I hadn't heard of this author before but was intrigued by the title and the cute cover, and I ended up enjoying the endearing story. Lisa has lost her father and mother in the span of months but decides to still embark on the journey to Europe that her mother had planned for both of them to take. While the European journey isn't necessarily a new theme in novels, I appreciated the unique spin that the author put on this one with aspects of Rocky's character (don't want to give it away!). While I didn't love the writing (a lot of it felt very cheesy and not enough contractions made many sentences feel stilted and not like real conversation), I would recommend it as a light, easy romance read for summer.

Thank you to BooksGoSocial for providing me with an advanced electronic copy.

The Itinerary by Penny Pentley is a heartfelt and quirky tale of grief, self-discovery, and unexpected connections. After the loss of her mother, Lisa decides to honor their planned European vacation, embarking on the trip alone with only her mother’s itinerary and a beloved travel guide. Along the way, she encounters a charming stranger who seems to appear at just the right moments, leaving her to question whether their meetings are fate or mere coincidence. Pentley crafts a warm, engaging story filled with humor and emotional depth, perfect for readers who enjoy journeys of both place and heart.

A quick fluff read of a European overview, with a grieving MC who's probably Gen X but reads more like angry Karen (and a stalker love interest)

Such a fun book! Loved the travel, the romance, the setting, and even dealing with grief was well explored. Beautiful!

A super cute story about trust, healing, and a little adventure and romance. The characters are loveable and the laughter is real.

A fun read of a woman fulfilling her mothers last plans independently for a jaunt through Europe and resulting meet up with a new love, resolving her grief and regretsc along the way.

I enjoyed this book. I liked hearing about each city she visited and she used great detail. It was a fun read.

When Lisa’s dad passed away, she and her mom planned a European vacation as something to look forward to in their time of grief. With her mom's untimely death just weeks before the trip, Lisa decides to embark on the non-refundable journey on her own, armed with her mom's bare-bones itinerary and well-loved copy of Bob Adams' Adventures.

As Lisa navigates the roadblocks that pop up in each city, a charming stranger keeps coming to her rescue, which leads Lisa to wonder—is it serendipity or just plain old stalking?


This is the perfect distraction on a dreary day. I really enjoyed the story. My first and not last read by Penny Pentley

Fun read, enjoyed the plot over all & the characters. You really feel like you’re there with the highs and lows.

Thank you to NetGalley and Five Cents Publishing for the arc.

I enjoyed reading this story about Lisa West, a young woman who is embarking alone on the European vacation that she and her mother planned. Lisa's mother has recently passed away, and Lisa decides to continue on the vacation, primarily because her mother worked so hard on planning it, plus the trip was non-refundable. While traveling through the many stops, Lisa meets a young man named Rocky, who seems to pop up in every city on her itinerary.

This was a fun romp through Europe (starting with Italy, and ending in France). The author, Penny Pentley, provides a great narrative of the sights that Lisa sees on each stop, along with descriptions of the foods from that city. Pentley also delves into the grief that Lisa feels towards the recent death of her mother, who Lisa was very close, but also with the death of Lisa's father a couple of years ago. I appreciated how Pentley wrote how Lisa experienced her grief, all the while telling herself to appreciate the sights and tastes of each city because her mother took the time to plan everything. It was very sweet.

The romance between Lisa and Rocky is also very sweet, and cute. This was altogether a short story, but fun, and whet my appetite for traveling and eating.

It was cute but not in a writing style I enjoy 3.5⭐️ It was very “I did this, then I did that”. I enjoyed being thrown back into Europe, brought back so many good memories there.
Cute premise, execution could be better, overall a simple quick read for while I was at work.
Thank you NetGalley for the ARC.

WOW!! This book was perfect. I could not put it down! Every part was written so well, I immediately connected with the characters and didn't want it to end!

Loved this romance! It was feel good and heartfelt and I loved the travel elements. It whisked me away which is exactly what I look for in a book. Thanks for the ARC copy!

A sweet rom com that is delightfully fun while dealing with the grief of loss and traveling alone. This is a short book, but a well written one packed with activities of a traveler. Our female main character, Lisa, was meant to be on the trip with her mother, but her mother passed away just after making Lisa promise to stick to the trip plans. Lisa tries to follow her mom's itinerary, but keeps bumping into Rocky, who also seems to be following the same itinerary or is he a deranged stalker? You'll have to read to find out, but I will say the story is cute and has a happily ever after so I think you can guess the direction of things between Rocky and Lisa. The book makes me long to take my own adventure even though I am decidedly older than the characters of this book. The main takeaway, is regardless of your age, be honest about your opinions and make sure you enjoy life!

