"Utterly romantic." --Jenny Han, NYT bestselling author of To All the Boys I've Loved Before
Two teens are thrown together on a cross-country train trip that will teach them about love, each other, and the futures they can build for themselves in this meet-cute romance from the bestselling author of Windfall and The Statistical Probability of Love at First Sight.
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-college 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?
"One of the loveliest, most touching romances of 2019 thus far that gets at the nature of something deeply uried in all of our hearts." --Entertainment Weekly
I wasn't sure about this one, because Smith's last book fell a little flat for me, but I loved it!
It was so much fun traveling cross country with Mae and Hugo. Both of them were fabulous, and their personal journeys were really interesting and sometimes, really moving. It was beautiful watching Mae opening herself up and Hugo's struggle with his love and loyalty to his family, but also wanting to be his own person was done so well. Some of those interviews with the other passengers really hit me in the feels, and everyone knows I have a thing for grandma's, and Mae's grandmother was a really special lady.
I laughed, I cried (there are even a few tears right now as I write this), and I was left feeling really happy at the end of this book. This is the JES I adore!
