Member Reviews
I appreciate the low-key drama of this book, even though I feel many of the conflicts were resolved too quickly. I related a lot to the leads with their struggles in their careers and also some aspects about their family which is really what kept me hooked into the story. The romance is cute and made me smile many times so that's definitely a win!
Absolutely loved this one! A wonderful love story that occurs over the course of a road trip, which is fraught with obstacles and barriers. Despite this, Coral and Ruby are able to overcome their own hangups and work through misunderstandings and miscommunication to ultimately find their way to one another and let themselves fall in love.
Ruby is an established Van Life vlogger with a substantial following for her intentional living videos and her beautiful aesthetic. Coral is comparably new to the Van Life lifestyle and is slowly building her following as she focuses her videos on adventure and fun. When the two need to increase their income they hatch a plan to road trip and vlog together for ten days. They're chemistry is leaking through onto screen, will they act on it or use it to their advantage?
This is a very sweet sapphic romance with the back drop of stunning scenery and a very cute dog. The characters and their hang ups were believable and easy to fall in love with. Even their "dramas" were understandable.
This has made we want to explore more from Tiana Warner, I think the writing is fun, the characters fleshed out and the romance adorable.
Loved this book! The setting and van life story is nothing I have read before and I was very entertained! However it was a slow start. Gave me all the feel good vibes and I highlighted a lot of quotes that stuck out. Thank you NetGalley, author, and publisher for the ARC!
I received an ARC from NetGalley and am writing this review voluntarily.
The premise of the book by Tiana Warner is intriguing. The book has fake relationships between MCs, touring from one place to another in a camp van, Vlogger, etc.
The book has both the MCs in their twenties. If you are interested in reading romances developing between two twenty-something adults and how they navigate their struggling professions to get it established in the already chaotic world, then this book is for you. It has a celebrity troupe per se as well in one way or another.
It is a light and comfortable read. If you want to or are into experiencing how to create videos and making it into a profession by being a YouTuber in this era then I would suggest giving this book a go.
Its a light, sweet, and fun read. Not so much drama but very slowburn, which is kind of a good thing for the plot. So many lessons you could get from this especially people having quarter life crisis, and even young adults trying to fit into adulthood. Its romance, but its more than that. I feel like this book is more on discovering life and what's more of it with a dash of romance.
Sometimes, I'm having a hard time distinguishing who's POV it is, or who's talking to whom. But I eventually got a hand on it. It also bothers me how some important characters like their parents dont have names (or did I just missed it?), they seem to play a vital role to the storyline yet they're just "mom" or "dad".
The main characters are a bit problematic, they are such opposites and I guess the only thing they have in common is the vanlife, I honestly dont see them last long. Nonetheless, I still enjoyed this book. Although, I wish and I know I would have enjoyed it more if it got more tension 😅.The spice is subtle (for me).
I have high respect for content creators because its not easy to think and strategise contents but this book shows their reality, that what we see in social media is not a direct reflection of their private lives. And sometimes, the content that gets viral are the one made for clout and people fall for it. I love how the author did not sugarcoat vanlife and social media life and let us see the reality of it.
Overall, this is a 3/5 for me. It would have been a higher rating for me should it had more tension. I've enjoyed reading this but it lacks something that keeps me wanting to flip the pages. Nevertheless, if you want light, fun, and cute, you'd love this book.
Tiana Warner is a new-to-me author and I'll definitely give more of her work a read.
I liked the premise of the book and the writing was good. I have to confess that I spent way more time than I should have looking into van life and watching van videos.
I think the thing that held me back from a higher rating was that I had a tough time connecting to the characters and the way the family things were resolved just seemed to be superficial and too quick and easy. I do appreciate that it wasn't an insta-love situation.
If you're looking for some adventure and a super cute doggie, and some low-key drama and angst, you'll probably enjoy The Road Trip Agreement.
Thanks to the publisher and NetGalley for the chance to discover a new author.
The Road Trip Agreement is such a cute Adult Romance. The story follows Coral and Ruby who are van life content creators on YouTube. I was pleasantly surprised by the depth behind both characters family dynamics and how it affected their ability to live their nomadic lifestyles.
