Roadside Sisters: A Novel

by Catherine Matthews

Multi-Award-Winning Novel, including the National Indie Excellence Awards and IPPY Awards!

Their final road Four states, three sisters, two dogs, one disappointing roadside attraction, and far too many secrets . . .

Molly Casey has been living her life at full speed, but it's about to slow down. With terminal cancer, she has one goal—get her estranged sisters talking. Her plan hinges on getting them to agree to a do-over of the last road trip their family took before everything fell apart. So, she hides her prognosis and asks them to drive her back to Seattle.

Penelope Casey, a lawyer who lives to work, and Scottie Dunn, a kennel owner whose deepest connections are with her dogs, haven't set eyes on each other in decades. The last thing they want is to be trapped in a car together for days on end. But when their sister calls, they reluctantly hit the road for her sake.

Unfortunately, Molly's plan to bridge the chasm between her sisters only deepens the rift as decades of misunderstandings, resentments, and secrets—a devastating accident, a withheld letter, a lineage laced with lies— spill out like dirty laundry from an overstuffed suitcase.

When Molly's health worsens, and she can't keep the truth about her condition hidden much longer, Penny and Scottie are forced to choose between holding on to the pain of the past or leaving it in the rearview mirror before it's too late.

Told through heartache, laughter, and moments of unexpected tenderness, Roadside Sisters is a powerful story about sisterhood, forgiveness, and healing.

Multi-Award Independent Publisher Book Awards (IPPYs) 2026, Gold, Popular FictionNational Indie Excellence Awards 2026, Winner, Women's FictionBookfest 2025, First Place, Women's FictionForeword Indies 2025, Gold, General Fiction

Genres: Family Drama, Fiction

322 pages, Kindle Edition

Published May 21, 2025

About the author

Catherine Matthews is an award-winning Pacific Northwest author of high-stakes suspense and evocative women’s fiction. Her novels, including Releasing the Reins and Roadside Sisters, have earned top honors in Thriller, Suspense, Women’s Fiction and Contemporary Fiction for their atmospheric tension, deep emotional grit, and unyielding female protagonists. Catherine crafts her stories with a strong cup of coffee in the silent hours before dawn, under the watchful eyes of her two constant companions and literary guard dogs—Wally and Delta.

You can connect with her on Facebook, Threads or Instagram or visit her webpage:
www.catherinematthewsauthor.com.

Reviews

[Chelsie · Rating 4 out of 5]

It is always interesting how each person remembers an event different than someone else. We follow three sisters Molly, Scottie and Penelope as they recall their childhood memories, the hurt and anger and what create the distance between them today. Molly has cancer and has decided she doesn’t want to suffer like their mother, so she decides to try to get the three of them back together by making Scottie and Penelope roadtrip to get her and take her back to Seattle. It will be like when they took a roadtrip when they were kids. However each one remembers that roadtrip completely different from the others. Along the way the sisters slowly reveal secrets and the resentment they’ve had and what caused that. This family has many secrets and each one seems to know and remember different pieces of them. Penelope always was the one in charge, however this time Molly had to take charge so things would turn out how she needed them to for when she is gone. This was a heartfelt read and you understood each side each sister was coming from in the different situations they faced growing up. I thoroughly enjoyed this novel about family, siblings and what really matters in the end. Thank you to the author for the complementary novel and to Suzy Approved Book Tours for the tour invite. This review is of my own opinion and accord.

[Ariel · Rating 5 out of 5]

This is for the readers who love a book that will make them cry! Catherine Matthew raises the bar for general fiction books in this beautiful story of sisterhood and reflection on how life is too short and your only regrets are the things you don’t do.

Molly, Scottie, and Penelope’s story is one that will sit with me for a long time. Molly is dying from cancer and her last wish is to reunite her sisters who have been estranged since childhood. This story illustrates raw and imperfect characters who are just doing their best in a heartbreaking tale.

[Booksandcoffeemx · Rating 4 out of 5]

Another story about sisters, yes, you know I have a thing for these, and they always get to me. Roadside Sisters takes you on a beautiful and emotional journey of love, forgiveness, and healing.
Three sisters, one road trip, and a whole lot of unresolved feelings. It made me laugh, cry, and feel everything in between. My emotions were all over the place, but I truly enjoyed every minute of it.

