Synopsis:

Two exes reach a new level of awkward when forced to take a road trip together in this endearing and humorous novel by the author of the international bestseller The Flatshare.

What if the end of the road is just the beginning?

Four years ago, Dylan and Addie fell in love under the Provence sun. Wealthy Oxford student Dylan was staying at his friend Cherry’s enormous French villa; wild child Addie was spending her summer as the on-site caretaker. Two years ago, their relationship officially ended. They haven’t spoken since.

Today, Dylan’s and Addie’s lives collide again. It’s the day before Cherry’s wedding, and Addie and Dylan crash cars at the start of the journey there. The car Dylan was driving is wrecked, and the wedding is in rural Scotland–he’ll never get there on time by public transport.

So, along with Dylan’s best friend, Addie’s sister, and a random guy on Facebook who needed a ride, they squeeze into a space-challenged Mini and set off across Britain. Cramped into the same space, Dylan and Addie are forced to confront the choices they made that tore them apart–and ask themselves whether that final decision was the right one after all.

It’s no secret that I love road trips. I love going on them, reading about them, and even just thinking about them. And I especially enjoy romances set on a road trip. So the first time I saw the title, I knew I had to read The Road Trip. After the success of The Flatshare, the hype for The Road Trip was big. And even when I started seeing some mixed reviews, I wasn’t dissuaded. And while I did really enjoy The Road Trip—finding it unputdownable at times—I can understand the mixed reviews. It’s not perfect, but it could have been, which is what is so frustrating.

“He’s not looking at me like he’s never seen me before—he’s looking at me like he’s never seen anyone else.”

Beth O’Leary, The Road Trip

I’m not a big fan of comparing books to successful novels, but I can’t help comparing this one to Beach Read by Emily Henry. Some readers felt the cover and/or description of Beach Read was misleading. They wanted a light and funny rom-com instead of the more darker themed romance it ended up being. But I didn’t mind. It was my favorite book of 2020. And I feel like this is another romance with a cute book cover and blurb that may not convey what’s on the page. But if you enjoyed Beach Read, you’ll probably find something to like in The Road Trip.

Several of the characters in The Road Trip are not likable. They’re wealthy, entitled, and not very nice. I don’t usually mind that in a book as long as they change or get what’s coming to them. Because it does reflect the real world. There are many people like that and seeing those characters will hopefully keep us from being like them. Maybe. And while that is the case in this book—they do change or get what’s coming to them (for the most part)—I wasn’t satisfied with how one of the main antagonist’s story wrapped up in the end. Their transformation felt a little too rushed and HEA (Happily Ever After) for how serious the book got at one point.