3.5 Stars

When Olive Perry set out to hike the Appalachian Trail with her boyfriend, she had no idea he was planning to propose… or that he would leave her completely alone on the trail when she didn’t accept. But when Olive decides she is going to complete the trail alone, she connects with not only herself on the hike, but so much more…

Ranger Jay Daniels hikes up to clear the trail near his station due to an incoming winter storm and meets a fascinating hiker whom he promptly gets snowed in with. Days in a remote cabin with only each other for company, and they connect on a level Jay has never known… but when the real world returns, the harsh reality of their differences comes crashing in…

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Happy Trail was a sweet, slow burn romance set in the world of Green Valley, Tennessee in the Penny Reid Book Universe. Olive and Jay come from two very different worlds, but when they meet in the wilderness of the Appalachian mountains they find an attraction that knows no boundaries… until Olive’s hike comes to it’s inevitable end…

Olive is a privileged woman who grew up in Manhattan and has never spent any sort of extended time out in the wilderness. So when she embarks on hiking the AT, she understandably struggles with the learning curve involved. But once Olive settles in, her hike becomes a personal goal she is determined to finish, come bad weather or hunky rangers…

Jay became a ranger due to his love of the outdoors… and his dislike of masses of people. The solitude and gorgeous views of the Appalachians suit his lifestyle perfectly, and then he meets Olive, who changes his outlook on just about everything. She is a mystery, and one that he finds himself hoping to unravel… if she lets him get that close…

I really enjoyed the premise for this story, and Olive and Jay’s differences made for some very interesting family melding moments, which I would have enjoyed seeing some more of, actually. I felt a little disappointed in the romance development in the book as a whole, without it I just didn’t feel like I was witness to these two falling in love, more of them just bonding a little, and then poof! Love declarations. The writing and visual descriptions in this book were fantastic, and I absolutely loved the tie in to the Green Valley world and the Penny Reid characters we were treated to glimpses of, within it!

I received a complimentary copy of this book for my honest and unbiased review.

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