Do you believe in dreams? Do you believe they hold prophecy for your life? I have wondered, and maybe sometimes there is nothing wrong with believing in one's dreams. Charlie sure does. The book begins with a sad event. Charlie's life is full of losses, the biggest of which is the death of her father. A new, completely different life opens up for Charlie, but she will quickly discover that she cannot move forward without finding the answers to all the questions about her past. Without discovering her mother.

"You've been searching for something all these years."

The book is heartfelt, sensual, explores the themes of lost, growing up with a single parent, family and love. But my favorite theme - finding yourself and where you belong.

I want to thank Kobo Books for the advanced copy! While I was interested in the premise, this book was a little too slow for my liking. I just didn't end up caring what happened to our main characters enough, unfortunately. I really appreciate the access to this one in exchange for my honest thoughts. I featured this on my Instagram without any review.

I first read an Anna Gomez book (My Goodbye Girl) a couple of years ago, & I devoured it. So when she asked me to read this one, I was completely shocked & thrilled! Thank you!

Somewhere Along the Way is a beautiful story about love, loss, and unexpected journeys that life sometimes takes us on.

We meet Charlie who has just suffered the loss of her dad. Not knowing anything about her mom, she is surprised when she finds a box of her letters & realizes her father has been in touch with her mom all this time. She decides to take a cross country trip from Brooklyn to California to learn about this missing part of herself.

On the way, she runs into Graham, who is very mysterious & has a secret identity. He goes with Charlie so he can get home to his family & they both discover, maybe they are exactly what they need.

There were such beautiful moments in this book, specifically in the prologue with the image of Charlie’s father with her as a little girl. So many poignant moments about grief & how it can consume you & heal you. If you’ve ever lost someone, this book could help you mend because you will feel seen and understood.

Favorite Quote:
“I believe you, because you are my truth…Because what you have given me today is hope. Hope that our love is just the beginning.”

First of all, I would like to thank NetGalley for giving me this free ARC. Thank you for giving me an opportunity to read another nice book. I would like to thank the publisher of this book, which is Kobo Originals, and I would like to thank the author for writing this beautiful book, which is Anna Gomez.


Charlotte “Charlie” Hastings never missed her mother. But when Charlie's late father visits her in a dream and reveals the letters her mother had written to him over the years, she begins yearning for a connection she never desired to make. Reeling from a mix of emotions, Charlie embarks on a soul-searching cross-country journey to California to find the mother she thought she never needed.

The main character here is Charlie. One night, her late father visits her through a dream that her mother left a letter. At first, I was confused by the characters and the writing of the book. But as I went to read it more and more, it was kind of good. It was a slow-paced book, and I think the theme is more about adventure and finding family.

Some books are meant to be savored. Read slowly. Paying attention to details and feelings. This is one of those books.

I’ve always loved Anna Gomez’s stories but this is her best yet. It’s a story of sorrow, grief, finding yourself and building YOUR life. Whether it’s from a penthouse or a brownstone, believe in fate and the signs will lead you where you are supposed to be.

Take this journey with Graham, Charlotte and the people that love them on a cross country journey that’s much more than a road trip.

“Don’t hide from life because every single moment is a part of the journey that has been planned for you.”

4.5 Stars

Once again, Anna Gomez/Christine Brae gives us a story that resonates deep down into your soul. A story filled with poignant life lessons. Lessons that are predetermined but also ones of unexpectedness. A story about how life delivers the good, the bad, and the ugly. And how it's up to us to determine how we react in response to them.

Somewhere Along the Way is not only a road trip between two strangers who grow to become a lifeline for one another but also this rollercoaster we call life. It's a road trip that depicts the repercussions of grief, while also illustrating pure unadulterated love, kindness, compassion, self discovery, and healing. It's a road trip filled with mental illness, death, trepidation, devotion, bereavement, yearning, calamity, maturation, and passion. And in my humble opinion, it's a road trip well worth taking.

Charlie and Graham. Celia and Edgar. Two soulmates. Two couples. Intertwined by fate, family, loss, and friendship.

While I absolutely adored all of the characters between these pages, Celia is who I connected to the most. I really loved seeing her through the letters she'd written to Edgar, and essentially to Charlie. Witnessing the destruction her mental illness caused and what it cost her brought me so much pain and heartache. I cried right along with this sweet mama who lost it all, due to no real fault of her own. There's nothing like being a prisoner to your own mind. As someone who suffers from BiPolar Disorder (though not to the extreme of Celia's), I got her. Her struggles echoed parts of my own. I wanted so bad to hug her. To tell her she wasn't alone. That she'll find that light at the end of the tunnel. To hang in there. As a mama, I couldn't even begin to imagine the emptiness she felt not having a relationship with her daughter. But I completely understood why the decision was made the way it was. And she had my deepest sympathy.

Due to this, it was pretty damn awesome to see Celia navigate and recognize her mental illness, to find her spot in the world, and then to finally get a win, a happily ever after.

I also absolutely loved observing Charlie learn about her mama, watching her cycle through those myriad of emotions. And in the end, seeing her show so much grace and mercy for a woman she'd never met, but only knew through her father's memories, and now her mother's own words (letters).

I can't forget Graham. He was the best copilot a girl could ask for. It's no wonder Charlie fell head over heels for this mysterious, handsome man, who was no stranger to tragedy. Even fighting his own demons, he made sure Charlie was always safe, understood, and supported.

Gomez did an amazing job showing how forgiveness played a huge role in this book. Not only of others, but of themselves. To feel that forgiveness, which bleed off the pages, and then watch them move forward healed the broken parts of my heart.

