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Eva Reddy's Trip of a Lifetime
Mrs Winterbottom Takes a Gap Year meets The Best Exotic Marigold Hotel and Where'd You Go Bernadette in this witty novel about coming of (middle) age and discovering that you don't have to be who you've become.
How hard can it be to find a pair of Bollywood-dancing septuagenarians?
The new funny and uplifting read for book clubs in 2025 about adventure, aging and rediscovery. Perfect for readers Joanna Nell, Marian Keyes and Kathy Lette.
When Eva Moore wakes up on her fiftieth birthday, her drab middle-class life immediately starts to unravel. First, she receives an anonymous Facebook message claiming her husband is having an affair. Next, she is restructured out of her job by her obnoxiously young boss. Then, just when she thinks her life can't get any worse, her elderly parents wilfully go missing from their group tour of India. The only clues they've left behind is an increasingly bizarre series of TikTok videos.
Eager to put some distance between herself and her failing marriage, Eva undertakes a rescue mission, determined to save her parents from certain disaster. She wants to find them. But what Eva really needs is to find herself. If she can do that, she might get a second chance at life and love - and, along the way, become an inspiration to anyone who fears their best days are behind them ...
Witty, warm and acutely observed - a book club book from an extraordinary new Australian voice about taking life, and adventure, by the horns. A funny, defiant shout into the face of society's expectations around ageing.
'Fiona has taken the gritty challenges of infidelity, middle age, dementia, unemployment - not to mention traveling in India - and wrapped them up in a charming fairytale that tells you all is not lost.' - Tracy Grimshaw
How hard can it be to find a pair of Bollywood-dancing septuagenarians?
The new funny and uplifting read for book clubs in 2025 about adventure, aging and rediscovery. Perfect for readers Joanna Nell, Marian Keyes and Kathy Lette.
When Eva Moore wakes up on her fiftieth birthday, her drab middle-class life immediately starts to unravel. First, she receives an anonymous Facebook message claiming her husband is having an affair. Next, she is restructured out of her job by her obnoxiously young boss. Then, just when she thinks her life can't get any worse, her elderly parents wilfully go missing from their group tour of India. The only clues they've left behind is an increasingly bizarre series of TikTok videos.
Eager to put some distance between herself and her failing marriage, Eva undertakes a rescue mission, determined to save her parents from certain disaster. She wants to find them. But what Eva really needs is to find herself. If she can do that, she might get a second chance at life and love - and, along the way, become an inspiration to anyone who fears their best days are behind them ...
Witty, warm and acutely observed - a book club book from an extraordinary new Australian voice about taking life, and adventure, by the horns. A funny, defiant shout into the face of society's expectations around ageing.
'Fiona has taken the gritty challenges of infidelity, middle age, dementia, unemployment - not to mention traveling in India - and wrapped them up in a charming fairytale that tells you all is not lost.' - Tracy Grimshaw
352 pages, Kindle Edition
Published August 1, 2025
28 people are currently reading
255 people want to read
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Displaying 1 - 30 of 67 reviews
July 29, 2025
Eva Moore wakes up on her fiftieth birthday, her spouse Jonathan has left for work and she has no idea her life is about to change. Eva receives a Facebook message claiming her husband is having an affair, then she’s sacked from her job and her elderly parents go missing in India.
Eva is worried and her dad Doug has early stage Alzheimer’s and her mum Debbie has always been over the top and flamboyant and Eva finds her mother embarrassing. Debbie has been busy posting TikTok videos, and the sight of her gyrating and flaunting her pierced nose has Eva concerned and anything could happen to them while MIA in India and she decides to rescue them.
Upon arrival Eva is shocked, not just by the sights, smells and large number of people, everyone seems to want to rip her off and her mother decides to play a game of hide and seek with her and she wonders how she will find two elderly Australians in the mayhem?
I received a copy of Eva Reddy’s Trip of a Lifetime from NetGalley and Harlequin Australia in exchange for an honest review. Fiona McKenzie Kekic novel looks at what it’s like to be a middle aged women, one minute she’s thirteen and the next Eva’s fifty and has she achieved what she wanted?
The answer to that question is “no” the main character has put everything before what she wants and she comes last on her priority list and she’s lost herself and on her trip she finds Eva and her backbone and much more!
The narrative was hilarious and so were the characters and especially Debbie thinks her daughter rather dull and boring and she wants her to have a good time and the perfect choice for a book club or you want to have a down right good laugh.
Five stars from me and a thoroughly entertaining read and in so many ways.
Eva is worried and her dad Doug has early stage Alzheimer’s and her mum Debbie has always been over the top and flamboyant and Eva finds her mother embarrassing. Debbie has been busy posting TikTok videos, and the sight of her gyrating and flaunting her pierced nose has Eva concerned and anything could happen to them while MIA in India and she decides to rescue them.
Upon arrival Eva is shocked, not just by the sights, smells and large number of people, everyone seems to want to rip her off and her mother decides to play a game of hide and seek with her and she wonders how she will find two elderly Australians in the mayhem?
