Thoughts

I've loved Beth O'Leary books since reading her first, The Flatshare, and I'm always keen on picking up the newer titles - a few of them had passed me by, so I'm catching up. Although they aren't always as brilliant as that first book, you know what to expect with a Beth O'Leary: star-crossed lovers on some kind of journey towards resolution, taking you along for the ride.

This time, it was an actual journey, with two distinct parties ending up having to share a car towards a destination wedding. As an idea, this is great, it's a little contrived getting the two ex-lovers in the same car, but once you get over that hurdle, it flows really well. O'Leary builds better situations than others in her genre, even if the characters don't always live up to their situations.

There are two timelines in the story, in the present our couple are finding their way back to each other during the road trip from hell. In the past, we gradually find out how these two got together (a bit too quickly if you ask me), and how it all fell apart. The instant falling in love of a holiday romance just seemed a bit far-fetched, but when the relationship was more grounded in reality, it was a lot better.

The character of Marcus was meant to be an antagonist, an irritant, but I really felt like he pushed it too far, it was annoying. He was the character from hell, particularly his reactions to the sexual assault. We were led up to that incident very carefully and slowly, and when it happened it was so grubby. When it's revealed the role Marcus played in unravelling everything, it made me so mad. Perhaps that's the point, but equally, it felt unwarranted, pushing that character too far.

As with all great romance novels, there's a sensible and happy conclusion to be found, it just takes a while to get there. Along the way we get some great insights and thoughtfulness about relationships and life, like this nugget:

But that's the thing about almost: you can be ninety-nine per cent there, you can be an inch away from doing it, but if you stop yourself from stepping over that line, nobody will ever know how close you were.

Fans of Emily Henry or Sarah Morgan will enjoy this book, but I do think she's carving her own niche with the creativity in her ideas. This one isn't perfect, but I'm more than happy to keep trying when the next Beth O'Leary is released.

Rating: 3 / 5