I wasn't quite sure about this book set in two time zones and but it developed and grew on me. A plot about love and break-up in the past between Dylan and Addie and present day when the couple are suddenly thrown together again on a shared car journey to a mutual friend's wedding. Two different styles in writing, one quite dark and the other witty and funny with heartwarming tender parts. Well developed characters and overall I could imagine this being made into a film. Certainly, I enjoyed the present journey in the car more than the past love affair with all the intenseness of misunderstanding and frustration. The present day part was an absolute gem with many an expected and entertaining scenarios.

"I catch sight of the expression of the car across from us on the motorway - a middle-aged woman in a cap, staring wideeyed at our car. I glance back at the others and imagine what she's seeing. A motley collection of twenty-somethings cheerfully crammed into a bright red Mini at half seven in the morning on a bank holiday Sunday. She has no idea. If one could harness secrets for energy, we wouldn't need petrol - we'd have enough grudges in this car to take us all the way to Scotland."

Half-sisters sparky and beautiful Addie and forthright and hilarious Deb Gilbert are travelling to friend Cherry's wedding in Scotland, when a chance encounter with Addie's ex, dreamy and easily-led Dylan and his toxic best friend Marcus leads to car-sharing. One very long journey, breakdowns and lost passengers, combines with the occupants' shared and challenging history. Why did Addie and Dylan split up if they were so perfect for one another and will they get back together?

Another emotional read from this author, with a focus on Addie and Dylan's, the protagonists', romance and friendships. The narrative is split between Then and Now and told from Addie's and Dylan's perspectives, so we understand their relationship - how it began and how it broke down. With a cast of supporting and disruptive characters, all fully fleshed-out, this is an engaging and emotional read. Themes of anxiety, depression and consent, along with Dylan and Marcus's unhealthy relationship and the fact that almost every character seemed to be beautiful and desirable, made this not my favourite of the author's works. Although I imagine many will enjoy it. Funny and romantic, but also frustrating and dark in parts. Whilst I would have loved to have lived in the worlds of The Flatshare and The Switch, I don't fancy my chances with The Road Trip, I'm afraid.

Addie has been invited to a wedding in Scotland with her sister Deb. Along for the ride is Rodney. When the car behind them crashes into their car, it turns out to be Dylan her ex and his best friend Marcus. As they are all going to the same wedding they all end up in the car together and it's one car journey none of them will forget.

The story is told from he points of view of Dylan and Abbie and jumps from past to present. Thy have an history and it ended with a bad breakup. All the five in the car have very different personalities and so it's no surprise there are a few clashes!

I enjoyed this book. I loved the characters and loved the storyline. Although I would have hated to be a passenger in that car!

This was a good read, but I didn't connect with any of the characters. There were some funny moments (Rodney looking for Deb made me giggle) but there were also times where I just wanted to scream at the characters. I liked the dual timeline, but did feel that the jump between now & then was a little unclear at times. I enjoyed the wedding scenes & felt that it was a nice ending for Addie & Dylan.

This is a delightful story of love and second chances that reads a bit as a comedy of errors! I’ve always been of fan of this type of movies and feel it could definitely do well as a TV interpretation.

I love have loved both of Beth O’Leary’s books and was excited to read her newest offering. It’s a proper journey both physically and emotionally, I enjoyed the way each character’s story unfolded and the way we viewed each relationship shifting as the we read on. The twists about halfway through the story added extra intrigue and the ending was perfect. The characters in this are slightly younger than me, which I don’t usually have an issue with, but I did find at times this stopped me from connecting so well with them. It didn’t spoil my enjoyment of the book and I think I’ll be getting the audio copy when it is released so I can enjoy it again.
Thanks so much to the author, publishers and netgalley for this arc in exchange for an honest, unbiased review.

A lighthearted, easy read. The characters were all very charming/quirky which helped offset the awkward angst between the exes, and I really enjoyed the dynamics between the characters. Unfortunately though, I really wasn’t entirely blown away by this story, which was disappointing because I absolutely devoured Beth O’Leary’s previous books. But I do think it would be hard to dislike this book. The Road Trip is a sweet, funny, emotional story which I really recommend (but make sure you read The Flatshare too)!

Thank you to Netgalley and the publishers for an ARC in exchange for an honest review.

