Aidan Donnelley Rowley

4.5 stars.

Thanksgiving week proves to be eventful and life altering for the main characters in Aidan Donnelley Rowley's delightfully engaging novel, The Ramblers.

Clio Marsh is stunned when her boyfriend of six months, hotelier Henry Kildare, surprises her with an invitation to move in with him. Never having been in a serious relationship, her feelings for Henry run deep, but the realization their romance is more than just a fling highlights her inability to tell him about her dysfunctional past. Having let him intentionally misunderstand the cause of her mother's death, Clio panics at the thought of revealing her family's history with mental illness to him. She is also trying to navigate her troubled relationship with her father and when she learns he has sold the family home, Clio spends one last Thanksgiving with him and at the same time, makes peace with the ghosts of her past.

Clio's roommate and long time friend Smith Anderson has also had a difficult year after her fiancé inexplicably ended their engagement the previous Thanksgiving. Without warning or explanation, he broke things off and much to her dismay, married another woman not long after breaking her heart. Her heartache was further exacerbated by her younger sister's engagement and while Smith is happy for the couple, she cannot help feeling envious as she helps plan for the upcoming wedding. At the same time, she is still trying to prove to her wealthy father that her personal organization business is not a waste of her talents or education and that she is completely happy with her career path.

Smith's path unexpectedly crosses with one of her and Clio's former college classmates, Tate Pennington, who has newly returned to New York following the collapse of his marriage. At loose ends as he waits for his divorce to become final, Tate has recently sold his wildly successful PhotoPoet app to Twitter and now wealthy beyond his wildest dreams, he is pursuing his dream of becoming a photographer. Drinking a little too much as he tries to get over his soon to ex-wife and figure out what comes next for him, Tate is surprised by his attraction to Smith but are either of them emotionally ready for a new relationship?

Told through alternating chapters from each of the characters' perspectives, their individual stories spring vividly to life as they try to find their way through the unexpected changes in their lives. Smith and Clio's friendship has flourished over the years and they provide one another with unwavering support and offer valuable insight as they work through their individual issues. While Tate has his own group of acquaintances he interacts with socially, his new friendship with Smith helps him begin to truly move forward with the new life he is building in New York.

The Ramblers is an engrossing novel of family, friendship and love. Each of the characters are vibrantly developed with easy to relate to problems to overcome. Aidan Donnelley Rowley does an outstanding job weaving together the various storylines into a breathtaking journey of healing for Clio, Smith and Tate. An outstanding novel that I absolutely loved and highly recommend to readers of literary fiction.… (meer)

Clio is finally happy. She has Henry, an older, loving, hotel entrepreneur who adores Clio. She has a career as an ornithologist fulfills her. And she has friends who love her. Her life wasn't always like this. She felt invisible and vulnerable for a long time. She harbors a secret from Henry that she worries will come out. If he sees her for who she really is will he accept her or run away?

Smith does her best not to lose it. She can't help but feel overwhelmed and envious of her little sister's wedding when that should have been her a year ago. Although still dealing with her broken heart she still tries to be the perfect daughter. In reality, she feels she could never be that person and it weighs on her. Then comes along Tate who is going through a divorce. He went to Yale with her but they never really spoke to each other. All of a sudden she's revealing a hidden secret only her best friend Clio knows. Why she has opened up to him she doesn't know. All she hopes is that she won't be left broken hearted once again.

The Ramblers is a three person POV. I know some people don't tend to like books with multiple POV's but I love them especially if they work as well as The Ramblers. I really liked Clio more than any of the other characters just because I felt I could empathize with her more emotionally. Her mother was dealing with a mental illness all of her life and it wasn't really addressed within the family. Her father is a quiet sort of man and they have been strained since her mother died a year ago. When Clio described what it was like to live with her mother I couldn't help but feel sorry for her. It's really hard seeing a parent go through something and not understanding what's happening until you are older. Her story gave a glimpse of what it was like to have a parent with a mental illness and how it affects everyone around them.

Clio was genuine and kind. She was so afraid too. Afraid that she would lose a guy she never thought she could love so much. I understood her hesitancy and found her story to be very rewarding. Her best friend Smith, on the other hand, took me a moment to warm up to. I just didn't like that she was clearly jealous of her sister. When I found out the details of what happened with her ex then I really started to understand and appreciate her. I mean it does really suck to have family members think that the person you loved for so long really didn't mean anything. Her father particularly drove me nuts with his rudeness towards Smith's former relationship. He also wasn't very nice about her career aspirations. He's that typical rich guy who frowns on those who have less than him or don't 100% agree with him. So I could understand why Smith felt lost and couldn't really see her worth at times.

Tate is that oh so special guy that Smith opens up to. Tate's divorce is pretty difficult on him but then through all of that he finds Smith. He never wanted to get into a relationship so fast but with Smith, it feels different. He can't figure her out and she's so beautiful because of that. I liked that he was not like Smith's father at all. Basically, that was the standard he had to pass after I met her father and he succeeded in that.

There's one minor thing that I didn't think was particularly necessary which was all the sexual moments that were kind of crude to me but other readers might enjoy that aspect. Otherwise, I enjoyed how each story came together. I enjoyed getting to know Clio, Smith, and Tate and seeing where their journey took them. I'm really happy with how everything turned out and kind of wish I had a glimpse of their future to see how they are all doing.… (meer)