I Thought You Said This Would Work

A Novel

By: Ann Garvin

Narrated by: Tanya Eby

Length: 8 hrs and 29 mins

Publisher's Summary

A road trip can drive anyone over the edge - especially two former best friends - in bestselling author Ann Garvin’s funny and poignant novel about broken bonds, messy histories, and the power of forgiveness.

Widowed Samantha Arias hasn’t spoken to Holly Dunfee in forever. It’s for the best. Samantha prefers to avoid conflict. The blisteringly honest Holly craves it. What they still have in common puts them both back on speed dial: a mutual love for Katie, their best friend of twenty-five years, now hospitalized with cancer and needing one little errand from her old college roomies. 

It’s simple: travel cross-country together, steal her loathsome ex-husband’s VW camper, find Katie’s diabetic Great Pyrenees at a Utah pound, and drive him back home to Wisconsin. If it’ll make Katie happy, no favor is too big (one hundred pounds), too daunting (two thousand miles), or too illegal (ish), even when a boho D-list celebrity hitches a ride and drives the road trip in fresh directions.

Samantha and Holly are following every new turn - toward second chances, unexpected romance, and self-discovery - and finally blowing the dust off the secret that broke their friendship. On the open road, they’ll try to put it back together - for themselves, and especially for the love of Katie.

©2021 by Ann Garvin. (P)2021 Brilliance Publishing, Inc., all rights reserved.

Critic Reviews

“Despite dealing with some heavy topics—cancer, widowhood, and the impending birth of a first child—Garvin’s (I Like You Just Fine When You’re Not Around) book is laugh-out-loud funny.” —Library Journal

“A charming exploration of female friendship and cancer’s uncanny ability to put perceived slights into perspective…[I Thought You Said This Would Work is] a testament to the power of one’s own voice and the mistruths in the stories we tell ourselves, and an introspective, heartwarming, and witty farce.” —Booklist 

“Laughter, tears, and an unforgettable cast of characters: I Thought You Said This Would Work has everything I love, so it’s no surprise that I adored this novel. Ann Garvin’s latest, about three unlikely allies on the road trip to end all road trips, is the sort of life-affirming story we all need right now. I can’t recommend it highly enough.” —Camille Pagán, bestselling author of This Won’t End Well 

Carl Haiassen would be proud!

This book was so fun, but do NOT listen to the Audible version. Read it to yourself. This reader was one of the worst I’ve ever heard, and I will not buy any future book if she is narrating. If the cartoon-mom voice wasn’t bad enough, there was sing-songy cadence, over pronunciation of words like “to” and “for,” and absolute tone deafness regarding mood. I mean, it’s AWFUL, and there wasn’t a moment where I wasn’t distracted by it. Fortunately, the plot, characters, and dialogue were so fun that I was able to wade through, but, not gonna lie, it was tough.

read, don’t listen

I almost gave up on this book, because my entire experience was on audible. The narration is very hard to get through, she sounds robotic. Once I switched to reading, about 1/3 thru, I enjoyed it very much! A sweet sweet story of girlfriends and friendship.

To call it fluff is an understatement

Read this because it was my book club choice. One step above a comic book. Set up is a travel story amongst mismatched friends and strangers, but more like the angst ridden complaints of three prepubescent girls longing for boys’ attentions, proving their sexual awakenings, and pining for cliquish inclusion. Ugh.

Excellent Story

This book has been hyped up so much. Yeah this book lives up to it. These 3 women are the type that you wish you were friends with. I Thought This Would Work is a sweet story of friendship and forgiveness. It's smartly written and so witty. This is my first book by Ann Garvin, such a good book to start with. I wonder if her other books are this good. I recommend this book, it's great.

Enjoyable

I enjoyed the storyline. Summer was a bit unbelievable but it was a fun adventure.

Predictable, Light, Summer Read

The story is pretty predictable but it was a light, fun summer read.

Don't waste a credit on it, get it from Kindle Unlimited as a read and listen free option.

It worked!

Excellent book I had randomly chosen. 100% real life relatable. Touches on a vast array of what life throws at you through the years and how you decide to face those challenges are up to you. If fortunate enough to meet the "Rocky Road" with some friends by your side, the adventure of life can certainly become an enjoyable bowl of ice cream to be shared and talked with afterward instead of a life of potholes and changing of tires.

I thoroughly enjoyed the laughs, the odd ball moments, the loss, the realness, pain, and joy- the journey they took. Well done. I recommend this book. 👍

loved it!

Great book. Enjoyed the funny parts. Ending was just a little sad but not terribly so.

Good Read

This was a sweet book with a good story of the importance of communication. It was funny and heart warming.

Lovely story!

Great story about friendship, love and loss! Love the characters and a very, easy read!