BOOK REVIEW: Rules of the Road by Ciara Geraghty

Title: Rules of the Road
Author: Ciara Geraghty
Publication: August 4, 2020
Publisher: Park Row
Genre: Fiction
Pages: 401

SYNOPSIS: (From Goodreads)

When Iris Armstrong goes missing, her best friend Terry—wife, mother and all-around worrier—is convinced something bad has happened. And when she finds her glamorous, feisty friend, she’s right: Iris is setting out on a bucket-list journey that she plans to make her last. She tells Terry there’s no changing her mind, but Terry is determined to show her that life is still worth living.

The only way for Terry to stop Iris is to join her—on a road trip that will take them on a life-changing adventure. Along the way, somehow what should be the worst six days of Terry’s life turn into the best. Told in an irresistible voice and bursting with heart, Rules of the Road is a powerful testament to the importance of human connection and a moving celebration of life in all its unexpected twists and turns.

REVIEW:

**A copy of this book was provided by the publisher via NetGalley in exchange for an honest review.**

When I got an email from Harlequin Publishing with a list of their summer reads this one was listed in the group.  I read the description (although apparently not very well because once I started to read it, it was nothing that I expected) and excitedly signed up to read and review this book.  

Terry is living the Irish dream.  Gorgeous house in a good address area, two children are grown and out of the house living their own lives and a loving and caring husband.  She has a best friend named, Iris.  One day Iris isn’t at her home but she finds a letter addressed to her and finds out that she is going to Zurich to end her life with assisted suicide. To make matters worse Terry also has her father with her since his nursing facility is being fumigated for vermin.  Her father has Dementia that is progressively getting worse.  First off, this book is emotional.  I wasn’t sure how I actually liked it.  The subject matter is deep.  I was left drained while reading it.  There is no happy ending and I think that is what left me drained.  I knew what was coming the whole entire time.  The author did an amazing job of writing about subject matter that isn’t exactly for the faint of heart.  

In the end, I really did like this book.  It may have taken me a little bit to get into it but when I actually did it definitely flowed.  I could relate to Terry in so many ways.  She used the trip with Iris and rediscover who she is or actually discover herself.  She lost herself somewhere along the way while raising her children. Not that I have lost myself in the raising of my kids but as my kids get older I need to work things I used to love back into my life again.   She desperately wants to save her friend, she doesn’t want to lose her.  She is struggling to care for her father who doesn’t remember much except for a Frank Sinatra story.  I have lost a Grandfather to Alzheimer’s.  Shortly before he died he didn’t recognize me, he called me several other names but not one of them my actual name.  This was a man that I spent a lot of time with during the summer since they lived close to us.  It was heartbreaking.  In the end, before he died my Dad didn’t want me to visit him.  He wanted me to remember him for the good times and not the end.  For that I am grateful.   In the end, I definitely think that I will be putting this in my top 10 round-up of books for 2020.  While the subject matter wasn’t pleasant it was still a powerful read.  If her other books are like this I will probably be checking them out.   

STAR RATING: 4/5

Pick up your copy of Rules of the Road by Ciara Geraghty on Amazon, Barnes and Noble, and check your local bookstore. Also make sure to add it to your To Reads list on Goodreads and leave feedback for the author when you are finished. You can check out more from author Ciara Geraghty on her website HERE.

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