I absolutely adored The Guncle so it put a huge smile on my face to see Patrick returning to our hearts.

I loved following GUP and the kids traipsing through Europe while learning the lessons of love.

Sweet story through and through.

Thank you NetGalley for the advanced copy to review.

It's been five years since Patrick took on the care for his niece and nephew after their mothers' death. Once again, the author explores grief in all its forms as everyone navigates their loss. There are so many layers to the story and Patrick's relationship with the children is refreshing and heartwarming. You will laugh, you will cry, and you will hope to see more of this family in the future.

The Guncle Abroad is a fun, uplifting sequel to The Guncle. It follows Patrick and his niece and nephew to Europe, where the kids' dad gets remarried after the loss of his wife, as shown in the last book. The story follows them from London, through Austria to Venice, and then to Paris, where the wedding will occur. Things don't go quite as expected, as the children are not excited about their father getting married. Patrick finds himself reflecting on his own relationships, especially his last relationship with a younger man. You will smile and laugh out loud while reading this book.

3.75 🌟

The GUP is back!

I was so excited to see a sequel to The Guncle and was so excited to get my hands on an ARC! But... I'm going to be honest, this wasn't my favorite. It does have a lot of the cute banter that I loved in The Guncle but the story didn't pull me in as much as the first. But still enjoyable!

Thanks, Netgalley for the ARC of this book!

"The Guncle Abroad" picks up 5 years after "The Guncle" left off, following Patrick, Grant, and Maisie on a new European adventure. Patrick's brother Greg is getting married to someone Maisie and Grant aren't so sure about, and Greg asks Patrick to take care of them for the month before the wedding to find out why. Patrick is also dealing with a breakup from his 5 year partner Emory, and the trio set off on this adventure to help each other through their grief and feelings.

Similarly to the first book, this one is full of pop culture references. Patrick continuously quotes movies, tv shows, and musicals throughout, one that go over the kids heads (an mine as well!). I think if you are a big movie buff, you'll love this aspect of the story! Patrick guides the kids through his "love languages"-or the reasons why people might love each other to try and persuade them to give their future stepmom a shot. It was basically a carbon copy of the first book, just love rules instead of guncle rules. (I preferred the guncle rules-the love languages didn't quite work for me).

What I really liked were the references to musicals, which is something I can definitely relate to. I thought the scene where they re-enacted sound of music was great! There were a lot of moments that made me giggle. Also the talk of food consistently made me hungry. I wanted to be in that Parisian cafe drinking hot chocolate, and in Italy eating the pizza because the descriptions were so good!

While this book still help some charm and many humorous moments, there were a couple things that made it so that this book did not live up to the first installment. Steven Rowley seems like he has never been in the presence of an 11 year old. As a long time teacher(music grades k-5, ton of experience with young ages), I've taught many kids Grant's age, and Grant should have been acting similar to Maisie. The way he was characterized in this book made him seem like he was 6. He was too naive and innocent and the random things that came out of his mouth were things that younger children would wonder out loud, not a 6th grader. I had the SAME issue in book 1 where I thought Grant acted too young for his age. My second issue was that this book had almost the same plot as book one. The trio has grief, Patrick makes up love language rules instead of guncle rules, they work out their feelings in the end. My last issue is that Patrick was SO immature! He is almost 50, why on Earth does he need a launt for a nemesis? Why is he getting jealous? He is too old for that, and I think that was what made this book a 3.5/5 star instead of 4 or 5. (Also, WAY too many pop culture references in the 1st half of the book; they needed to be sprinkled in, but it was basically one after the other)

If you are a reader of general fiction, give this book a try (but read the first installment first of course)! I liked book 1 better, but by no means was this bad; it was still enjoyable with many funny and sweet moments. I think you will like this if you are a fan of pop culture, traveling, and mild family drama.

3.5/5 stars

Thank you so much to netgalley and PENGUIN GROUP Putnam Books for providing an ARC of this book in exchange for an honest review.

