Life affirming. This book covers true life in so many ways, especially family relationships. It actually made me question some aspects of my own life.
The story of Kathleen and Martha is so lovely, showing how the different age categories can teach the other a thing or two. Even in the love department. The characters were so real you just longed to find out what happened next. This book will stay in mind for some time and I am already looking forward to reading it again.

The Summer Seekers encapsulates a Summer road trip, a marriage in trouble and three women at different life stages, all in need of emotional support. This multi-generational story is humorous, poignant and romantic as it explores friendship, marriage and mothers and daughter relationships.

Kathleen loves her rambling Cornish cottage close to the beach packed with a lifetime of memories. Liza is the lynchpin of her family, weighed down with her catastrophising and keeping her family's life stress-free. Kathleen and Liza are emotionally estranged but still care deeply for each other. Martha, unconnected with the women, facilitates Kathleen's latest adventure despite Liza's misgivings and her own anxiety.

Martha and Kathleen take a road trip on Route 66. Liza reconnects with her true self in her Cornish childhood home. This is not a travelogue, but there are some good descriptions of places visited.

Gentle romance, relatable characters, and an uplifting conclusion. An addictive Summer read.

I received a copy of this book from HQ via NetGalley in return for an honest review.

The Summer Seekers is an entertaining and fun read and I thoroughly enjoyed following Kathleen and Martha on their journey along Route 66, their adventures and all the places they visited along the way. The imagery the author created here is fabulous and also at Oakwood Cottage, the beach, the weather and the food all sounded beautiful and idyllic. There is a good solid page-turning plot which is really well thought through from the beginning to the end. I enjoyed the touches of humour sprinkled throughout and there are some lovely heartwarming moments.

The characters are well developed and extremely likeable. The story centres around three multigenerational women in various stages of their life. Kathleen, the older woman is in her eighties but young at heart and is itching for adventure and a little taster of the life she once had. Liza is Kathleen’s daughter, she has two teenage daughters and is practical and dependable in every way. She organises her family’s life to the letter and they seemingly cannot cope without her. Her family rely on her too much and she never takes any time for herself and craves some alone time. Martha is the youngest at 25 years old and trying to get her life back in order after recently finding herself unemployed and recovering from a relationship breakup. I loved Martha, she’s exuberant, funny and never stops talking. She loathes driving and she only took the job as Kathleen’s driver to escape her oppressive home life and the breakup. It was wonderful to see the development of the close friendship she formed with Kathleen over the course of the car journey. The combination of age ranges worked really well and made for an upbeat and interesting story, some of the scenes towards the end were quite emotional and it was adorable seeing all of the relationships fall into place.

The Summer Seekers is a riveting story with the perfect combination of adventure, humour and romance. The ideal summer read which you will not be able to put down.

Thank you HQ for the eARC to review.

Such an adorable read; I always enjoy Sarah Morgan’s novels but this one really got to me.

Kathleen is eighty years old and still living in the large family home; when she has a fall, her daughter Liza broaches the subject of selling up and moving to a residential home. Liza has a demanding family and can’t deal with her mother on top of everything else. However, Kathleen has other ideas; she’s always been independent and spirited and decides what she really needs is to travel and advertises for a driver to accompany her across America. Martha has had enough of her family constantly putting her down and a trip across the states with an octogenarian may well be just the ticket. She’s not the best driver in the world, but it’s got to be better than staying at home . . .

What a well-conceived story this is. Fantastic characters, each with their own problems, merge together into a terrific read. Kathleen has lived a full life, but yearns for more. Liza does such a lot for everyone else that she has lost her sense of self and Martha? Well, Martha is the one I most identified with. Her family continually put her down and she so badly needs someone to build her confidence and boost her self-esteem. This is beautifully written, alternating between Kathleen and Martha on their trip and Liza at home. I got so engrossed in each part of the tale that it was rather a surprise each time it turned to the other! Tender, touching and utterly delightful, I really cannot recommend this one enough – it is a rich, rewarding read and one I’m happy to give all five sparkling stars.

My thanks to the publisher for my copy via NetGalley; this is – as always – my honest, original and unbiased review.