[Jennifer Klepper · Rating 5 out of 5]

Both heartbreaking and hopeful, The Roadside Sisters is an emotionally charged story of three estranged sisters forced to confront their shared past during a road trip.

What struck me most about this novel was its unflinching portrayal of family dynamics. Matthews doesn't shy away from showing how the people who love us most can also wound us most deeply. Each sister is beautifully developed, flawed, and human in ways that made me alternately sympathize with and become frustrated by each of them. Their interactions feel painfully authentic—the way old patterns reassert themselves, how a single comment can reopen old wounds, and how difficult it is to truly see past our own perspective.

Despite tackling heavy themes of illness, betrayal, and estrangement, the book is balanced with moments of humor and tenderness that feel earned rather than forced. These glimpses of the sisters’ former closeness make the stakes of their reconciliation all the more poignant.

The Roadside Sisters offers a moving exploration of how the past shapes us without necessarily defining us. Recommended for book clubs!

[Kathryn Dodson · Rating 5 out of 5]

Roadside Sisters by Catherine Mattews is the heart-rending story of three sisters who’ve been pulled apart by lies, hidden hurts, and the vagaries of life. In a last-ditch attempt to bring them back together, the middle sister, sick with cancer, finagles them into taking one last road trip together. The trip quickly careens out of control, forcing each woman to examine the truths behind their own choices. A wonderful combination of funny, heart-wrenching, and hopeful.

[Maddy Poplin · Rating 4 out of 5]

Really enjoyed this one. I work in oncology and the way that family/Molly were handling the cancer diagnosis definitely felt real. Would definitely recommend this one

[Becky Ballbach · Rating 5 out of 5]

Catherine Matthews’ Roadside Sisters takes you on a journey you will long remember. This road trip unpacked the complexities of family relationships and shared history from the perspective of three sisters- Molly, Scottie and Penelope, whose lives had been upended when they were separated early in their childhood. The impact on each of their lives is played out in the pages of this poignant, honest, and unvarnished story.
The pain that been buried and then resurfaced in healthy and unhealthy ways through the years was allowed to see the light of day through the pivotal diagnosis of Molly’s cancer. She asked her sisters to drive her home from Reno to Seattle, with the hope of bringing them all together one last time for potential reconciliation and healing.
Roadside Sisters will take you on a trip with plenty of twists and turns. I found myself cheering on each sister at different times throughout the book. And, of course, dogs are prominent characters in this story as well. Some of the most enduring themes are “Life is precious”, “Each day is a gift”, “Love prevails!”, and “Love wins!” Pre-order your copy of Roadside Sisters today. You will want to read it over and over!

[Sarah · Rating 4 out of 5]

This is a book about sisters and the healing they need to do before they lose one of their own.

Molly has cancer and wants to get her sisters to drive her from Reno to Seattle to see a doctor, though she is holding onto a secret they can't know until they get to the destination. She wants fences mended and maybe the truth to come out to being them all together.

Scottie has never fit in seeing as she's adopted, at least she feels this way. She has been holding onto a secret that may have mended her family long ago.

Penelope seems to have it all but this road trip will have consequences in the job she leaves behind for a bit.

Each sister has their strengths and weaknesses. I felt they were well fleshed out as individuals. There is heartache and pain but beauty in working through them together.

[Kimberly Nixon · Rating 5 out of 5]

Matthews exquisitely explores a stuck family dynamic that results from a divorce. I enjoyed the character building for all three sisters who are very likeable, but still reeling from the fallout of a broken family. When a crisis occurs for one sister, the other two are forced to examine what is important to them. Matthews jumps into the complexity and brings the reader along with high hopes for the outcome. Masterfully, even the ending isn't simplistic. But it is honest and will force readers to take a step back and question their own interactions with family. I will purchase copies of this one to send to my sisters.

[Marcia · Rating 4 out of 5]

Molly, one of three sisters, receives a diagnosis of terminal cancer. Her fondest wish is that her two sisters, Penelope and Scottie who have been estranged from each other, to resume a sisterly relationship. Their parents divorce untimately separated the sisters when their mom turned custody over to her ex husband. Resentments grew like wildfire in each home.