It pains me deeply to give only 3 stars because I LOVED the Guncle so much. I would recommend it to everyone. However.. I just didn’t think we needed a sequel. This one just didn’t have the same charm. The kids were older. (I miss Grants lisp). I didn’t care about their new “Launt”. I still enjoyed it and would recommend, it just didn’t hit the same! I feel like the author was pressured to write a sequel based on the positive reviews of the first.

I wanted to love this as much as I loved the Guncle but it took me a while to get back in to. I wish I had read the Guncle right before as well.

Guncles & launts & classic movie references, laughter & tears & heartwarming moments, wonderful moments from page 1 to the end, these are a few of my favorite things.

#TheGuncleAbroad #StevenRowley #NetGalley #MyFavoriteThings #Groot #IYKYK

Buckle up bookworms, our favorite Guncle is back and sassier than ever in 𝑻𝒉𝒆 𝑮𝒖𝒏𝒄𝒍𝒆 𝑨𝒃𝒓𝒐𝒂𝒅! Five years after 𝑻𝒉𝒆 𝑮𝒖𝒏𝒄𝒍𝒆 takes place, Patrick takes Maisie and Grant on a hilarious and heartwarming European adventure leading up to their father’s wedding in Italy.

Patrick’s one-liners are sharper than a chef’s knife and sassy as ever, and his life lessons (“Guncle Rules” and “Guncle Love Languages”) are heartfelt and deep. With familiar characters making a comeback and new ones to love to hate/hate to love (hint: there’s a 𝘭𝘢𝘶𝘯𝘵 in the mix!! *gasps*), this sequel felt like a reunion of your favorite sitcom cast.

That being said, The Guncle Abroad isn’t just funny. There’s so much more. There’s love, there’s loss, there’s depth, there’s life lessons, there’s second chance romance, there’s whole scenes and running inside jokes surrounding The Sound of Music and another about Grease (did Steven Rowley and I just become best friends!!!??… My mother forced me to love these two movies specifically, and they basically defined my childhood), and… there’s ITALY… (I included some memorabilia from my own Italian adventures on slide 2!) I mean, I just don’t even know what more you could want?

Bravo, Steven Rowley! An easy 5 stars from me!! Thank you @netgalley for early access to this lil gem! Get yours on May 21st!!

𝑹𝒆𝒂𝒅 𝒊𝒇 𝒀𝒐𝒖 𝑳𝒐𝒗𝒆:
❤️ Second chance romance
🤣 Funny dialogue/witty banter
🫶🏼 Reflective/life lessons
🎭 Family drama
🇮🇹 Italian (and Austrian 🇦🇹) backdrop

The banter! The love language lessons! The European backdrop, complete with the Austrian Sound of Music reenactment! The lesbian aunt nemesis! This sequel has it all. GUP (Gay Uncle Patrick) is back and ready to teach Maisie and Grant about love as they travel through Europe and wrestle with the emotions arising from their father’s upcoming wedding to Italian marchioness Livia.

Was this sequel necessary? No. Was it a delightful, perfect summer read? Absolutely. If you loved the original, I think you’ll love this one too, if only for the opportunity to revisit these dear characters. 4 out of 5 stars.

Pub Date: 5/21/24
Review Published: 4/4/24
eARC received from NetGalley and the publisher in exchange for an honest review.

****Publishing May 21, 2024****

When Patrick is in London filming, he receives an invitation for his brother’s wedding in Lake Como, Italy. Even though it’s not great timing with his recent breakup and short notice, he will go and fulfill his Guncle duties. Another adventure begins with taking care of his niece and nephew while their dad is remarrying. Patrick takes them on a tour of Europe before they end up in Italy for the wedding. Patrick is there for his niece and nephew to help navigate coping with their dad remarrying and the grief they still feel from the loss of their mother. They are not thrilled about a new stepmom. The eye rolls, the questions, the drama, and the arguments. Can Patrick get them through? Will this be the distraction Patrick will need?

I really felt it was a great follow-up to The Guncle. The nephew and niece really needed this time with Patrick and the same for Patrick! I loved how Patrick bonded with his niece and nephew over movie references! The real emotion, the characters, and the story, are what makes this book so fun and entertaining! A great book to take on vacation!

