Author: Jennifer E. Smith
Genre: Young Adult
Publisher: Delacorte Press
Published: March 5, 2019
Book Description: It’s the perfect idea for a romantic week together: traveling across America by train.
But then Hugo’s girlfriend dumps him. Her parting gift: the tickets for their long-planned last-hurrah-before-uni trip. Only, it’s been booked under her name. Nontransferable, no exceptions.
Mae is still reeling from being rejected from USC’s film school. When she stumbles across Hugo’s ad for a replacement Margaret Campbell (her full name!), she’s certain it’s exactly the adventure she needs to shake off her disappointment and jump-start her next film.
A cross-country train trip with a complete stranger might not seem like the best idea. But to Mae and Hugo, both eager to escape their regular lives, it makes perfect sense. What starts as a convenient arrangement soon turns into something more. But when life outside the train catches up to them, can they find a way to keep their feelings for each other from getting derailed?
Rating: 3 Stars
Review: This tale begins when Hugo is dumped by his girlfriend, and he has a non-refundable trip planned for them. Hugo decides to put an ad out there, to see if there is a woman who would like to join him on this cross country train trip. That is where we meet Mae. She is looking for an adventure after not being accepted to the film school of her choice.
What ensues, is sappy sweet YA romance novel. I was excited to read this one, because I loved Windfall so much. This one was a little bland for me. This book felt very formulaic to me. I will be honest and say I steer away from YA in recent years, but I read this for the Modern Mrs. Summer Reading Guide, which I have always had good luck with. But sadly, I think I am just kind of over it.
I do have two more YA novels that are also on this list, which I will read, but hopefully they won’t be just so meh.
Obsessed Bookaholic 