THE ROAD TRIP
by Beth O'Leary ‧ RELEASE DATE: June 1, 2021
A second-chance romance shows the many potential pitfalls of road tripping.
Years after a tumultuous breakup, a young woman finds herself crammed into the same tiny car as her ex for a dayslong drive to a mutual friend’s wedding.
Addie and her sister, Deb, are excited to be road tripping from their home in England to rural Scotland for their friend Cherry’s wedding. They’ve planned the trip so perfectly that they don’t even mind transporting a work friend of Cherry’s, an overly apologetic fellow named Rodney. Unfortunately, only a few hours after they set out, they get rear-ended. It turns out the driver is none other than Dylan Abbott, the man Addie has spent two years trying to forget. Worse yet, the car Dylan was driving now needs a tow, leaving him and his best friend, Marcus, without transportation to the very same wedding. Before she can stop herself, Addie invites the men to ride along with her, Deb, and Rodney. Everyone piles into the Mini Cooper, and with each mile they drive, Addie and Dylan find themselves assaulted by memories and unresolved feelings. Meanwhile, the group dynamic, as a whole, is also less than perfect. As the journey progresses, the bickering between the passengers only escalates, creating a slew of awkward moments and surprising revelations. Told alternately from Addie's and Dylan’s perspectives, the novel shifts between “Then,” when they were falling in love, and “Now,” when they are grappling with their unresolved feelings. As a picture of the past begins to crystalize, the author deftly portrays the passion the couple once felt for each other. Unfortunately, other than the sexual chemistry, they seem to be missing a true emotional connection, rendering their potential reunion somewhat less exciting. After the initial flashback scenes, which are quite engaging, Dylan gradually reveals himself to be so self-involved and undirected that his shortcomings weaken the intrigue of his pining over Addie. More fun is watching the other passengers in the car battle against each other as they navigate the uncomfortable ride, squishing into tight spaces and arguing over every possible topic. Despite its unevenness, the story is full of fun: quirky behavior, witty Briticisms, and gleeful slapstick humor.
Pub Date: June 1, 2021
ISBN: 978-0-5933-3502-4
Page Count: 400
Publisher: Berkley
Review Posted Online: April 13, 2021
Kirkus Reviews Issue: May 1, 2021
FAMILY LIFE & FRIENDSHIP | GENERAL FICTION
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by Beth O'Leary
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New York Times Bestseller
by Kristin Hannah ‧ RELEASE DATE: Feb. 6, 2024
A dramatic, vividly detailed reconstruction of a little-known aspect of the Vietnam War.
A young woman’s experience as a nurse in Vietnam casts a deep shadow over her life.
When we learn that the farewell party in the opening scene is for Frances “Frankie” McGrath’s older brother—“a golden boy, a wild child who could make the hardest heart soften”—who is leaving to serve in Vietnam in 1966, we feel pretty certain that poor Finley McGrath is marked for death. Still, it’s a surprise when the fateful doorbell rings less than 20 pages later. His death inspires his sister to enlist as an Army nurse, and this turn of events is just the beginning of a roller coaster of a plot that’s impressive and engrossing if at times a bit formulaic. Hannah renders the experiences of the young women who served in Vietnam in all-encompassing detail. The first half of the book, set in gore-drenched hospital wards, mildewed dorm rooms, and boozy officers’ clubs, is an exciting read, tracking the transformation of virginal, uptight Frankie into a crack surgical nurse and woman of the world. Her tensely platonic romance with a married surgeon ends when his broken, unbreathing body is airlifted out by helicopter; she throws her pent-up passion into a wild affair with a soldier who happens to be her dead brother’s best friend. In the second part of the book, after the war, Frankie seems to experience every possible bad break. A drawback of the story is that none of the secondary characters in her life are fully three-dimensional: Her dismissive, chauvinistic father and tight-lipped, pill-popping mother, her fellow nurses, and her various love interests are more plot devices than people. You’ll wish you could have gone to Vegas and placed a bet on the ending—while it’s against all the odds, you’ll see it coming from a mile away.
Pub Date: Feb. 6, 2024
ISBN: 9781250178633
Page Count: 480
Publisher: St. Martin's
Review Posted Online: Nov. 4, 2023
Kirkus Reviews Issue: Dec. 1, 2023
FAMILY LIFE & FRIENDSHIP | GENERAL FICTION | HISTORICAL FICTION
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by Kristin Hannah
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PERSPECTIVES
BOOK TO SCREEN
HOME IS WHERE THE BODIES ARE
by Jeneva Rose ‧ RELEASE DATE: April 30, 2024
Answers are hard to come by in this twisting tale designed to trick and delight.
Three siblings on very different paths learn that their family home may be haunted by secrets.
Eldest daughter Beth is alone with her fading mother as she takes her final breath and says something about Beth’s long-departed brother and sister, who may not have disappeared forever. Beth is still reeling from the loss of her mother when her estranged siblings show up. Michael, the youngest, hasn’t been home since their father’s disappearance seven years ago. In the meantime, he’s outgrown his siblings, trading his share of the family troubles for a high-paying job in San Jose. Nicole, the middle child, has been overpowered by addiction and prioritized tuning out reality over any sense of responsibility, much to Beth’s disgust. Though their mother’s death marks an ending for the family, it’s also a beginning, as the three siblings realize when they find a disturbing videotape among their parents’ belongings. The video, from 1999, sheds suspicion on their father’s disappearance, linking it to a long-unsolved neighborhood mystery. Was it just a series of unfortunate circumstances that broke the family apart, or does something more sinister underlie the sadness they’ve all found in life? In chapters that rotate among the family’s first-person narratives, the siblings take turns digging up stories and secrets in their search for solace.
Pub Date: April 30, 2024
ISBN: 9798212182843
Page Count: 270
Publisher: Blackstone
Review Posted Online: Feb. 3, 2024
Kirkus Reviews Issue: March 1, 2024
SUSPENSE | THRILLER | FAMILY LIFE & FRIENDSHIP | SUSPENSE | GENERAL & DOMESTIC THRILLER | GENERAL THRILLER & SUSPENSE
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by Jeneva Rose
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The Road Trip
By: Beth O'Leary
- Narrated by: Josh Dylan , Eleanor Tomlinson
- Length: 10 hrs and 15 mins
- 4.2 out of 5 stars 4.2 (958 ratings)
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Publisher's summary
Two exes reach a new level of awkward when forced to take a road trip together in this endearing and humorous novel by the author of the international best seller The Flatshare .
What if the end of the road is just the beginning?
Four years ago, Dylan and Addie fell in love under the Provence sun. Wealthy Oxford student Dylan was staying at his friend Cherry’s enormous French villa; wild child Addie was spending her summer as the on-site caretaker. Two years ago, their relationship officially ended. They haven’t spoken since.
Today, Dylan’s and Addie’s lives collide again. It’s the day before Cherry’s wedding, and Addie and Dylan crash cars at the start of the journey there. The car Dylan was driving is wrecked, and the wedding is in rural Scotland - he’ll never get there on time by public transport.
