Former hot mess Jolene Baxter is committed to doing better. It’s why she offered to help her sister and brother-in-law move across the country. However, her goodwill is tested when last minute changes—mainly her father ditching her for an all-expenses paid vacation—forces her to make the journey with a man who is the human version of a pebble in her shoe. Jason Akana operates on lists and bitter coffee, but none of those things will help him on a sixteen-hour trip with the most infuriating woman. Maybe they can get along and forget their heated confrontation five years ago at his best friend’s wedding…when pigs fly. But the addition of vehicle problems, an unplanned pit stop in a small town, and chemistry that inconveniently tags along, shifts their perspectives. And once the dust settles after their trip, a tentative friendship emerges. Will these two stubborn people successfully navigate the unexpected feelings that follow close behind? Or will they hit a roadblock before reaching happily ever after?
Content Warning:
1. Deceased parent (died long before the start of the book)
2. Verbally pushy person who's romantically interested in the heroine (NOT the hero)
2. Verbally pushy person who's romantically interested in the heroine (NOT the hero)
Buy: books2read.com/AFTR
Along for the Ride is a repeat the scenes in your head kind of book, a book that stays with you for weeks after you finished it. A book that you read, you finish, you read another book and you constantly go back to something that made you swoon, or made you think, or made you laugh. At least, that was the experience that I had with it. At the beginning, you had this trope of a road trip with two main characters who dislike each other but who have to cross the country together to help people they love that they have in common (her sister and his best friend are a couple). I went into this book thinking it was going to be just that and I got so much more. I got conversations that were deep and meaningful, I got a heist in the middle of the road trip that made them know each other better, I got them going back to their homes and reflecting on what had happened, and then after all that, Mimi Grace kept giving us more story. I also got classics that the road trip and hate to love tropes have like "there's only one bed" (for multiple nights!!!!), moments of fake relationship, knowing each other's music taste, moments of panic where they had to rely on each other, moments of laughter and happiness and all was done so beautifully.
I think my favorite thing about all this is how well it was written. I seriously thought I got to know the characters, their motivations and their flaws. Also what would unite them in the moments that they shared. They were put in sometimes super mundane situations but a lot of times they had to confront bizarre moments that I don't think would have worked if they wouldn't have been constructed in such a realistic way. I rooted for their relationship from beginning to end, even when they were insecure and they didn't know what they wanted. I wanted them to succeed in achieving everything they wanted. During the reading of this book I actually thought this story would be perfect as a movie because I could picture the scenes in my head so clearly. It had a beautiful and believable pace.
In general, we got a lot of construction for the setting, the plot and the characters. We had a majority black cast with super different lives, jobs, interests. Their families and backstories made for hilarious and sometimes complex situations and I could feel what they were going through each step of the way. I was incredibly invested in their lives, the relationships that they had with their families and friends and with each other and I was super interested in the new characters that we were introduced along the way. I can't wait to read more from Mimi Grace since this was a fantastic debut.
