Review: Off the Map

If you want a romance that’s well written, has depth, and also feels like you’re being wrapped in a warm hug, Trish Doller’s your gal. I’ve read her last three books and have absolutely adored them. ADORED. So much so that I read both The Suite Spot and Off the Map in one sitting. Off the Map is Doller’s latest, having been published in March, and it is a most perfect book to pick up if you need some proximity romance with a healthy dose of armchair travel.

Here’s the book’s description:

Carla Black’s life motto is “here for a good time, not for a long time.” She’s been travelling the world on her own in her vintage Jeep Wrangler for nearly a decade, stopping only long enough to replenish her adventure fund. She doesn’t do love and she doesn’t ever go home.
Eamon Sullivan is a modern-day cartographer who creates digital maps. His work helps people find their way, but he’s the one who’s lost his sense of direction. He’s unhappy at work, recently dumped, and his one big dream is stalled out—literally.
Fate throws them together when Carla arrives in Dublin for her best friend’s wedding and Eamon is tasked with picking her up from the airport. But what should be a simple drive across Ireland quickly becomes complicated with chemistry-filled detours, unexpected feelings, and a chance at love - if only they choose it.

I like the Doller’s romance novels aren’t all sunshine and rainbows. Don’t get me wrong, I will need some of that in my romances but she recognizes that life really isn’t all that sunny all the time. Her heroines (and usually heroes too) are dealing with a lot. In Carla’s case, she doesn’t have a steady career (she instead chooses to travel and cobbles work together when needed to pay for it) and her father has dementia. He can no longer travel so she’s doing it for the both of them but she’s also running away from her problems and real life. It’s because she’s running away that her current lifestyle is not sustainable and she has to do a lot of soul searching (without it being as airy fairy as that may sound) before she can come to terms with her life and what her next step needs to be. There is an absolutely heartbreaking moment in this book but the teeny silver lining is it allows Carla to make decisions solely for her while also, perhaps ironically, to create a potential future with Eamon.

This book is technically part of the Beck sisters series which started with Float Plan (review here) and carried on with The Suite Spot (review here). You don’t have to read those two before this one but I recommend it only because they’re both so amazing. I really enjoyed getting to see Anna and Keane again and seeing how their romance has carried on since Float Plan ended.

A bonus of this book is the armchair travel element as Carla and Eamon travel through Ireland on their way to Anna and Keane’s wedding. It was really fun being able to experience a part of the world I’ve never been to. I felt like I was right there with them as they were accidentally off-roading into a farmer’s field. (That is not something I need to experience whenever I do get to Ireland - just putting that out there.)

I loved both Carla and Eamon so I loved their romance. They were so good for each other and were able to balance each other as well. Eamon needed more adventure and spontaneity and Carla needed just a bit more of a plan and had to stop running from her problems. There were some steamy scenes and lots of really sweet ones, too. Theirs was a romance you couldn’t help but cheer for.

I loved Off the Map and am so glad I started reading Trish Doller’s books a few years ago. Her books are perfect for those who are looking for romances that are more than just a Happily Ever After. I highly recommend them!

*An egalley of this novel was provided by the publisher, St. Martin’s Press, via NetGalley in exchange for review consideration. All opinions are honest and my own.*