So, along with Dylan’s best friend, Addie’s sister, and a random guy on Facebook who needed a ride, they squeeze into a space-challenged Mini and set off across Britain. Cramped into the same space, Dylan and Addie are forced to confront the choices they made that tore them apart - and ask themselves whether that final decision was the right one after all.
- Unabridged Audiobook
- Categories: Literature & Fiction
Critic reviews
"THIS BOOK IS PERFECT.” (Rosie Walsh, best-selling author of Ghosted )
“As with her surprise hit, The Flatshare , O’Leary expertly balances humor and heart while introducing a zany cast of 20-somethings.... Readers won’t want this crazy road trip to end.” ( Publishers Weekly )
" The Road Trip is a humorous yet deeply moving journey toward confronting the past, forgiveness, and reconciliation, with a poignant detour to a summer of young love in Provence. I loved the vivid cast and the depth and intimacy in O’Leary’s writing.” (Helen Hoang, USA Today best-selling author)
Featured Article: Hit the Open Highway with the 40+ Best Road Trip Listens for Your Next Journey
It takes more than great storytelling to be the right fit for each type of road trip. What works for a cross-country adventure may not be quite right for a quick day trip. What you listen to with your significant other may not be (read: is definitely not) the same as what you listen to with a carload of kids. And when driving solo, sometimes what you want is a little company. No matter what kind of journey you have coming up, we’ve got you covered.
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Meet Rachel, the beautiful bride with big plans for the perfect day! The venue is a castle and the dress is designer. It’s just a shame her husband is a rat. Maddie and Sally have only one thing in common - they both love the same man! Beth is a newly single mum with a mystery baby daddy. Surely the father isn’t someone the girls all know? And then there’s Jane, the glue holding them all together, but being dumped doesn’t make her the happiest bridesmaid...especially with gorgeous flatmate Freddie complicating things.
We Are All Made of Stars
By: Rowan Coleman
- Narrated by: Ben Allen, Avita Jay
- Length: 11 hrs and 33 mins
- Overall 4.5 out of 5 stars 58
- Performance 4.5 out of 5 stars 54
- Story 4.5 out of 5 stars 54
We Are All Made of Stars is an unforgettable story about second chances, the power of words, and the resilience of the heart.
An All-Around 5 Stars!!
- By Trosado on 02-28-20
Crown Jewels
By: Ella James
- Narrated by: J.F. Harding, Aubrey Vincent
- Overall 4.5 out of 5 stars 528
- Performance 4.5 out of 5 stars 495
- Story 4.5 out of 5 stars 493
After that close-up of his package on the sailboat in Morocco, TMZ started calling him Crown Jewels. Not that I keep track of Prince Liam. Definitely don’t stalk him online like my friends do. I’m out of that scene now. My family’s reality show might still be running, but I’ve been off-screen for a while. When people pass me on the sidewalk, they might squint, but most of them don’t scream “Lucy Rhodes” and ask about my love of Lucky Charms or how my broken toe healed. Prince Liam - my stalking his Instagram - that’s just for fun. It’s my dirty little secret.
Good mystery throughout...
- By AMSullivan1077 on 03-28-19
Love Your Life
By: Sophie Kinsella
- Narrated by: Fiona Hardingham
- Length: 11 hrs and 26 mins
- Overall 4 out of 5 stars 921
- Performance 4.5 out of 5 stars 809
- Story 4 out of 5 stars 808
Ava thinks love should be found in the real world, not on apps that filter men by height, job, or astrological sign. She believes in feelings, not algorithms. So after a recent breakup and dating app debacle, she decides to put love on hold and escapes to a remote writers' retreat in coastal Italy. At the retreat, she's not allowed to use her real name or reveal any personal information. When the neighboring martial arts retreat is canceled and a few of its attendees join their small writing community, Ava, now going by "Aria", meets "Dutch", a man who seems too good to be true.
Coming from a huge fan, this one is a miss
- By Cat D on 11-06-20
Secret Smile
By: Nicci French
- Narrated by: Anne Flosnik
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- Overall 4 out of 5 stars 60
- Performance 4.5 out of 5 stars 50
- Story 4 out of 5 stars 51
Miranda's sister Kerri has a new boyfriend. He's a handsome charmer who seems to dote on Kerri. But Brendan isn't the man he says he is. Miranda should know. She broke off her own affair with him just a few weeks ago when she found him reading her diary.
I want my 9 hours back
- By Ashley on 07-19-23
The Brightest Star in the Sky
By: Marian Keyes
- Narrated by: Caitriona Keyes
- Length: 17 hrs and 49 mins
- Overall 4 out of 5 stars 134
- Performance 4 out of 5 stars 75
- Story 4 out of 5 stars 78
The Brightest Star in the Sky follows seven neighbors whose lives become entangled when a sassy and prescient spirit pays a visit to their Dublin townhouse with the intent of changing at least one of their lives. But what will this metamorphosis be and who will the sprite choose?
Terrible sound quality, worse narration
- By Jan on 02-23-10
Make or Break
By: Catherine Bennetto
- Narrated by: Anna Acton
- Length: 11 hrs and 23 mins
- Overall 4.5 out of 5 stars 287
- Performance 4.5 out of 5 stars 265
- Story 4.5 out of 5 stars 263
Jess, a 29-year-old Londoner with a Kate Beckett fringe and a tendency for dramatics, gets taken on a surprise trip by her long-term boyfriend, Pete, to attend her best friend’s last-minute wedding in South Africa. Jess imagines sun, sand, wine and safaris. And returning to London with an ethically mined diamond on her left hand... But this holiday isn’t set to be quite the fairy tale Jess has planned. Suddenly she finds her world tilting on its axis, and things are only set to get worse when Jess returns home....
Excruciating. Save yourself.
- By Kristyn Rose on 05-11-19
Falling Together
By: Marisa de los Santos
- Narrated by: Julia Gibson
- Length: 14 hrs and 18 mins
- Overall 4 out of 5 stars 141
- Performance 4 out of 5 stars 120
- Story 4 out of 5 stars 121
It’s been six years since Pen Calloway watched her best friends walk out of her life. And through the birth of her daughter, the death of her father, and the vicissitudes of single motherhood, she has never stopped missing them. Pen, Cat, and Will met on their first day of college and formed what seemed like a magical and lifelong bond, only to see their friendship break apart amid the realities of adulthood. When, after years of silence, Cat - the bewitching, charismatic center of their group - e-mails Pen and Will with an urgent request to meet at their college reunion, they can’t refuse.
Narrator's breathy voice a turn off
- By Amy on 10-16-11
When You're Gone
By: Brooke Harris
- Narrated by: Aoife McMahon, Grainne Gillis
- Length: 11 hrs and 31 mins
- Overall 4.5 out of 5 stars 41
- Performance 4.5 out of 5 stars 30
- Story 4 out of 5 stars 29
1958: In a small town like Athenry, people talk. Everyone’s noticed that the injury which stopped Annie Fagan’s father from working doesn’t prevent him from hitting his wife. But a man’s home is his castle, and no one is going to intervene. Until Annie runs into Arthur ‘Sketch’ Talbot. Sketch is determined to help Annie, and the two soon fall in love. But Annie’s father won’t give his daughter up lightly, and Sketch’s attempts to save her will have devastating consequences....