Thanks to PENGUIN GROUP Putnam (G.P. Putnam's Sons), I was provided an ARC of The Guncle Abroad by Steven Rowley via Netgalley in exchange for an honest review. #TheGuncleAbroad #NetGalley

A good combination of funny and touching, just like the original. I would read anything about this family.

I loved getting to spend more time with GUP and the fam! Revisiting these sweet characters and watching as they grow and navigate their new “normal” is beautiful and honest. As someone who has experienced a similar situation, this book resonates for me in many ways. It paints a beautiful picture of what it is to move forward, not move on - and all the comes with it - the good, the bad, and the beautiful. This is a must read for fans of the first book, but also for anyone who has loved and lost someone, then forced to figure out what life looks like without them. It’s heartbreaking and heartwarming. 🩷

All Aboard!!! for this new adventure with Patrick, Maisie, and Grant off to Europe!

This exciting journey has its bumps along the way.
5 years after the death of their mom, Greg, has fallen in Love with Livia and decides he wants to marry her.
Patrick tells his brother Greg, for a wedding gift he wants to take his neice and nephew to Europe for a couple of weeks so that he and his new bride-to-be can take care of last minute details and prepare for the upcoming wedding.

Sensing the children may be struggling with this new parental arrangement and in need of their Guncle, the three begin another journey yet ABROAD this time!

Patrick is hoping to show his neice and nephew that there can be love and happiness for their Dad, and Livia will never replace their Mom, yet be a friend they can rely on.

This book was very cute and fast moving. It is hard to have a sequel after a much loved book, but Guncle Aboard brought back many of the emotions we felt in Guncle; Happiness, Joy, Sadness, Excitement, and Love, just to mention a few! Well Done Steven Rowley yet again!

I think I hyped this one up too much in my mind. I loved The Guncle so much. SO MUCH. I bought copies as gifts and recommended it to everyone I know. And while this follow-up is good, it just wasn’t the amazing book I was hoping for.

That being said, it was still an enjoyable read. Patrick still had plenty of wisdom to share with his niblings, delivered with his signature humor. And they taught him a thing or two along the way as well.

I won’t ever forget listening to The Guncle for the first time a few years ago. It was such a heartwarming story centered on grief, family, and love. The Guncle Abroad was such a lovely follow up. Maisie and Grant are growing up (5 years later), and this time they go on a new adventure of love with their precious Guncle. Their dad is remarrying in beautiful Lake Como, but not everyone is thrilled. Patrick decides he’s going to take this trip to show the kids what love really is about (even if he can’t accept love himself, since he recently and regrettably just ended a wonderful relationship of his own).

The relationship between these three is just so special. This story is so funny, but also heartwarming. It still focuses heavily on grief following the death of Sara, but it’s not as heartbreaking as it was in the Guncle. It shows that time does not make you forget, it just makes room for less pain and the opportunities for new love, or a second chance at love. If you loved the Guncle, the Guncle Abroad is sure to steal your heart!

I loved the Guncle, and loved the sequel! These books are extremely heartwarming while being funny, engaging, and not too Hallmark-y. Highly recommend!

I’ll start by saying that I absolutely adore The Guncle. It’s sweet, funny, heartwarming, and set in Palm Springs. What’s not to love? So I was ridiculously excited for this sequel.

I think the idea behind Guncle Abroad is excellent. We pick up 5 years later and the kid’s Dad is going to remarry so Patrick whisks them on a European vacation to help them deal. For some reason though, it didn’t quite live up to the idea, for me. Yes it’s funny and sweet and heartwarming, just less so than the first. So I still enjoyed it and I’m glad it exists, I just don’t adore it in the way I do the first book.

I loved the first book in this series and knew I would love this one as well. If you were a fan of the first then you will love the second. The heart of the first book is still there with characters that you will love. Go check it out.

The author writes in such a witty fun way, yet there is so much heart behind his words. I loved this installment and was thrilled to be reunited with The Guncle. It was fun to read about the kids growing up and to see the growth in the GUP. The trip abroad was a fun addition and really packed a touch. I am really hoping that this becomes a series and that we continue with this beloved family.