This books follows Mallory on a very unexpected physical and emotional journey. On the whole I enjoyed it, it’s written in a way that flows well and had lots of quirks.

There were parts however, that I felt dragged a little and the ending, in my opinion, could have been better.

Just when I think that the idea of Uplit may be few and far between for me, I am rewarded for persevering in trying to find more of them. I wept through the second half of the book so much that I had to finish and then explain to my husband as to why I was randomly weeping in the evening. He felt a tug (or so he said) after I told him my reasoning and that in itself should be a testament to the storyline.

Mallory Cook is twenty-four and thinking that the day the story begins is when her new, happier life would begin. She was expecting one positive change after another but as luck would have it, neither happened. When I read that part, I sighed and resigned myself to another average narrative of a woman finding herself. I was sorely mistaken in being complacent. The narrative whacked me on the heart once it picked up. The best part of such a story is how Mallory grows with each setback. Every time something goes wrong- she has no money, she is stranded, people are being obnoxious to or at her, she makes sure that the next time the same situation occurs, she has something up her sleeve to push her out of the hole that the situation dug for her. She is determined on reaching her son in NY at any cost but so many things happen to slow her down and the cost is heavy indeed. As fate would have it, the speed at which she gets to her destination supplies her with ammunition to survive her hurdles. On this journey, Mallory spends the most time with (three)pseudo-grandparents who have heart-wrenching troubles of their own. Jock is an enigma and the other couple end up on two opposite ends of the personality spectrum. I also liked the interesting way the ending started a whole different type of story for all the people involved.

I loved the narration and although there are some cliches, it does not mar the emotion packed into the story. The main one being Mallory finding another man. Her husband's behaviour may seem over the top, and very paranoid but given the fact he is a schemer himself he must have expected some sort of counter moves from his wife. I received an ARC from NetGalley but the review is completely based on my reading experience and directly proportional to the amount I cried for Jock and his life ( even if he was not the central character).

Thank you very much for the chance to read this novel. I enjoyed both the story and the characters presented, it was a read that was both sad and uplifting and is one that I would happily recommend to others.

A book that is heart wrenching and heartwarming at the same time.
I liked the engrossing and entertaining plot, the well written cast of characters and the atmosphere.
It was the first book I read by this author and won't surely be the last.
Recommended!
Many thanks to the publisher and Netgalley for this ARC, all opinions are mine.

'Life was addictive in its promise of goodness and wonder, in its hope that even in the dark cracks of sorrow, something better could come again'.

Mallory Cook and the Road Not Taken was a beautiful story of hope, regret, friendship and new beginnings. Mallory's son Harry is in New York visiting his father. When Mallory goes to the airport in Australia to await his return, only to be left standing there alone, she has no idea her whole world is about to take an unexpected turn. Her ex husband declares his intention to keep their son Harry. Faced with no choice, Mallory books a plane ticket to New York to get her son back where he belongs. But fate conspires against her, and with an erupting volcano grounding all flights,she is unable to get to him. Stranded and with no money after her ex freezes her account, she loses hope until she serendipitiously bumps into three escaped residents from the nursing facility she works at. Together, they embark on an epic cross country journey across America. Along the way, Mallory forms a bond with Jock, Ernie and Zadie that will change her forver. A chance encounter with AJ who helps her when a storm is brewing and their car has a puncture, is another fateful moment that gives her hope for a new beginning.

Full of tender moments, as well as laugh out loud mishaps, Mallory Cook is a warrior mother, who with a lot of help from her friends, is able to get to Harry and bring him home where he belongs. Sweet and thought-provoking, I truly loved this book.

A lovely holiday read with some really interesting characters and slightly different approach to your usual chick lit. I really enjoyed this book.

Thanks for allowing me to review it.

Mallory Cook is a single mother to her 5 year-old son Harry after her husband left them to move half way around the world to New York. He had spent years trying to get his software company to take off while Mallory worked to support them, and as soon as things started working for him, he left. Now a year later Harry has been for a visit with his dad and his dad has decided to keep him in New York. Mallory has little choice but to try to get her son back any way she can...
I absolutely loved this book, everything about it, the way it was written, the characters, all of it. It was such a feel good read, and even though there were a few predictable bits, it still didn’t detract at all from my enjoyment of the story.
The author gave us characters to love and some nice complex ones to be frustrated by whilst still liking them underneath. The story contains sadness and strength as well as love and warmth and I genuinely didn’t want to put it down. I definitely recommend this book.
My thanks to NetGalley and Little, Brown Book Group UK for allowing me to read this book in return for an honest review.