Twists and turns
- By Karen Gearheart on 09-10-19
Tell Me Everything
By: Cambria Brockman
- Narrated by: Ariadne Meyers
- Length: 12 hrs and 40 mins
- Overall 4 out of 5 stars 185
- Performance 4 out of 5 stars 172
- Story 4 out of 5 stars 172
In her first weeks at Hawthorne College, Malin is swept up into a tight-knit circle that will stick together through all four years. There’s Gemma, an insecure theater major from London; John, a tall, handsome, wealthy New Englander; Max, John’s cousin, a shy pre-med major; Khaled, a wisecracking prince from Abu Dhabi; and Ruby, a beautiful art history major. But Malin isn’t like the rest of her friends. She’s an expert at hiding her troubled past - all while using her extraordinary insight to detect their deepest vulnerabilities and weaknesses.
- By keith y. on 10-03-19
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Poor man’s version of Lonely Planet guidebooks
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What listeners say about The Road Trip
- 4 out of 5 stars 4.2 out of 5.0
- 5 Stars 489
- 4 Stars 244
- 3 Stars 149
- 4.5 out of 5 stars 4.6 out of 5.0
- 5 Stars 626
- 4 Stars 143
- 4 out of 5 stars 4.1 out of 5.0
- 5 Stars 404
- 4 Stars 217
- 3 Stars 140
Reviews - Please select the tabs below to change the source of reviews.
Audible.com reviews, amazon reviews.
- Overall 5 out of 5 stars
- Performance 5 out of 5 stars
- Story 5 out of 5 stars
loved the cadence of the book and the way the author wrote it so I could feel the emotions. brilliant narrators too. they both did an excellent job with the different voices. would highly recommend this book and the author.
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- Story 4 out of 5 stars
Good Story, Rough Story
Beth is a great storyteller. I enjoy her writing very much. This story was rough with flawed characters and bits of humor sprinkled in. People are flawed and I am glad Beth shared this story with us. It did take me a bit to get used to the then and now jumps, especially in audio but it worked. Thank you Beth.
- Overall 4 out of 5 stars
lovely story of growing up and 2nd chances
This book is brilliantly narrated. The fears/vices quite relatable. The humor was timely. And the specifically unique characters, memorable. I am charmed.
Easy going read
Liked the way this story came together with a few surprises along the way. Great narrator.
Lovely story
I felt this was a lovely story, with blooming love and life challenges. A few funny parts. I know some reviewers had trouble with the back and forth in time but it was fine for me. The narrators are the stars here though. They read the story beautifully.
1 person found this helpful
- Amazon Customer
great story.
this one was perfect. one of those stories you never want to end. narration was spot on.
- Overall 3 out of 5 stars
- Performance 4 out of 5 stars
- Story 3 out of 5 stars
Angstier than expected
I loved The Flatshare so much so I had high expectations for this one. Sadly I didn’t find The Road Trip as charming. Listening to it while on a long road trip myself might not have been the best idea. The characters just sounded so immature and a couple of them are downright unlikeable. The narration is competent but not as special as the other book I read by Ms. O’Leary.
- Jena German
great listen!!
listened while gardening and while working on a project for work. kept my attention, comical, good storyline
Beth O'Leary's...
books are not a typical meet cute because they have an interesting twists to them. very enjoyable
Not The Flatshare but still good
Not as enjoyable or funny as TFS, but still a well-written, thought-provoking, suspenseful romance.
2 people found this helpful
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The Road Trip Paperback – 1 Jun. 2021
So, along with Dylan's best friend, Addie's sister, and a random guy on Facebook who needed a ride, they squeeze into a space-challenged Mini and set off across Britain. Cramped into the same space, Dylan and Addie are forced to confront the choices they made that tore them apart--and ask themselves whether that final decision was the right one after all.
- Print length 400 pages
- Language English
- Publisher Berkley Books
- Publication date 1 Jun. 2021
- Dimensions 13.97 x 2.64 x 20.96 cm
- ISBN-10 0593335023
- ISBN-13 978-0593335024
- See all details
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Product description
"O'Leary is a brilliant social observer and a fearless, diabolical plotter... It's an intense romance with a wildly wicked sense of humor..."--BookPage
About the Author
Excerpt. © reprinted by permission. all rights reserved..
"The road of friendship never did run smooth, is what I'm saying," Marcus tells me, fidgeting with his seat belt."
This is my first experience of a heartfelt apology from Marcus, and so far it has involved six clichŽs, two butchered literary references and no eye contact. The word sorry did feature, but it was preceded by I'm not very good at saying, which somewhat undermined its sincerity.
I shift up a gear. "Isn't it the course of true love that never runs smooth? A Midsummer Night's Dream, I believe."
We're by the twenty-four-hour Tesco. It's half past four in the morning, the air thick with duvet-darkness, but the bland yellow light from the shop illuminates the three people in the car in front as if they've just moved into a spotlight. We're close behind them, both following the slow, rattling path of a lorry ahead.
For a flash of a second I see the driver's face in the rearview mirror. She reminds me of Addie-if you think about someone enough, you start to see them everywhere.
Marcus huffs. "I'm talking about my feelings, Dylan. This is agony. Please get your head out of your arse so that you can actually listen."
I smile at that. "All right. I'm listening."
I drive on, past the bakery. The eyes of the driver in front are lit again in the mirror, her eyebrows slightly raised behind squarish glasses.
"I'm just saying, we hit some bumps, I get that, and I didn't handle things well, and that's-that's really unfortunate that that happened."
Astonishing, really, the linguistic knots in which he will tie himself to avoid a simple I'm sorry. I stay silent. Marcus coughs and fidgets some more, and I almost take pity and tell him it's all right, he doesn't have to say it if he's not ready, but as we idle past the bookie's another flash of light hits the car in front and Marcus is forgotten. The driver has wound the window down, and she's stretched an arm out, gripping the roof of the car. Her wrist is looped with bracelets, glimmering silver-red in the car lights' glare. The gesture is so achingly familiar-the arm, slender and pale, the assertion of it, and those bracelets, the round, childish beads stacked up her wrist. I'd know them anywhere. My heart jolts like I've missed a step because it is her, it's Addie, her eyes meeting mine in the rearview mirror.
And then Marcus screams.
Earlier, Marcus gave a similarly horrified scream when we passed a Greggs advertising vegan sausage rolls, so I don't react as fast as I perhaps otherwise would. As the car in front stops sharply, and I fail to hit the brakes on the seventy-thousand-quid Mercedes that belongs to Marcus's father, I have just enough time to regret this.
My head whips up so fast my glasses go flying backward off my ears and over the headrest. Someone screams. Oww, fuck-a pain shoots up my neck, and all I'm thinking is God, what did I do? Did I hit something?
"Shit the bed," Deb says beside me. "Are you all right?"
I fumble for my glasses. They're not there, obviously.
"What the hell just happened?" I manage.
My shaking hands go to the steering wheel, then the handbrake, then the rearview mirror. Getting my bearings.
