Thank you to NetGalley and Putnam for access to this eARC. Ellie Palmer has written a fantastic, sentimental tribute to best friends in love, and the romantic relationship is both heartbreaking and heartwarming at times. The dual timeline is wonderfully crafted to show the evolution of how Charley and Ethan have ended up where they are. And the magic of how Ethan has loved her for many years is beautifully unwrapped.

I loved all the mix of characters they know and meet along the way. Petey is especially a favorite with his humor and belief in everyone's goodness. I did struggle a bit with Laurel and Charley's relationship, which did feel very unpleasant at times. But the ending was worth it.

Overall 4.5 star read

So after reading both of Ellie Palmer’s books, I have learned she is not the author for me. I found four weddings and a funeral a very disrespectful book. I found the writing in this book to be extremely cheesy. I also found the book super predictable.

<i>Anywhere With You</i> is funny and chaotic in a good way, but it wasn't memorable until the last 20%.

ellie palmer my darling i love you!! writing a review without quotations is so hard because i just adore the way she writes so much. her stories have so much truth to them, fmc's with real love for real people. the relationships in ellie's stories always demonstrate a well rounded life for the characters.
"So then we eat pie. And we feed each other pie. And we kiss, and we laugh, and we act as though we're living a completely different day than the one I ruined this morning." ❤️

Read this is you like:
•road trips
•friends to lovers
•Minnesota
•only one bed / camper

It’s no surprise that this is one of my most anticipated 2025 reads. I adored Ellie’s debut last year and this book also blew me away. Literary perfection. I’m obsessed. Not only does this book start with the most iconic line a book can start with, the banter is incredible and the humor is unmatched. I was legit laughing out loud from the prologue. This book is quintessentially Minnesota and I love it so much. I legitimately screenshot a description of Grand Marais and DM’d Ellie because it was so true. A road trip romance where Charley is trying to stop her sister’s last minute wedding and along the way she reconnects with her childhood friend and reevaluates her entire life. While I was laughing out loud at much of this book, there are still heavier topics and Charley finding herself and finding love again. This is not a book you will want to miss. It’ll be out August 5! & can we talk about this cover too? Obsessed. Thank you Putnam for the eARC!

Anywhere With You by Ellie Palmer is a perfect follow-up to her debut novel, Four Weekends and a Funeral. Readers will fall helplessly in love with Charley and Ethan as they embark on a road trip that challenges their friendship and sparks the possibility of something more. Their chemistry is undeniable, and the slow-burn romance keeps you hooked from start to finish.

Beyond the stellar love story, I was especially drawn to Charley’s relationship with her sister. Their dynamic—filled with both tension and deep affection—felt incredibly real. The way they navigate their shared childhood experiences, with moments of both humor and heartbreak, had me laughing and crying right along with them.

I highly recommend Anywhere With You to fans of the friends-to-lovers trope and to those who appreciate a heartfelt portrayal of sisterhood. Ellie Palmer delivers a story that’s as emotionally resonant as it is romantic.

One of the best friends-to-lovers romances I've ever read! Not only was Charley and Ethan's journey through northern Minnesota hilariously chaotic and epic, but the novel explored the weightier side of sibling dynamics, parental dysfunction, and finding the courage to live life how you want, not how you think you should. ANYWHERE WITH YOU will appeal to both longtime romance readers and the occasional fan.

This love story is so beautiful. Full of nostalgia, growth, laughs, and so much swooning!!! Ah! I'm obsessed.

Charley and Ethan are roadtripping to make sure her older sister doesn’t get married to her long time on/off again love. Charley is fresh from a divorce, she’s having some job drama, she’s got some bad views of love and relationships due to her parents marriage being less than ideal. Ethan is not great with commitment to women or to places. He travels a lot following the music scene, so he basically lives in his (very nice) van. These two have skated around feelings for each other throughout their friendship. Ethan is too important to Charley to ever loose him, and she’s certain he could never be a long term anything for her. And Ethan, Ethan!!!, he’s been in love with her for a very long time. Will this trip be the thing they both need most??

