Detour to Love has to be one of my favorite books I received on netgalley. It follows business savvy Celia and artistic Lily as they go from insta hating each other- to having to put up with one another- to helping each other- and then learning to love each other (and themselves). They cover some difficult topics, but the banter between the main characters is what still keeps it fun. This book shows you can’t always trust first impressions and that connections are built through hardships.
Trigger warnings: death of a loved one/grief, alcoholism, kidnapping, non acceptance of someone being gay

I really enjoyed this book! The characters were great and realistic, I loved the representation of both a lesbian relationship and the real ness of homophobia. The storyline was fun and movie like. I think my favourite part was that each chapter had a unique name. It was a quick and easy read that I would highly recommend

This was my first book by Amanda Radley and I quite enjoyed it, the main highlight is definitely the banter, facilitated by well written characters the dialogues end up being a pleasure to read and the humor made me laugh repeatedly.

The romance builds slowly, most of the book solidifying a friendship relationship first, which I was very thankful for. Both the characters pass through traumatic events, and they are given enough time to process and recover from it, which is rare in romance books and something I deeply appreciated.

That being said, while often funny and cute the book does revolve around grief a lot. The best thing is that this isn’t done in a bad way, the approach is very thoughtful and gave me immense respect for the author who could’ve used the grief theme as just a footnote to bounce romance off, this was not what the author did and the book is so much greater because of that.

My first book by Amanda Radley and I am very pleasantly surprised by it. In general, the reviews for this book are great but you never know if you will click with it. There is a lot of quirky banter in this book and if that isn't your thing, or it misses its mark for you, you won't enjoy this.

Celia is in her fifties, has a very demanding career in the financial industry, and is now on her way to accept an award in Tokyo she doesn't even want. She blames herself, and the deal she closed to get this award, for the death of her son. Extremely grumpy she sets out to Heathrow in the early morning. Lily is treating herself to a trip of her lifetime, she is finally going to meet her internet friend, who she hopes will become more than a friend. While browsing food options Celia comes up behind her and makes a snide remark (something about poking all the sandwiches). As luck would have it they end up on the plane next to each other. Some serious unlucky events later has them spending the night at Lily's Mormor in Copenhagen before they continue their trip to Tokyo. Lilly pokes through the icy veneer Celia has in place and sees the caring person behind the facade.
They support each other when it's needed and their romance unfolds.

This is a romance, but there is very little to no physical contact between the main characters. I really didn't mind this, on paper they only share a couple of kisses, but the most important part of this book is the emotional bond they develop. The relationship from complete (annoying) strangers to friends to more is beautifully written and feels natural and real. Celia doesn't struggle with liking a woman, but she does struggle with liking a woman half her age. Lilly has a complicated relationship with her Danish Mormor (grandmother) and this feels real. Both of them not having real friends with whom they can share everything and find this with each other is nice and refreshing. The age gap and melting ice queen have been done lots of times of course, but this feels different.
I for one love banter and quirky, sarcastic, edgy jokes, that is right up my alley and I enjoyed it all. I think I had a smile on my face the entire time I was reading this book. What more could you ask for these days?

For the sake of an honest review, I'll be real: this book wasn't very rewarding to me. I didn't connect with either of the characters, the plot was overdone, the writing was bland, and I wasn't feeling the connection between the love interests. I felt that the time I spent reading this was wasted for so little pay off.

The slow romance between Celia and Lily is subtle, but definitely rewarding. Detour to Love touches upon everything from the difficulty of having it all to the self-acceptance and conscientiousness it takes to allow yourself to fall in love again and again, in a series of exotic locations. Definitely a realistic romance that you should pick up for Valentine's Day!

My first read by Amanda Radley. I enjoyed the story. The bond the main characters Lily and Celia built was great. I thoroughly enjoyed the humor between them. I will definitely be reading more of her books. I recommend 4 stars.

I received an ARC from the Publisher Bold Strokes Books via NetGalley for my honest opinion.

Melting an Ice Queen is a trope I must admit to being partial. And Amanda Radley does it so well. In ‘Detour To Love’, her first novel for Bold Strokes Books, she has hit the jackpot. Beautiful settings, adorable characters, and a love story to set the heart a flutter, make for a perfect read.

High-flying businesswoman Celia Scott is on the way to Tokyo to accept an award she does not want. She starts the day off in a foul mood, and things go from bad to worse when her travel plans go south. Talented artist Lily Anderson is on the same flight, hoping that her online friend might turn into something more. The two women rub each other the wrong way, but sometimes wonderful things come from unlikely beginnings.

I loved the crankiness of Celia. Who can resist the sexy older woman, especially one who gives off an abrasive vibe? Lily sees past the icy exterior. She sees something in Celia worth waiting for. Each woman brought something to the other that made them a better person. It was a fantastic story and captured my heart.

I was given this ARC to review.