I think this quote is the epitome of this journey:
"Forgiveness does not change the past, but it does enlarge the future. Author: Paul Boose"

Then there was that last 10% or so. A perfect touch to an already moving story.

I definitely wasn't ready for it to end. I wanted to spend so much more time with Charlie, Graham, and Celia.

This is a journey I would recommend reading. While it isn't filled to the brim with smut, it's a touching and emotional one. One of my favorite things about Anna Gomez's/Christine Brae's books is the real, relatable people within them. I love the fuck out of the fact they are flawed, facing authentic issues, not contrived drama for the sake of the story. Her characters and worlds are always perfectly imperfect. And Somewhere Along the Way was no exception.

My Thoughts:
Another wonderful book from Anna Gomez! Somewhere Along the Way is more than a beautiful love story. It is a journey of finding yourself through grief, finding where you belong within your family, and healing after loss so that you can find your own happiness. From the very first chapter I was captivated by the characters and wanted to know more about their stories. This book is hard to put down!

Storyline:
Through events that I would call nothing short of serendipity, Charlie and Graham embark on a cross country road trip in search of answers and their own individual healing after the loss of a loved one. Left with a stack of letters from her mom, Charlie begins to put the pieces of her past together and they begin to tell a story of their own. A story of love that only Charlotte and Wilbur would understand. (Yes, the story Charlotte’s Web has significant meaning to Charlie) Hope and unconditional love give Charlie the strength to keep searching for a mother she never knew.

Along the way, Charlie and Graham realize they may have more in common than they thought and quite possibly could be exactly what each other needs. However, once they reach California Charlie must find her mom and Graham must rebuild his life. They must go their separate ways. Will a serendipitous moment bring them back together to continue their story or will the rain begin to fall again?

What I liked about this book:
There are so many amazing things to say about this book! The descriptive writing of caring for a loved one with a terminal illness, the beautiful way that Anna writes about mental illness, and the many ways that this book touched me personally make it one of my top 5 books of 2024.

Thank you NetGalley, Kobo Originals and Anna Gomez for providing an ARC in exchange for honest thoughts.

I gave this book 5 Stars

Thank you to the publisher and Netgalley for an advanced copy of this book. I really wanted to enjoy this, but decided to DNF at 28% for a few reasons.

First, the majority of the dialogue falls flat, and there's so much telling instead of showing. The narration is also kind of jarring; it jumps around and overall just feels like something is missing. There are also inconsistencies in scenes, for example, a character is wearing a face mask, but a few paragraphs later Charlie can see him pursing his lips (and no mention of him removing said mask in the intervening paragraphs).

As for the main character, I found Charlie difficult to relate to and she often acts very juvenile. So it just feels like I'm in the head of a teenager, rather than a successful woman in her thirties.

Lastly, even for someone (me) who can suspend A LOT of disbelief for the sake of all kinds of cheesy romance trope shenanigans, the whole idea of her letting a stranger go on a road trip with her because of his crazy green eyes just beggars belief.

This book had a big theme of overcoming grief which to me was a bit cathartic. It ended up being a feel-good read that hit in all the right spots. The storytelling and the scavenger hunt were top notch.

SOMEWHERE ALONG THE WAY is a beautiful and heartfelt story of forgiveness, discovery, serendipity and love. I was already feeling moved emotionally in a good way within the first few pages. After recently losing her father, Charlie finds out who her mother is and that she's still alive. Feeling lost and uncertain about her life and where she belongs, she hopes that by finding her mom will help Charlie find her new home and ultimately her self. She decides to leave behind her job, what she thought she knew of herself, and travel cross-country to California where her mother is. She discovers a man has been sleeping in her car, and decides to not press charges, thinking she'll never see him and his piercing green eyes again. Fate has something else planned and Charlie finds herself crossing paths with this stranger again, who by chance needs a ride out West. She apprehensively agrees to bring him along (maybe due to his said piercing eyes that also feel lost). With letters written by her mother to her father that Charlie's father kept hidden from her, she can't help feel overcome with emotions of why her loving father would keep her father away? Along the trip Charlie discovers and connects to parts of her mother through the letters, to the beautiful stranger, to herself and even to different parts of the country along the way. I really liked and admired the CHARLOTTE'S WEB references and connections. A real joy and delight to read that certainly felt relatable and honest!

Thank you to Kobo Originals and NetGalley for the arc in exchange for my honest review.

This was a story I didn't know I really needed. It really just hit the spot and gave me such a feel good feeling despite a large portion of the story dealing with overcoming grief.

Charlie and Graham are both incredibly lost after the deaths of her father and his sister. A chance encounter throws them together and in no time, two strangers are embarking on a cross country journey to not only heal, but to find themselves.

Charlie's parents' story and Graham's past are weaved in the present timeline to add another layer to an already really great story. I loved every bit of that. Although I've read cross-country romance stories before, Somewhere Along the Way is still unique in its own way with exceptional characters and deeper elements of mental illness and the lifelong treatment it often requires.

This is my first Anna Gomez book, but it won't be my last. However, I knew I would not be disappointed as I have read some of her books under Christine Brae and knew she would write a great story.

I also adored all the Charlotte's Web references as it was my favorite book as a child! It added a ton of nostalgia!

Oh my heart with this story!!!! I still can’t stop thinking about it. It was just soooo good. Loved the storyline and the plot and the way it ended

Using old love letters as cookie crumbs, Charlie embarks on a cross county trip to find both herself and her mother, with the added bonus of a love she didn’t know she needed. This poignantly written novel about self discovery, heartache, and love proves to be just what everyone needs to read this fall.