•romcom
•childhood friends to lovers
•roadtrip
•angst and so much flirting
•timeline jumps
•closed door spice
•he’s been pining for YEARS
•such good side characters

I loved this story so much. The nostalgia in the timeline jumps were so good!!! The way Ellie writes the feelings of being the new kid in a neighborhood and just immediately having friends and going on adventures with no judgements...it was perfect. I loved the flashbacks to college and how their feelings had grown overtime and how Charley felt she had to hold things back to hold onto this relationship that was so important to her. It built the emotion behind their connection so high for me. I loved Charley and Ethan so much. Ethan might just be a new crush! Top tier book boyfriends for sure.

Sinopsis en español:

Charley Beekman está prosperando. ¿Está limitada económicamente, languideciendo en su carrera legal y muy probablemente la divorciada más joven en Ruth's Chris Steakhouse un viernes por la noche? Sí. Pero, ahora que ha aceptado los defectos inherentes a todas las relaciones románticas, ¡finalmente tiene la vida resuelta! Definitivamente se le debe un repunte.

Así que cuando su hermana de espíritu libre anuncia su plan de fugarse con su desordenado novio de la infancia, Charley sabe que tiene que detener la boda, incluso si eso significa un viaje por carretera a los bosques del norte de Minnesota en una autocaravana con su mejor amigo de la infancia, Ethan, que es tan hermoso como él es crónicamente poco confiable.

Pero cuando su viaje acogedor enciende una chispa que ha tratado de ignorar durante años, Charley intenta descartar sus sentimientos como fugaces. Porque después de fracasar tan espectacularmente en el matrimonio con el hombre más responsable que haya conocido, Charley definitivamente no debería arriesgarlo todo por su mejor amiga no comprometida, nómada y músico... ¿verdad?



Reseña:


La sinopsis me atrajo, pero la historia no me encantó, fue lo suficientemente entretenido para que lo terminara, pero al final me quedé con la sensación de que faltó algo, que necesitaba que Ethan tuviera povs porque sino la historia queda como el típico siempre fuiste tú, pero prefirió salir con otras que enseñarle a Chaley que el la amaba y que valí la pena intentarlo.



Gracias NetGalley por el ARC.

Here's the thing...

Author's debut novel "Four Weekends and a Funeral" stood apart from all those other contemporary, romance novels.
It possessed a title, a riff on the classic movie starring Andie McDowell and Hugh Grant.
It possessed a unique plot/set up between the FMC and the MMC main interest.

The stay-the-course character vs. follow your dreams character path was in no way a unique one. Add in the switch from the past to a present narrative then back again was a bit stilted.

On the up side, the verbal throw down (so to speak) between Charley and Ethan was well done.

Co-worker Stacy's intentions were bit murky and as a reader, wasn't quite sure if her intentions were pure or there was a hidden agenda. Would have liked to see more development of the sisterly bond between Charley and Laurel before they make it to the campsite.

This ARC was provided by the publisher, PENGUIN GROUP Putnam | G.P. Putnam's Sons in exchange for an honest review.


#AnywhereWithYou #NetGalley

I loved Four Weekends and a Funeral and couldn't wait to read another book by Ellie Palmer. There was certainly no second book slump with this book! Palmer writes such developed characters and fantastic witty banter. Charley and Ethan's story is a joy to read and had me me laughing and swooning the whole time.

This was a super cute, swift paced, and quirky story that packed a surprising amount of depth and emotions.

While the book happens primarily over the course of a weekend, the relationships are given their gravity and importance over flashbacks throughout the story of the previous 14 years of friendships. Each of the four friends in this little found family go through their own personal evolution over the years of their friendship and grow as individuals, and as a group.

