This is a road trip adventure into the Northwoods of Minnesota and part of the trip is in a canoe! I love the Northwoods and canoeing so I was excited for this story. It has friends to lovers and a strong sister bond. The flashbacks weren’t my favorite parts, but the road trip, romance and teasing banter were fun.

It’s been over a year since Charley’s husband left her, saying he wanted more passion in his life. When she gets notice her divorce has gone through, she feels sorry for herself. The next morning, she finds Ethan at her door. He was her best friend but she hasn’t seen him since she got married. He’s come to see her after receiving drunk texts from her the night before.

When they were in college, they were on the cusp of becoming a couple when Ethan’s indie rock band got the chance to go on tour. Ethan asked Charley to come with him but she couldn’t imagine living on the road. She stayed behind to study for the LSAT and finish spring semester. Now, Ethan’s back and has a week off before he needs to be at a music festival.

Charley is surprised when her sister, Laurel, calls to tell her that she and her on again/off again boyfriend Petey are eloping. Charley is worried Laurel is making the same mistake she did with her first marriage. She asks Ethan (who is also friends with Laurel and her fiancé) to go with her to the wedding.

This is where the story gets fun! They jump into Ethan’s camper van and head to the Northwoods for Laurel and Petey’s elopement wedding – it’s a five-hour drive and one hour of canoeing! Charley wants a chance to talk to Laurel before she gets married. Their road trip turns into quite the adventure and I couldn’t wait to find out how it would all work out! Charlie and Ethan have simmering tension between them and we can see that Ethan has been in love with Charley forever, but this is a slow burn (and a closed-door romance.)

There’s a dual timeline that I struggled with as it jumped back and forth in time – I liked the present part the best. The story goes back fifteen years to when Charley and Ethan first met when her family moved to town and it takes us up to Charley’s bachelorette party before she married her husband, Rich, where something big happened between Ethan and Charley. I do wish we’d gotten to see more of Charley and Ethan after they got back together.

The road trip and canoe adventures are really fun, as is the banter and teasing between Charley and Ethan and their friends. While I didn’t love the dual timeline, I did enjoy the story and the scenery was gorgeous.