I received a copy of Eva Reddy’s Trip of a Lifetime from NetGalley and Harlequin Australia in exchange for an honest review. Fiona McKenzie Kekic novel looks at what it’s like to be a middle aged women, one minute she’s thirteen and the next Eva’s fifty and has she achieved what she wanted?
The answer to that question is “no” the main character has put everything before what she wants and she comes last on her priority list and she’s lost herself and on her trip she finds Eva and her backbone and much more!
The narrative was hilarious and so were the characters and especially Debbie thinks her daughter rather dull and boring and she wants her to have a good time and the perfect choice for a book club or you want to have a down right good laugh.
Five stars from me and a thoroughly entertaining read and in so many ways.
September 11, 2025
EXCERPT: I navigate to her most recent video and read the title. 'Debbie Does Delhi'. A part of me dies inside. I hit play trying to reign in my growing panic. There is my mother, wearing a sari and breaking out some Bollywood dance moves amid the chaos of a busy commercial district. A street sign tells me she is in Connaught Place. I grab some paper and jot down the address while watching her swivel enthusiastically between cars and shoppers. Her neck moves from side to side in time with her hands and hips. Even as I am horrified, I can't help but be impressed. My mother is extraordinarily limber for a woman well into her seventies.
Then I catch a glimpse of her bare midriff. Dear Lord. The woman is rocking a naval piercing. Could my mother be any more embarrassing?
The clip ends with a short advertisement for a Bollywood dance class in Delhi. It seems her TikTok video has a sponsor.
The woman is a geriatric Kardashian.
ABOUT 'EVA REDDY'S TRIP OF A LIFETIME': How hard can it be to find a pair of Bollywood-dancing septuagenarians?
The new funny and uplifting read for book clubs in 2025 about adventure, aging and rediscovery.
When Eva Moore wakes up on her fiftieth birthday, her drab middle-class life immediately starts to unravel. First, she receives an anonymous Facebook message claiming her husband is having an affair. Next, she is restructured out of her job by her obnoxiously young boss. Then, just when she thinks her life can't get any worse, her elderly parents willfully go missing from their group tour of India. The only clues they've left behind is an increasingly bizarre series of TikTok videos.
Eager to put some distance between herself and her failing marriage, Eva undertakes a rescue mission, determined to save her parents from certain disaster. She wants to find them. But what Eva really needs is to find herself. If she can do that, she might get a second chance at life and love - and, along the way, become an inspiration to anyone who fears their best days are behind them ...
MY THOUGHTS: Much of what happens in this novel is based on the author's personal experience. I would be really interested to know which bits in particular . . .
Debbie is a woman with no common sense and a low-level alcohol dependency. Doug is in the early stages of dementia. They have been cut loose in India by their tour guides for constantly failing to obey the tour rules. Debbie has never been one to follow the rules.
Daughter Eva, whose life is imploding, sets off to India to 'rescue' her parents from danger but, of course, that's not quite what happens.
I had a very mixed reading experience with Eva Reddy's Adventure of a Lifetime. I really dislike the beginning and was at the same time bored and frustrated by Eva. I wanted her to stop whining, stop drinking, stop feeling sorry for herself and get her act together.
Just I was about to throw in the towel and move on to my next read, something clicked, and I began to enjoy the read. Enjoy it so much that I read 50% of the book in one sitting.
I loved the character of Eva's mother, Debbie. She's eccentric, off-the-wall, batty and so much fun! She also has Eva's best interests at heart. She also loves her husband Doug with all her heart.
What ensues during Eva's pursuit of her parents is best described as slap-stick comedy, not my favorite type, but even I found some of the situations amusing, especially the one that occurs in the temple where the interior is decorated with illustrations from the Karma Sutra. Personally, I usually like my comedy a little more subtle.
The one strong message that emerges from this read is that it is never too late to change your life.
I wasn't entirely happy with the ending. On the plus side Eva retains her independence, but I felt the way her future opened out before her was a bit too glib and 'Hollywood'. But talking of Hollywood, I think this would make a wonderful movie.
There is a rather handy glossary of Pop Culture references, especially handy for those who didn't grow up in Australia in the 1980s, at the end of the book which might have been better placed at the beginning.
⭐⭐⭐.4
#EvaReddysTripofaLifetime #NetGalley
MEET THE AUTHOR: FIONA MCKENZIE KEKIC is a recovering television professional with credits ranging from ‘60 Minutes’ to ‘Married at First Sight’. Her face even featured on the ‘Sale of the Century’ fame game board back in the day. This remains an unlikely and slightly absurd career highlight.
Television has always been cutthroat, but it was an especially tough road for a woman back in the eighties and nineties. After way too many scarring years in commercial news and current affairs, Fiona co-wrote ‘Boned’ with her equally disgruntled colleague Jane Hansen. They lived through every hideous, misogynistic moment they recounted anonymously in that novel. ‘Boned’ was published in 2008. Judging from the constant scandals and million dollar payouts, nothing much has changed. But they did make the bastards squirm for a while.