I see him in the mirror. A little blurred without my glasses. A little unreal. It's him, though, no question. He's so familiar that for a moment I feel like I'm looking at my own reflection. Suddenly my heart's beating like it's shoving for space.
Deb's getting out of the car. Ahead, the bin lorry moves off and its headlights catch the tail of the fox they braked for. It's moving onto the pavement at a saunter. Slowly, the scene pieces itself together: lorry stops for fox, I stop for lorry and behind me Dylan doesn't stop at all. Then-bang.
I look back at Dylan in the mirror; he's still looking at me. Everything seems to slow or quieten or fade, like someone's dialed the world down.
I haven't seen Dylan for twenty months. He should have changed somehow. Everything else has. But even from here, even in half darkness, I know the exact line of his nose, his long eyelashes, his snakeskin yellow-green eyes. I know those eyes will be as wide and shocked as they were when he left me.
"Well," my sister says. "The Mini's done us proud."
The Mini. The car. Everything comes rushing back in and I unclick my seat belt. It takes three goes. My hands are shaking. When I next glance at the rearview mirror my eyes focus on the foreground instead of the background and there's Rodney, crouched forward on our backseat with his hands over his head and his nose touching his knees.
Shit. I forgot all about Rodney.
"Are you all right?" I ask him, just as Deb says, "Addie? Are you OK?" She pokes her head back in the car, then grimaces. "Your neck hurting too?"
"Yeah," I say, because as soon as she asks I realize it does, loads.
"Gosh," Rodney says, tentatively shifting out of the brace position. "What happened?"
Rodney posted on the "Cherry & Krish Are Getting Hitched" Facebook group yesterday evening asking for a lift to the wedding from the Chichester area. Nobody else replied, so Deb and I took pity. All I know about Rodney is that he has a Weetabix On The Go for breakfast, he's always hunching and his T-shirt says, I keep pressing Esc but I'm still here, but I think I've pretty much got the gist.
"Some arsehole in a Mercedes went into the back of us," Deb tells him, straightening up to look at the car behind again.
"Deb . . ." I say.
"I think that's Dylan. In that car."
She scrunches up her nose, ducking down to see me again. "Dylan Abbott?"
I swallow. "Yeah."
I risk a glance over my shoulder. My neck protests. It's then that I notice the man stepping out of the Mercedes passenger seat. Slim-built and ghostly pale in the dark street, his curly hair just catching the light of the shopfronts behind him. There goes my heart again, beating way too fast.
"He's with Marcus," I say.
"Marcus?" Deb says, eyes going wide.
"Yeah. Oh, God." This is awful. What am I meant to do now? Something about insurance? "Is the car OK?" I ask.
I climb out just as Dylan gets out of the Mercedes. He's dressed in a white tee and chino shorts with battered boat shoes on his feet. There's a carabiner on his belt loop, disappearing into his pocket. It was my idea, that, to stop him always losing his keys.
He steps forward into the path of the Mercedes' headlights. He looks so handsome it aches in my chest. Seeing him is even harder than I expected it to be. I want to do everything at once: run to him, run away, curl up, cry. And beneath all that I have this totally ridiculous feeling that someone's messed up, like something didn't get filed when it should have up there in the universe, because I was supposed to see Dylan this weekend, for the first time in almost two years, but it should have been at the wedding.
"Addie?" he says.
"Dylan," I manage.
"Did a Mini really just total my dad's Mercedes?" says Marcus.
My hand goes self-consciously to my fringe. No makeup, scruffy overalls, no mousse in my hair. I've spent bloody months planning the outfit I was supposed to be wearing when I saw Dylan again, and this was not it. But he doesn't scan me up and down, doesn't even seem to clock my new hair color-he meets my gaze and holds it. I feel like the whole world just stumbled and had to catch its breath.
"Fuck me," says Marcus. "A Mini! The indignity of it!"
"What the hell?" Deb says. "What were you doing? You just drove into the back of us!"
Dylan looks around in bewilderment. I pull myself together.
"Is anyone hurt?" I ask, rubbing my aching neck. "Rodney?"
"Who?" says Marcus.
"I'm OK!" calls Rodney, who's still in the backseat of the car.
Deb helps him climb out. I should have done that. My brain feels kind of scrambled.
"Shit," says Dylan, finally registering the crumpled bumper of the Mercedes. "Sorry, Marcus."
"Oh, mate, honestly, don't worry about it," Marcus says. "Do you know how many times I've totaled one of my dad's cars? He won't even notice."
I step forward and check out the back of Deb's battered Mini. It's actually not looking too bad-that bang was so loud I would've assumed something serious had fallen off. Like a wheel.
Before I've registered what she's doing, Deb's in the driving seat, starting the engine again.
"She's all good!" she says. "What a car. Best money I ever spent." She drives forward a little, up onto the curb, and hits the hazard lights.
Dylan's back in the Mercedes, rifling through the glove box. He and Marcus talk about roadside accident assist, Marcus forwards him an e-mail off his phone and I think to myself . . . that's it, Dylan's hair's shorter. That's what it is. I know I should be thinking about this whole car crash thing but all I'm doing is playing a game of spot-the-difference, looking at Dylan and going, What's missing? What's new?
His eyes flick to mine again. I go hot. There's something about Dylan's eyes-they kind of catch you up, like cobweb. I force myself to look away.
"So . . . you're on your way to Cherry's wedding, I'm guessing?" I say to Marcus. My voice shakes. I can't look at him. I'm suddenly thankful for the dented rear bumper to examine on the Mini.
"Well, we were," Marcus drawls, eyeing the Mercedes. Maybe he can't bring himself to look at me either. "But there's no way we're driving this baby four hundred miles now. It needs to get to a garage. Yours should too."
Deb makes a dismissive noise, already out of the car again and rubbing a scratch with the sleeve of her ratty old hoody. "Ah, she's fine," she says, opening and closing the boot experimentally. "Dented, that's all."
"Marcus, it's going ballistic," Dylan calls.
I can see the Mercedes' screen flashing warning lights even from here. The hazards are too bright. I turn my face away. Isn't it typical that when Marcus's car breaks, Dylan's the one sorting it?
"The tow will be here in thirty minutes to take it to the garage," Dylan says.
"Thirty minutes?" Deb says, disbelieving.
"All part of the service," Marcus tells her, pointing to the car. "Mercedes, darling."
"It's Deb. Not darling. We've met several times before."
"Sure. I remember," Marcus says lightly. Not very convincing.
I can feel Dylan's eyes pulling at me as we all try to get the insurance stuff sorted. I'm fumbling around with my phone, Deb's digging in the glove box for paperwork and all the while I'm so aware of Dylan, like he's taking up ten times more space than everyone else.
"And how are we getting to the wedding?" Marcus asks once we're done.
"We'll just get public transport," Dylan says.
"Public transport?" Marcus says, as though someone's just suggested he get to Cherry's wedding by toboggan. Still a bit of a wanker, then, Marcus. No surprises there.
Rodney clears his throat. He's leaning against the side of the Mini, eyes fixed on his phone. I feel bad-I keep forgetting him. Right now my brain doesn't have room for Rodney.
"If you set off now," he says, "then according to Google you would arrive . . . at thirteen minutes past two."