Kathleen is eighty years old. After a run-in with an intruder, her daughter wants her to move into a residential home. She’s not having any of it. What she craves – needs – is adventure.
Liza is drowning under the daily stress of family life. The last thing she needs is her mother jetting off on a wild holiday, making Liza dream of a solo break of her own.
Martha is having a quarter-life crisis. Unemployed, unloved and uninspired, she just can’t get her life together. But she knows something has to change.
When Martha sees Kathleen’s advert for a driver and companion to take an epic road trip across America, she decides this job might be the answer to her prayers. Travelling with a stranger? No problem. She's not the world's best driver, but it couldn’t be worse than living with her parents again. And anyway, how much trouble can one eighty-year-old woman be?
As these women embark on the journey of a lifetime, they all discover it’s never too late for adventure…

I am a huge huge fan of Sarah Morgan, having read all of her Christmas books, so I was really excited to be involved in the book tour for her latest novel.
A quote that stuck out for me in this book “If you don’t misbehave when you’re 25. You have nothing to look back on when you’re 80”
It is so true and made me think, what with the pandemic etc, we really do need to live out best life

It did take me a few chapters to settle into this book, but once I was in, I was back in my happy Sarah Morgan place. As with all her books; the reader becomes a character in her novel, taking on the journey. I related to all of the characters in this book in some way and just wanted them all to be happy and find their happy ever after

I thought the ending was perfect

This is such a warm, cozy read and will be perfect for anyone wanting an escape this summer

Thank you for having me on the tour

This is heartwarming summer escapism with a cast if characters that you will love.

Three women at different stages of their lives, but all feeling lonely and suffocated by their circumstances.

Kathleen was a television travel presenter. I’m old enough to remember watching ‘Wish You Were Here…?’ as a child and how wonderful it thought that jib would be. The downside is that she missed lots of her daughter’s childhood and their relationship has paid the price.

Kathleen’s daughter Liza is a character that lot of women will relate to. Fulltime teacher and mother, her life revolves around caring for others and organising the household. She feels unappreciated and has lost sightof her own interests and passions.

And then there is Martha, whom I loved. She is 25, warm and caring, friendly and chatty. But lost. She dropped out of university, currently unemployed and her relationship is a disaster. Her nagging mother constantly compares her to perfect Pippa, the sister who can do no wrong.

Accompanying Kathleen on her roadtrip is a chance for her to get away for a while and experience adventure. Kathleen can prove she is still independent and look to mend some of the broken bridges in her past. For Liza, staying in the UK and heading to Cornwall to check in on Kathleen’s cat, she finally understands what she wants from her life.

Kathleen and Martha has such a lovely friendship that develops quickly. They recognise something they need in each other. Despite her heartache, Martha is still open to love and happiness. She’s empathetic and emotionally intelligent. Kathleen is straight talking and direct. She gives Martha the confidence to be herself. And the people they meet along the way add to the adventure.

This was a great read, full of love and humour and sunshine. It’s perfect for beach reading or when you need to escape from a rainy wet weekend.

As I sat reading The Summer Seekers on a dreary wet May weekend I allowed my mind to wander. Where would I choose to go to in search of the sun if travelling wasn’t so restricted? Cornwall or California like the characters in Sarah Morgan’s latest novel or somewhere else entirely? Would I choose adventure abroad or settle for somewhere more within my comfort zone? Am I a Kathleen or a Liza, a natural born traveller with an adventurous spirit or a homebody who finds happiness within the familiar? You too can determine which category suits you best as you motor through new scenery alongside Kathleen and new acquaintance Martha in their hired mustang. Liza and her mother who may be poles apart in their outlook on life are about to experience an unforgettable summer, embarking on individual journeys that are continents apart but whose final destination is ultimately the same. Seeking not only the sun but rediscovering the joys of life and what makes them happy this book was my perfect escape route away from reality, an invitation to visit new horizons in the company of three female characters who confront their individual worries with laughter and good humour, swapping confidences and offering guidance on navigating life’s trickier hurdles as well as rekindling their passion for life and romance.

Since 80 year old Kathleen hosted her own show The Summer Seekers over the course of two decades, this title immediately evoked memories of TV travel shows such as Here Comes The Sun and Wish You Were Here that I would have watched as a child. Anyone remember those? However those days are long gone for Kathleen whose roots are firmly embedded in Cornish soil at her beloved home of Oakwood cottage but this energetic octogenarian stills possesses a zest for life that puts younger generations to shame, including her own daughter! When she has an unfortunate mishap with a skillet and an innocent but inebriated intruder, exasperated daughter Liza wastes no time in coming to her mother’s aid determined to convince her to sell up and move into a residential home. But feisty Kathleen has other ideas, her thirst for adventure still unquenched,and in a bid to retain control over her own life announces her decision to fulfill a long held ambition to drive the Route 66 and in doing so lay certain ghosts to rest. All she needs for what may be her final hurrah is a driver and a willing accomplice which is where chatterbox Martha (who incidentally is terrified of driving!)comes in. Wave goodbye to normality and say hello to the unknown where anything is possible! Let the good times roll!

