Driving with the Top Down

By: Beth Harbison

Narrated by: Orlagh Cassidy

Length: 9 hrs and 7 mins

Publisher's summary

Three women, two weeks, one convertible: Sometimes life doesn't take you in the direction you expect. Colleen Bradley is married with a teenage son, a modest business repurposing and reselling antiques, and longtime fear that she was not her husband's first choice. When she decides to take a road trip down the east coast to check out antique auctions for her business, she also has a secret ulterior motive. Her one-woman mission for peace of mind is thrown slightly off course when 16-year-old Tamara becomes her co-pilot. The daughter of Colleen's brother-in-law, Tamara is aware that when people see her as a screw-up, but she knows in her heart that she's so much more. She just wishes her father could see it, too. The already bumpy trip takes another unexpected turn when they stop at the diner that served as Colleen's college hangout and run into her old friend Bitty Nolan Camalier. Clearly distressed, Bitty gives them a story full of holes: Angry with her husband, she took off on her own, only to have her car stolen. Both Colleen and Tamara sense that there's more that Bitty isn't sharing, but Colleen offers to give Bitty a ride to Florida. So one becomes two becomes three as Colleen, Tamara, and Bitty make their way together down the coast. It's a road trip fraught with tension as Tamara's poor choices come back to haunt her and Bitty's secrets reach a boiling point. With no one to turn to but each other, these three women might just discover that you can get lost in life but somehow, true friends provide a roadmap to finding what you’re really looking for.

©2014 Beth Harbison (P)2014 Macmillan Audio

heart warming at any age

great narrator. amazing story about inner strength and personal peace and growth. relatable at 30 or 16

Great story, narrator, and characters!

what a great book! this was my first Beth Harbison book but it won't be my last. I enjoyed the storyline, characters, and the narratir was spot on!

Okay, light read

Who was your favorite character and why?

I liked Colleen the most. She seemed genuine.

What aspect of Orlagh Cassidy’s performance would you have changed?

I felt like Bitty's voice made her sound significantly older than she is supposed to be. It seemed overdone to me.

Was this a book you wanted to listen to all in one sitting?

It was a book I probably could have listened to in one sitting but did not feel that tug or urge to do so.

Any additional comments?

The sex scene felt unnecessary and out of place. I almost considered skipping forward at that point.

The overall story was nice and enjoyable.

Good, light read

Fluffy happy fun, good beach book between the mystery and horror I normally read :)

Driving with the top down

The stories of three women converge and a road trip happens.A really good story narrated nicely by Ortagh Cassidy.
I was given this book by the narrator,author or publisher free for an honest review.

Great story and narrator!

This was a good story line with interesting twists that smoothly let you into the back stories of each character. It has a complete beginning and end, with no loose ends leaving you wondering. Add to that the narrator. She was fabulous going from one character to the other and nailing the voice I would have heard in my head had I been reading it.

Good Road Trip Tale

Colleen Bradley feels a strong need to get away from her home, her husband and her son for awhile. As the owner of her own antique store she write this off; both figuratively and literally as a business trip. Then at the eleventh hour she gets a traveling companion her niece Tamara. The sixteen year old girl is a 'hot mess' and inwardly Colleen moans at the thought of the next two weeks with the moody, churlish teen. The girl is the daughter of her husband's brother; product of a one night stand who'd had no contact with her father prior to her mother's death; distant and strained described their relationship aptly.
The pair take off and drive from Maryland to North Carolina; stopping at a rural restaurant that was Colleen's old college hangout. As they sit down to eat Colleen begins to tell Tamara a little about her old friend Bitty; the name an homage to her petite frame. Amazingly Colleen spots a woman who looks like an aged version of Bitty.
Bitty Nolan Camalier is at the old college haunt in order to kill herself. After twenty years of verbal and emotional abuse her husband has tossed her out of their home. Thus after having been essentially an appendage for twenty years she has been suddenly transformed into nothing more than an amputated body part.
When Colleen leaves the restaurant two has become three and though this is resented by Tamara all three women will find their lives forever altered by the two weeks they spend together.
This is an excellent audiobook; five stars all the way.

2nd Chance at getting it right!

Love it! This was a heart warming book about friendship, love and how you are not your circumstance. Change is always Good. Never too late to change your life!

AttyMom

Great book...great performance. The author understands women and our inner struggles. upliftong, funny, and heartwarming.

It about broke my heart

Any father should have more understanding for his daughter than that one did. The story was good but about broke my heart. I loved the humor of the two old friends getting together and talking about old times. I would love to see some of the things that were made of the stuff purchased on that road trip. Looking good.