Marcus checks his watch.
"All right," says Dylan. "That's fine."
"On Tuesday," Rodney finishes.
"What?" chorus Dylan and Marcus.
Rodney pulls an apologetic face. "It's half past four in the morning on a Sunday on a bank holiday weekend and you're trying to get from Chichester to rural Scotland."
Marcus throws his hands in the air. "This country is a shambles."
Deb and I look at each other. No, no no no-
"Let's go," I say, moving for the Mini. "Will you drive?"
"Addie . . ." Deb begins as I climb into the passenger seat.
"Where do you think you're going?" calls Marcus.
I slam the car door.
"Hey!" Marcus says as Deb gets into the driver's seat. "You have to take us to the wedding!"
"No," I say to Deb. "Ignore him. Rodney! Get in!"
Rodney obliges. Which is kind. I really don't know the man well enough to yell at him.
"What the fuck? Addie. Come on. If you don't drive us, we won't get there in time," Marcus says.
He's by my window now. He knocks on the glass with the back of his knuckles. I don't roll it down.
"Addie, come on! Christ, surely you owe Dylan a favor."
Dylan says something to Marcus. I don't catch it.
"God, he's an arse," Deb says with a frown.
I close my eyes.
"Do you think you can do it?" Deb asks me. "Give them a lift?"
"No. Not-not both of them."
"Then ignore him. Let's just go."
Marcus taps on the window again. I clench my teeth, neck still aching, and keep my eyes straight ahead.
"Our road trip was meant to be fun," I say.
This is Deb's first weekend away from her baby boy, Riley. It's all we've talked about for months. She's planned every stop-off, every snack.
"It would still be fun," Deb says.
"We don't have room," I try.
"I can squeeze up!" Rodney says.
I'm really going off Rodney.
"It's such a long journey, Deb," I say, pressing my fists to my eyes. "Hours and hours stuck in the same car with Dylan. I've spent almost two years tiptoeing around Chichester trying not to bump into this man for even a second, let alone eight hours."
"I'm not saying do it," Deb points out. "I'm saying let's go."
Dylan has moved the Mercedes to somewhere safer to wait for the tow. I turn in my seat just as he's getting out of the car again, all lean, scruffy, almost-six-feet of him.
I know as soon as our eyes meet that I'm not going to leave him here.
He knows it too. I'm sorry, he mouths at me.
If I had a pound for every time Dylan Abbott's told me he's sorry, I'd be rich enough to buy that Mercedes.
Sometimes a poem arrives almost whole, as if someone's dropped it at my feet like a dog playing fetch. As I climb into the back of Deb's car and catch the achingly familiar edge of Addie's perfume, two and a half lines come to me in a split second. Unchanged and changed / Eyes trained on mine / And I'm-
Product details
- Publisher : Berkley Books (1 Jun. 2021)
- Language : English
- Paperback : 400 pages
- ISBN-10 : 0593335023
- ISBN-13 : 978-0593335024
- Dimensions : 13.97 x 2.64 x 20.96 cm
- 27,109 in Romantic Comedy (Books)
- 62,121 in Women Writers & Fiction
- 110,071 in Contemporary Romance (Books)
About the author
Beth o'leary.
Beth is a Sunday Times bestselling author whose novels have been translated into more than thirty languages. Her debut, The Flatshare, sold over a million copies and is now a major TV series. Her subsequent novels, The Switch, The Road Trip, The No-Show and The Wake-Up Call, were all instant bestsellers. Beth writes her books in the Hampshire countryside with a very badly behaved Golden Retriever for company. If she's not at her desk, you'll usually find her curled up somewhere with a book, a cup of tea and several woolly jumpers (whatever the weather).
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Dear Author
Romance, Historical, Contemporary, Paranormal, Young Adult, Book reviews, industry news, and commentary from a reader's point of view
REVIEW: The Road Trip by Beth O’Leary
Two exes reach a new level of awkward when forced to take a road trip together in this endearing and humorous novel by the author of the international bestseller The Flatshare. What if the end of the road is just the beginning? Four years ago, Dylan and Addie fell in love under the Provence sun. Wealthy Oxford student Dylan was staying at his friend Cherry’s enormous French villa; wild child Addie was spending her summer as the on-site caretaker. Two years ago, their relationship officially ended. They haven’t spoken since. Today, Dylan’s and Addie’s lives collide again. It’s the day before Cherry’s wedding, and Addie and Dylan crash cars at the start of the journey there. The car Dylan was driving is wrecked, and the wedding is in rural Scotland—he’ll never get there on time by public transport. So, along with Dylan’s best friend, Addie’s sister, and a random guy on Facebook who needed a ride, they squeeze into a space-challenged Mini and set off across Britain. Cramped into the same space, Dylan and Addie are forced to confront the choices they made that tore them apart—and ask themselves whether that final decision was the right one after all.
CW/TW – depression, addiction, stalking, attempted sexual assault
Dear Ms. O’Leary,
After hearing all about the first two books, I was excited to finally try one of your novels. Several of our other reviewers had great things to say about them and this blurb looked enticing. Though I thought I was going to get nothing but rom-com, the story is actually an examination of why insta-love is an iffy way to start a relationship, toxic friendships all crossed with a road trip from hell, more than a bit of introspection and laced with comedic touches.
Via the dual timeline, the love and loss suffered by very posh Dylan and not-posh Addie is told. The two meet one lovely summer in Provence while Addie (and sometimes her sister, Deb) is looking after her uni roommate’s parents’ estate. Dylan appears, the two begin to spend time together and a week later, love is in the air. But when Dylan’s best friend (the slightly unhinged) Marcus arrives along with several of their other very posh buddies, Addie begins to worry that she’s not really in his social class. How can romantic, poetry writing, Oxford educated Dylan (who actually understands “The Fairy Queen”) truly love someone like average, school teacher-to-be Addie who was mainly trying on a persona over the summer?
Time passed, love flourished but dark storm clouds threatened their epic romance. Somehow it all came crashing down so badly that they haven’t spoken in almost two years. Then fate thrust them back together – along with a motley crew of people who sorta know what happened – on bank holiday packed roads as they journeyed to a wedding. Will the whole truth finally emerge, will they make it on time to the wedding, and is there a chance that somehow things can be made right again?
There is so much more to this story than romance or love. There are class differences, self discovery, deep reflection, toxic parent/child relationships, wonderful parent/child relationships, an absolute no-fucks given sibling, homophobia, homophila, breast pumps, google mapping, traffic jams, idyllic French countryside frolicking, gap year wandering, a crammed motel room, revelations, a stalker, a castle, and country music.
Romance and laughter might get the book started but it’s soon obvious that whatever happened was dark, painful, and has scarred Addie and Dylan. The lead up is so easy and unobtrusive that this is a rare time that I was not rolling my eyes as yet another heavy hint gets dropped per chapter and I realize from early on what happened. No, this is subtle and shows how even the greatest and deepest love sometimes has to weather storms and people who think they know best and that not all people who are deeply in love can communicate worth a damn. We must see what brought Addie and Dylan together in order to understand how and why the breakup was as painful as it was. The revelation, when it arrives, is gut punching in many ways. The insights about this that arrive later are ones that needed time, therapy, and effort to be reached.