Sarah Morgan understands the type of characters who will resonate most with her readers and Kathleen, Liz and Martha are no exception. All three of them exhibit traits, strengths and weaknesses that I recognise within myself so it required no effort to relate to some of the problems they struggle with. Liz as a stressed out wife and mother to teenage daughters Alice and Caitlin is perhaps the one character I can identify with the most. Whilst her parenting style differs vastly from that of her own mother I felt her loss of identity and dreams and aspirations that are buried beneath running the family home as efficiently as she does all too familiar and depressing. Passion and joy have been sucked out of her life, for which she is partly to blame unlike Kathleen whose age and more relaxed personality are no barriers to living life to the full but at this pivotal moment in all their lives, change is definitely on the horizon. Martha is a character who falls somewhere in the middle, unemployed and heartbroken thanks to her short lived marriage to the scoundrel Steven, fed up of living in the shadow of her sister yet determined not to let her terror of driving prevent her from becoming Kathleen’s companion on this trip of a lifetime. As is so often the case young and old have much to learn from one another which is an inevitable outcome of storylines such as this one. These characters act as a conduit to discourage the ‘perfect mother’ myth that blights so many mother/daughter relationships and I loved how the author engineers a balance between the two contrasting parenting styles featured in these pages. With a wonderful mix of the fun loving and the more sensible, all three women are following the signpost to happiness and fulfilment and I loved being a part of their adventure!

Don’t be fooled by thinking this is one of those comedic road trips where mayhem and madcap shenanigans ensue because that couldn’t be further from the truth. Yes with the live wire that is Martha in the driving seat combined with Kathleen’s good natured meddling you can expect fun, frivolity and welcome diversions from their final destinations in the form of hitchhiker Josh and tearaway musician Finn Cool. However Sarah Morgan has written a more emotionally nuanced tale so that this road trip becomes more a highway to reconciliation, to reinvention and reawakenings with Martha acting as a mediator between mother and daughter and a facilitator between Kathleen and figures from her past. I loved how despite the widening gap in physical distance, as this storyline advances, the emotional gap between mother and daughter lessens.

I confess to preferring the Liza/Cornwall aspect of this novel as opposed to the Kathleen/Martha road trip which isn’t as atmospheric as I’d imagined it would be even though at times it’s more lighthearted. Having said that watching the sunset over the Grand Canyon sounds like one awesome experience! On the whole I found this road trip entertaining, enjoying the blossoming friendship between Kathleen and Martha and welcoming Liza’s new stance on parenting and household servitude. Combining wisdom, warmth and humour Sarah Morgan’s novels are always a treat to read and something to look forward to. For an uplifting, joyful read where the weather is consistently sunny and the future even brighter look no further than The Summer Seekers!

My thanks as always to the publisher and Netgalley for giving me the opportunity to read in exchange for an honest review.

Kathleen used to host a travel show called The Summer Seekers now in her eighties she is reminiscing about her past and decides to take a final trip on Route 66. She needs a driver and for Martha, this seems like the perfect way to escape her life following her recent divorce. Kathleen's daughter Liza is not sure that her mother should be going on this trip and has a lot of stress in her own life and she does not need to be worrying about her mother.

This book is told from the three women's perspectives and they all have their own stories with a range of emotions. I really enjoyed each character and their different story. I really enjoyed the road trip aspect of this book although I would have liked to have seen a little bit more of the road trip. This book is very much a character-driven novel.

Overall I really enjoyed this story and think it will make the perfect book to read this summer.

Review of The Summer Seekers by Sarah Morgan

You always known where you stand with a Sarah Morgan book, and this one is no different. A wonderfully written story about women all at different stages in life embarking on a cross country road trip adventure across America. The perfect fun uplifting story for summer. Dont miss it.

What a feel good, exciting story- I thoroughly enjoyed it all. . Kathleen’s a determined lady who keeps her feelings, thoughts and secrets to herself usually, much to her daughter’s dismay! Eventually Kathleen embarks on a long haul journey with Martha. Plenty of humour, charm and soul searching goes on with them both feeling life is too short so make the most of it- which they do.

Loved this book. It was so well written and the descriptions of the trip around America were so vivid. My thanks to netgalley and the publishers for giving me the opportunity to read this book in return for an honest review.

