⭐️⭐️⭐️.5/5

✨ spoilers ✨

This book really reminded me of my first few solo trips, the family feeling that hostels bring, the wonderful 1-day friendships and the need for connections with strangers 💕. Also it is nice to read about other characters in the book being queer and the author didn’t bet an eye.

The story isn’t exactly all happiness, because Lisa is grieving both her parents. Because of that, it is so nice that she has a ‘stable’ connection with Rocky. He gives her direction and something to fall back on. And he shows up for her! First accidentally, but the gesture in Venice was to die for 🥹. “What happens next is between me and Rocky.” I disagree with this decision haha, I want to know all about what went on! Throughout this book Penny mostly skips through the explicit scenes, so the book isn’t that spicy or smutty 😅🤷🏼‍♀️.

The built-up to Rocky telling Lisa how he knows her itinerary goes on longer than needed, but their chemistry makes up for it! And the crux about why he seems to be stalking her is very funny, after what happend with his Bob Adam’s copy earlier 👀.

After all, this is a great rom-com which could turn into a sappy movie with me crying in my popcorn at the end! It reminded me of the beauty of Europe and the never-ending twists and turns in flings; which hopefully always end good 😉💕.

Fun and quick read. Lisa is on the trip of a lifetime, but it is one she was supposed to be on with her mother. After her passing, Lisa is forced to go along due to non-refundable tickets. The book delves into Lisa's emotions as she processes her grief, but it kept from being too maudlin with the "is-it-fate" or "is-it-stalking" interactions between Lisa and Rocky. Quick read, was able to read it in a day. Loved that the book didn't get overly bogged down in descriptions, but still felt like I was on the trip with the characters.

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

Thank you to NetGalley for providing me an advanced copy of this in exchange for an honest review.

This was a quick, easy read once the story got going. I felt the storyline took a few chapters to pick up, but then I really loved getting to know the characters and their travels. The author did a wonderful job narrating Lisa’s grief in a realistic way; grief is messy and is not linear, which we got to see as Lisa explored Europe. This romance is a perfect summer vacation read!

The Itinerary had everything I was looking for - international travel, an adorable MMC and a heartwarming HEA. Perfect - no notes.

I enjoyed the premise of the book but found the characters quite underdeveloped and felt the reader could benefit from understanding why the reacted the way they did at times.

Thank you NetGalley and BooksGoSocial for this Advanced Reader’s Copy of The Itinerary by Penny Pentley.

These are my thoughts:

The last thing Lisa was looking for was to meet a kind, handsome stranger and have a summer fling.
Grieving Lisa, goes on a two-week trip to Europe. This was supposed to be the trip she and her mother took together, after Lisa’s father’s death a year ago. Now, on a plane to Italy, Lisa nurses a double broken heart, as her travel companion died merely two weeks before the trip. Since everything for the trip was booked and mostly non-refundable, Lisa decides to embark on this journey and follow the handwritten itinerary her mother put together.

This was a fun, light read; perfect for summer!

It was interesting to see how Lisa dealt with her grief and all the mishaps that upended throughly the trip. How she started off quite unsure and somewhat, inflexible and gradually opened up to different and new experiences.

I loved all the random strangers that popped up through the trip as well. It just comes to show how small acts of kindness can change a situation and how, even the smallest of gestures, can make a difference, even if it’s just for a moment.

I thought Lisa and Rocky had great chemistry and he was just such a gentleman.

I recommend this to anyone who wants an entertaining and relatively fast read (less than 300 pages). It is also perfect for the no spice readers, since this book is a closed door romance (sexual intimacy is implied/alluded to; some “naughty thoughts”, but no on page descriptions).

I liked what this book was trying to do and think it could have been better with more description, more action, and a little editing. It’s on the right path. It was sweet and dealt with loss in a caring way. I liked the romance as well.

As a lover of Europe and travel, this book was kind of fun. The idea of going on a 2 week European vacation alone after the death of a loved one is horrifying, and the author has her heroine go through these emotions. The romance is sweet, but the big "plot twist" is way too obvious and overblown. All in all this is a cotton candy romance with a travel theme. They could easily make it a Hallmark movie if they cut all the heavy handed sex suggestivity in what is a closed-door book.

This sounded like a great book. I loved the premise and had high hopes. However, for me, this started off rough and I could not get past it. I loved how the book initially started. We got some background about what was happening, but then there was like 18% of the book was just straight description of her days and I was so bored. Then she decided to go out, get drunk, and make out with a random guy. Then runs into the main character and it goes back to describing her days. After the constant description of her days, I just decided this was not the book for me. I am not someone that can just read descriptions and be into the storyline.

