My gosh this book was a breath of fresh air, a real palate cleanser. Audrey Ingram has such a unique and original voice when she writes. She had me hooked since chapter one (more like the prologue), my heart rate escalated so quick with this fast pace read. I felt everything the main character was going through. I laughed, smiled, punched the air, swung my legs, and felt my heart aching. This book is the perfect example that a book can have a great plot and great content without any spice (other than a few heated bickering matches).

This friend group has the perfect dynamic and I love that the main character, Chloe, finds her family in her friends. Everyone goes through so much struggle in this story and none of them can ever catch a break, but I love how they can come together and support each other. I love their blunt honesty with each other, they all speak their minds and criticize one another when they don't agree with certain things that are being done or being said.

I don't want to give away any spoilers, but I enjoyed this book so much. The flashbacks give the audience the perfect insight to this group's friendships and relationships, then ties everything so well during the present. Although the ending was very sweet and everyone had their closure, I think some of the characters were too forgiving. I guess that's the advantage of being friends for a decade, that everyone can look past each other's flaws and still remain friends. Which seems a bit unrealistic because while some people are very forgiving, others will have no issue never speaking to the person that wronged them, no matter how long they've known each other. Time does not equate to respect.

I can't wait to read more by this author! :) this is a non-negotiable 5 star read! I hope everyone enjoys this book as much as I did.

A group of long-time friends meet up for a week long vacation in Florida and try to navigate their ever-changing relationships. Secrets are exposed which cause the group to question if their friendships can truly survive.

This book was fast-past and engaging from the first page. I loved the dual timeline between the present day Florida trip and the early years showing how their friendships developed over time. Although I’ve never been, I’m a bit obsessed with the 30A area in Florida so I really enjoyed the setting.

Thank you Net Galley and Alcove Press for the advanced copy in exchange for my honest review.

I really enjoyed this book! The overall vibes felt a lot like Emily Henry's Happy Place meets the movie St. Elmo's Fire, which was, in my opinion, a great combination. THE GROUP TRIP follows a group of friends who have been a unit ever since they met freshman year of college, and although their lives and careers have taken them in different directions since, they've still remained close. When a breakup threatens to tear the tight-knit group apart, they decide to take a vacation to Florida to see if that will bring everyone back together again. As the trip goes on and secrets are uncovered, the group will be forced to question whether their friendship can truly last forever—and if they can reconcile their past selves with the people they've become.

Recently, I've found myself really drawn to stories about friendship—how those relationships evolve in shape and nature over the years, how you can change as a person without leaving your old friends behind, how sometimes friends do outgrow each other, but it doesn't mean the connection that they had wasn't real or important. THE GROUP TRIP is, essentially, a story of friendship, and I loved following this group over the years, and seeing how the characters developed throughout the story. I also enjoyed how the book alternates between the past and the present—the dual timelines are well-done and well-paced, fleshing out the backstory in an easy, effective way. The Florida setting was super fun to read about, too! I don't think I've ever read a book set on the Emerald Coast before, and it definitely made me want to visit.. Overall, I would recommend this one for anyone in search of a beach read with plenty of depth and characters to get invested in, and anyone who loves stories about friend groups! Thank you to NetGalley and Alcove Press for the ARC.

The perfect beach read!
This book was hard to put down & quickly hit the top of my list for recent reads. From the gripping beginning, this book kept my interest while unfolding a beautifully complex story of friendships that stand the test of time. The alternating timelines, funny & complicated friendships all felt so relatable. College age friendships that are strained as lives separate and flow back together, this story highlights the challenges of growing up without growing apart.

I LOVED this book! Imagine happy place by Emily Henry but well written and executed to perfection. I loved the character development and the banter and just everything. Firefly lane + happy place would give you a good idea of the vibes I think. I just really had a good time reading it, can’t recommend enough! Everyone run to get it when it publishes on August 13th!! Will update with a more coherent review later!

BIG thanks to NetGalley and to Alcove Press for the advance copy in exchange for an honest review!

