The Trip of a Lifetime, Part 4

Caribbean #4

by Coral Harper

Four former best friends are reunited at their 25th high school reunion. Little did they know this reunion would rekindle their friendship and lead them to an adventure of a lifetime.

Andrea, Rita, Lauren, and Monica promised each other that they would always remain close but life happened leading them to go their separate ways and fall out of touch. Over two decades later, the four decide to dust off their high school yearbook and take a blissful trip down memory lane. As they flip through the pages, they are reminded of their senior class trip that was cancelled due to the sudden death of a fellow classmate. They discover an old promise they made to each other to take a trip together someday.

The reunion ends and the four friends head back to their cold-weather states. Little did the ladies know the whirlwind that the next year would be. Monica has had enough. She picks up the phone and calls her friends…

“I think we should make good on that promise we made and have ourselves the trip of a lifetime. No more waiting. No more putting it off. No more excuses. Life is too short…”

The Trip of a Lifetime is a feel-good series of a group of friends who rekindle their friendship and renew their passion for life. They embark on a once in a lifetime trip to the Caribbean. With many ups and downs, you’ll find yourself on the edge of your seat. Mostly, your heart will be filled with warmth and love.

63 pages, Kindle Edition

Published January 23, 2021

About the author

Coral Harper is the author of feel good beach reads along with other clean and wholesome fiction. When not publishing books, Coral enjoys soaking up the sun with family and traveling the world. Be sure to check out The Seahorse Cottage, Trip of a Lifetime, Stargaze Island, The Nantucket Estate, and Lighthouse Letters.

Reviews

[Karen Butler · Rating 5 out of 5]

Wow! What an great story about Andrea and how she dealt with the loss of her leg. She meets Simon at physical therapy. Now the story really begins. Sorry, I can't say more, but I don't want to ruin a beautiful storyline for anyone. This is a must read
series. Thank you Coral Harper for this series. I can't wait to start book five.

[Donna Campbell · Rating 5 out of 5]

I really enjoyed this story, even if it is on 50 some pages long and has a cliffhanger. The couple is sweet and are great for each other. They each support one another. This is a clean read.

[Cath · Rating 4 out of 5]

This is book four of the Caribbean series and sees Andrea awaking in hospital after her accident, whilst she and her friends were waiting for Lauren to be well enough to fly home after the disastrous ending to their cruise. This was supposed to be their trip of a lifetime, along with Rita and Monica, as part of their former close friendship when in high school and rekindled at their 25th high school reunion. Rita may have her new relationship which started on the cruise and even Lauren was enamoured by her Coast Guard saviour, but Andrea has nothing to look forward to on her return home. Just more single life, in her small home and in a job she has come to hate, if she even has one by the time she gets back. Her friends are all waiting for her to come to after her operation to save her life and sit around her bedside as soon as they were allowed in.

She hasn’t been told yet, what happened to her in the accident by any doctors and her friends have to break it to her! The shock is almost too much and she refuses any help from them, not really accepting what has happened to her. They want her to stay where she is until she is better, but she just wants to get away from this horrible experience and her new reality. She ends up back at home to find she has lost her job, and is stuck in rehab, which she is not really interested in, as her life as changed completely. She is one of those patients who has no interest in trying hard to get better, rather just concentrating on what she can’t do anymore! Another patient in the rehab sessions is almost her complete opposite and her therapist tries to get her to talk to him, hoping his work ethic will rub off on her. Not something she wants to even attempt, but she gets surprised when he asks her out for coffee.

This other patient is called Simon, and brings about a new purpose in her life as her draws her out of her negativity and she finds she has so many similarities with him. From going to the movies, to hiking, running and so much more, he is really easy to be around and she starts to make changes with her approach to rehab and becoming more positive about her future. The two begin a relationship and the end of the book sees them going off on their first proper hike together, but she faces danger yet again, in the cliffhanger of an ending! I must admit I was surprised to see a lack of her friends being around during that year and her time straight after the accident. Shocking! The same scenario being given for each short read, doesn’t really even cover what happens in this storyline, nor does it even relate to who is in this short story and who is around. This story has gone far from the premise of a trip of a lifetime. I did like the story of Simon and his background story and how he overcame everything that happened to him and how positive he had been about his own injury. He was also a great help to Andrea, until the events at the end of the story, but I will have to wait and see if he comes to the rescue in time, when I read the next book! I have left my score as 4 stars mainly due to Simon’s story and acceptance of his injury even despite his own problems. I received an ARC copy of this book from BookSprout and I have freely given my own opinion of the book above.