Celia is a successful investor heading to Tokyo to accept an award which is a sickening reminder of the worst moment in her life. On a flight she already isn't keen to take, she's met with trial after trial which has her desperate to turn back and head home. The one bright spot is meeting Lily, an artist on the way to meet her online crush in Toyko, who keeps Celia on her toes and surprises her at every turn. Celia learns a lot about herself and suddenly a whole new future lies in front of her, but will she take a chance on it? And on love?

I have followed Radley's career from the beginning, from fanfiction to YLVA to self-publishing and now to BSB, and every single work has been brilliant. The characters are so strong and fascinating and unique. I feel like Radley knows them so well that they come alive for the reader and creates this incredible story that captures your heart. The bulk of this story happens in a matter of days, and yet Radley can create a strong relationship that feels like a slow burn even in the short timeline. There isn't much physical interaction between the two mains but holy moly the tension and the chemistry sizzles off the page. The dialogue is so witty and it really drives the story forward, all the while the romance is very much a slow burn. My heart ached for both Lily and Celia at times but this is balanced with laugh out loud moments, I seriously don't know how she comes up with such hilarious ideas!

I can't recommend Radley's books more! I look forward to the next one as always.

I received an ARC via NetGalley in exchange for an honest review.

This was a quirky sweet age gap romance., between Celia and Lily. Lets just say it was not love at first sight nor like at first sight. There were some really funny parts and some really sad and heartbreaking parts in this story as well. I won't go into detail but it does move the story along at a fast clip. I would recommend this book too anyone that loves a good romantic age gap romance between two women who really care about each other and take their time to get to know each other before being intimate. I have read a few books by this author and will read more in the future. I really hope for a sequel to Celia and Lily's story soon.

This has been a sweet and touching romance with the peculiarity that it has almost no physical interaction between the two protagonists, focusing more on the emotional and psychological part they are going through, both in their personal situations and in the way each of them helps the other.

They have nothing in common and their way of meeting each other is a bit comical. The two have to make the London-Tokyo trip, which lasts about twelve hours. Celia is a mature woman, an executive in the insurance industry, who goes there looking for a premium she doesn’t want. Lily is a young woman who is going to meet her online girlfriend, very hopeful and eager to do so.

From the first encounter between them, at a sandwich stand at the airport, they enter a verbal tug-of-war that none of them seem to be able to avoid. And then circumstances make them have adjoining seats, Celia a bit tipsy, Lily dreading the nightmare of having this rude seatmate on such a long trip.

But then things don’t go the way they should, neither on the plane trip itself nor on the other revelations they are forced to show, reluctantly. Because, is it worth trusting a stranger you should never see again? Or is that why it is easier to trust them? Because, is it worth trusting a stranger you should never see again? Or is that why it is easier to trust them?

For me, despite the lack of physical interaction, this story has been very enjoyable to read and has aroused my interest in knowing what experiences they came from and where they ended up.

As expected, the plot revolves around two women who go from annoyances to partners. The story line is funny and the banter keeps it moving quickly. I just didn’t feel the romantic chemistry. The progression of the friendship was smooth, but the love portion was abrupt and out of no where. I appreciated the two main characters and the joys and heartaches they endured both apart and together, but the relationship didn’t feel real.

MY RATING 3/5 STARS

Overall, the book had some pretty good moments, but it also had a few things I didn’t really like. I had a pretty hard time actually getting into the book in the beginning because of the writing style. However, once I got further into the book that quickly changed, and I didn’t have any problems after that.

Another thing that made the book less enjoyable in the beginning was Celia. She was honestly pretty annoying, but I can also see that the author did this on purpose. Celia clearly states herself multiple times that she knows that what she is saying and doing in the beginning of the book, is just because she is cranky and overwhelmed with having to go to Japan.

One of the things I really loved seeing was Lily and Celia having to suddenly emergency land in Copenhagen. Since I’m from Denmark myself I love getting to see books incorporating small scenes and stuff that mentions Denmark.

Another thing I liked was how realistic all of the relationships felt. Lily’s relationship with her grandmother is clearly complicated, but it was also very realistically portrayed. The same goes for the evolving relationship between Celia and Lily. Throughout the book we get to see them go from being total strangers at the airport to two people who go through a lot together and ends up having a more meaningful relationship than they ever thought they would end up having.

Generally speaking, this was a pretty good book, and it had a lot of cute and heartfelt moments, and I really enjoyed seeing the characters development throughout the story. However, I still felt a bit weird about the age gap between Lily (25) and Celia (51).

This was my first Radley and I’m happy to say it won’t be the last. This was a sweet easy-read romance, with an age-gap, an ice queen type character, and settings in more than one country, ensuring that things are kept interesting.

Lily is an artist traveling to Tokyo to meet the person she hopes will become her girlfriend for the first time. On the plane she meets Celia, an insurance executive on her way to Tokyo to accept an award. Lily is excited about her adventure, Celia would rather be anywhere but there.

I don’t want to give away too much about why Celia feels the way she does about herself and her career, but I really appreciated how Radley incorporated different sides to Celia, and how her friendship/relationship with Lily encourages her to see other sides to the situation.