Facing death, Molly devises a scheme to force her sisters to interact, when she asks each of them to come together to bring her home from Reno to Seattle The two sisters have the impression that Molly will recover so agree to joining forces for the sake of Molly ‘s recovery.

What endues is a laundry list of miscommunication fueled by differing memories and years of festering grievances. Is it possible for the two to make peace with each other so that Molly’s dying wish a come true?This is a tale filled with the heartbreak of family disconnections and perceived wrongdoing. What is the truth about their childhood remembrances? Was mom a villain? Did dad play favorites?

As lies and secrets are slowly revealed each member of the family must come to terms with how her perceptions of the past have colored her life’s decisions. Is forgiveness possible? The author has created memorable characters whose frailties are all very human. Lots to think about. Lots to discuss for book clubs. Four finely crafted stars for a book worth reading. Publication day is May 21, 2025. Thank you NetGalley and Pacific Peaks Publishing for an advance copy in exchange for my review.

[Christy Taylor · Rating 5 out of 5]

I love a good road trip story! This one was much heavier than I had anticipated but it was really good. My heart broke for the sisters who each carried BIG secrets. As an only child, I've always longed for a sister so I was rooting hard for them to open up and to forgive each other. As always, I loved the canine characters. The pups were as different as their humans but so loving. This emotional story was a real page turner and will stick with me for quite awhile.

[Debbie Rozier · Rating 4 out of 5]

This book weighs heavy as a middle sister, Molly, makes a plan to have her older and younger sister reunite.

Molly has asked her sisters to drive from the Seattle area to Reno to pick her up and take her back to Seattle because she has cancer.

There is generational trauma and family secrets that have gotten in the way of the sisters’ relationship.

There are light moments as the sisters are traveling with two dogs that look very different but become fast friends.

[Leah DeCesare · Rating 5 out of 5]

ROADSIDE SISTERS was a heartfelt dive into the ups and downs of sisterhood, showing how complicated—but ultimately unbreakable—that bond can be. The threads of forgiveness and the damaging effects of secrets—even when they’re kept with good intentions—are messy, real, and relatable.

[Cassie’s Reviews · Rating 4 out of 5]

Ok grab your tissues and be ready to cry this book is everything! You are taken on a road trip that’s filled with sisters, love, forgiveness and healing.

Molly, Scottie and Penelope, lives were upended when they were separated early in their childhood. This impact each of them while growing up and now as adults, each sister dealt with it in healthy and unhealthy ways through the years. When Molly asks her sisters to drive her home from Reno to Seattle, they’re reluctant—until they learn she has cancer. Recreating the last road trip their family took before everything fell apart, she hopes to heal the rift between them. As painful revelations spill out like dirty laundry from an overstuffed suitcase—an accident, a withheld letter, a lineage laced with lies—their fragile connection threatens to break irreparably. Clinging to their scars, the sisters refuse to own the wounds they've caused, leading them to question if forgiveness can prevail when the deepest wounds are inflicted by those we love.
As tensions mount, Molly’s plan to bridge the chasm between them seems doomed. But when Molly’s condition worsens, the sisters are forced to confront their unresolved feelings and decide if it’s possible to release their grip on the past before it’s too late.
Told through heartache, laughter, and moments of unexpected tenderness

[Carol Whitehead · Rating 5 out of 5]

I guess it could be possible that there is one perfect family somewhere in the world—a family where there has never been an argument, a trauma, sibling rivalry, jealously, divorce, harsh words, fear, or guilt. But I suspect most families are more like the Casey family in Roadside Sisters by Catherine Matthews.

Releasing the Reins, the award-winning first novel by Catherine Matthews, is a wonderful read full of stories of hardship, mystery, joy, and romance. Roadside Sisters is different. This new book is about separations, feelings of inadequacy, guilt, loss, jealousy, anger, and love—relatable concepts for all of us (except perhaps for members of that fantasy perfect family out there somewhere).

As the author plunges into each character’s deepest thoughts, the reader begins to understand how the characters hurt each other while causing even greater hurt to themselves.

Roadside Sisters reminds us of why it is important to share thoughts with loved ones before it is too late. Readers of this book will laugh, cry, and celebrate as the words touch their hearts while stirring their minds.