Along the way to the wedding in Scotland, Dylan begins composing a poem with the line “Unchanged but changed” which perfectly describes both he and Addie. This is something I was delighted to see taken out of the box, shaken to get the wrinkles out, then discussed. Dylan and Addie immediately realize that the feelings are still there – both the good and the bad. They remember little things they shared and often find themselves glancing at the other when something amuses or annoys them. They’re still sympatico. And yet … some things are different. Some things have changed and before any future plans are made, these are talked about. Therapy is talked about and it isn’t just Dylan and Addie who have gotten it. Still, thinking back, there were so many times when Dylan irritated me – the way he was led by everyone he knew and how so many times he wouldn’t stick up for Addie. She is the one who makes the most accommodations and compromises to keep their relationship going, IMO.
And yet, I was giggling and laughing at the bizarre assortment of people crammed in that mini and the snarky ways, at times, they interact. Kevin the Truck Driver was a great addition to the crew and the wedding is one for the ages. At times however, the actions of some of the characters made me want to shake them. Pill popping, massive drinking, out of control partying and other antics of the posh 1% are things I don’t like and don’t want to try and understand. Get over your privileged selves. By the current section, Dylan has apparently discovered self control and economizing when his rich parents cut off his access to the cash.
This is not a light and fluffy book as some characters are dark and or troubled. They are well written characters but not all ones whom people will like or cheer for. There are toxic relationships some of which I didn’t want to see continued but then, life is full of this. At one point, Dylan does finally offer a bit of insight into why he continues to hang out with one person and given how his father has always treated him, it makes sense. Other relationships are delightful such as Addie and her take-no-prisoners sister Deb and there’s one I didn’t expect involving another female friend of Dylan’s. The alternate POVs chapters assure that we, if not the other MC, know what is going on but at times Dylan and Addie’s voices read as “same same” to me making me have to double check who was relating the chapter.
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Another long time reader who read romance novels in her teens, then took a long break before started back again about 25 years ago. She enjoys historical romance/fiction best, likes contemporaries, action- adventure and mysteries, will read suspense if there's no TSTL characters and is currently reading more fantasy and SciFi.
Looking forward to reading this, after enjoying the author’s first 2 books. I’ve read some reviews that complained because this one isn’t as light and fluffy as the others. That seems like a weird reason for a negative review. Beth O’Leary obviously doesn’t want to write the same book every time and I think it’s admirable that she is trying to grow as an author. Maybe blame the publisher if the blurb is misleading…?
Like SusanS, I’m also looking forward to reading this. I very much enjoyed the author’s first book but only sampled her second.
@ SusanS : I guess it’s readers wanting an author to “write the same thing but different.” These cartoon covers don’t help either as, to me, that signals “light and fluffy.” But then that’s been an issue for me with a lot of books in the past few months that are blurbed as “cute romcoms” but end up having much darker issues.
ETA: One recent book I was amused by the conflicting reviews of is “The Hail Mary Project.” Some reviewers were angry because it was exactly like “The Martian” and others were angry because it wasn’t anything like “The Martian.”
@ Kareni : Since I haven’t read either, I’d love to know what you think of this one and how it compares to “Flatshare.”
I’ve been looking forward to reading this book. Your review is great, it sounds like this is a bit deeper than a lot of Romcoms. Thanks.
Jennie and I have a joint review of this one planned, so I’m going to refrain from reading your post until we have it drafted. I’ll come back and read it then. But from looking at the grade I can say that you liked the book much better than I did.
@ Janine Ballard : Did having read her other two books influence how you feel about this one? There were some things that could have gone either way with me and perhaps went the other way with you.
@ Jayne : I don’t think so, except inasmuch as that The Flatshare was so good and it’s always a bummer when an author doesn’t live up to her full potential. But my biggest issues were that I thought the book was misconceived, that the characters’ motivations didn’t make enough sense, and that I hated Dylan.
About the angst, though, I will say this: I love emotional books, but here I felt that the humor and angst were not properly balanced. The present-day trip to the wedding was frequently funny and had an almost lighthearted tone while the flashbacks were where most of the angst was. It didn’t mesh well that their, and even more, the reader’s emotions would be so markedly different during the trip, even though the past was so heavy and was still with them/us. The book felt lopsided because of that and the jumps back and forth were jarring.
And now I must shut up so I can save some thoughts for the review.
Just popping in to say that I *knew* Janine was going to have problems with this book (as did I, but well…okay, I guess we’ll wait for the review).
@ Jennie : LOL. You know me well.
I listened to The Flatshare and loved it but I wouldn’t describe it as light and fluffy. I wouldn’t describe it as angsty either but it does deal with some heavier topics, particularly how Tiffy was gaslit by her horrible ex, Justin. I didn’t read the second book but after your review I’m thinking I might listen to this one.
@ Janine : Looking forward to your review. I don’t think I would consider the book to be misconceived, but I hated Dylan too. Swing and a miss for me.
@ SusanS : Sorry, I missed this before. Our review turned out looooooong and will be posted in two parts, most likely on Wednesday and Thursday.
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Read, review & discuss, the road trip by beth o’leary: book review.
The Road Trip
By Beth O’Leary
ISBN # 9781529409055
Author’s Website: www.betholearyauthor.com
Brought to you by OBS reviewer Omar
SPOILERS!!!
Addie and her sister are about to embark on an epic road trip to a friend’s wedding in the north of Scotland. The playlist is all planned and the snacks are packed.
But, not long after setting off, a car slams into the back of theirs. The driver is none other than Addie’s ex, Dylan, who she’s avoided since their traumatic break-up two years earlier.
Dylan and his best mate are heading to the wedding too, and they’ve totalled their car, so Addie has no choice but to offer them a ride. The car is soon jam-packed full of luggage and secrets, and with three hundred miles ahead of them, Dylan and Addie can’t avoid confronting the very messy history of their relationship…
Will they make it to the wedding on time? And, more importantly… is this really the end of the road for Addie and Dylan?
The Road Trip was an interesting and wild ride. Like most stories, it all starts with Bang!!!, but in this case, with a small car crash accident which makes all the characters fit into a crammed SUV and drive for 300 miles to the destination wedding of their friend. While on the road, sisters Addie and Deb must share their car with Rodney, a guest that needs a ride, Marcus, a somewhat friend of theirs, and Dylan, Addie’s ex-boyfriend.
The last time that Addie and Dylan saw each other, she begged him not to leave her and the last time he heard from her, Addie told him not to contact her anymore. The wedding of their mutual friend, Cherry, was going to be the first time they saw each other in over 2 years, but now they are crammed in a car making their way to Scotland.
As the miles seem to never end with too many stops on the way, secrets come up float, feelings get hurt, they meet a nice driver that helps them, and one of them has a secret plan.
Two years is a long time to change and mature, but is it enough to give them a second chance?