Whilst it only forms a small part of the book I really enjoyed Celia’s time with her brother and the contrasts/similarities between the two.

I enjoyed how Radley played the conflict between Celia and Lily out throughout the book, rather than focussing on one big particular blow-up. The continued conflict and then points of understanding between the two makes the development of the trust between the two more natural and a nice read. The character development of both is strong, both individually and together.

The storyline has interesting plot points to keep you reading but is at its heart a romance between two people who on the surface are opposites and I think all romance fans would enjoy this one.

I received an e-ARC via NetGalley in exchange for an honest review.

So I have read almost every book of this author and enjoyed all of them. It was not different with this one. The romantic part of here books are always very similar: age gap and one ice queen. But it just works. The not romantic part of the story is always very unique! So maybe I enjoyed some other books of her more than this one but that is natural. Sometimes you like the plot just a little better. Nonetheless I definitely recommend this book.

This is my first read by Amanda Radley. Detour to Love was filled with serious topics such as the death of a son and catfishing, but balanced with solid age gap (25 years) chemistry between Celia and Lily and witty banter. The portion of the book about “Alan” is comedic genius. 3.5 stars

I received an ARC from Bold Strokes Books in exchange for an honest review.

3.5/5

I really enjoyed this one wow. This was my first time reading Amanda Radley's work but I'm definitely going to check out her other works cause I really had fun with this one.

The book is not very plot driven, if you're looking for a solid, overarching adventure or purpose, this isn't exactly that. We follow these two women who end up in different uncomfortable/unsafe situations, find each other and from there on, they start to bond and fall in love, and boy is this a slow burn. The book plays like a mini rom com series in my mind which works cause of the characters. This opens up for opportunities to insert really adorable and hilarious scenes with the two and that is my favorite part of the book, the humor. The

These two characters just click really well and it's not really an instant love trope, their banter was so fun and make them so likable as characters. The British humor is a bonus, love the sarcasm, dead panned jokes especially from Celia. Their chemistry just felt very natural and lovely, it didn't feel forced despite the short amount of time they spent getting to know each other.

It took me a while to start liking Celia at first because my first impression of her was 'wow, our main character is a Karen, I'm worried', but thankfully as we see more of her, through her other interactions with people and Lily, she really grew on me. Her determined, no bullshit attitude was great, I love how she carries this calm confidence that made her so attractive. And putting her next to Lily really makes her more endearing at times cause she can be so sweet. Lily's character didn't stand out as much to me, she was obviously the softer, more gentle one but she also sets very clear boundaries when needed which I liked about her. Also her attraction to older women, same girl.

The writing was good, nothing really stood out to me but the prose was really easy to get through. The highlight was definitely the dialogue, which can be so witty and adorable at times. The book explored heavier topics as well which I did not see coming, but appreciated, it talks about grief and family members not being accepting of one's sexuality, etc. Would recommend.

<i>tw mentions of suicide, homophobia (not physical violence), drug usage mentioned, implied alcoholism</i>

This book is a slow burn romance between 20 something Lily, a children’s book illustrator and Celia, a middle aged businesswoman. The two are seated next to each other on a flight from London to Tokyo. After a series of travel disasters, the two wind up spending a significant amount of time together and developing feelings for one another. Both characters experienced significant personal growth over the course of the story. The book also touches on the sensitive issues of grief, mental health, homophobia and alcoholism. I enjoyed seeing how the characters let go of their losses, recognized their strengths and resilience. The romance was incredibly understated and I would have liked for that aspect to have been explored more in the story.

Thank you to Netgalley and Bold Strokes Book for this ARC in exchange for an honest review.

Detour to Love is a great age gap (about 25 years) romance. I'm a big fan of Amanda Radley's previous novels and Detour is a great addition to the catalog.

Firstly, some warnings. This novel deals very heavily with death and loss of a family member. Also alcohol addiction and homophobia from family members play a part here. These topic are all handled well in my opinion so I'm actually very happy with them being a part of Detour.

Ok, actual review time.
Lily is a 20-something artist on her way to Japan to meet her long time friend/crush in person for the first time. Celia is a middle aged successful business woman on her way to receive an award in Tokyo. A series of upgrades and downgrades lead to Celia and Lily spending their travel time together. Anymore detail and this falls into more spoiler territory then it already is.

I loved the pairing of Lily and Celia, they are 2 very different people who mesh well and make up for each others short comings. With addition of clowns, Copenhagen, grandmothers, and lost luggage mishaps this book is a great romance. As mentioned before there are some more depressing topics and events in Detour but they really help push the characters towards each other. I'll definitely be reading this again and hoping future novels by Radley are just as good as Detour.

I'm a huge fan of Amanda Radley, so I was loving forward to this new read. I'm also a sucker for an age gap, ice queen romance so if you are as well, you'll be pleased with this read. Not only is this a depiction of how a sweet, genuine connection can grow between two people, this book also deals with some tougher life moments. Would love to see a series about these two.