When a book is heavily focused on two characters and the relationship between them, it's really important to connect with said characters. If that doesn't happen, the book will feel like a chore to get through, and unfortunately that was the case for me here.

The book switches between two timelines. We get to see how Addie and Dylan meet in the past and how their relationship starts and ends. In the present, we follow them, and three others as they take an unplanned road trip together to get to their mutual friend's wedding. I wasn't particularly interested or invested in either timeline.

In the present, nothing really happens. There's a lot of pining from Addie and Dylan, but they don't do anything interesting. Fortunately, these segments were saved by Deb being awesome, Marcus being interesting, and Rodney being a cute marshmallow. Unfortunately, due to the last 30% of the book, most of these positive moments no longer seem so fun in hindsight. I do think I would've been much more invested in this book if the focus had been on Marcus instead. He was one of the more fascinating characters, and I would've loved to do a deep dive into his psyche instead of spending all this time in Addie and Dylan's heads.

As for the past timeline, I found the start of Addie and Dylan's relationship more reminiscent of something I'd expect from a young adult book. It was very instalove--they're both ready to say their "I love you"s after only knowing each other for a week. In fact, after this realization come other ones, like how Addie hasn't even heard Dylan's poetry yet, and how they don't know anything about each other's families. It makes the entire setup fairly unbelievable, and this continues even as the relationship progresses. The breakup was maybe the part that felt most real, even though it took 70% to get to the crux of the matter. And even before that point, but especially after that, I just couldn't root for them to get back together. I didn't feel like they had chemistry, their relationship felt immature, and I was annoyed at all the miscommunication. The main issue of the story is apparently that Dylan isn't a mind reader, but that Addie and Marcus both wanted him to "just know" things. It was also frustrating that Dylan felt much more developed as a character than Addie. Even though we don't see it on page, we're told that he has grown as a person. There is a lot of focus on his family issues, his friends, and of course his relationship with Marcus. Meanwhile, even though Dylan moves to Addie's hometown, we never see much of her life or friends. We also don't get any indications that she had grown since they broke up, other than Dylan saying she seems different.

Honestly, for most of this, I thought a romance between Addie and Marcus would be far more believable.

As with The Flatshare, the author does bring up some serious issues like sexual assault, alcoholism and stalking. However, none of these are tackled with any depth. The effects are glossed over and in some cases, even made humorous.

Oh my giddy aunt Beth O'Leary has done it again! I am torn between crying, laughing and inanely grinning after gobbling this book down in one sitting. I have no self restraint.
Every book she releases is joyous and this is no exception. Her latest tells the tale of a ramshackle group of guests travelling in a mini to a friend's wedding in Scotland and all I will say is that eventful does not begin to cover it. For a start Addie and Dylan used to be in a relationship until Dylan's best friend Marcus (also in the car) got involved. Pop in Addie's brilliant half-sister and new mum Deb (breast pumps abounds) and the hilarious Flapjack King Rodney and it is quite a ride.
Told from both Addie and Dylan's perspectives in the present day and flashbacks to when they first met and fell in love, this novel really packs a punch. I feel rather bereft having finished it but I am certain I'll be buying a copy for everyone I know as soon as it is released.
Thank you so much for an APC Netgalley.

The road trip to a friend's wedding starts badly for Dylan and his friend Marcus. If all the cars to crash into it happens to be Dylan's ex Addie and her sister Deb (plus Rodney the random stranger they're giving a lift to) with the car wrecked they all pile into Deb's mini and attempt to get back on track to the wedding. However there's a lot of baggage for such a tiny car and it's not the suitcase kind. Interspersed with flashbacks of Addie and Dylan's relationship and how it all went wrong can they start again, can they be civil,can they even talk to each other?

I really enjoyed this, it's nothing unexpected and the plot is rom-com material, but it's well done. I wanted to know what had happened to get these characters to this point and where would they go if they ever actually make it to the wedding. Also who the hell is Rodney?

We follow the story of Dylan and Addie. On their way to their friend's wedding, Dylan crashes into Addie's car, and after a year and a half of not seeing each other, they have to drive to the wedding together, along with three other people in the car, her sister, his best friend and a random stranger who just happens to be going to the same wedding. In order to fully understand the story, we follow what happened when they met, and what happens currently.

