One For The Road by Katia Rose

Better late than never.

It’s the phrase on the tip of everyone’s tongues. For three years, every staff member and regular at Taverne Toulouse has watched Zach and DeeDee edge their way closer to the grand finale of a ‘will they, won’t they’ dance that feels like it’s lasted for decades.

Bets have been placed. Wagers have been drawn. The whole of Montreal’s most famous dive bar is holding its breath. Will the small town boy with a heart of gold finally make a move on the wild, pink-haired bartender he’s been in love with for years, or will the moment pass them by and leave Zach and DeeDee insisting they’re ‘just friends’ yet again?

A rowdy night at the bar gets served with a twist that sends DeeDee spinning—not into Zach’s arms, but straight into his living room. With his dream girl crashing on his couch for a few weeks and brightening his days with spontaneous dance parties and eventful forays into the art of hair dyeing, Zach’s feelings only get stronger, and DeeDee’s follow right behind.

He calms her storms, and she streaks his skies with lightning. They fill each other’s gaps with a symmetry neither of them can ignore, but every step closer only raises the stakes of losing it all.

Late or never. A choice three years in the making. Their final shot to get it right.

One for the Road is part of the Barflies series, a set of standalone of romantic comedies that chronicle the lives and loves of the staff at a Montreal dive bar.

*ARC provided by author for honest review*

For those who've read the earlier books in the Barflies series - not to mention the Sherbrooke Station series - you'll be familiar with DeeDee and Zach... DeeDee the wild, pink-haired, bartender of Tavern Toulouse and sweetheart Zach who has been crushing on her for forever... I've been hoping they'd get their story told and told it was!

If you're a fan of friends to lovers stories with humour, heart and heat then look no further! You've got to give this a try... Zach and DeeDee are adorable!

Zach is an all round nice, sweet, and utterly wonderful guy. He has wanted DeeDee pretty much from the moment he met her crazy extroverted self but she's always kept him firmly in the friend zone, refusing to acknowledge to herself how she felt about him because she was always terrified of losing what they had if they took it further.

The book was a wonderful rollercoaster of emotion.
DeeDee and Zach have chemistry and they burned bright! Their story was packed full of life, love, laughter, passion and yearning and I couldn't get enough.

DeeDee surprised me, she wasn't as happy go lucky as we'd been led to believe... DeeDee had issues. She was the perfect example of never judging a book by its cover and while I understood her issues and sympathised with her for them, I still felt annoyed sometimes with how she acted and that's pretty much the only reason One For The Road is 4.5 stars for me instead of 5.
Despite this little niggle, I adored how her feelings for Zach pushed her to get help, to learn to stand on her own so that she would be ready to stand beside him and I loved how Zach respected that, didn't judge her, and waited.
They grew into something special and it made my romance loving heart so happy!
I hope we continue to see snippets of them in future books the way we got to catch up with previous characters in this one.

If friends-to-lovers romances are your thing, you've got to give this a try!