Television and its dastardly cast of characters continue to appear in Fiona’s stories. But she’s now stepped away from that world to concentrate full time on writing and to make the most of life’s next stage. She believes absolutely that middle age is just the beginning and that women only get stronger as they age. There is a world of both figurative and literal mountains out there to prove it.
Fiona lives in Sydney with her husband Murat, son Arley and their rescue cattle dog Vels.
DISCLOSURE: Thank you to Harlequin Australia, HQ & MIRA via NetGalley for providing an e-ARC of Eva Reddy's Trip of a Lifetime by Fiona McKenzie Kekic for review. All opinions expressed in this review are entirely my own personal opinions.
https://sandysbookaday.wordpress.com/...
Then I catch a glimpse of her bare midriff. Dear Lord. The woman is rocking a naval piercing. Could my mother be any more embarrassing?
The clip ends with a short advertisement for a Bollywood dance class in Delhi. It seems her TikTok video has a sponsor.
The woman is a geriatric Kardashian.
ABOUT 'EVA REDDY'S TRIP OF A LIFETIME': How hard can it be to find a pair of Bollywood-dancing septuagenarians?
The new funny and uplifting read for book clubs in 2025 about adventure, aging and rediscovery.
When Eva Moore wakes up on her fiftieth birthday, her drab middle-class life immediately starts to unravel. First, she receives an anonymous Facebook message claiming her husband is having an affair. Next, she is restructured out of her job by her obnoxiously young boss. Then, just when she thinks her life can't get any worse, her elderly parents willfully go missing from their group tour of India. The only clues they've left behind is an increasingly bizarre series of TikTok videos.
Eager to put some distance between herself and her failing marriage, Eva undertakes a rescue mission, determined to save her parents from certain disaster. She wants to find them. But what Eva really needs is to find herself. If she can do that, she might get a second chance at life and love - and, along the way, become an inspiration to anyone who fears their best days are behind them ...
MY THOUGHTS: Much of what happens in this novel is based on the author's personal experience. I would be really interested to know which bits in particular . . .
Debbie is a woman with no common sense and a low-level alcohol dependency. Doug is in the early stages of dementia. They have been cut loose in India by their tour guides for constantly failing to obey the tour rules. Debbie has never been one to follow the rules.
Daughter Eva, whose life is imploding, sets off to India to 'rescue' her parents from danger but, of course, that's not quite what happens.
I had a very mixed reading experience with Eva Reddy's Adventure of a Lifetime. I really dislike the beginning and was at the same time bored and frustrated by Eva. I wanted her to stop whining, stop drinking, stop feeling sorry for herself and get her act together.
Just I was about to throw in the towel and move on to my next read, something clicked, and I began to enjoy the read. Enjoy it so much that I read 50% of the book in one sitting.
I loved the character of Eva's mother, Debbie. She's eccentric, off-the-wall, batty and so much fun! She also has Eva's best interests at heart. She also loves her husband Doug with all her heart.
What ensues during Eva's pursuit of her parents is best described as slap-stick comedy, not my favorite type, but even I found some of the situations amusing, especially the one that occurs in the temple where the interior is decorated with illustrations from the Karma Sutra. Personally, I usually like my comedy a little more subtle.
The one strong message that emerges from this read is that it is never too late to change your life.
I wasn't entirely happy with the ending. On the plus side Eva retains her independence, but I felt the way her future opened out before her was a bit too glib and 'Hollywood'. But talking of Hollywood, I think this would make a wonderful movie.
There is a rather handy glossary of Pop Culture references, especially handy for those who didn't grow up in Australia in the 1980s, at the end of the book which might have been better placed at the beginning.
⭐⭐⭐.4
#EvaReddysTripofaLifetime #NetGalley
MEET THE AUTHOR: FIONA MCKENZIE KEKIC is a recovering television professional with credits ranging from ‘60 Minutes’ to ‘Married at First Sight’. Her face even featured on the ‘Sale of the Century’ fame game board back in the day. This remains an unlikely and slightly absurd career highlight.
Television has always been cutthroat, but it was an especially tough road for a woman back in the eighties and nineties. After way too many scarring years in commercial news and current affairs, Fiona co-wrote ‘Boned’ with her equally disgruntled colleague Jane Hansen. They lived through every hideous, misogynistic moment they recounted anonymously in that novel. ‘Boned’ was published in 2008. Judging from the constant scandals and million dollar payouts, nothing much has changed. But they did make the bastards squirm for a while.
Television and its dastardly cast of characters continue to appear in Fiona’s stories. But she’s now stepped away from that world to concentrate full time on writing and to make the most of life’s next stage. She believes absolutely that middle age is just the beginning and that women only get stronger as they age. There is a world of both figurative and literal mountains out there to prove it.
Fiona lives in Sydney with her husband Murat, son Arley and their rescue cattle dog Vels.