Order early. I will not be surprised to find this book sold out on the first day of publication!
Carol W.

[Kathi · Rating 5 out of 5]

I was lucky enough to read an ARC of Roadside Sisters. I love this book! The three sisters (and their two dogs) try to reconnect as an end-of-life wish, and it doesn’t go smoothly. It’s entertaining and heart wrenching and somehow I was rooting for all three sisters in their own ways. The characters are relatable and layered, and seem so real! Such a great story!

[Susan Foster · Rating 5 out of 5]

With an illness acting as a ticking clock, three adult sisters must, now or never, air their longstanding grievances and hurts. Their family has always been complicated, and a past road trip is significant within their family lore. Rounding out the cast of characters are two dogs, one big and one small, navigating desire to support their humans and their own relationship issues.
Like in her first book, Releasing the Reins, Catherine Matthew’s descriptions are succinct and vivid; her metaphors are just right, and with the way she writes both human and animal emotions, the reader also experiences them. Matthews has realistically depicted the tenacious bonds of sisterhood and the complicated dynamics of relating as a trio, all within an enthralling plot.
I can’t wait for her next book.
I was lucky enough to receive an advanced reader copy of this book.

[Nicholette · Rating 5 out of 5]

I really enjoyed this book about the strained relationships between three adult sisters who are forced together by circumstance and go on a somewhat tense road trip. Confined with two dogs in a vehicle, they work through a lifetime of secrets, unspoken feelings, persistent love, and emotional fallout from their parents’ divorce. While covering countless miles of highway, stopping for dog walks, burgers, and motels, each sister must reflect on her own actions and feelings as she learns more about those of her siblings. This heartfelt story will make you want to laugh, cry, and reflect. It is Catherine Matthew’s’ second book, and she braids together three points of view and three character arcs with seemingly effortless skill. I was fortunate to receive an advanced reader copy, but Roadside Sisters will be published May 21, 2025 and you can pre-order now at https://a.co/d/58trl5H.

[Julie Coder · Rating 5 out of 5]

In this well-crafted story, we meet three sisters whose shared past has left them with unfinished business. When one sister develops cancer, they reluctantly come together for one final road trip. As tensions run high in this confined space, the three must confront the ghosts of their past: the secrets, misunderstandings, and anger from their shared and separate experiences. Though related, the sisters are more different than alike, and sometimes their dogs show more compassion and sympathy than they do for each other. I laughed and cried as I followed them on this heartfelt journey, an emotional road trip and catharsis for any reader. A must-read, particularly for anyone who loves sister (or family) stories!

[Heather Ewen-Foster · Rating 5 out of 5]

In Roadside Sisters, Catherine Matthews tells the story of three sisters—Molly, Penelope, and Scottie—who embark on a unique road trip when Molly, the peacemaker of the trio, reveals a terminal cancer diagnosis. The sisters reunite after years of distance and unspoken resentment, and what begins as a simple trip from Reno to Seattle quickly becomes a raw, revealing, and ultimately healing emotional journey across their shared and fractured childhoods.

The heart of Roadside Sisters lies in the complexity of its characters and their relationships to each other. Matthews draws Molly, Penelope, and Scottie deftly, and doesn’t offer a romanticized version of sisterhood. Instead, she exposes the rifts created by old wounds, diverging memories, and deep-seated insecurities. Each sister has a unique personality: Molly, the middle sister, is the glue that has held the sisters together; Penelope, the driven and ambitious lawyer; and Scottie, the fiercely independent yet critically insecure sister who hides deep wounds, both emotional and physical. Through alternating POV’s and beautifully rendered flashbacks, we begin to understand the sources of their trauma and estrangement.

Matthews captures each of the sisters’ voices with a remarkable authenticity that is becoming a hallmark of this author’s prose. The sisters argue and misinterpret each other’s intentions, but beneath the friction is a powerful need for reconnection. Matthews draws the tension between love and hurt skillfully, as well as the unreliability of memory, which serves as one of the novel’s most important themes. And it’s here that the novel shines the brightest. Rather than offering an easy resolution, Roadside Sisters underscores how memory and truth are tangled, and how healing comes not from erasing the past, but confronting it.

