“Beyond the walls of her romance bookstore, Gigi Rutherford is out of stock when it comes to her own love interests. And instead of enduring one bad date after another, these days she'd rather curl up at home with her favorite audiobook and the only man who makes her heart skip a beat: Zane Wilkenson, the smooth-voiced narrator Gigi is convinced is her soulmate. Then, she's presented with the chance of a lifetime: a ten-day bus tour through the hilly English countryside, taking in the sights and sounds of a world an ocean away from her bookstore--all in the presence of the man of her dreams, Zane, as he leads the tour . . . in person. But things don't go as planned. When Gigi arrives at the bus terminal in London, Zane is nowhere to be found. Until he shows up, she's stuck with an eclectic group of fellow travelers she'd rather not be with on a long road trip, including the brooding bus driver, Taj, who Gigi finds infuriating but also incredibly alluring. Will Gigi find a happy ending with Zane? Or will each stop on the tour bring her closer to a completely different destination?” (Description of Two for the Road by Chantel Guertin was taken from Penguin Random House Canada’s website).
Two for the Road is a contemporary rom com perfect for fans of books like The Neighbor Favor by Kristina Forest, Part of Your World by Abby Jimenez, The Bookish Life of Nina Hill by Abbi Waxman, Book Lovers by Emily Henry, and Accidentally Amy by Lynn Painter. Themes and topics discussed include love and heartbreak, forced proximity, family, death and grieving, communication, character, change versus tradition, desire to escape, friendship and companionship, appearance versus reality, fate versus freewill, travel, as well as loneliness and isolation. Some trigger warnings to note include loss of parents (off page), degenerative conditions (briefly discussed), marriage on the rocks, and hospitalization. I think that the moral of this story is nicely summed up by this quote from the book: “It wasn’t about finding the pages to complete a story. The story of my family is finished. Now, whatever family I make, that’s a new story. One I can’t write entirely on my own. It’s one that has to write itself, organically.” (Two for the Road by Chantel Guertin) I wasn’t really sure about this book when I started reading, but I ended up enjoying it more than I expected. I felt really connected to the main character, Gigi, as she is a fellow book lover; she owns her own bookstore, she is constantly thinking about books that she’s read (and even making some book-related detours) whilst she explores England, and she finds comfort amongst the pages of her favourite books. I enjoyed all the beautiful descriptions of the places that Gigi visits during the bus tour through England; I felt like Guertin did a very good job at helping the reader to envision the various destinations and I wonder if, perhaps, the author has been on an English bus tour like Gigi. I appreciated that Guertin didn’t take too long to set up Gigi’s story; the main action started almost right away, which, in my opinion, made the story more engaging. I didn’t really like the inclusion of all the side stories regarding the other passengers on the bus tour as I felt like these distracted from Gigi’s story and most weren’t imperative to the rest of the plot. Additionally, I felt that it took almost too long for the romance aspects of the novel to get started (it was definitely a slow burn). Lastly, I felt like the story was a tad predictable and that the ending was kind of unrealistic. Overall, I enjoyed the book and felt like it was a good page turner. I would recommend Two for the Road to fans of travel, slow burn romances, and “books about books”.
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February 2024
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