The Road Trip had an interesting narrative which goes back and forth in time to tell the story of how Addie and Dylan met, their relationship up until they broke up, and a drive filled with country music and snack breaks. It was a nice story that showed us the point of view of Addie and Dylan throughout their relationship, the issues that each one had, and was too scared to tell the other, and how it was all bottled up until the breaking point. While they are the main characters their family and friends (Marcus) played a big role in their relationship and how they tried to make it work.
Addie and Dylan were good characters to follow along in their journey, but The Road Trip had many other side characters who were interesting, and I wish we could have learned more about them. Among my favorites were Grace, Luke and Javier, and while we got a lot of Deb, I wish we had had scenes with her baby or Addie with the baby.
In the beginning, the story had a slow pace, but it starts to pick up and get more interesting. The girls come back from their summer in France and reality hits Addie, doubt setting in. Getting to the point of where the reason that made them break up was a good hook to keep the reader interested and keep reading it to find out. I liked that we got to see Addie working at school and Dylan trying to find what he was passionate about.
The culmination of their relationship was shocking, I didn’t expect that outcome of why they broke up. I assumed it had to be something with Dylan’s family, and maybe unrequited love from Marcus to Dylan, but after a while, we learned that they were not ready to be in that relationship and both of them needed to mature and find each other first.
More shocking was learning who Rodney was. I was just as surprised as everyone else in the car, I thought he was somebody’s cousin going to the wedding. He had funny scenes and odd phrases here and there.
The Road Trip had a nice ending, not everyone lives happily ever after, but something solid for Addie and Dylan to start again. People were forgiven, other relationships ended, some were given second chances, and Addie and Dylan kissed for the first time again.If you are a fan of Beth O’Leary works, then I recommend you the Road Trip . Many things can happen while driving 300 miles to Scotland, some of them are accidents, stolen vehicles, and even forgiveness. Oh, and crashing a wedding.
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The Road Trip
by Beth O’Leary
ebook / ISBN-13: 9781529409086
Price: £9.99
ON SALE: 29th April 2021
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Book review: The Road Trip by Beth O’Leary
Beth O’Leary’s 2019 novel, The Flatshare , was one of my favourite books that year. I also enjoyed 2020’s The Switch .
The Road Trip didn’t seem to arrive with the fanfare of its predecessors but is still an enjoyable read. It unfolds in in two timelines. The present (which involves the very long and fraught road trip) and a period of a year or two in the recent past.
Addie and her sister are about to embark on an epic road trip to a friend's wedding in the north of Scotland. The playlist is all planned and the snacks are packed. But, not long after setting off, a car slams into the back of theirs. The driver is none other than Addie's ex, Dylan, who she's avoided since their traumatic break-up two years earlier. Dylan and his best mate are heading to the wedding too, and they've totalled their car, so Addie has no choice but to offer them a ride. The car is soon jam-packed full of luggage and secrets, and with three hundred miles ahead of them, Dylan and Addie can't avoid confronting the very messy history of their relationship...
In the recent past Addie meets Dylan and they fall in lust. And probably love. Both come as part of a package however… Addie with her brazen but likeable sister Deb and Dylan with his long-term BFF Marcus.
Marcus is a tortured soul. Narcissistic, a smidge manipulative and well… accustomed to being the centre of the universe.
I very much enjoyed the story of Addie and Dylan’s meeting – she’s caretaking at a house in France that his (wealthy) family has booked, but he turns up alone. The pair hit it off immediately, but he’s not alone for long because of the aforementioned package-deal thing.
Initially I expected the backstory (the past) to be brief, but in reality it becomes the focus. We’re kinda told ‘what’ happens but get a front row seat to the ‘why’.
As the book opens in the present we learn Addie and Dylan broke up in spectacular fashion a couple of years before, though both have unresolved feelings. Dylan apparently broke Addie’s heart by leaving, but there’s obviously more to the story and… though there are (occasionally annoying) hijinks in the present, it’s all about the past – and the fallout of their breakup.
This is a light and entertaining read but there are some more complex issues at play. Whether people can change for example. Whether they can learn from their mistakes. Whether they’re prepared to make the tough decisions to move on or become better people. And then there are some (healthy and less-healthy) family dynamics added into the mix.
Both Addie and Dylan (past and present) are our narrators and again O’Leary creates endearing and engaging characters. The support cast here (Deb and Marcus) are key players as well and each well-written in their own way.
I probably didn’t enjoy this quite as much as The Flatshare but O’Leary again offers a raw insight into human behaviour – the good and the bad.
The Road Trip by Beth O’Leary was published by Quercus Books and is currently available.
I received an electronic copy of this book from the publisher for review purposes.
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Hi, I’m Deborah… a seachanger living on Australia’s Fraser Coast, in Queensland. I write about books and life in general.
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How did that book end? Book spoilers to jog your memory.
Beth O’Leary | The Road Trip
The Book:
The Road Trip by Beth O’Leary Published June 1st 2021 by Berkley Date read: May 31, 2021
The Characters:
Addie and her sister Deb Dylan and his best friend Marcus
Buy it on Bookshop.org | Amazon
The Plot (from Goodreads ):
Addie and her sister are about to embark on an epic road trip to a friend’s wedding in the north of Scotland. The playlist is all planned and the snacks are packed.
But, not long after setting off, a car slams into the back of theirs. The driver is none other than Addie’s ex, Dylan, who she’s avoided since their traumatic break-up two years earlier.
Dylan and his best mate are heading to the wedding too, and they’ve totalled their car, so Addie has no choice but to offer them a ride. The car is soon jam-packed full of luggage and secrets, and with three hundred miles ahead of them, Dylan and Addie can’t avoid confronting the very messy history of their relationship…
Will they make it to the wedding on time? And, more importantly… is this really the end of the road for Addie and Dylan?
Rodney was a wedding crasher. Marcus was obviously in love with Addie (although I wavered on whether he was in love with Addie or Dylan until he admitted it).
The Ending:
The review: .
When I read the blurb for this one, I was all in–I love books about road trips, and cramming exes, their besties, and one random dude in a car for hours sounded hilarious. I absolutely adored the first few chapters and all the awkwardness that was expected from the summary. After that the book kind of plateaued a bit for me, though. Second chance romance and insta-love are my two least favorite romance tropes, and this book combined both.
Dylan and Marcus’s friendship was extremely toxic, and I got very frustrated with Dylan for not standing up to him. I really enjoyed Addie and Deb’s relationship, though. Deb was by far my favorite character.
There was a clever little twist towards the end of the book that I found hilarious, and I enjoyed the wedding scenes at the end. I also really loved the villa descriptions in the flashbacks of how Dylan and Addie fell in love.
Overall, this was a fun summer romance. Those who enjoy insta-love and second chances will love it!
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The road trip audible audiobook – unabridged.
- Listening Length 10 hours and 15 minutes
- Author Beth O'Leary
- Narrator Josh Dylan, see all
- Audible release date June 1, 2021
- Language English
- Publisher Penguin Audio
- ASIN B08SMP4PH1
- Version Unabridged
- Program Type Audiobook
- See all details
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COMMENTS
My sincerest appreciation to Beth O'Leary, Berkley, and Edelweiss+ for the digital review copy. All opinions included herein are my own. edelweiss-arc on-my-kindle. 128 likes. Like. Comment. ... This is the question addressed in Beth O'Leary's new book, The Road Trip. Dylan and Addie were in love. It was an intense relationship, but Dylan's ...
