Book Review - Stuck in Second Gear by Carmen Reid

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Title: Stuck In Second Gear

Author: Carmen Reid

Format reviewed: Ebook

Source: Netgalley

Publisher: Boldwood Books

Publication Date: 7th December 2024

Rating: 5 Stars

He's got...

🦷 New teeth

✂️ New hair

💍 A new fiance

She's got...

🚙 An old Jag

👨‍👩‍👦 Her oddball family

🛣️ Miles of open road

Who is winning the divorce?😅

Lucie Marshal is absolutely furious! How did she go from being a successful wife and mother to divorced, teetering on bankruptcy, and barely speaking to her grown-up daughter? Worse, she’s just heard that her moronic ex-husband Miles is marrying a much younger woman in an influencer-style wedding in France #blessed #theone

Lucie will absolutely NOT be going. To hell with Miles, his new teeth, new hair and new wife! She’s perfectly fine...isn't she? Except, Lucie feels lost and angry almost all of the time. Just what happened to her younger, freer wild child self, who used to live life to the full?

But then pregnant daughter Zoe needs a lift... and eccentric nephew Deva does too and now Lucie has somehow agreed to drive her Dad’s beloved old Jag all the way across France to take them to her ex-husband’s wedding.

With a pitstop in Paris, a breakdown, unexpected passengers, and miles of open road, all set to Deva’s showtunes soundtrack – could this be the journey Lucie needs to find a way back to herself?

A hilarious and uplifitng book club pick, perfect for fans of Jill Mansell, Fiona Gibson and Milly Johnson.

I was hooked from the first few pages and once the road trip commenced especially I was totally enthralled by this book. 

We have Lucie who is adamant she isn't going to her ex-husband's wedding, but then her pregnant daughter, Zoe needs a lift at the last min, as does Deva who is a cousin and somehow she is roped into the drive. 

Deva is a breath of fresh air, I loved him from his first chapter as it turns out we both love musicals.  He is also a massive Coco Chanel fan, and is hoping that he can persuade Lucie into some Chanel related detours.  

Zoe and Lucie haven't been on the best of terms recently, so this drive is either going to make or break their mother / daughter relationship, and at times I really wasn't sure which way it would turn out. 

The threesome have some great adventures on this road trip, including meeting some people that not everyone would have agreed to help.  It's a fun and entertaining story that I totally whizzed through. 

It might even be one of Carmen Reid's best standalone novels, although i still favour the Personal Shopper series over everything else!  Enjoyed every word, and couldn't get enough of this fabulous story. 

Thank you to Boldwood Books and Netgalley for this copy which I have reviewed honestly and voluntarily.