Despite the sorrow that drives the plot, Roadside Sisters is not a bleak novel. Matthews writes with compassion and a grounded sense of hope, and there is a strong vein of comedy and real joy that runs through the narrative. The antics of the road trip's two furry members add levity, and there are laugh-out-loud moments as well. In Roadside Sisters, reconciliation isn’t about forgetting the pain but about choosing the bonds of sisterhood anyway.

Molly’s cancer diagnosis is the spark that sets events in motion, but the real stakes are emotional. The novel walks a fine line between heartbreak and hope.

Roadside Sisters is a deeply human novel about the pain—and necessity—of forgiveness, the slipperiness of memory, and the enduring bonds of family. Catherine Matthews writes with grace, restraint, and empathy, allowing her characters to be messy, flawed, and deeply real.

This novel will resonate with readers who’ve experienced complicated family dynamics, who know the ache of unresolved tension, and who believe in the possibility of emotional repair. It’s a moving, honest exploration of what it means to go home again—not to a place, but to each other.

[JenBsBooks · Rating 4 out of 5]

I liked this. A contemporary story of three sisters ... their secrets, their heartbreaks, together on a road trip, the last one for one of them (cancer, and she refuses treatment, not worth the ordeal for limited improvement).

Shifting POVs (3rd person) between the three sisters ... Scottie, Penelope and Molly. Past tense. A single narrator in audio. Not in libraries, but on Kindle Unlimited (of which I happened to have a current/temporary subscription) and low and behold, the audio was on Spotify (and I used my free monthly hours for it). I liked that the Table of Contents (in Kindle/Audio, no TOC in the physical book) had the POVs listed along with the numerical chapters. It's just nice to have that for a quick reference (whose head am I in?)

While I very much enjoyed the story, I'm not sure how much/if this will stick in my memory. I didn't feel that urge to stop and highlight/take notes. There were discussion questions at the end, which I appreciate (a little "book club in my mind") but these ones just didn't spark that internal conversation as some questions can. There was a funny ...

Lucy sat on the bathmat staring at her. “Go. Get in your bed.” The dog didn’t move. “You know I picked you, instead of a cat, because your species is known for unconditional love and forgiveness. You might want to ease up on the disappointment. Cats don’t have to be walked.”

I'd found the physical book in a Little Free Library ... something about it caught my eye. When I got home, I saw that it was rated highly. Glad to find I could access it easily via KU and Spotify. Another book by this same author ended up in MY Little Free Library a while back. Makes me wonder if maybe she's local? Looking closer at this copy, it was signed (and dedicated, to "Sarah") by the author. I likely will let this book continue its travels (putting it out in my LFL182597).

ProFanity x 11. Slight mention of sex. One of the sisters is a lesbian, but I don't remember that being a huge part of the storyline.

[Janet Roberts · Rating 5 out of 5]

You don’t need to have sisters (although it may be helpful!) to imagine yourself as a character in the oft-times sad, sometimes quirky, and always endearing novel Roadside Sisters by Catherine Matthews.

After learning she has cancer, Molly Casey asks her sisters to drive her home from Reno to Seattle. I’m not a big crier, but as a cancer survivor and sibling, I’m telling you tissues are necessary. If a distance has grown between you and your siblings for any reason, imagine yourself in a closed vehicle for over 12 hours with them - and one of has terminal cancer.

In Roadside Sisters, each of the sisters harbors a secret, and deeply repressed grievances that have been festering for a long time. As the journey continues, the past bubbles up like a toxic soup, threatening to explode, while Molly struggles to create peace between them before she dies. Matthews displays the same excellent writing style she’s become known for after her first novel, Releasing the Reins, became a hit debut. Every reader will stop and think about their own relationships with siblings, friends, and others - what emotions they harbor and what should be let go. In a heart breaking but deeply healing ending from a cast of characters you can’t help but see parts of yourself in, Roadside Sisters is a masterful novel and a must-read. Five stars!

Available to pre-order on Amazon.