DISCLOSURE: Thank you to Harlequin Australia, HQ & MIRA via NetGalley for providing an e-ARC of Eva Reddy's Trip of a Lifetime by Fiona McKenzie Kekic for review. All opinions expressed in this review are entirely my own personal opinions.
https://sandysbookaday.wordpress.com/...
April 1, 2025
An absolute delight of a book. As a woman of a certain age, Eva is so very relatable. I laughed out loud, felt a little rage, loved being in India and adored the cat and mouse chase of her parents. This novel is like slipping on your favourite slippers and dressing gown, or like a warm hug from a beloved Nana. It made me feel joy and safe and loved. Fiona’s writing style had me from the very start and I was hooked from the first line. I cannot wait for her follow up novels. Highly recommend!
And a huge thank you to Harper Collins for the advanced readers copy.
And a huge thank you to Harper Collins for the advanced readers copy.
October 13, 2025
if anything, i can at the very least say without a doubt that this was an accurate characterisation of a sydney middle aged white mum.
September 28, 2025
Eva Reddy’s Trip Of A Lifetime could have been a really fun, lighthearted read, except that I found the constant negative body talk to be a real bummer. That said, I know in my bones that it'll be a great pick for a different kind of reader – I highly recommend it to folks who love stories about travel mishaps and finding oneself in middle age.
My full review of Eva Reddy's Trip Of A Lifetime is up now on Keeping Up With The Penguins.
My full review of Eva Reddy's Trip Of A Lifetime is up now on Keeping Up With The Penguins.
September 14, 2025
Big thanks to Harlequin for sending us a copy to read and review.
A delightful, humorous and exhilarating read.
On the morning of her 50th birthday, Eva Reddy’s life is about to change.
First of all, there’s a Facebook message saying her husband is having an affair, then she loses her job from a mass redundancy and then to top it all off, her elderly parents have gone missing from a group tour in India.
After much contemplating, Eva decides to make a rash decision.
Avoiding her husband and his infidelity, she goes to India to find her parents.
In the busy and hot city and analysing their series of TikTok videos for clues, Eva encounters pandemonium, friendship, romance, complexities and discovers a thing or two about herself.
A wonderful new voice in contemporary/women’s fiction.
Eva is a brilliant, witty and thoughtful main character and her adventures are inspiring.
Refreshing, relatable, engaging, inviting and immensely enjoyable.
Exploring many themes throughout and ultimately realising than it’s never too late to enjoy life.
This is one of those books that you sit back, relax, be entertained and laugh along the way.
A delightful, humorous and exhilarating read.
On the morning of her 50th birthday, Eva Reddy’s life is about to change.
First of all, there’s a Facebook message saying her husband is having an affair, then she loses her job from a mass redundancy and then to top it all off, her elderly parents have gone missing from a group tour in India.
After much contemplating, Eva decides to make a rash decision.
Avoiding her husband and his infidelity, she goes to India to find her parents.
In the busy and hot city and analysing their series of TikTok videos for clues, Eva encounters pandemonium, friendship, romance, complexities and discovers a thing or two about herself.
A wonderful new voice in contemporary/women’s fiction.
Eva is a brilliant, witty and thoughtful main character and her adventures are inspiring.
Refreshing, relatable, engaging, inviting and immensely enjoyable.
Exploring many themes throughout and ultimately realising than it’s never too late to enjoy life.
This is one of those books that you sit back, relax, be entertained and laugh along the way.
May 3, 2025
On her 50th, Eva gets fired, learns her husband's cheating, and finds out her parents are missing in India. Cue chaos.
This is a funny, feel-good whirlwind about family, second chances, and proving midlife is anything but boring. Eva is messy, relatable, and totally lovable. And her wayward mum Debbie? An absolute scene-stealer.
Big laughs, big heart, and a delicious side of Indian paratha. I loved it.
Thanks to Harper Collins for the ARC!
This is a funny, feel-good whirlwind about family, second chances, and proving midlife is anything but boring. Eva is messy, relatable, and totally lovable. And her wayward mum Debbie? An absolute scene-stealer.
Big laughs, big heart, and a delicious side of Indian paratha. I loved it.
Thanks to Harper Collins for the ARC!
October 14, 2025
A character losing their job, husband and, quite often, their house is a well worn trope and Fiona McKenzie Kekic uses it to perfection.
I really warmed to Eva which made the book so easy to read. She has two dear and loyal friends that are always on her side and an eccentric mother who causes Eva no end of anxiety, and embarrassment, but has Eva's best interest at heart.
While Eva's life is falling apart at great speed she gets a call that her parents have gone missing from their organised tour of India. Eva books a flight and heads straight there determined to bring her wayward parents home to Australia.
What follows is a hilarious cat-and-mouse chase as Eva's mother leaves clues of their whereabouts via TikTok videos.
Eva Reddy's Trip of a Lifetime is not only a highly relatable tale of women and middle age, it is also a fabulous tour of the sights, sounds and food of India. Armchair travel at its hilarious best!
I really warmed to Eva which made the book so easy to read. She has two dear and loyal friends that are always on her side and an eccentric mother who causes Eva no end of anxiety, and embarrassment, but has Eva's best interest at heart.
