Title: Anywhere With You
Author: Ellie Palmer
Publisher:
Expected Publication Date: August 5, 2025
Review:
Thank you to Penguin Group Putnam/G.P. Putnam's Sons and NetGalley for providing me with a copy of this title to read and give my honest review. The opinions expressed here are my own.
Ellie Palmer could write a grocery list and I'd read it! After I read Four Weekends and a Funeral, she quickly became one of my favorite romance writers. This story also did not disappoint. Best friends to lovers, close proximity, and so much more all come together to create an emotional rollercoaster of a story full of chaos, humor, and so many tender moments.
Charley was probably one of the most relatable female characters I've read in a romance book. She's jaded about love and marriage after her divorce. She gave parts of herself up for what she thought was love only to find it wasn't truly what she thought it was. She settled for something that was just ok rather than allowing herself to take what she really wanted. I felt for her so much. Much of the book is her spent spiraling out of control as she tries to prevent her sister from what she thinks is the biggest mistake of her life: marrying her on again/boyfriend. She enlists her best friend to help her and along the way learns what true love really is. It was great to watch Charley bloom and open and see what true love from someone who really cares can be like.
Ethan, ugh, what can I say. He was so great. Definitely a golden retriever of a character. And his banter with Charley is top notch. I found myself laughing out loud so many times during this book. I loved all their interactions and I loved watching Charley learn Ethan wasn't exactly who she thought he was, even though they had been friends for so long.
Of course there were times when I wanted to smack both characters around to get them to open their eyes, but they needed to go through the experiences to get there. But their chemistry was so amazing I often overlooked being annoyed with them.
The pacing was done really well with this one. I loved all the experiences Charley went through that helped reshape her frame of mind. Palmer did a great job inserting. And I really enjoyed the dual timeline. Flashbacks tell so much about characters and are such a great way to build a story and relationships. I didn't want to put the book down because I really had to see what happened that once tore Ethan and Charley apart. I did figure it out a bit early on but that didn't take away from me wanting to continue on with reading the story. I also loved that Palmer didn't just make it about Charley and Ethan. Charley's sister's storyline was essential to the plot, and to Charley realizing real love can and will endure. Laurel and Petey really were a great addition to the cast of characters and their plot played in well with Ethan and Charley's relationship growth.
I'm pretty sure there's nothing Palmer will ever write that I won't love. I cannot wait to see what else she brings in the future. This was a fast read for me that I can see myself picking up again, maybe in audio!
Author:
Ellie Palmer is a lifelong lover of love stories, a carrier of the BRCA1 mutation, and a prototypical Midwesterner who routinely apologizes to inanimate objects when she bumps into them. When she’s not writing romantic comedies featuring delightfully messy characters, she’s at home in Minnesota, eating breakfast food, watching too much reality television, and triple texting her husband about their son.
No comments:
Post a Comment