Charley is sweet and relatable as she struggles to work her way through her self-esteem, relationship, and abandonment issues she developed as a child resulting from her parents relationship with each other, and their children. As this is a large portion of the book, I think this novel leans a bit more toward women’s fiction and her personal journey than the romance between her and Ethan. While I absolutely love Ethan, I appreciated that while he was persistent and worked to bring down Charley’s walls, it was Charley herself who made the decision to take down her walls and allow herself to finally be vulnerable.
—
🎸 Romance & women’s fiction
🚐 Best friends to lovers
🎸 Road-trip
🚐 Lost & found friendships
🎸 Found families
🚐 Comedic travel disasters
🎸 It’s always been you
🚐 Absent parents
🎸 Songs about her
🚐 Secondary romance
🎸 Starting over
🚐 Life after divorce
🎸 Dual timelines
🚐 Single POV
📍Michigan, USA
—
Thank you Penguin Group Putnam | G.P. Putnam's Sons & NetGalley for this complimentary ARC - all thoughts are my own! 📚
Publishers release date 8/5/2025

This was such a cute rom com. I really enjoyed Charley and Ethan’s story! These two have so much history as best friends and it was painful at times reading about their journey back to eachother because I’m impatient and Charley needed to come to terms with changing her life plan. Charley’s journey is full of self discovery and learning spontaneity is ok was a major focal point of growth.

This story is single POV and dual timeline. The dual timeline is something I normally really don’t like, but it really helps you see why Charley is so adamant about predictability and all the little ways Ethan has fallen for Charley over the years!

Thank you to NetGalley and PENGUIN GROUP Putnam for a digital ARC of Anywhere With You.

I wanted to love this so bad, but something fell short and I can't put a finger on what it was. Her writing is top-notch, there's no doubt about that. But I didn't fall in love with the story or the characters. Her debut was amazing so I'll continue to read her work, but this was a miss for me.

this was fun!! it felt a little repetitive at times and i wish the dual timeline was explored more, but considering i went in expecting the nomad mmc to be unbearable i enjoyed it more than expected. definitely want to check out ellie palmer's other book. 3.5⭐️ - i received an ARC in exchange for an honest review!

Me gustó el libro anterior, pero este no tanto.

Charley y Ethan han sido amigos por años, se gustan, pero ambos quieren cosas diferentes de la vida: ella busca estabilidad, él libertad. Por eso, nunca han intentado ser algo más.
No se han visto en dos años, después de una pelea antes de la boda de ella. Ahora que está divorciada, cree que es el momento de recuperar su amistad, por lo que le pide ayuda para evitar que su hermana haga una locura. Durante el viaje, finalmente hablarán y decidirán si lo intentan o no.



~

La idea me gustó, pero al final no pude verlos como pareja. Hubiera sido necesario que Ethan tuviera povs, porque tal como está la historia, se siente forzada.

Ellie Palmer returns with another love letter to all things Minnesota and Midwest with Anywhere With You. This novel explores finding yourself, family, found family, best-self, and HOME. A warm hug in any season of the year.

ARC via NetGalley

Goodreads review

This was such a fun romp, a little silly and disastrous at times - but a good quick read!

What’s to love…
- childhood friends to lovers
- dual timeline
- strong friendships
- wonderful sister relationship
- relatable & flawed characters
- Great tension + banter
- a second bonus romance
- road trip + van life
- heavy emphasis on nonromantic relationships and self-discovery

What I didn’t love, but you might not mind…
- This leaned a little more women’s fiction than romance for me, which I don’t usually mind but I was in the mood for high tension and banter (something Ellie Palmer’s last book absolutely delivered on) - so this didn’t quite hit as well as I’d hoped. The romance is still lovely and I think Ethan is pretty perfect but I would have loved more focus on their relationship.
- On a similar note, I usually don’t mind single POV romance but I do think this would have greatly benefited from the MMCs point of view.
- I am personally not a fan of dual timeline - it’s 100% a me problem but I usually find its harder for books with a dual timeline to keep me engaged and this was certainly the case here.

Thank you NetGalley and Putnam for the eARC. All opinions are my own.

Thank you Netgalley for the ARC of this book.
I had a great time reading Ethan and Charley’s love story. I thought it played out naturally and felt genuine. Having the flashbacks really helped make us understand their friendship and how it grew and changed. They were clearly made for each other but it took a lot of work for both of them to get there. Charley’s sister was one of my favorite parts. Great character development.

I love the friends to lovers trope and have been on a romcom streak and this filled every box for me. I loved it and it was my first Ellie Palmer book. I loved charley and Ethan's story. The banter between them and the way some chapters gave a flashback of how charley and Ethan's relationship and friendship started gave you a sense of knowing them as if they were friends of yours.