The summer Seekers is a worthy book of five stars. It’s story starts in the UK and tells the story of Kathleen an 80 year old travel show presenter. Who lives in Cornwall. An accident means her daughter Lisa has to travel to help her with her husband Sean in tow they set out to persuade Kathleen to sell up her home and move into a care home.
Kathleen has other plans and decides she would like to hire a mustang and drive Route 66. Kathleen advertises for a driver/companion and that’s when we meet Martha , Martha is 25 years old and is looking for an escape from living back at home after her divorce.
The story begins as the travel together on Route 66 where they both learn the friendship and family mean more than they realised.
Meanwhile back in Cornwall Lisa has run away to find herself as she has worries about her own family life. And wants to remember who she is.
The trip is going well and they stop for lunch and pick up Josh an American hitch hiker who also has demons, how will that turn out for Martha?
I loved this book, I would love to visit Cornwall and this just made me want this more.
A beautiful well written story of family, friendship, love and loss.
Thank you HQ and NetGalley for an early download of this book.

I so loved this book, when I finished it I wanted to start again as I enjoyed it so much. Sarah Morgan has written a wonderful story of love, life and self-discovery. Taking us on a journey to both Cornwall and Route 66 it provided a much needed escape. This is the story of three women who seem at the outset very different, but as the story develops they learn they are not so different after all. Sarah has created believable and well-rounded characters that I grew to love, particularly Liza. Highly recommended, I’m very grateful to Netgalley and HQ for letting me have an advance copy of this book.

I enjoyed this book about the different relationships we have during our lifetime with family and friends. It was a lovely story of a road trip that 80 year old Kathleen decided to take while she still could. Kathleen isn’t that close to her daughter Liza and so she decides to advertise for a driver/travelling companion and meets Martha. Going on the trip gets everybody thinking. Kathleen starts to bond with Martha and it makes her think about her relationship with Liza. At the same time back home Liza is thinking about her own family relationships and they all decide to do something about it. By reading this book you learn it’s never too late to change things in your life. A nice feel good read.

Thank you Netgalley for the ARC. I loved reading The Summer Seekers, and found it an easy going, heart warming story.
The book follows 80 year old Kathleen and young Martha on an epic road trip down Route 66, as well as the relationship Kathleen has with her daughter back home.
A perfect holiday read, 4 stars.

Kathleen has been on her own since her husband Brian passed away 5 years ago, she is now 80 years old but used to travel all over the world in her work for a TV programme called The Summer Seekers, but after an altercation with an intruder in her house, she starts to re-evaluate things and is craving a new adventure, so decides to book a trip across America on Route 66, but there's another reason for this trip and it's all to do with a secret she has kept hidden from everyone, even her own daughter Liza.

Liza is horrified that her mother is even contemplating this trip at her age, she is feeling overwhelmed with family life and would love nothing more than to escape as well, but she's never been that close to her mother and could never actually leave her family to fend for themselves, the question is, how much longer can she put up with feeling like she's being taken for granted?

Martha has been let down by everyone she was close to and is desperate for things to change, so when she sees Kathleen's advert for a driver to accompany her on her journey, she jumps at the chance to try and turn her life around, but will she find the answer on Route 66?

The Summer Seekers is the story of three women from different generations stuck in a rut, each of them wanting to do things but feeling like they've lost their way somehow. It's a tale of lost love, relationship issues, adventure, escapism and a whole lot more. I adored the bond that immediately emerged between Kathleen and Martha, and felt sorry for the apparent gulf between mother and daughter, although not for the want of trying on Liza's part, what had happened to Kathleen all those years ago that made it so hard to show her emotions? This beautifully written story was full of emotion and humour and had me laughing one minute and sobbing the next, I was so drawn into it that I felt like a passenger in that Ford Mustang, taking the trip with them and loving every minute of it. I think there is so much more that could come from this story and would love to see a sequel. Sarah Morgan has done it again!

I'd like to thank HQ and Netgalley for the approval, I will post my review on Goodreads now and Amazon on publication day.

Kathleen is eighty years old and lives independently in her seaside cottage in Cornwall. After an altercation with an intruder, Kathleen’s daughter Liza questions whether she should move her into residential housing. What octogenarian Kathleen craves is one last hurrah, and she sets about arranging it.

Liza is so stressed with daily family life, so the last thing she needs is her mother jetting off on a wild holiday.

Unemployed Martha needs to change her life, her family see her as a failure and so when she sees Katherine’s advert for a driver and companion to share an epic road trip across America with, she decides this job might be the answer to her prayers. She's not the world's best driver, but anything has to be better than living with her parents.

