I might be a little biased, but Beth O’Leary is a frontrunner in the contemporary romantic comedy game right now. Her work feels so fresh and inviting and there’s never a dull moment. The Road Trip feels like that brilliant summer read for the beach or the poolside and you can guarantee you’ll be laughing by the middle of it.

Beth O’Leary is a master of dual timelines and pacing. She knows how to space things out and where to place everything in a novel to create an immersive, vibrant timeline that is not only believable but hilarious too. The settings are vivid and exquisitely detailed, making you feel like you are there with them in the sun and the dialogue is quippy and lively, befitting for such a carload of people with deep history – oh, and Rodney.

I love the sister dynamic of Addie and Deb. Their relationship feel so authentic and believable that the dialogue flows like water. No stagnancy, nothing jarring or out-of-place. Their dynamic is golden and they carry this book in my eyes. Dylan and Marcus, on the other hand, I have some opinions about. Let me start by making it clear that while Addie and Dylan’s reconnection did feel right in the end and having worked through their issues it was a plausible direction to take, their history shouldn’t have developed as much as it did. Addie is a smart girl – she should’ve set some boundaries and addressed the issues with Marcus and Dylan. If she needed Deb to support her while doing so, great. Do what you need to do. It was evident to me from a mile away that Dylan did not have a backbone, especially towards Marcus, and that he needed to grow up and open his eyes so that he could realise what he needed to do for himself.

This is a story about toxic relationships – family ones, friend ones and romantic ones – and coming to the right place by working on oneself and righting the wrongs you have made with people. This is what we see in the present day storyline with the tensions slowly resolving as details are worked through and misconceptions are addressed. One thing that really bugs me though is Marcus. I won’t say much because the spoilers are running high with this one, but does he not have empathy for his friends? Does he not understand respect and courtesy and how to sacrifice personal endeavours for loved ones? That kind of guy pisses me off and I would easily have done away with him as soon as I could – stepping back from a friendship with him, drawing boundaries, enlisting the help of my girl pals if I felt uncomfortable and needed assistance. His self-entitlement is through the roof and I would love to see that come crashing down to earth.

This isn’t my favourite Beth O’Leary books but it’s not bad by any means. I would definitely recommend this to others, especially for the summer. The French summer vibes are there and it’s a fun, light read with some serious topics up for discussion. Grab a vino, grab some bubbles, take a seat and get to reading my friends.