Guest Review: Girls Who Travel by Nicole Trilvas

Summary:

A hilarious, deftly written debut novel about a woman whose wanderlust is about to show her that sometimes you don’t have to travel very far to become the person you want to be…

There are many reasons women shouldn’t travel alone. But as foul-mouthed, sweet-toothed Kika Shores knows, there are many more reasons why they should. After all, most women want a lot more out of life than just having fun. Kika, for one, wants to experience the world.

But ever since she returned from her yearlong backpacking tour, she’s been steeped in misery, battling rush hour with all the other suits. Getting back on the road is all she wants. So when she’s offered a nanny job in London – the land of Cadbury Cream Eggs – she’s happy at the prospect of going back overseas and getting paid for it. But as she’s about to discover, the most exhilarating adventures can happen when you stay in one place…

Wise, witty, and hilarious, Girls Who Travel is an unforgettable novel about the highs and lows of getting what you want—and how it’s the things you least expect that can change your life.

Publication Date: December 1, 2015

About Guest Reviewer Joanna:

Joanna Franklin Bell is a writer living outside Baltimore, MD. Her articles can be read in "Baltimore Magazine" and various Patch.com sites; her award-winning short story can be found on the "Single Dad Laughing" blog; and her books can be found on Amazon. "Muse: A Cat's Story" is her children's chapter book, "Mrs. Just-So" is her children's picture book, and "Take a Load Off, Mona Jamborski" and "That Birds Would Sing" are her novels. Her third novel, "See No Demons, Hear No Demons" will be released in 2016. Catch up with Joanna on Facebook at: https://www.facebook.com/JoannaFranklinBell

Joanna's Review:

Buckle up your fanny pack dear reader, because we're going abroad with Kika Shores in "Girls Who Travel." We're hitting Europe and Asia and South America and Scandinavia and… well maybe not Antarctica.  We're going to discover hot beaches and quirky cities and exotic clubs and shake our moneymakers like the rent is due.

That last turn of phrase I stole from the author, Nicole Trilivas, and it's as good an example as any of the irreverent, joyful humor that she infuses her character Kika with. Kika made me laugh once per page, beginning when she is schlupping her way through New York City working for corporate America, bundled against the cold, wondering how she ended up as part of the rat race when she had so recently been traveling the world, free as a bird in an unraveling bikini. Her arch-nemesis in NYC is another scrabbling yet slutty peon on the corporate ladder who couldn't be less like Kika, and her delicious and malicious manipulations set the stage perfectly for Kika's fall from grace.

But that's ok. Kika was never very graceful anyway, and we love her for it.

Through Kika, we yearn for the rough and mysterious Lochlan, her traveling companion whom she had to leave when her money ran, forcing her inevitable return to America. Lochlan continued on alone, eventually finding himself also returning to his native Ireland when his "da" became sick, so after a year apart the two lovebirds find themselves both anchored, and neither is happy about it. As luck would have it, they are anchored on the same continent now that Kika got a job as an au pair in London for an American family who is living abroad. Coincidence? Not really. The family is the same one that got Kika her NYC job, and corporate ties do not acknowledge oceans.

So now our Kika is in London, inadvertently teaching her young charges how to swear like a sailor, and she's catching the eye of the hottie next door who's clearly too posh for his pants and is barely worth a moment of Kika's time. But when she hears his playing his guitar in his garden one day, she can't help but wonder whether there is more to him than his money, and, now that she's thinking about it, why has Lochlan seemed so strange since he learned they could meet up again? Hmmmm.

That's all you get, because another word would spoil all the rest of the plot. Major props to the author for crafting a new take on the NA genre that crosses over to good old Contemporary Lit or Women's Fiction, humble thanks to the publisher for an advance reader's copy that I received in exchange for an honest review, and bon voyage to the rest of y'alls as you pack it up to go on a journey with Kika.

5/5 Stars