Two different timeliness - ''Then'' and ''Now''. Two different perspectives - Dylan and Addie. I always enjoy multiple timelines and POVs so this was a bonus for me.

The story kicks off immediately. We're in the middle of the action, and we immediately get to know the characters. But then, everything slows down, as if the story is literally dragging its feet the entire first half.

The second half of the book picks up the pace, with a bizarrely shocking and funny twist regarding one of the side characters, but then also some revelations about the past that I didn't expect.

All of our characters struggle with something, from depression, sexual assault, traumas from childhood... Add a lack of communication to this and sprinkle it off with some rash, impulsive decisions made by people who don't know better and you get chaos, breakups, unresolved issues.

Addie was constantly insecure about always being just average, forgettable. She also expects Dylan to read her mind, instead of telling him what she feels or thinks, and that was annoying. Dylan on the other hand felt like a hopeless romantic, with a clingy friend who he never said no to, and he was basically the doormat.

The side characters were great. I think I actually liked them more than our MCs. But I really had an issue with the whole Marcus thing and felt like it wasn't resolved properly, and just brushed off too quickly.

I know this is probably a case of ''instalove'', but I just couldn't get on board with how quickly they hooked up, and why it happened and how it progressed so fast.

I feel like this was supposed to be a story about forgiveness, second chances, and growing as people, learning from mistakes. But it felt sort of rushed and unnatural.

To be quite honest, I'd totally be eager to pick up more of O'Leary's books. Just because this particular one wasn't a five-star read, doesn't mean I don't want to read something else from the same author, that could potentially be one of my all-time favourites. In tone with the theme of this book, I am all for second chances. And if that sounded cringy or corny, I'll let myself out, thank you :D

The Road Trip by Beth O Leary
I give this book 4 stars

Addie & her sister are about to embark on an epic road trip.
But, not long after setting off, a car slams into the back of theirs. The driver is none other than Addie's ex, Dylan & his best mate Marcus.
Their car is soon jam-packed full of people, luggage and secrets,with a 400 mile journey ahead of them to a wedding.
Will they make it to the wedding on time? And, more importantly, is this really the end of the road for Addie and Dylan?

I’m a huge fan of this author and was delighted to read her new book. This is a book about a 2nd chance at love.Told between Addie and Dylan’s perspectives of what happened then and now.The authors writing style had me connecting with the characters and the story flowed as easily as l turned the pages .lt explores complex relationships and emotions with mishaps and fun along the way.A totally entertaining and touching must read of 2021.
With thanks to Netgalley,Beth O Leary and Quercus Books for my chance to read and review this book.

An enjoyable read, however I felt the story didn’t really get going until about half way through.

The narrative switches between two timelines of now and then, as well as between two perspectives of Addie and Dylan. This worked well in terms of progressing the story, however I found it slightly confusing when switching between Addie and Dylan perspectives to portray the same scene.

I really loved Beth O'Leary's The Flatshare and The Switch. Unfortunately, I didn't love this one quite as much as I hoped. I still enjoyed it, but didn't get any belly swoons. The vibe between the two main protagonists and the character Marcus really irked me and had me feeling uncomfortable the whole book. Also, trigger warning for sexual assault.

I think it’s weird I’ve read two other Beth O’Leary books and still haven’t read the Flatshare, but I’ll eventually get to it, every book I read from her makes me want to read her first book, honestly makes me want to read everything she puts out.
I like her writing style a lot and this is a second chance romance book, which I don’t usually care for a lot but I did care about this one! Also can I just say a Mini Cooper is just goals. All honesty, this entire book is goals! Although I don’t often think I’d get on a roadtrip with my ex... but I do appreciate what it did and how romance can be rekindled!
Thank you for the opportunity to get to read this book and loving it deeply. I highly recommend

This is a really delightful read with humour and compassion intermingled and I was very happy to hitch a ride with our mismatched carful of characters wending their way up to Scotland. The mishaps they encounter along the way are very funny and the backstop of the characters is told with great sensitivity, I was willing them on all the way, both in getting to their destination and in resolving their relationships.