I enjoyed this book. I really like how it depicted the changes that occur in relationships as people age and grow, both romantic relationships and friendships. It also touched on how life events can really influence certain traits that a person can display in a relationship. I kept waiting for a climax that never came though and the end fell flat for me. I can appreciate that not every book needs a huge "wow" moment, but the ending felt like I had learned so much about all these people, and then all of a sudden it was just done and everyone is happy.

This book is a great summer read and I can picture myself in this group of friends. I absolutely loved the story, the characters, and this book. It felt relatable and although it is fiction, it felt very real. I will definitely recommend this to my patrons at the library.

Drama, suspense, romance, beauty...The Group Trip has it all. This is the story of Chloe, who stumbles across the love of her life along with five best friends during her freshman year of college, and how she navigates those relationships throughout the next decade. The story is told in pieces, jumping back and forth between the present and memories of years gone by. We witness the fights and the struggles along with the moments of love and joy for the entire friend group. We watch as six people grow up. And even through the intense drama and the uncomfortable moments between friends and lovers, the author describes vacations so beautiful that you'll wish you were there.
Fans of Ellen Hildebrand will love this book as it's the same kind of vibe.

A wonderful story about a group of friends together from their freshman days at College, living together after graduation and until their careers take them to different parts of the country.

Chloe and Luke together since freshman days, Sloane and Alden, surprising everyone after a ski trip 5 years later, that their were a couple with a surprise engagement, Marianne who married early and now has a baby and Wyatt who has dated but never seemed to have found the right girl.

After a get together, 10 years later, Sloane is hoping to reunite Chloe and Luke after their breakup the year before, but what secrets are they all keeping.

A great read right to the very end!

The Group Trip is a great read! It had wonderful character development and complex friendship storylines that make you feel for the characters. The timeline jumps can be a bit confusing to keep up with, however it works well for this novel. This book would be a solid vibe to read while on vacation or at the beach! Highly recommended!

Thanks NetGalley and Alcove Press for this ARC!

I really enjoyed this book but when I first started I wasn't sure that would be the case. However, it did not take me long and I was hooked on this one. This book made me nostalgic for my college years and the friendships from that time period. I think the author did a great job with all of the characters and I enjoyed how she moved back forth between time periods. I recommend this book to anyone who enjoys books about relationships.

Thank you to NetGalley for the ARC in exchange for my honest review!

4 stars

The book follows a group of six college friends on their annual spring break trip 10 years after they met. Chapters alternate between current year and flashbacks to prior spring break trips over the past 10 years. Tensions are high on this trip and everyone’s secrets are slowly revealed.

This is a true summer fun read. I simply enjoyed reading this book. I found the overall group of friends charming and quickly became invested in their stories with one notable exception. Without any spoilers, I did find that some people got a little more forgiveness at the end than they probably deserve.

Perhaps because I recently read "Malibu Rising" and "The Midnight Feast", I groaned when the prologue started with a house fire. I am definitely tired of this premise and almost put the book down, but I am glad I continued. I don't think knowing about the fire in advance truly adds anything to the story (I mostly forgot about it as I was reading).

Thank you to NetGalley and Alcove Press for an ARC in exchange for an honest review.

Goodreads review:

Thank you Netgalley for the advance copy!

This book follows the friendship of 6 friends, starting in college. I immediately felt like Chloe was a kindred spirit of mine. Imagine how much courage it takes to say no to a proposal from your boyfriend of almost a decade. The story is beautifully written & I loved the ending so much. The journey of these people is the best & i am so glad i took the time to read it.

For the author - This story is amazing. I loved the character development throughout the book. I initially hated Luke so much for what he was doing to Chloe - it was obvious he was cheating and for whatever reason, couldn’t let her go in order to do so. We’ve all been there. Sloane is the embodiment of so many women who struggle because they seemingly have it altogether but having a supportive partner who is nothing like she imagined, is exactly what she needed. Marianne is also such a relatable woman because no one really talks about the things motherhood takes from women & how hard it can be.. how it is isolating and you lose yourself sometimes.. I am also glad that she was able to find something for herself in the end. Wyatt was my favorite character.. I knew he loved Chloe from the start - showing up for her when no one else did for her birthday & continuing to choose her even when she didn’t bet on herself. Thank you for the beautifully written story & I cannot wait to read more by you!