While Eva's life is falling apart at great speed she gets a call that her parents have gone missing from their organised tour of India. Eva books a flight and heads straight there determined to bring her wayward parents home to Australia.
What follows is a hilarious cat-and-mouse chase as Eva's mother leaves clues of their whereabouts via TikTok videos.
Eva Reddy's Trip of a Lifetime is not only a highly relatable tale of women and middle age, it is also a fabulous tour of the sights, sounds and food of India. Armchair travel at its hilarious best!
July 22, 2025
What a fabulous read! I loved every page of Eva Reddy’s Trip of a Lifetime. Eva’s story is relatable, emotional, and genuinely funny. I laughed out loud, felt deeply for her, and couldn’t turn the pages fast enough.
It’s refreshing to read a story centred around a woman in her 50s navigating the messiness of midlife, rediscovering herself, and finding joy again after life throws her a few curveballs. Warm, witty, and full of heart—I highly recommend it.
Thanks to NetGalley and the publisher for the digital ARC.
It’s refreshing to read a story centred around a woman in her 50s navigating the messiness of midlife, rediscovering herself, and finding joy again after life throws her a few curveballs. Warm, witty, and full of heart—I highly recommend it.
Thanks to NetGalley and the publisher for the digital ARC.
October 12, 2025
very fun romcom. If Rachel Bloom wrote The Summer I Turned Pretty in the midst of an existential-crisis.
June 27, 2025
I was fortunate enough to receive an advance copy of this wonderful novel. in brief; woman loses herself in India only to find herself.
I've given only 4 stars as I reckon the author wasted the opportunity to describe the city of Sydney.
I've given only 4 stars as I reckon the author wasted the opportunity to describe the city of Sydney.
September 6, 2025
Eva Reddy is a middle-aged woman whose life is thrown a curve ball when she receives an email from 'Ernest Friend', and an unexpected phone call about her missing parents sends her to India.
Whilst attempting to locate her parents, amongst the busy, beautiful life of India, Eva rediscovers herself, and is reminded of what she wanted from life before marrying her childhood sweetheart and becoming a mother.
The author's storytelling flows effortlessly, pulling you into Eva's trials and tribulations, and observing her resilience.
This story certainly resonated with me; and gave me the perfect reason to curl up in a cosy chair with a cuppa and have a few laugh out loud moments.
Whilst attempting to locate her parents, amongst the busy, beautiful life of India, Eva rediscovers herself, and is reminded of what she wanted from life before marrying her childhood sweetheart and becoming a mother.
The author's storytelling flows effortlessly, pulling you into Eva's trials and tribulations, and observing her resilience.
This story certainly resonated with me; and gave me the perfect reason to curl up in a cosy chair with a cuppa and have a few laugh out loud moments.
December 14, 2025
On her 50th birthday, Eva is restructured out of her job and then told by a mystery informant that her husband is having an affair. She then finds out that her elderly parents have left their tour group in India leading Eva to embark on a cat-and-mouse adventure to bring them home.
Eva Reddy’s Trip of Lifetime is told in current day/first person and through emails and extracts from Eva’s journals throughout her life. I love a mixed media story! Eva’s glossary at the end was such a great trip down memory lane.
It is an ode to middle aged and beyond. Where perhaps life isn’t over and there is always time to become who you are supposed to be. I loved the growth of Eva’s character during the story. And Debbie Reddy is simply a star!
Highly recommend this book for its warmth and humour!
Eva Reddy’s Trip of Lifetime is told in current day/first person and through emails and extracts from Eva’s journals throughout her life. I love a mixed media story! Eva’s glossary at the end was such a great trip down memory lane.
It is an ode to middle aged and beyond. Where perhaps life isn’t over and there is always time to become who you are supposed to be. I loved the growth of Eva’s character during the story. And Debbie Reddy is simply a star!
Highly recommend this book for its warmth and humour!
January 11, 2026
I didn't meet my own word count this weekend, and I blame this book. Clever, funny, warm and courageous all at once. Jonathan is a knob, Debbie Reddy was right, and I'm sure I have an abridged copy of the Kama Sutra somewhere ...
What's next from this author? Sign me up now.
What's next from this author? Sign me up now.
June 27, 2025
Eva Reddy's 50th birthday isn't going well: She got fired, got a Facebook message saying her husband was cheating, and then got told her parents decided to depart their tour of India and the only clue to their whereabouts was her mother's new Tiktok account. Desperate to escape the situation at home Eva flies to India determined to find her parents and bring them home. In the chaos of Delhi, and with very few clues, Eva is about to find out who she really wants to be!
This is an Australian menopausal 'Eat, Pray, Love' with humour and heart. Eva is a voice for every woman who might feel that they have put their own needs and wants aside for their husbands and children for so long they no longer remember who they dreamed of becoming. With lots of references to 80s and 90s pop culture this is a book for millennial and gen-X readers who will get a trip down memory lane as well as a fun story. But for readers of a younger age (or from other countries) there is a glossary of Eva's pop-culture references at the back of the book, along with a question guide for book club discussions.