Coral and Ruby are total opposites who make the cutest friends and couple. I was rooting for them from the start. I enjoyed the fake dating angle and the slow burn that was their mutual attraction building.
This is a quick read that has me wanting to take an adventure filled road trip asap.
I want to thank Ylva Publishing, NetGalley, and the author for a copy of this novel in exchange for an honest review! :)
oh my this book was so fun!! all the sites they visited, all the nature surrounding them and the descriptions of it sounded beyond beautiful! I was picturing every sunset in my head and seeing it myself! Coral and Ruby were such a treat to read about. They complimented each other’s personalities so well! I love a good Fake dating romance;) And let’s not forget Calvin!!!! He sounded like the sweetest pup ever and when he finally let Coral in I squealed! this book really was such an adventure to read about!:)
3.5 rounded to 4 adventurous stars!☀️☀️☀️☀️
This is everything you could possibly want from a romance - it’s so silly and lovely and heartwarming. Sure it’s a bit predictable, but in the best possible way. The characters are relatable and easy to love and the story moves quickly, so you’re not waiting for the payoff at the end. The downside is it made me want to chuck in my soul-destroying 9-5 and go and live in a van even more than I already did.
Solid 4 stars for me! I recently read another book by this author and was excited to find this title on Netgalley! I loved the adventure, the travel, and the journey these two took together. I only wish they started “dating” sooner to get more time to develop their relationship! I thought they were very sweet together and a good balance for each other. The fake dating trope is always fun for me! I’d read another book, happily, about Ruby and Coral’s future travels and life together. So sweet. And you can’t forget Calvin!!
This is a story about Ruby who has been a blogger for several years driving around Seattle. Her blog features her minimalist van and cooking vegan meals. Corral is a new blogger and needs money and more followers to meet an agreement she made with her parents. She emails Ruby and suggests that they team up for a road trip down the Oregon coast.
I liked this story and both characters. The dog, Calvin, was sweet. And Ruby's mom was a great addition. It was an easy read with low angst and an HEA ending. Also enjoyed reading about all the great state parks they visited and I’d like to take this same road trip.
ARC received from Net Galley for an honest and voluntary review.
// thank you to the publishers and net galley for letting me read and review an arc!
this was a super cute little sapphic romance! the premise was super unique—i, like many people, have had a phase where i loved watching van-life influences, and so to have them be the main characters in a book was a very interesting idea. i’m also always up for a fake-relationship-but-we-actually-like-each-other trope, so this book truly ticked all my boxes.
and the couple! complemented one another so well! on the surface, their personalities seemed super different but they actually had a lot in common in the areas where it really matters. they were two distinctive personalities, and while one was ‘shy’ and the other was ‘adventurous’, they were also well-rounded people. sometimes romance couples aren’t actually very realistic, but i could honestly see these people working in real life.
i will admit that as much as i objectively liked everything about the book, i had trouble finishing it or picking it back up after i started it. and this wasn’t because it wasn’t great, but more because there was nothing truly *gripping* about the book.
there wasn’t much real tension throughout the book. the writing was mediocre at best, and sometimes got in the way of truly enjoying a scene, and I think the author could have done a lot more with the road-trip idea. there were a few fun scenes based on the destinations of the road-trip, but it honestly ended a bit abruptly—the reader doesn’t get a good insight into the where’s and when’s of this road-trip, which is half the fun of van-life content—and it *could* have been a plot ingredient that really spiced this book up.
furthermore, the resolution of coral’s family/internal conflict felt a bit too easy for me. while i love the concept of chasing your dreams unapologetically but *also* having a plan B—something that a lot of romance novels unrealistically ignore, so props to the author for that!—the resolution of the family conflict felt way too straightforward for an issue that has been going on for that long. generational trauma and learnt patterns of communication don’t just disappear with one slightly honest conversation.
nonetheless, i will always appreciate a cute sapphic love story with a road trip involved, and i cannot believe more people aren’t talking about this book!
The Road Trip Agreement by Tiana Warner is a romance about two women, Coral and Ruby, who dedicate their lives to traveling and creating videos about their vanlife for the internet. When both their channels stagnate, their need to increase their income leads them to a mutually beneficial business proposal. They agree to take a road trip together and help each other's channel grow by mixing up their different content and increasing the range of their audience.
