Thank you NetGalley and Lake Union Publishing for the copy of Catch You Later by Jessica Strawser. I loved how the book started and the friendship between Mikki and Lark was great. It felt like it took a long time for anything exciting to really happen, and some of the background in the past timeline was just filler. I enjoyed learning how everything was connected and thought the reveal was good, but a little predictable. I still liked reading this book because the writing and characters were great.

Mikki and Lark were best friends but when Mikki leaves with a stranger after a night shift and does not come back. Things are forever changed. Eight years later the stranger comes back... Lark now wants answers. This book had some intense moments and kept me reading but it was also drawn out and could have been shorter. I did enjoy it overall.

[arc review]
Thank you to NetGalley and Lake Union Publishing for providing an arc in exchange for an honest review.
Catch You Later releases October 22, 2024

2.75

Mikki and Lark were best friends, roommates, and coworkers who grew up in the same small town off of an interstate.
Nearly eight years ago during one of their night shifts at the Travel Stop, Mikki was entranced by a random stranger that walked in, and on a whim, said yes to accompanying him on the remainder of his road trip and being a plus one to a wedding.
Stuck in a town she’s always yearned to leave, and approaching the age of 30, Mikki is convinced that this is her last chance to get outside of the city limits before the birth of Lark’s baby and further decline of her grandmother’s health.
But what happens when your best friend leaves for a weekend and never comes back? When you finally come to terms with what happened and get your life back in order, only for the man behind the wheel to come back to the same travel stop looking for her eight years later?

The premise was intriguing enough for me to pick this up, and the writing was good, but for how drawn out the story was, the reveal just wasn’t shocking enough to lift me off my feet like I was hoping it would.
I also have a hard time believing that the grandmother was able to keep such an elaborate secret when such a large part of the plot was reliant on her experiencing early stages of dementia.

A fun adventurous read. A puzzle with many different pieces to tell the story of a friend that goes a road trip with a stranger and the what the friend that is left behind will do to find her.

This gripping novel follows best friends Lark and Mikki, whose lives change forever after a stranger arrives in their small town. Eight years after Mikki's sudden disappearance, Lark is rebuilding her life, but the past resurfaces when the stranger returns, stirring up old suspicions. The suspenseful narrative kept me hooked as Lark unraveled the mystery, risking everything to uncover the truth about that fateful night.