I would like to thank Net Galley and Alcove Press for the opportunity to read this book as an ARC.This is the story of 6 friends- Chloe, Luke, Marianne, Wyatt, Alden and Sloane.They met at a small college in Tennessee 10 years ago.They stayed close, even when living in other places, until last year.That is when Luke proposed to Chloe and she turned him down. Now, they have all gotten together for a vacation in Florida, to try to bring the group back together. This story is told in 2 timelines- now and the past 10 years. The story tells of the friendship and their past trips. It is how they came together and how they fell apart. I liked this book. The characters were engaging, even when they were annoying.Once I started it, I did not want to put it down. I was not crazy about the last section, the end of the current trip, and the character of Luke made me want to shake him,but overall it was a fun beach read type of book!

Thank you to NetGalley and Alcove Press for this Advanced Readers Copy in exchange for an honest review.

This book was very close to being a five-star read for me! Found family is one of my favorite tropes, and I really loved the dynamic of these six friends.

However, there were a few issues that I had throughout the novel (particularly the instance of Sloane in her attempt to get Luke and Chloe back together), although a lot of the more minor ones were addressed in the third act, and I was able to let them slide.

However, a character that I could not let slide was Luke. Like, genuinely, everything about him grated on my nerves and infuriated me, and call me a petty grump, but I didn’t necessarily care if he had a happy ending or not. Get that man away from me. It was genuinely like one thing after another after another with him, and I was so relieved that the story was heading in the direction that I anticipated and not moving toward a Luke and Chloe reunion.

I feel that certain parts of the story were a bit rushed/random (the event that launches the book and then returns in the final act, to make the spoiler minimal), but all in all, I really enjoyed this book and really was happy that Chloe and Wyatt found each other. I loved watching their relationship develop throughout the story, but would have loved to see even more of their dynamic.

All in all, I really loved this book, and I have high hopes for its publication! Will easily recommend it to others.

Thank you, again, for this ARC!

I really loved this book! The author intertwines you perfectly within a large group of friends without feeling like too much is going on. The chapters rotate between present and past in a thoughtful way. Being from Alabama and summer vacationing to the main setting location, I almost can sense being there with the characters. If you love a good beach/summer read, this book is for you! This was my first book by Audrey Ingram and I can’t wait to read more from her.

This book pulled me in right from the beginning. I loved reading about the trials of their group of friends over the years since College. It was what I imagined I always wanted. I am so happy with the way the book ended. I highly recommend to everyone for a light summer read. Thank you NetGalley for the ARC!

A touching, heartfelt novel told in a past/present timeline over the span of ten years. This is a story of friendship and the boundaries needed to maintain these relationships. These six friends share their life experiences of grief, loss, hope and most importantly, forgiveness. I felt so connected to these characters as they learned to give one another the space and love they needed without abandonment in times of hardship.
Thank you to the publisher for the opportunity to read this advanced copy. Opinions expressed in this review are completely my own.

The Group Trip is a sweet story of college friends through 10+ years of friendships. Told in a current storyline and a timeline that travels from past to present, it's a great way to see how the friendships have changed over time.

This is a sweet, easy read.

Chloe, Luke, Sloane, Alden, Marianne, and Wyatt- they are the best of friends since getting thrown out of a Waffle House their freshman year in college. In the ten years since they met, Chloe and Luke were not just friends, but they were a couple. After living together and building a life together, nothing shocks this sextet more than when Chloe turns down Luke’s marriage proposal. When the group gets together for their first trip since the big breakup, secrets are unearthed that could forever change their relationships.

This was my first book by this author, and she truly drew me into the story right from the beginning. I enjoyed that it was told from a dual timeline, as it helped to create an air of suspense and intrigue as to the backstory of these dynamic relationships. In this character driven plot, I found myself empathizing with each of these friends as they struggled to maintain the good times of the past while dealing with the challenges and successes that life throws at them along the way. As with any friend group, I had expected there to be hurt feelings and misunderstandings that would drive the action forward. I did not, however, expect to become so emotionally invested in these fictional people who made me both love them and hate them throughout the course of the book.

The Group Trip is an emotional, intense, and engaging story that will have readers longing to reach out and hug their friends.