Book Review: ‘Side Trip’ By Kerry Lonsdale

Joy Evers is in LA and moving to New York to marry Mark. She has decided to drive there along route 66 to honor her late sister’s bucket list. She plans on checking off things as she goes.

Dylan Westfield is a singer-songwriter and the son of a famous musician. His car has broken down outside the diner that Joy is eating at. He borrows her phone to make a call and they get to talking. He is headed to New York via the route she’s going with shows along the way. He gets her to let him drive to Flagstaff with her (the site of his next show). She ends up seeing him perform and they decide to drive together the whole way. She’s intrigued by him and he likes her. They agree to rules including side-trips if one of them wants to go somewhere off the route

But not all is what it seems with these two. They each have secrets and issues. Joy has never gotten over the death of her sister. Dylan’s dad wasn’t the best person. The more time they spend together they form a connection. Before the end of the trip they have slept together and fallen in love. But one of the conditions is it’s over when they get to New York.

They agree to meet in 10 years at the diner they first met at if either or both of their lives are not good. The story does the before and after with the characters. There’s a lot of what ifs and how their lives went. The question is will they ever meet again and what if one or both had done something different.

This is a really solid story with two characters you root for to be together. It contains lots of twists and turns and a shocking ending based on what if. Author Kerry Lonsdale keeps the reader guessing right to the very end about what will happened to the characters with a twist you don’t see coming. A great summer read.

You can pick up Side Trip in stores on Tuesday, July 7th.