Leanne Olson

by Chantel Guertin

Releasing March 28, 2023 from Penguin Random House Canada

Two for the Road is a sweet romance with wonderful supporting characters.

Gigi is an American woman who owns a romance bookshop.  She’s in love with a voice: a man named Zane who narrates her favourite audiobook.  Her friends surprise her with a trip to England, where Zane runs a bus tour company: she’ll get 10 days exploring the English countryside, and get to meet the man of her dreams.

Once Gigi arrives in London, however, Zane isn’t there: instead, she’s stuck with an annoying-but-attractive bus driver, Taj, and a bus full of random people she isn’t interested in getting to know.

The supporting characters really made this book for me.  Each of them has their own backstory and rich life outside of the tour, and their stories are slowly revealed through the novel.  I loved seeing the friendships that developed, and I found I was just as invested in the side characters as I was in the main romance.

The reason this wasn’t quite a five-star for me is that it does start out a bit slowly, and Gigi wasn’t an engaging character at the start for me.  She was quite controlling and rude to Taj at the beginning.  I wound up really liking her but I think some of her Karen-esque tendencies could have been toned down.  

Once we got past that, there was a lot of character growth, fortunately.  Gigi makes friends, shows a lot of compassion, and learns to deal with the trauma of her parents’ death.  Taj is a great hero and I loved that the romance was a slow burn.  They had conversations and side adventures and their relationship felt realistic.

Readers who enjoy travel or reading about new places will especially enjoy this book, as there’s lots of description of the tours that Gigi’s group goes on across England, and bits of trivia about the different towns.  

Overall, it was one of my favourite romances I’ve read this year so far, and the characters will stick with me.

🌟🌟🌟🌟

Thank you to Penguin Random House Canada and Netgalley for my review copy of this book.

Title note: One for the Road is the book’s title in Canada; in the States it’s Gigi, Listening.