[Molly · Rating 4 out of 5]

Andrea seems to have given in to despair and depression after losing her leg swimming in the Caribbean. Discovering she had also lost her job while she was gone due to her injuries was just icing on a very stinky and distasteful cake

Andrea does have some good luck, not only in the new beau of her bff saving her life, if not her leg. While in her rehab sessions, she meets Simon. A military veteran, he could help both of them to not only walk, but to run, despite the rough roads and challenges they both face

Finally a bit of magic might be in Andrea’s life - is it likely to last?

Death defying love, romance and life adventure

I received a free copy of this book via Booksprout and am voluntarily leaving a review.

[Rosa Cline · Rating 5 out of 5]

Thus was a great romance story that starts out as tradigy but through perserverence, friendship and eventually love they decide they can make it through anything.
This does end in a cliffhanger so you will want the next book handy.

No curse words or sexual references so I feel comfortable recommending this to my preteen advanced reading friends.

This is part of a series but I wasn’t lost within the series.

I received a free copy of this book via Booksprout and am voluntarily leaving a review.

[Kristi · Rating 5 out of 5]

If you have not read the previous books 1-3 in this series, please do that before reading this book. Each book picks up where the previous one left off.

No spoilers with this review. The story lines captures your attention and keeps you wanting more of the story and the characters. The characters are easy to relate to, easy to like and easy to get to know. It's well written and you find it hard to put the book down once you start reading. A great series you'll be glad you added to your library.

I received a free copy of this book via Booksprout and am voluntarily leaving a review.

[Ellen Hogan · Rating 5 out of 5]

Andrea decides to swim in the ocean. She is attacked by a shark. Lauren and Miles are on shore and he goes in after her. She is very bitter and decides to fly home. Going to physical therapy she meets Simon.

This was another page turner. Very good storyline that grips you from the beginning. Coral Harper has done it again, telling a masterful story.

I was given this advanced copy for free, and am leaving this review voluntarily.

[Marichus Real · Rating 4 out of 5]

This book is about Andrea. It starts just where it left the previous book. She has to learn to live with the new changes. Fortunately, she meets Simon, a veteran with the same problem as her. Working together and helping each other makes things better and easier for them. Another good addition to this series.
I received a free copy of this book via Booksprout and I am voluntarily leaving a review.

[Lori R · Rating 4 out of 5]

Book 4 was interesting as it focused on Andrea who had been bitten twice by a shark in Book 3. It was interesting what happened to Andrea and also how the book ended I just kept wondering about the rest of the trip of a lifetime group because after Andrea flew home there was no mention of them. I received an advance copy of this book and I willingly chose to write an honest review.

[Barbara · Rating 4 out of 5]

Allow about two hours for this PG fourth episode of the series that started at a high school reunion. One really must read the series in order. This book picks up just after Book 3 and follows Andrea for a little over a year.

I received a free copy of this book via Booksprout and am voluntarily leaving a review.

[Kathy · Rating 4 out of 5]

Another good chapter in the series. This one focuses on Andrea and the aftermath of her shark attack. There is some romance happening too. A good quick read adding more dimension to the story.
I received a free copy of this book via Booksprout and am voluntarily leaving a review.

[Rhonda · Rating 5 out of 5]

Interesting and entertaining characters. Wonderful story with lots of twists and turns with plenty of drama and some laughs thrown in. Good read.

I received a free copy of this book via Booksprout and am voluntarily leaving a review.

[K.J. Lyons · Rating 1 out of 5]

I am an amputee and I had trouble with the healing timeline of this book. It's not plausible. You should have done your research before you wrote about this. It had nothing to do with the trip. Name it something else at least.

[Shirley P. Stout · Rating 5 out of 5]

How can one gurl.have so many bad things happen?

Andrea does seem to have bad luck follow her..Who could imagine surviving a shark attack and a bear attack? So happy she wasn't alone.

[Paulette Fritz · Rating 4 out of 5]

This series has kept me interested and anxious for the next installment to read.

[Susan · Rating 4 out of 5]

Better! Getting more substance. Good story about basically good people overcoming challenges.