I had high hopes. The writing was beautiful, but the characters and plots were just not for me and I, personally, would not recommend this book to someone.

This book was a cute concept but it fell flat for me. I felt like I didn’t learn much about the characters and the time they spent together seemed so surface level that I want invested in their relationship. The writing also seemed like it was more in the planning stage. Like it was just ideas of what would be happening at that point instead of into a fully developed story. It has potential but needs a little more development to be a more convincing story.

3.5/5 Easy Vacation Read with a Sweet Budding Romance

I received this ARC through NetGalley and was really excited since the idea of travel and romance pulling my interest. It was a very short and easy read and had wonderful European vibes. The book also handled loss of a loved one well, I don't think it over powered the book, but added growth to the FMC, Lisa. I felt empathy for her going through this trip alone so when the MMC, Rocky, continued to show up and save the day I looked forward to their interactions. He brought out a more fun side to her organized, scheduled plans. Maybe because I am very compulsive I connected to Rocky more than Lisa and wanted some of his POV's as well, but the reveal toward the end made the single POV worth it.

The main reason I did not rate this book higher is due to the fact I tend to love books with a lot of detailed descriptions of setting, feelings, actions over a straight-forward telling of what is going on. Probably the fantasy book lover in me. It was not that the book was written badly, I just prefer a different style. I think the details like that allow me to get even more connected, feel even more enveloped by the story, and connected to the characters so it is something I personally need.

Otherwise this book was a wonderful story with a lot of character growth and a heart warming romance.

Tropes: Vacation Romance, Opposites Attract, Damsel/Dude in Distress, Secret Identity, Insta Love
Spice: .5/5 - Very clean book, minor thoughts of fantasies, but closed door scenes.
Trigger Warnings: Parental Death, Grief, Panic/Anxiety Attacks

The Itinerary was a cute read and shares glimpses of real life grief. However, I felt there could've been more than what was there. An emotional journey, this is a nice feel-good read.

The Itinerary
By: Penny Pentley
Review Score: 4 Stars

Boogie’s Bulletpoints
•You can really feel the emotion as Lisa goes on this trip without her Mom.

•I loved the Itinerary she follows!

•Ok, her and Rocky? Absolutely loved.

•This book is a bit predictable, as I guessed the surprise pretty early on, but it didn’t take away from the story itself.

——————————————————————————————

The Itinerary was kindly provided as an ARC by Netgalley and Books Go Social. Thank you for allowing me to enjoy this wonderful book!

Release Date: 5/21/24

The Itinerary is such a fun book. Yes, there is definite sadness (I didn’t say it was a “light” book). But I also just really enjoyed the journey.

I loved the places that Lisa visited. It was fun to see ii through her eyes, and to learn about the people she meets along the way.

It was also fun to see her and Rocky. I loved their relationship from the start!

The other thing I loved about this book is the realization that, nothing is perfect. You can follow an itinerary exactly, and something may happen that you didn’t expect. As an avid traveler, and a Type A personality, it was personally hard for me to learn such a thing. However, the realization made travel all the better.

I really enjoyed this book!

#bookstagram #books #readingnow #boogiereadsbooks #fivekeyfeels #audiobooks #audiobook #fiction #arcreview #netgalley #boogiesbulletpoints #theitinerary #pennypentley #booksgosocial

this was ok! i think it could have been fleshed out a bit more but i thought lisa's development throughout the book was ok!

When Lisa’s dad passes away, she and her mother plan a European vacation to help them deal with their grief. When her mother passes away unexpectedly, she decides to continue the trip and uses her mother’s basic plan and a well-loved copy of Bob Adams’ Adventures to help plan her itinerary. As Lisa travels through each city, she meets a man who seems to pop up every time she needs rescuing. Soon she is unsure whether he is a stalker or a budding romance.
An interesting premise for a story. At times, the situation that Lisa is in with the death of her parents did tend to overwhelm the story, but the romance did give some glimmer of sunshine. I would have like to have had more time spent on the development of this romance, to even the balance.
I voluntarily read and reviewed an advanced copy of this book from NetGalley. All thoughts and opinions are my own.