As these women embark on the journey of a lifetime, they all discover it's never too late to start over.
This was a really enjoyable read – it took me a little time to get into it, but when I did I felt I bonded with the characters. These three woman are all at crossroads in their lives and each one has their hang up with life which made them feel so relatable and human!

I must admit, my favourite part of the book was following Liza’s story – initially I thought she was a bit of a control freak and a little bullish, but then when you get to know her you realise that she’s just like the rest of us, and wants the best for the people she loves.

I've read a few of Sarah Morgan's books and they never disappoint.

The book begins with Kathleen, a mere 80 years old, tackling an intruder with a frying pan. What follows was very familiar to me, as her daughter Liza thinks she isn't safe living alone anymore and should look at moving. But, instead Kathleen decides she's going to travel on route 66 instead.

Kathleen is aware she won't be able to drive route 66 and so she enlists Martha to do the driving for her. Martha is a young divorcee who needs an excuse to get away and working for Kathleen is a golden opportunity.

What follows is the story of Kathleen and Martha on route 66 and the discoveries they make about each other and life along the way. Meanwhile Liza is back in England making a few discoveries herself and the book switches between the different storylines in an effortless and very readable way. There is much, much more to the story and of course a little romance, but I'll leave that for you to discover yourself.

I thoroughly enjoyed this book and looked forward to diving into it's pages as the author took me away to both route 66 and Cornwall, it was wonderful. Kathleen is a force to be reckoned with, having a very acerbic wit to her, and Martha isn't far behind either. The dialogue was so well written and very believable. I think I need to store up some of Kathleen's one liners for later in life myself!

This book is truly amazing and I would love to be in the position to take a road trip like Kathleen. Thankyou Sarah for an amazing trip along the Route 66,!

This novel tells of two strangers who meet each other when eighty years old Kathleen decides she would love to take a trip down memory lane and have a holiday in America, making the 2,448 mile journey along Route 66 starting in Chicago and finishing in Santa Monica pier in California. She cannot face the drive herself and that is why she posted her job offer.
Her daughter Liza is horrified. She worries about her mother and wants to find her a forever home in a care facility, where she will be looked after and be safe. A recent intruder in Kathleen’s house has greatly upset Liza. When young Martha arrives at Kathleen’s house, Kathleen knows straight away that this is the driver and companion she feels she will be safe with and get along with despite the age discrepancy, so she offers Martha the job right there and then, and so the arrangements are made. Liza was shocked, she even offered to drive her mother, but Kathleen had made up her mind.
Kathleen travelled all her life, until her husband passed away. She used to be a TV personality, the host of 'The Summer Seekers' holiday programme, indeed one of the first female presenters. Once again she feels thirsty for adventure and determined it will be the best holiday ever.
Martha is at an awkward stage in her life and her circumstances have forced her to go back home and live with her parents. She can get jobs, but isn’t so good at keeping them. She is depressed and this new job may just give her the new beginning that she is seeking. She is very friendly and a real chatterbox. Setting off on this adventure with a virtual stranger will not be a problem for her. In fact she can’t wait to fly away. At last she feels hopeful that this opportunity will pay dividends.
This is the story of their amazing, exciting, fantastic road trip across America. Bring it on!
I really loved the themes in this novel. They were heart-warming and also great fun. For a start, both ladies were keeping massive secrets from each other, and then there were the eclectic characters they met along their way. I was so happy when my copy of this novel arrived for me to read and then pass on an early review. I’d like to give my sincere thanks to NetGalley and the publisher of the novel HQ for giving me the chance to pass on my thoughts to other keen readers. I loved both Kathleen and Martha and I enjoyed seeing them getting to know each other. Kathleen was an inspirational lady who was determined and brave. Martha, who had recently lost her lovely Nanna, was kind-hearted, generous with her time and I loved that she took time to include Liza in their road trip by sending her photos of where they were and some of the spectacular scenery they saw. She was a really caring person and nothing was too much trouble for her where Kathleen was concerned. She knew when Kathleen was tired or anxious and became an intuitive and excellent friend
Another thing I particularly loved was how Sarah Morgan explored relationships and used back stories to move her lovely story forward. I have always been a fan of hers. She is a wonderful, hugely talented author, prolific and full of empathy. Her research for this novel was meticulous, as were her descriptions. I felt as if the characters were my friends, and the road trip so interesting and informative that I felt as though I were there with them. It’s a 4.5* review from me and the recommendation that this is an excellent, charming and exciting read.