The Road Trip. Paperback - June 1, 2021. by Beth O'Leary (Author) 3.9 12,367 ratings. Award nominee. See all formats and editions. Two exes reach a new level of awkward when forced to take a road trip together in this endearing and humorous novel by the author of the international bestseller The Flatshare.
The Road Trip. Kindle Edition. by Beth O'Leary (Author) Format: Kindle Edition. 3.9 12,244 ratings. Goodreads Choice Award nominee. See all formats and editions. Two exes reach a new level of awkward when forced to take a road trip together in this endearing and humorous novel by the author of the international bestseller The Flatshare.
" A charming, heartfelt story of love found and love potentially lost - The Road Trip is steamy and sexy, properly witty, and unabashedly romantic. I couldn't get enough! I loved the glimpses into "then" and "now". Nobody does it like Beth does " — Laura Jane Williams
Four years ago, Dylan and Addie fell in love under the Provence sun. Wealthy Oxford student Dylan was staying at his friend Cherry's enormous French villa; wild child Addie was spending her summer as the on-site caretaker. Two years ago, their relationship officially ended. They haven't spoken since. Today, Dylan's and Addie's lives ...
The Road Trip by Beth O'Leary is a comedic and oftentimes heartbreaking story about finding love, losing love, and all the messy bits in between. Imagine, if you will, planning a road trip to your best friend's wedding and everything that could go wrong does. Now you are trapped in a car with your overprotective older sister, a random guy ...
"The Road Trip is a humorous yet deeply moving journey toward confronting the past, forgiveness, and reconciliation, with a poignant detour to a summer of young love in Provence. I loved the vivid cast and the depth and intimacy in O'Leary's writing."—Helen Hoang, USA Today bestselling author "Read this!
Beth O'Leary is a Sunday Times bestselling author whose novels have been translated into more than thirty languages. Her debut, The Flatshare, sold over a million copies and changed her life completely.Her second novel, The Switch, has been optioned for film by Amblin Partners, Steven Spielberg's production company. The Road Trip, Beth's third novel, went straight to No.4 in the Sunday Times ...
The Road Trip. Beth O'Leary. Penguin, Jun 1, 2021 - Fiction - 400 pages. Two exes reach a new level of awkward when forced to take a road trip together in this endearing and humorous novel by the author of the international bestseller The Flatshare.What if the end of the road is just the beginning? Four years ago, Dylan and Addie fell in love ...
THE ROAD TRIP. by Beth O'Leary ‧ RELEASE DATE: June 1 ... A second-chance romance shows the many potential pitfalls of road tripping. 1; Pub Date: June 1, 2021. ISBN: 978--5933-3502-4. Page Count: 400. Publisher: Berkley. Review Posted Online: April 13, 2021. Kirkus Reviews Issue: May 1, 2021 ...
"The Road Trip is a humorous yet deeply moving journey toward confronting the past, forgiveness, and reconciliation, with a poignant detour to a summer of young love in Provence. I loved the vivid cast and the depth and intimacy in O'Leary's writing." (Helen Hoang, USA Today best-selling author)
The Road Trip. Paperback - 1 Jun. 2021. by Beth O'Leary (Author) 12,462. Editors' pick Hand-selected reads. See all formats and editions. Two exes reach a new level of awkward when forced to take a road trip together in this endearing and humorous novel by the author of the international bestseller The Flatshare.
Jayne B Reviews / Book Reviews addiction / Alternate POV / Contemporary / dual-timeline / England / First-Person / France / friendship / mental health / road trip / second chance at love / sisters 13 Comments. Two exes reach a new level of awkward when forced to take a road trip together in this endearing and humorous novel by the author of the international bestseller The Flatshare.
The Road Trip by Beth O'Leary is a comedic and oftentimes heartbreaking story about finding love, losing love, and all the messy bits in between. Imagine, if you will, planning a road trip to your best friend's wedding and everything that could go wrong does. Now you are trapped in a car with your overprotective older sister, a random guy ...
By Beth O'Leary. ISBN # 9781529409055. Author's Website: www.betholearyauthor.com. SPOILERS!!! Summary. Addie and her sister are about to embark on an epic road trip to a friend's wedding in the north of Scotland. The playlist is all planned and the snacks are packed. But, not long after setting off, a car slams into the back of theirs.
Readers won't want this crazy road trip to end."--Publishers Weekly The Road Trip is a humorous yet deeply moving journey toward confronting the past, forgiveness, and reconciliation, with a poignant detour to a summer of young love in Provence. I loved the vivid cast and the depth and intimacy in O'Leary's writing."--Helen Hoang, USA Today ...
From the queen of beach bag reads herself, Beth O'Leary's latest novel is the bookish summer staple you can't miss. Zoella Book Club. The Road Trip is a humorous yet deeply moving journey toward confronting the past, forgiveness, and reconciliation, with a poignant detour to a summer of young love in Provence.
Beth O'Leary's 2019 novel, The Flatshare, was one of my favourite books that year.I also enjoyed 2020's The Switch.. The Road Trip didn't seem to arrive with the fanfare of its predecessors but is still an enjoyable read. It unfolds in in two timelines. The present (which involves the very long and fraught road trip) and a period of a year or two in the recent past.
An achingly tender love story - funny and moving in equal measure. Beth O'Leary's best book yet - Richard Roper. The Road Trip is tender, moving and beautifully crafted - Sunday Express. From the queen of beach bag reads herself, Beth O'Leary's latest novel is the bookish summer staple you can't miss - Zoella Book Club
The Road Trip by Beth O'Leary is a comedic and oftentimes heartbreaking story about finding love, losing love, and all the messy bits in between. Imagine, if you will, planning a road trip to your best friend's wedding and everything that could go wrong does. Now you are trapped in a car with your overprotective older sister, a random guy ...
The Plot (from Goodreads): Addie and her sister are about to embark on an epic road trip to a friend's wedding in the north of Scotland. The playlist is all planned and the snacks are packed. But, not long after setting off, a car slams into the back of theirs. The driver is none other than Addie's ex, Dylan, who she's avoided since their ...
Welcome! I'm Beth, Sunday Times bestselling author of The Flatshare, The Switch, The Road Trip and The No-Show. I write uplifting love stories - the sorts of books you reach for when you need a hug. Have a browse to find out more about me and my books…. Photo credit: Holly Bobbins Photography.
The Road Trip by Beth O'Leary is a comedic and oftentimes heartbreaking story about finding love, losing love, and all the messy bits in between. Imagine, if you will, planning a road trip to your best friend's wedding and everything that could go wrong does. Now you are trapped in a car with your overprotective older sister, a random guy ...
Beth O'Leary is an English author of romantic comedy novels. Her first novel The Flatshare (2019), sold over a million copies and was nominated for a Comedy Women in Print Prize. Since then she has published four more books, namely: The Switch, The Road Trip, The No-Show and The Wake-Up Call; with her upcoming sixth novel, Swept Away, set to be published in Spring 2025.