This is an Australian menopausal 'Eat, Pray, Love' with humour and heart. Eva is a voice for every woman who might feel that they have put their own needs and wants aside for their husbands and children for so long they no longer remember who they dreamed of becoming. With lots of references to 80s and 90s pop culture this is a book for millennial and gen-X readers who will get a trip down memory lane as well as a fun story. But for readers of a younger age (or from other countries) there is a glossary of Eva's pop-culture references at the back of the book, along with a question guide for book club discussions.
June 28, 2025
Eva Reddys Trip of a Lifetime
Well this was a joyous cavort through a mid-life crisis. What fun!
Eva Reddy loses her job, her husband and her parents in India on top of her 50th birthday. She sets off to India for a rescue mission and what follows are a series of accidents, trials and revelations that help Eva to find her past self.
A warm and amusing read that is fast paced and rewarding.
Do yourself a favour and grab a copy today.
Thanks to Good Reading and Harlequin for an ARC.
Well this was a joyous cavort through a mid-life crisis. What fun!
Eva Reddy loses her job, her husband and her parents in India on top of her 50th birthday. She sets off to India for a rescue mission and what follows are a series of accidents, trials and revelations that help Eva to find her past self.
A warm and amusing read that is fast paced and rewarding.
Do yourself a favour and grab a copy today.
Thanks to Good Reading and Harlequin for an ARC.
November 9, 2025
It’s Eva’s 50th birthday and she finds out from someone she doesn’t know the identity of that her husband is cheating and she also loses her job. Then hears that her elderly parents have gone missing in India. That’s the start of this book. I really enjoyed the characters of Eva and of Utkarsh who she met in India and I loved the journey she went on to find her parents and all that encompassed, but the scripted flashbacks got a bit much at times. Thank you to NetGalley and the publishers for an advance copy of this book in exchange for an honest review.
June 22, 2025
Absolutely fabulous! I can see this book made into a movie. So much fun and so relatable to women juggling marriage, family and aging parents. I stayed up late reading this one, it was like hanging out with friends. 5 stars, I loved it!
January 9, 2026
Without giving any spoiler, this is just Eat, Pray, Love if it solely set in India. Considering how this book mention that movie, or book so passionately throughout Eva whole journey i said it strive to be exactly that.
Now onto the semi spoiler territory:
1. We spend literal one third of the book lamenting how misserable Eva life is. If this was meant to be a feel-good book it certainly make me feel quite misserable for an hour too long. We get it, you have a jerk of a husband, shitty jobs you never want and untapped potential. You know those short drama videos on tiktok that ragebaiting you into subscribing to their app? The one with little to no budget? Where every characters is excruciatingly annoying and jump the main character, second guessing her with no retaliation from the main character for atleast 40 paid episode. This is exactly that but in books format.
2. Somehow all of the blame in this book is put onto the husband. I get it, he's a twat. But why we choose to ignore her daughter that support her cheating father, the friends that left her out after falling for her husband and worse of all her insufferable mother. At every turn it seems that she makes every effort into embarassing her daughter in public, and every time the damn CHILD voice disagreement, justifiably so because her friends laughs at her, the MOTHER threw a fit. Yeah you heard that right, instead of giving the literal CHILD a talk, hear her out and met her CHILD in the middle the GROWN WOMAN threw a fit and blackmail also guilt trip her CHILD into APOLOGIZING, WOW! What an amazing woman! Mother of The Year!
Exactly when i think Eva will finally conform this issue the father come up with a reason that deserve a standing ovation. The mom is insufferably annoying because she want the best for you! And by the best she meant what she want her life but can't achieve due to her misogynistic parents! So she try to live her unfullfiled life through her child and get angry when said child didn't want exactly the same stuff in life as her! What a healthy relationship! And she wonder why her daughter ended up as a people pleaser.
3. This wrap up exactly like shitty TV drama. The good people is happy and the bad people is sad!
4. Don't get me started on this book potrayal of India. Somehow the writer remember she had to backtrack a bit from calling India a country of scamers and broken roads in every paragraph if she didn't want to get cancelled and it's so funny when you realize what she try to do.
Now onto the semi spoiler territory:
1. We spend literal one third of the book lamenting how misserable Eva life is. If this was meant to be a feel-good book it certainly make me feel quite misserable for an hour too long. We get it, you have a jerk of a husband, shitty jobs you never want and untapped potential. You know those short drama videos on tiktok that ragebaiting you into subscribing to their app? The one with little to no budget? Where every characters is excruciatingly annoying and jump the main character, second guessing her with no retaliation from the main character for atleast 40 paid episode. This is exactly that but in books format.
