About the Book
A starry-eyed romantic, a cynical writer, and (the ashes of) an elderly woman take the road trip of a lifetime that just might upend everything they believe about true love.
Millicent Watts-Cohen is on a mission. When she promised her elderly best friend that she’d reunite her with the woman she fell in love with nearly eighty years ago, she never imagined that would mean traveling from D.C. to Key West with three tablespoons of Mrs. Nash’s remains in her backpack. But Millie’s determined to give her friend a symbolic happily-ever-after, before it’s (really) too late—and hopefully reassure herself of love’s lasting power in the process.
She just didn’t expect to have a living travel companion.
After a computer glitch grounds flights, Millie is forced to catch a ride with Hollis Hollenbeck, an also-stranded acquaintance from her ex’s MFA program. Hollis certainly does not believe in happily-ever-afters—symbolic or otherwise—and makes it quite clear that he can’t fathom Millie’s plan ending well for anyone.
But as they contend with peculiar bed-and-breakfasts, unusual small-town festivals, and deer with a death wish, Millie begins to suspect that her reluctant travel partner might enjoy her company more than he lets on. Because for someone who supposedly doesn’t share her views on romance, Hollis sure is becoming invested in the success of their journey. And the closer they get to their destination, the more Millie has to admit that maybe this trip isn’t just about Mrs. Nash’s love story after all—maybe it’s also about her own.
My Review
What a freaking joy of a book! I instantly fell in love with Millie – our slightly wacky but still so loveable heroine – as she goes on a journey from DC to Key West with the ashes of her best friend, Mrs. Nash, in her backpack. Three tablespoons, to be precise. She is on a mission to reunite Mrs. Nash with the woman she fell in love with almost eighty years ago, a woman she didn’t grow old because of society standards and her own personal fears. Millie is determined to give her best friend Mrs. Nash (Rosie) some sort of happily ever after, but the race against time is on because Elsie is also in poor health and in hospice care. When Millie’s flight gets canceled, she is still determined to make it to Key West – and accepts a ride from the grumpy guy she met in the airport, Hollis. While Hollis isn’t a complete stranger – he’s an acquaintance of her ex-boyfriend and they met under not-so-great-circumstances in the past, Millie feels he might be her only hope of getting to Elsie in time with her tablespoons of Mrs. Nash, to let Elsie know Rosie never forgot about her. True love and all that.
When I say this novel just cracked me up, I was snort-laughing my way through most of the chapters. I loved that Millie was out there but somehow in a down to earth way. She owned her oddness which I thought was refreshing, and none of her scenes were so over the top that they made me want to roll my eyes. The connection between her and Hollis definitely had me intrigued. It took me a while to warm up to him because he spent the majority of the time in a bad mood, but when it became clear that Millie’s sometimes eccentric behavior seemed endearing to him, I started to root for him too. Add in the additional chapters we got regarding Mrs. Nash and her former lover Elsie, and those really tugged on my heartstrings. I have to say there were a few moments I was holding my breath, hoping along with Millie she would make it to Key West to let Elsie know Rosie never stopped loving her. I don’t want to give too much away, but while the ending made me cry, it also made me a little happy. Not every story gets a happily ever after, and that’s just real life. But through Millie’s relatable shenanigans, the questionable town they get stranded in, and the overall vibe of the book just saying ‘read me this summer for a good time,’ I think you should add this to your summer reading list. Or maybe that’s just me telling you to pick this one up.
5 stars