@catherinematthewsauthor #RoadsideSisters #CatherineMatthews #PNWAuthor#WomensFiction #Sistersnovel #roadtripbook Novel #Newbook #familysecretsnovel #Sistersbook #familysecretsbook #roadtripnovel

[Joan Fernandez · Rating 5 out of 5]

Catherine Matthews’ ROADSIDE SISTERS opens with jolt. Molly, one of three sisters announces gut-wrenching news: She has terminal cancer. The one thing she wants before she dies is for her two estranged sisters—eldest sister Penelope and youngest sibling Scottie—to reconcile. It’s a charged request. Their bitter alienation runs deep and feels intractable. The only thing they have in common is love for their middle sister, Molly.

With this brilliant lift off, the novel takes flight . Matthews has crafted a tight, fluid, bursting narrative. No word is wasted as the track of each woman’s emotional scars comes to the surface. As misunderstandings and betrayal buried decades before are painfully unearthed, Molly’s simple idea that reunion alone can heal old wounds between Penelope and Scottie quickly unravels. Instead, her wish ignites a reckoning. Each sister must come to terms with the stories they’ve lived by as a result of the family’s traumatic past. One of my favorite scenes is when Penelope, a highly-competent workaholic lawyer, takes down a misogynistic boss by refusing to be bullied. When she stands up for herself, it’s exhilarating! And it’s a necessary step for even as we root for the warring sisters to stop rejecting each other, we feel their struggle to throw off past misconstrued events and try to redefine their lives. ROADSIDE SISTERS was like hitting the open road with the windows down, a completely satisfying and exhilarating journey from start to finish.

[Raquel Drosos · Rating 5 out of 5]

I enjoyed this compelling novel about family secrets, a road trip, and three sisters with a complicated relationship. Molly, the middle sister, loves both her siblings, but Penelope and Scottie haven't gotten along for years. When Molly is diagnosed with cancer, she asks both her sisters to take a road trip with her in the hopes of mending their relationship--but things don't turn out the way she expected. The book has both heartbreaking and funny moments, and it was fascinating how each sister had a different experience of childhood based on her own biases. It makes the reader question how much of our memories are "true" and how much of them are shaped by our perspective on our past.

Molly, Penelope, and Scottie take turns narrating the story, and while I sided with one of them at the beginning, I found myself rooting for all of them the more I got to know them. I loved Molly's deep appreciation for the small moments in life, like the sun on her face or a child's hug; Penelope's determination to succeed in spite of the misogyny she faces in her career; and Scottie's warmth toward her children, husband, and father underneath her tough exterior. I also thought the dogs, Burnie and Lucy, added an extra layer to the story; they seemed to mirror their owners early on but then ended up surprising me! You won't be able to put this book down!

[Jan Heidrich-Rice · Rating 5 out of 5]

Three sisters. Two timelines. Add in a big ol’ Great Dane and princess-like lap dog, cram them all into one SUV, and buckle up for a crazy, amazing road trip straight to the heart. Roadside Sisters, Catherine Matthews’s second novel, delivers all that—and more.

Years earlier, divorce tore Penelope, Molly, and Scottie apart. Flash forward to now, when Molly, the middle sister and peacemaker, discovers she has terminal cancer, which makes her fiercely determined to right things among the three before it’s too late. She decides that a road trip is just the ticket. Yet as you might guess, this one is rife with pot holes and detours that magnify the already complex dynamics at play.

Matthews allows each sister to shine in her own light by using multiple viewpoints and dual timelines. She’s adept at showing how we all carry love and pain and loss in different ways. She reminds us that hope can float, but not without casting away old beliefs and learning the art of forgiveness—of others, ourselves, and the lives we didn’t live.

Roadside Sisters left me wistful for back in the day, growing up with four sisters who bugged me and loved me—and grateful that they continue to touch my life today. It would make a great book club read…and a special gift for the sisters in your life, be they yours through blood or by choice.

[Stephanie · Rating 4 out of 5]

I just finished Roadside Sisters by Catherine Matthew. This book dives right into the complex relationship between three sisters, and it beautifully captures the push and pull of sisterhood, secrets, and the bond that ties them all together.

Matthews does an amazing job of exploring how relationships between sisters can get layered with events and, of course, secrets. Each sister has her own unique voice and personality, which makes the story feel so real. It’s fascinating to see how their lives intertwine, and how the weight of their secrets can build up a wall or bring them closer together.