I loved this sweet romance. After the passing of Lisa's father, her mother plans a big European vacation for the two of them, but unfortunately her mother passes away before the trip. However, Lisa promised her mom she'd still go on the trip. While navigating new countries and the grief of the loss of her parents, Lisa finds bright spots in the landscapes and the unexpected companionship of a charming stranger of the male persuasion, with whom she has nice, instant chemistry. Thus ensues the vacation fling, but then what? This book was so cute, but then also sad in parts where Lisa's grief was very accurately depicted. But those sad parts were broken up by some really funny parts, and the lovely chemistry between Lisa and her fling. Additionally, Pentley gives you a nice, verbal tour of Europe that I was completely engaged in throughout! I was also impressed with how great this romance was without the need to inject graphic spice; I loved the closed door way in which the intimacy was written. Definitely would recommend!

This was a nice, shorter read. The storyline keeps moving. The author does a nice job with visual storytelling; it was easy to picture scenes that Lisa is observing during her travels.

I don’t know that I’d exactly call it a trigger warning, but if you’ve lost a parent, especially recently, this book will definitely make you cry as you experience Lisa’s fresh journey in grief.

𝘛𝘩𝘢𝘯𝘬 𝘺𝘰𝘶 𝘵𝘰 𝘕𝘦𝘵𝘎𝘢𝘭𝘭𝘦𝘺 𝘢𝘯𝘥 𝘉𝘰𝘰𝘬𝘴𝘎𝘰𝘚𝘰𝘤𝘪𝘢𝘭/𝘍𝘪𝘷𝘦 𝘊𝘦𝘯𝘵𝘴 𝘗𝘶𝘣𝘭𝘪𝘴𝘩𝘪𝘯𝘨 𝘧𝘰𝘳 𝘵𝘩𝘦 𝘱𝘳𝘪𝘷𝘪𝘭𝘦𝘨𝘦 𝘰𝘧 𝘢𝘭𝘭𝘰𝘸𝘪𝘯𝘨 𝘮𝘦 𝘵𝘰 𝘳𝘦𝘢𝘥 𝘵𝘩𝘪𝘴 𝘈𝘙𝘊 𝘪𝘯 𝘦𝘹𝘤𝘩𝘢𝘯𝘨𝘦 𝘧𝘰𝘳 𝘮𝘺 𝘩𝘰𝘯𝘦𝘴𝘵 𝘳𝘦𝘷𝘪𝘦𝘸.

“The Itinerary” by Penny Pentley is a poignant and captivating read that took me on an unexpected emotional journey. The story follows Lisa, who, after the loss of her parents, embarks on a European adventure they had planned together. With only her mother’s itinerary and a copy of Bob Adams’ Adventures as her guide, Lisa’s trip becomes a heartfelt exploration of grief, healing, and self-discovery.

Pentley’s narrative is beautifully crafted, with each city’s description so vivid and enchanting that I felt transported across Europe myself. The serendipitous encounters with a mysterious stranger add a layer of intrigue and romance that kept me turning the pages eagerly.

What resonated with me the most was the authenticity of Lisa’s experiences—the setbacks and surprises of travel, the bittersweet moments of reflection, and the joy of new friendships. It’s a story that reminds us that sometimes the best way to honor the past is to embrace the present.

In essence, “The Itinerary” is more than just a travelogue or a romance; it’s a journey of the soul. It’s a book that I found both comforting in its familiarity and inspiring in its message to live fully. For anyone who has experienced loss or is seeking a story that combines wanderlust with a deep emotional core, I highly recommend this touching novel

I chose to read this book because the cover looked cute, and the blurb (a grieving woman goes on a tour of Europe) sounded fun.
The book is on the shorter side at about 150 pages which I did not know when I downloaded it to read the copy from NetGalley.

Lisa (Elisabeth) is grieving the loss of both of her parents, When her dad died, her mom and Lisa had planned a trip to Europe (Italy, Germany, and France to name a few countries) but sadly Lisa's mom died before the trip could happen. Lisa, armed with her mom's travel guidebook and notes heads off on the trip on her own.

Along the way, a man comes to Lisa's rescue, and then she encounters him again and again as she travels. Romance ensues. But who is this guy and why does he keep showing up everywhere?

I enjoyed the travel aspects of the story, and would have liked more details on all the things Lisa was seeing and eating. The story didn't really dwell on anything, Lisa arrived at a location, found her accommodations, ate food, and then moved on to the next stop on the itinerary.

I found the romance in the story to be a little too easy/insta-lovey for my taste but the answer to the question about why Lisa keeps running into her romantic interest was satisfying. I didn't quite connect with the characters as much as I normally like for a romance. Because the story was so short there really wasn't room for a lot of backstory or details to connect me with the characters.

Now I want to go to Italy and France. I am glad I read this novel,