2. Somehow all of the blame in this book is put onto the husband. I get it, he's a twat. But why we choose to ignore her daughter that support her cheating father, the friends that left her out after falling for her husband and worse of all her insufferable mother. At every turn it seems that she makes every effort into embarassing her daughter in public, and every time the damn CHILD voice disagreement, justifiably so because her friends laughs at her, the MOTHER threw a fit. Yeah you heard that right, instead of giving the literal CHILD a talk, hear her out and met her CHILD in the middle the GROWN WOMAN threw a fit and blackmail also guilt trip her CHILD into APOLOGIZING, WOW! What an amazing woman! Mother of The Year!
Exactly when i think Eva will finally conform this issue the father come up with a reason that deserve a standing ovation. The mom is insufferably annoying because she want the best for you! And by the best she meant what she want her life but can't achieve due to her misogynistic parents! So she try to live her unfullfiled life through her child and get angry when said child didn't want exactly the same stuff in life as her! What a healthy relationship! And she wonder why her daughter ended up as a people pleaser.
3. This wrap up exactly like shitty TV drama. The good people is happy and the bad people is sad!
4. Don't get me started on this book potrayal of India. Somehow the writer remember she had to backtrack a bit from calling India a country of scamers and broken roads in every paragraph if she didn't want to get cancelled and it's so funny when you realize what she try to do.
September 12, 2025
So riveting! I just turned 40 last week and decided to gift myself this book and what a gift it turned out to be. It made me realize I need to start creating a bucket list of things to achieve in the next 10 years.
The author has managed to depict India beautifully capturing both the overwhelming intensity and the unmatched aliveness of the country. I felt like I had traveled across India while simply sitting on my favorite couch at home.
That said, the proofreader in me couldn’t help but notice a small slip: the “India Gate” in Delhi was mistakenly called the “Gateway of India,” which is actually in Mumbai. That tiny error had me in Delhi one moment and then transported to Mumbai in the blink of an eye! But honestly, I had to hush my inner proofreader, because the story itself never failed to keep me engrossed.
If this story has even a touch of Inkheart’s magic, I hope the author’s words come true and we get to see a movie adaptation in the near future with Dev Patel and Ryan Gosling as Utkarsh and Jonathan.
The author has managed to depict India beautifully capturing both the overwhelming intensity and the unmatched aliveness of the country. I felt like I had traveled across India while simply sitting on my favorite couch at home.
That said, the proofreader in me couldn’t help but notice a small slip: the “India Gate” in Delhi was mistakenly called the “Gateway of India,” which is actually in Mumbai. That tiny error had me in Delhi one moment and then transported to Mumbai in the blink of an eye! But honestly, I had to hush my inner proofreader, because the story itself never failed to keep me engrossed.
If this story has even a touch of Inkheart’s magic, I hope the author’s words come true and we get to see a movie adaptation in the near future with Dev Patel and Ryan Gosling as Utkarsh and Jonathan.
September 15, 2025
Eva Moore has hit 50 years of age and is facing a job loss and her marriage after discovering her husband is having an affair. To top it all her elderly parents have gone missing from their tour group in India. Eva decides she needs to rescue her parents after seeing some bizarre videos. We follow Eva round India as she tries to catch up with parents and to discover herself. An uplifting read for those in the 50s or so!
October 23, 2025
Two fun reads in a row both from Aussie Authors and both first books (I also just finished reading Dancing with Bees) I’m glad I read this as an audio book as it added to the culture and setting much more than it would of just reading it. Very relatable characters and storyline. Hope she writes more. I could totally see this as a movie.
September 28, 2025
Good fun - great descriptions. Fun characters.
An easy read!
An entertaining audio!
Eva wakes up on the morning of her 50th birthday to suggestions her husband is cheating on her. Shortly after she loses her job. Then her parents go MIA in India. What next occurs is an entertaining mix!
I can see why the diary excerpts from her childhood/younger years were useful - I just didn’t love them.
3.5 stars
An easy read!
An entertaining audio!
Eva wakes up on the morning of her 50th birthday to suggestions her husband is cheating on her. Shortly after she loses her job. Then her parents go MIA in India. What next occurs is an entertaining mix!
I can see why the diary excerpts from her childhood/younger years were useful - I just didn’t love them.
3.5 stars
Read
November 21, 2025I'll be honest-I skipped alot of the flashback sections. I found the regretful pondering of what could've been a little too demanding & whiney. Some fun twists throughout the book.
I loved the adventures & fun experiences in India, a country I have thoroughly enjoyed exploring
I loved the adventures & fun experiences in India, a country I have thoroughly enjoyed exploring
This entire review has been hidden because of spoilers.
November 18, 2025
I thoroughly enjoyed this book. very relatable characters and reminiscent of how many women are perceived by both the workforce and socially.
September 24, 2025
An easy to read with some laugh out loud moments.
I would describe this book as a coming of middle-age story. As Eva comes to grips with an unsatisfying marriage, being newly unemployed and feeling completely invisible, she embarks on an adventure to find her wayward parents in India.
With quite a few missteps along the way, she begins to find the inner strength and beliefs of her younger self. She begins to write again. We get glimpses of her younger self through excerpts from her diaries and can see how much of herself she has lost and sacrificed.