I loved this road trip and all the characters squashed into the less than reliable car on route to a wedding.
From the very beginning Addie was a very likeable character, alongside her very supportive sister and the slightly creepy and a bit strange random guy they are giving a lift to.
The many tense moments between the characters add to the humour and keep the reader captivated and the truth is more gritty than you would imagine for a novel of this genre.
A great read

Another winner from Beth O'Leary! At first I was a little confused with the swift changeabout of character POV but got into the swing of it. A really enjoyable read that was engaging from early on until the end, with several properly strong, clever and fun female protagonists - you love it see it!

The Road Trip is basically pure chaos in book form. You realise this from about the first chapter when you work out just who is on the eponymous road trip and from then on, the present day story is a complete ride. There is, of course, also heavier parts to the story. But for all that it does get heavy at times, there’s always a good balance between when it gets serious and when it’s humorous. And the parts which are more serious aren’t brushed aside (although I would say that forgiveness maybe felt a little easy? Two years on and all, but still).

The novel follows Addie and Dylan, exes who end up in the same car — cramped in there along with Addie’s sister, Dylan’s best(?) mate, and a random other guest — on the way to their mutual friend’s wedding. The road trip comes two years after Addie and Dylan’s breakup and is the first time they’ve seen each other since. The book alternates between the present day road trip and the course of their relationship in the past.

What I loved most about this book — besides its chaotic nature — was that it’s a book about second chances, but also about where you draw the line at giving them. It was about Addie giving Dylan a second chance, Dylan giving Marcus one, but also Dylan deciding to stop giving further chances to his father. And I loved the fact that people did the work for those second chances, they weren’t just handed out. They put the work in — apart from one another — and the road trip was a big, albeit coincidental, chance for another go.

I think this book also very successfully wove together the past relationship between Addie and Dylan with the present. The way they clicked from the start was obvious on page, but you could also see that maybe the relationship as it was, in their early 20s, wouldn’t work out, regardless of how the end actually came about. And you see how they had changed in the present narrative. It also did quite well at navigating the thorny issue of can Addie forgive Dylan for their breakup (in my mind, that was probably only solved by the fact that Addie hadn’t told Dylan what happened, not until they met again). I think that tied back into the fact that maybe it was, at that point, a case of right people, wrong time, so I think it was making you still root for them in the present was done very well. (If that makes any sense, since grammar is lost on me right now.)

On the whole, then, I’d say this is a book I enjoyed immensely, probably even more so than The Flat Share (the only other Beth O’Leary book I’ve read so far). It’s definitely a book that makes me want to go back and catch up on her other releases.

On first glance, this book sounds like the perfect book to snuggle down with in bed. When I started reading this book, I was ready for the swoony, angsty feelings I am used to when reading romance fiction, especially ones that explore break ups and second chance loves. While the concept of two exes forced to share a car on the way to a wedding was promising and while the opening chapters of the story, introducing the main characters in THEN and NOW interwoven segments, were enjoyable, there is unfortunately not much else positive I can say about this book. I forced myself to keep reading in the hopes that something about the book might intrigue my interests once again, but I got as far as over the half-way point when I decided I could no longer give this book a chance.

The plot and the main characters had so much potential. I enjoyed reading the chapters that focused on how Addie and Dylan's romance first developed during a steamy summer in France and I enjoyed the early, awkward interactions between them and Addie's sister as they were forced to car share for a long trip up to Scotland. But, alas, that is where my enjoyment ended.

The problem for me with this book is that it just didn't feel like it was going anywhere. There wasn't enough drama or intrigue in the romance for me and the plot just felt exceedingly slow. Even by the half-way point, I felt like I didn't really know Dylan and Addie, neither as their own people or together as a couple. This meant that I simply just didn't care about them and what happened to them as a couple.

If that was my biggest problem with the book, I probably would have given it more of a chance to the end so I could reach that inevitable happy ending. But it wasn't. My biggest problem with this book was Dylan's best friend, Marcus. Sure, he is meant to be a problematic character, perhaps one that the reader was supposed to feel sorry for or come to like, but I just could not stand him. I disliked him as a character and I disliked his role in the plot. I could say so much more about him, but in keeping this review spoiler free, all I can say is that he is the main reason I could not keep reading this book and why I would not recommend this book if you are looking for a delicious romance to enjoy in bed with a cup of tea.