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ARC provided by PRH International, Audible Audiobook

Author: Lauren Connoly

Narrator: Karissa Vacker

@prhinternation #PRHInternationalPartner

Everyone leaves Maddie Sanderson – her father, her “influencer” mother, and now her beloved brother Josh. Well, Josh had no choice as he went and died on her. The nerve. Not only did he die, but he left Maddie with a mission – to scatter his ashes in places he never got to go in his adventures. She would have been proud and touched if he hadn’t added a “companion” for these trips: his best friend, Dominic, another name on the list of people who left Maddie. He broke her heart, she wants nothing to do with him (she moved across the country to achieve that), but he’s the executor of Josh’s will and he will follow the rules and go with her. He also has the letters Josh left them both, and she really has no choice. They embark on 8 trips through the course of two years and these trips will make them uncomfortable at first, then they become a necessity and finally they realize that Josh had ulterior motives…

If you are going through grief, this book might hit you hard. As someone who lost a deeply beloved brother, I could empathize with Maddie from the start.

I am not going to say I was surprised by Josh’s “plans” (and I saw the surprise at the end coming from a mile away) but I really liked going with Maddie and Dominic in their journey to scatter Josh’s ashes while falling in love. 

There is a lot of banter, Maddie and Josh certainly found their family in Dominic’s (I loved the relationship Maddie had with Dom’s twin brothers) and you you will laugh and get teary eyed too. A lovely, poignant and still funny ride. 

PS: If you love audiobooks, Karissa Vacker is her awesome self in this solo narration!

Content notes: grief, child abandonment, extremely toxic relationship with family members, miscarriage, mentions of a terminal disease (cancer), FMC has severe asthma attacks on page