The Road Trip by Beth O’Leary

|Synopsis|

Addie and her sister are about to embark on an epic road trip to a friend’s wedding in the north of Scotland. The playlist is all planned and the snacks are packed.

But, not long after setting off, a car slams into the back of theirs. The driver is none other than Addie’s ex, Dylan, who she’s avoided since their traumatic break-up two years earlier.

Dylan and his best mate are heading to the wedding too, and they’ve totalled their car, so Addie has no choice but to offer them a ride. The car is soon jam-packed full of luggage and secrets, and with three hundred miles ahead of them, Dylan and Addie can’t avoid confronting the very messy history of their relationship…

Will they make it to the wedding on time? And, more importantly… is this really the end of the road for Addie and Dylan?

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|Review|

As always Beth O’Leary has written a book that while lighthearted at times, packs a serious emotional punch. The Road Trip is a forced proximity second chance romance told not only in a dual POV but dual timelines as well. We get to see just how Addie and Dylan found each other, fell apart and somehow, through everything, manage to come back together once again.

While I usually fall in love with Beth O’Leary’s characters, these ones just fell flat to me beyond Addie and Deb. Addie was truly a saint for all the crap she put up with and Deb was a freaking hoot. These two truly carried the book. Dylan was just this sad mopey rich boy who drank too much, wrote bad poetry and no idea what to do with his life. While I liked the discussions about his struggles with depression and family issues, he just fell flat for me. What I truly hated was his extremely toxic and codependent relationship with his best friend Marcus and continuously hoped that man would meet an untimely death. Marcus STALKED Addie, gaslit Dylan and did not have as much growth as he needed to still be in the picture.

Addie and Dylan went through so much together. Their relationship was full of many ups and downs but they did have great chemistry. I liked Dylan when he was with Addie, he was a better version of himself and they just connected. There was so much growth in their relationship from the past to the present and they overcame so many obstacles. While in the thick of the past I was very much against them being together, by the end of the book I thought they both in a good place to try again and have different results.

The Road Trip was such an emotional story about overcoming trauma, healing and find your way back to someone. It was a melancholic read with some funny and lighthearted moments. While it isn’t my favorite O’Leary book to date, I definitely think it’s one worth picking up.