Soon, their viewers begin to comment about how they look like a couple in their videos. Seeing this as an opportunity to attract even more viewers, they decide to fake a relationship for the cameras. Both Coral and Ruby are somewhat interesting, each with different views about what living the vanlife and creating content means. However, they didn't feel like really solid characters. For me, it felt quite off-putting that they both had a crush on each other before meeting in person but yet, hid their attraction and chose to fake a relationship. The reasons given by each to not pursue a real relationship didn't feel strong enough to me, especially considering they never talked about it with one another, but just kept their feelings and thoughts to themselves. I also didn't enjoy that much the relationship between Coral and Ruby and their respective families. In a way, it made them feel more like teenagers than young adults who are responsible for themselves. On the same topic, it was weird to me that the parents of both were always only called Mom and Dad, even by the narrator. They weren't given names.
Warner does a great job of describing the lifestyle and, especially, the places that they visit during the road trip. It is the kind of book that makes you want to travel. At some moments, though, the story was a bit slow and repetitive.
Overall, The Road Trip Agreement was a nice romance but left me with the feeling that the writing still needed some work to reach all the potential this story had.
The Road Trip Agreement by Tiana Warner is a lovely romance about two women who both make a living as social media video creators and influencers. I found it to be an enjoyable read, especially since I know very little about this type of career.
The author created two interesting characters in Carol Lavoie and Ruby Hayashi. Both are quite different even though they have similar careers. The chemistry between the two is easy to see. It is fun reading about the two learning to work and live together as they travel through some beautiful settings.
If you enjoy your romances with lots of travel, close quarters, a fake relationship, and a cute dog, this may be the romance for you.
Thanks to NetGalley and Ylva Publishing for giving me the chance to read and review this novel.
3,5 stars
Entertaining story about two content creators teaming up to boost their followers and income. Sounded fun but the excecution felt a little off to me. Both MC's are in their midtwenties but they act like barely 20-year-olds. No clue why Coral let her parents dictate her life like that and not sure what she's been doing since graduating high school and before she started her channel.
Ruby and Coral together were a fun pair though as they are quite different but add to each other's differences where Ruby is into planning everything and Coral is more of the we'll wing it type of person.
An ARC was provided to me via Netgalley in return of an honest review.
This was a cute story. It was about two influencers who look like they have the perfect life. The truth is that they each have problems and decide to help each other out by combining their talents. I think this was a good story and i appreciated the travel scenes. I think this was about how much you can or should share with your audience and still have some life that is your own. I liked how both women grew in the end. I will be reading this author again.
I received a free copy from net galley for an unbiased review.
“After all the times they’d kissed, the cameras were off this time. This one was for them.”
I absolutely adored this book. As much as I love a good book that packs in the spice from the beginning, there’s something special about a slow burn that leaves you bursting with anticipation for what’s to come, and this book absolutely did that.
Ruby and Coral’s chemistry was palpable from the beginning, and I loved how easily they fit together whithout it being unrealistic. They had their fair share of tense moments, but they worked their way through them in a way that made me confident for their relationship after the book was over (which I not always am!)
Each beat of this book felt deliberate and it was the perfect build to their relationship. I loved the carefree moments between them, and how they both saw the beauty of the world in such similar and yet entirely different ways. It’s no wonder that their audience started shipping them as quickly as they did!
Another thing I really loved about this book was how realistically it portrayed the life of a content creator. Fun fact: I was actually a bit of a travel content creator in college/pre-COVID, and oftentimes influencer characters in blooks are so unrealistic it’s laughable. This one definitely wasn’t that way, and I really appreciated it!
Thank you to NetGalley and Ylva Publishing for providing an arc of this book for review.
This was an interesting book with a different plot that I enjoyed.
Coral and Ruby are both influencers about van life and etc. It was funny, sweet as they both got to know each other. Coral is trying to build up her followers before she turns 25 and the deal she made with her parents comes due. Ruby is more successful and they team up to help each other.
I really enjoyed the interaction between them and the writer did a great job setting up the scenes, it was almost like being there which was awesome.
Overall, very much enjoyed this book.
I received an ARC from Netgalley in exchange for an honest review.
thank you to netgalley for the advanced reading copy. I really enjoyed this and will be getting copies for my shop.