maisie and Grant unhappy with Livia, their dad’s bride to be, with Greg, the groom, having his own chilly feet, Patrick wonders if he can save the day again.

Navigating the way familial bonds stretch and bend, as well as the way grief and love can sometimes look alike, Rowley uses his trademark humor and heart to show us that you can make love out of nothing at all. (I couldn’t resist!)

Not only is this available today (!) the author’s note mentions that The Guncle is on its way to the big screen and I squealed when I read it. TAKE MY MONEY!

Thanks to @putnam for the eARC to read and review. Available May 21, 2024. Today!

This is a story about finding yourself within and through your family at every age.  It has been five years since Patrick O'Hara spent the summer taking care of his niece Maisie and nephew Grant after their mother, Patrick's best friend who had married Patrick's brother, passed away.  Since that summer, Patrick had revived his acting career with a successful run on a sitcom modeled after his relationship with Maisie and Grant.  With that sitcom over, Patrick is looking at the next steps in his career and his life, having recently broken up with his boyfriend.

Then Patrick's brother, Greg, announces he is getting remarried and the wedding will be in Italy.  Maisie and Grant are not exactly excited.  So Patrick decides to take the two on a trip through Europe on the way to the wedding, to once again serve as the uncle they need at a critical moment in their lives.  When they arrive in Italy, though, Patrick finds that his niece and nephew are not the only ones who need his guidance — and that his brother's, and his own, happily ever after may depend on his ability to step up.

I really enjoyed this novel! As Patrick notes in this book, sequels are risky, especially when the original is so beloved.  But this book pulls it off — creating what feels like an authentic next chapter for characters so many of us love that allows them to grow and evolve in ways that feel true to what made them, and their story, special in the first place.  Since we last saw Patrick, Maisie, and Grant, they have all grown older.  And while the particulars of their relationships, and what Maisie and Grant need from Patrick, have changed, the humor and affection between them endures.  Most of all, the book, like the first one, is an insightful examination of grief, moving on, and how neither is linear.

Strongly recommended!

You know those really good friends you only see every few years, but whenever you meet up it’s like no time has passed? That’s what reading The Guncle Abroad was like for me!

I had SO MUCH FUN catching up with Patrick and his niece and nephew, Maisie and Grant. I’m also happy to report that they’re just as sweet, funny, and endearing as we all remember.

This time, GUP and the kids embark on a European adventure, with stops in London, Paris, Salzburg, and Venice before ending in Lake Como for Patrick’s brother’s wedding. I loved how the book brought each city to life, with visits to all the best sights. And the good times didn’t stop once they hit their final destination, where several hilarious new characters were introduced, like Patrick’s rival, Palmina the “launt” (lesbian aunt)!

Similar to the first book, this one balances humor with heart, exploring deeper topics, such as grief and aging. Between Maisie and Grant gaining a new step-mom and Patrick confronting whether his age should factor into his relationship, this sweet sequel features a LOT of rich character development.

And, once again, Steven Rowley proves he’s a pro at making the tough stuff accessible. His compassionate writing, with witty dialog and fun quips sprinkled throughout, helped me feel all the feels in a kind and uplifting way.

This book had me laughing one minute, crying the next, and turning the final page with so much love in my heart. The Guncle Abroad gets all my stars and I can’t encourage you enough to give it a read!