4.25⭐️

This book is a “Read Now” book on @netgalley

I loved this book! I found it entertaining, sweet, fun, and sometimes sad. It is a light easy read that kept me turning the pages.

The story follows Lisa, an adult orphan, on her solo trip to Europe that was meant to be a trip she took with her mother. Her mother unexpectedly passed away (not a spoiler) a few weeks before the planned vacation and within a year of her father’s passing.

We travel with Lisa to places such as Florence, Venice, Geneva, and Paris. There are quite a few mishaps along the way starting with lost luggage, a drunken make-out session, and a possible stalker.

Following her mom’s itinerary written in her trusty Bob Adam’s Adventures guide, Lisa sees plenty of sights and meets a few fun characters… one who happens to keep bumping into her at various spots along the way. Is he a stalker or is it just coincidence? You will enjoy finding out!

Book: The Itinerary
Author: Penny Pentley
Publisher: Five Cents Publishing
Publish Date: May 21, 2024

My rating = 4.25⭐️

I found this novel one day on NetGalley and it was quite engaging! The POV sucked me right into the story. All themes were relatable and made the heroine someone to root for. There is something about a story where grief and pain are consuming the main character and they have to learn how to dig themselves out of the pit. Then the main character takes a trip and they emerge like a butterfly from the cocoon of sorrow. Travel is an immersive experience. I look forward to more novels by this author!

I knew I wasn't going to vibe with this book by page 3 and I almost called it quits then but it was only 150ish pages and I wanted to see if maybe just maybe it got better....it didn't.
The story felt very list like. "I did this and then I did this and then I settled the bill and did this." I'm not even going to get started on the Rocky stalking her through Europe situation or their romance because I can absolutely see people loving it.
The thing that got to me and got to me early, is how little effort went into researching these European destinations.

I really loved the storyline of this. A very sad premise, but also so heart-warming and uplifting with a little dash of fate/destiny thrown in there. There's a few secrets around who the guy Lisa keeps bumping into is and while I did manage to guess why they kept ending up in the same places I totally didn't guess the bigger secret at all, and I'm really annoyed about it because the hints were all there! But I thought that was a really cute addition to the story.
The only thing that annoyed me though was that I wasn't hugely keen on Lisa. I know she's been through a lot recently, and that side of it was fine, I felt sorry for her and was rooting for her to have a great holiday despite what she's been through. But having seen her as a tourist I totally get why mainland Europeans hate English speakers. She did at least redeem herself with her fair amount of French at the end of the trip, but she definitely came off as kind of rude at the beginning in Italy and Germany just assuming everyone would be able to speak English. There was also a few of the sights that she was kind of rude about. But I liked her and the mystery guy together; their relationship was cute and I loved him as an MMC. I also loved the panic attack/phobia rep all round.

The Itinerary was a fun, quick summer read that made you feel good, but also left me wanting for a little bit more. Lisa is a woman who has recently lost both of her parents, and decides to go ahead with a tour across Europe, without her mom, even though the trip was meant for both of them. Along the way, Lisa experiences all kinds of mishaps and catastrophes from losing her luggage, to a drunken night on town but also meets an adorable man who helps her along the way. She finds herself falling for him, but quickly realizes that he's not completely honest with her.
3.5 stars. Thank you to Netgalley and the publishers for the ARC in exchange for my review and honest opinions

4 ⭐️

This was such a delightful little romcom! Lisa and Rocky continue accidentally meeting on their 2 week solo trips through Europe, and eventually stop fighting fate and just spend their vacations together. Lisa was grieving the loss of her parents and taking the trip she was supposed to do with her mom, while Rocky was on a work trip. They were both super sweet people that I couldn’t help smiling for every time they ran into each other again. Also, I had the twist so wrong about why Lisa felt she knew Rocky the whole time, so that was a fun surprise at the end.

This book made me nostalgic for my trip to Europe with my hubby 2 years ago - I want to go back to see all the places we couldn’t hit last time. And I want real gelato right now.

Penny did a great job narrating her book! If I didn’t know she was the author also, I wouldn’t have guessed it because she definitely sounded like a practiced narrator.

Thank you to NetGalley and Five Cents Publishing for the ARC of this book in exchange for my honest opinion!