Chasing Dreams by Carolyn Brown

Nita, Sharlene, and Billy Joe, all about to turn 80, are tired of waiting their turn for a funeral dinner. They each have a bucket list and are determined to tick off at least a few of the items before they go. So what’s left but to hit the road? They enlist two drivers—Billy Joe’s great-grandson, Ford, who has just gotten out of the Air Force, and Sharlene’s great niece, Joelle, a schoolteacher who has the summer free.

 

Spending the summer with three bickering old people in a tricked-out VW bus isn’t what Joelle or Ford had planned, but they aren’t about to let the trio go that far without help. Both at a crossroads in their lives, neither expect to discover an attraction simmering between them. But somewhere between horseback riding at a dude ranch and slow dancing at the Grand Ole Opry, they discover that their elderly companions aren’t the only ones who need to take some risks in life...and in love.

 Publisher: Audible | Narrator:  Bailey Carr | Length: 1 hour 58 minutes | Genre: Contemporary Romance  | Source: Publisher | Rating: 3.5 

When Nita, Sharlene, and Billy Joe decide they want to go on a road trip to tick items off their bucket list, they know that Ford and Joelle must be their designated drivers. And while they do want to see and do the things on their list, they want Ford and Joelle to use this time to consider taking over their ranches and possibly play a bit of matchmaking.

Carolyn Brown is one of my go to feel good authors and I love her novellas. They’re like little rays of sunshine and the perfect listen after reading so many thrillers.

Ford and Joelle are adorable together. They both have some things going on. Ford is dealing with PTSD from the war and Joelle’s trying to figure out if she wants to uproot her life to take over her aunt’s ranch.

Joelle had a crush on Ford when she was younger but the timing wasn’t right. Now that they’re spending so much time together, they’re developing this closeness and they have this undeniable chemistry but they need to sort out if ranching is in their futures.

While I did have fun with this one, the majority of it takes place in the confines of a van with 3 elderly chaperons so it would have been nice to see more of Ford and Joelle alone together. It also would have been nice to see them explore more of their relationship but since the audio was a little under 2 hours, we didn’t get to see a lot of development.

Overall, I had fun with this one. If you’re looking for a quick, fun little road trip romance then I highly recommend this book.