What I loved about this book is how it hits you in the feels—sometimes it’s heartwarming, other times it’s absolutely heartbreaking. The pacing is pretty good, keeping you hooked without feeling rushed. The interactions between the sisters are so well-written, capturing both the love and the tension that can exist within families.

Overall, Roadside Sisters is a beautifully crafted story that highlights the complexity of sisterly bonds and the impact of secrets. It's the kind of book that stays with you long after you've turned the last page.

[Heather Dodge Martin · Rating 5 out of 5]

You know when you read a book and keep wanting to draw the characters aside and talk to them? “That wasn’t your fault. Just tell her…!” “Wait, wait, listen…!” The layered and sometime-tangled relationships made me feel like my own sisters were in the room with me the whole time I was reading Roadside Sisters, by Catherine Matthews. I highly recommend this nuanced family drama.

Two feuding sisters are drawn in by the third to re-create a family road trip, not realizing until well into the journey that she had a serious purpose for bringing them together, beyond recalling better times. The three sisters each get their own point of view, and the revelation of their different perspectives on the events of their shared childhood underlies the driving urgency of the present-day story.

This isn’t a wacky, hijinks-filled story, though there are moments of levity to relieve the sometimes heavy subject matter. The author’s sure hand with language provides many moments of beauty, too. But this is at heart an emotional book, one that grapples with where we belong and who we belong to. If you’d like your next read to be a journey of the heart, this is it.

[Samantha Ness · Rating 5 out of 5]

Maybe it’s my own relationship with my sister that had me so emotional reading this but omg this one hit me in all the feels! Three sisters taking a road trip to work through their trauma, heal relationships, and really at the end of the day show how sisterhood, no matter how strained, is always one of the strongest of bonds.

It was emotional and deep reading through each sister’s story and how they come together. My sister and I, for six years didn’t speak, and reading this story (not kidding right after my sister and I reconnected) made me really feel heard, and I identified with all the sisters, in one way or another. They were all incredibly relatable, different in the most real way, and had true depth to each one of them. I laughed, cried, held my heart, and could not put this memorable book down.

Highly recommend for all readers, especially ones that have sisters (related or chosen). There is so much depth and relatability to this book it would be hard not to immediately love every part of it.

Thank you so much to Catherine and the publisher for allowing me an eARC of this book in exchange for an honest review, it will be one that sticks with me for a lifetime!

[Linda Zagon · Rating 5 out of 5]

WOW! Catherine Matthews, the Author of “Roadside Sisters” is a powerful, emotional, memorable and thought-provoking novel.The Genres for this novel are Sibling Relationships, Sibling Fiction, Family Fiction, and Fiction, with suspense and an edgy feel. I had to use Kleenex for this moving story. The author vividly describes the journey that the sisters take, the personable dogs. and the dramatic and colorful characters. There are deep secrets, lies betrayals, and disappointments that have kept two of the three sisters estranged for many years. Molly Casey is determined to heal the frictions between the other two sisters. Molly need the help from her sisters to drive her from Reno to Seattle for medical circumstances.

The three sisters have their own personalities, and the author takes us on an emotional roller coaster of a journey. I appreciate how the author discusses the importance of communication, family, honesty, forgiveness, empathy, love and hope. I highly recommend this heartfelt and emotional novel for others.

[Tricia · Rating 4 out of 5]

“‘The irony is our whole lives have been a reaction to these beliefs. It’s why we aren’t closer. We would have to be honest and see the world through each other’s eyes. We can’t do that though, can we? We’d have to stop keeping our parents’ secrets’” (272).

“My biggest regret is not saying these things to you both years ago. I traded temporary peace for long-term love. I am sorry for that. I love you. Don’t be a mule. Make things right” (290).

“‘It’s not OK. And you can be angry with me. You should be angry with me. Even if you are, I will still love you and you will still love me’” (294).

“‘Seems to me you’re taking her decision personally. She’s not doing it to you. She’s got her reasons, and she doesn’t owe us an explanation. I think we owe her some compassion, though’” (296).

“‘Don’t you get it?’ She pushed herself to sitting. It’s always over too soon. You always regret what you didn’t do more than what you did. I love you, but you’re both bullheaded. Well, you’re gonna have to figure it out for yourself. You’re it. You’re all you’ve got. The end’” (303).