It was hard to like Eva's mum, Debbie. A dominating and uncensored critic of Eva's life choices.
A little trite in places, but overall, this is an entertaining and well written novel.
I would describe this book as a coming of middle-age story. As Eva comes to grips with an unsatisfying marriage, being newly unemployed and feeling completely invisible, she embarks on an adventure to find her wayward parents in India.
With quite a few missteps along the way, she begins to find the inner strength and beliefs of her younger self. She begins to write again. We get glimpses of her younger self through excerpts from her diaries and can see how much of herself she has lost and sacrificed.
It was hard to like Eva's mum, Debbie. A dominating and uncensored critic of Eva's life choices.
A little trite in places, but overall, this is an entertaining and well written novel.
August 28, 2025
I laughed & cried. Ticked all the boxes for a fun & fabulous read! Highly recommend.
July 20, 2025
Eva Reddy's Trip of a Lifetime was a rollicking good read with non-stop action. It’s covered a few issues in a sensitive way, without shoving point a of view down your throat like many authors seem to do.
Infidelity, expected behaviour for the elderly, dementia, workplace relations, friendship as well as mother / daughter relationships are all part of the backbone of the story. And India - a huge chaotic, colourful, diverse country that is a character in it’s own right.
The book opens on Eva’s birthday when her comfortable, predictable, possibly even slightly boring, life comes to an end. A Facebook post message from an unknown person says her husband is having an affair, and her obnoxious younger male boss tells her that her job no longer exists!
After a boozy evening with her best friends they advise her to follow her husband and see if the anonymous post is true - it is!
Happy Birthday Eva
Then she gets a phone call from India and the tour director of her parent’s tour announces that due to her eccentric mother’s poor behaviour her parents have been kicked off the tour but have both disappeared instead of catching the provided flight home. Worried by her mother’s TikTok posts showing her doing crazy, crazy things, and the fact that her father is in the early stages of dementia, Eva makes the snap decision to fly to India and drag her parents home.
Then the story really picks up pace as she chases her mother through India, always just missing them. After being befriended by a local gentleman who at first seems to be ripping her off then confesses he was but only to try and show her the traps that a single woman could fall into. He then ends up helping her look for her parents.
And what an adventure she has, and along the way she finds the Eva she wants to be - one that is not a disappointment to the teenage Eva who left a letter to her future self spelling out where she wanted to be when she was 50. There are a lot of flashbacks to events from her teens, early working life and marriage explaining where she went wrong in her life's direction. And being in India clarified which direction she wanted to take from now. But first she has to find her mum, and avoid her husband who has followed her to India to stop her “nonsense”
There are lots of adventures with twists and turns which kept me turning the pages and glued to the story!
Eva Reddy's Trip of a Lifetime was a great book. I really enjoyed reading it and I will be recommending to all my friends who like this genre
Thank you to HQ Fiction for providing an advanced copy of this book for review consideration via NetGalley. All opinions are my own
Infidelity, expected behaviour for the elderly, dementia, workplace relations, friendship as well as mother / daughter relationships are all part of the backbone of the story. And India - a huge chaotic, colourful, diverse country that is a character in it’s own right.
The book opens on Eva’s birthday when her comfortable, predictable, possibly even slightly boring, life comes to an end. A Facebook post message from an unknown person says her husband is having an affair, and her obnoxious younger male boss tells her that her job no longer exists!
After a boozy evening with her best friends they advise her to follow her husband and see if the anonymous post is true - it is!
Happy Birthday Eva
Then she gets a phone call from India and the tour director of her parent’s tour announces that due to her eccentric mother’s poor behaviour her parents have been kicked off the tour but have both disappeared instead of catching the provided flight home. Worried by her mother’s TikTok posts showing her doing crazy, crazy things, and the fact that her father is in the early stages of dementia, Eva makes the snap decision to fly to India and drag her parents home.
Then the story really picks up pace as she chases her mother through India, always just missing them. After being befriended by a local gentleman who at first seems to be ripping her off then confesses he was but only to try and show her the traps that a single woman could fall into. He then ends up helping her look for her parents.
And what an adventure she has, and along the way she finds the Eva she wants to be - one that is not a disappointment to the teenage Eva who left a letter to her future self spelling out where she wanted to be when she was 50. There are a lot of flashbacks to events from her teens, early working life and marriage explaining where she went wrong in her life's direction. And being in India clarified which direction she wanted to take from now. But first she has to find her mum, and avoid her husband who has followed her to India to stop her “nonsense”
There are lots of adventures with twists and turns which kept me turning the pages and glued to the story!
Eva Reddy's Trip of a Lifetime was a great book. I really enjoyed reading it and I will be recommending to all my friends who like this genre
Thank you to HQ Fiction for providing an advanced copy of this book for review consideration via NetGalley. All opinions are my own
November 26, 2025
Thoroughly enjoyed this book. I was laughing so much reading each page, each chapter, I didn’t want it to end. Hands down one of my favourite reads this year!
September 16, 2025
3.5 stars
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