Eat, Pray, Love meets Bridget Jones’s Diary in The Vacation Bubble by Marcella Steele, the first book in the To Barcelona with Love trilogy. The novel follows Sofia Drake, a 49-year-old psychologist in the throes of a midlife crisis. After being unceremoniously dumped by her boyfriend and laid off in the same week, Sofia embarks on a daring journey of reinvention. Enter Ryan: tall, dark, handsome—and fifteen years younger. Sofia, newly inspired by her spirit animal, the antelope, is ready to bound away from trouble. But maybe Ryan is the kind of trouble worth getting into. The Vacation Bubble will resonate with readers who crave wanderlust, sizzling chemistry, and second chances. It’s a love letter to every woman who’s ever been told she’s too old to start over, too emotional to lead, or too wrinkled to be wanted.

The Vacation Bubble is an honest and funny rom-com that centers on a woman approaching her fifties, daring to rediscover herself. Sofia is witty, vulnerable, intelligent, painfully relatable, and deeply self-aware. Her internal monologue sparkles with biting one-liners, brutally honest observations, and laugh-out-loud self-deprecating humour, like when she reflects, “Sofia Drake, forty-nine, died in San Francisco doing something incredibly stupid in the name of fitness. She is survived by her dignity, which she left at the front desk.” The novel boldly addresses the experience of aging as a woman in a society fixated on youth, body image, and the illusion of an ideal romance. Marcella Steele treats the age-gap relationship between Sofia and Ryan with care, humour, and refreshing realism. Ryan is emotionally mature and utterly captivated by Sofia, which makes him a rare, swoon-worthy hero.

In The Vacation Bubble by Marcella Steele, Sophia Drake is a 49-year-old divorcee whose most recent relationship ended because her partner wanted someone who could have children. It was the latest blow of aging—hot flashes, fleshier flesh, and other delights of being near 50 obviously weren’t enough. It’s at this point that Sophia loses any hope for romantic love and sets out to focus on her job until that’s suddenly gone, too. She decides to try to capture more of her youthful dreams by traveling to Barcelona for a month because, why not? It was the first time in her life when nothing was keeping her in a routine. When she meets Ryan Hunter on the flight, the intriguing, attractive guy she'd met a short time ago, the passion ignites, but there is no way Sophia is letting herself go there again with a younger guy.

I loved The Vacation Bubble by Marcella Steele! It’s a fun, quick read that is completely relatable to women who are in their 40s and 50s—full of life, but also aware of life’s changes that come with time. It’s a book that will have you rooting for the main characters and wondering if they’ll make it. The story comes to a satisfying conclusion, but also leaves the reader hungry for more. The Vacation Bubble is book one of three (To Barcelona with Love Trilogy), and that just whets the appetite for more. If you are looking for a romantic read that proves how love doesn’t have to fit into a perfect world, The Vacation Bubble is for you.

The Vacation Bubble: To Barcelona With Love Trilogy, Book 1 by Marcella Steele is an unapologetic modern-day romance but with a more mature outlook than most. About to turn fifty, Sofia Drake’s personal and professional life is falling apart. When her current boyfriend dumps her on his birthday because he suddenly decides he wants a woman who can still have kids, she is devastated. But after a weekend of tears, frustration, and anger, she is ready to face work at the IT company where she is the company psychologist. When she is advised that, along with many other workers, she also will be “let go” due to restructuring, she reaches a turning point in her life. A chance encounter at a networking event with a gorgeous, charming thirty-five-year-old has her heart aflutter. What is undeniable is their instant attraction, but Sofia must find a way to enjoy it without compromising her heart this time. 

The Vacation Bubble is a fun, fast-paced romance with an interesting role reversal; the more mature woman and the younger man make it stand out from the competition. Author Marcella Steele has done a wonderful job of creating a highly successful, middle-aged woman who should be confident and proud of herself and yet allows her insecurities about her age, her looks, and her body to define how she lives her life. What the author does exceedingly well is allow readers to follow Sofia and watch as she grows past her fears and insecurities. By the end of this journey, she is confident in herself and plans to live according to her own rules, needs, and desires. I particularly appreciated the sensual and romantic elements of the love scenes between Sofia and Ryan that elicited heat without crassness. The focus on domestic violence, its unpredictability, and dealing with its aftermath gave the narrative the breadth and depth that you don’t always find in a romance novel. Barcelona is a wonderfully exotic location, and the author’s descriptive writing will have readers alongside Sofia and Ryan as they explore the city and each other. I am thrilled this is a planned trilogy, as I identified with the characters and look forward to following their future adventures. I enjoyed this read and highly recommend it.

The Vacation Bubble, the first in the To Barcelona with Love trilogy by Marcella Steele, is an emotionally rich story that follows Sofia Drake, a nearly fifty-year-old psychologist whose life as she knew it is coming undone at the seams. In an unfortunate series of events, Sofia loses both her job and her boyfriend in one weekend. As her carefully managed life collapses around her, an unexpected encounter with a younger man, Ryan, at a networking event sets the stage for a spontaneous visit to Barcelona and a journey of rediscovery. But will the impulsive romance born in a ‘vacation bubble’ survive the journey back to reality?

Marcella Steele writes with a voice that has smart humor and the kind of raw honesty that makes you both laugh and wince. The Vacation Bubble is infused with self-deprecating humor and sharp observations that give the reader a confessional intimacy with Sofia. In between the humor, you can see pockets of vulnerability, as Marcella pauses to add bits about aging, self-worth, and the invisible scars women carry. Sofia is the kind of heroine who wears her insecurities on her sleeve. She was not perfect, but she was real, and watching her reclaim her sense of worth was powerful. Ryan has his own baggage and traumas, making the power imbalance in the age gap relationship feel honest. The supporting characters, especially Sofia’s best friend, Madison, and Christy, are funny and add to the story. The pace is swift. There are minor lulls in the occasional introspective monologue or flashback, but they helped to develop the character’s background and motivations. What I loved the most was how Steele didn’t sugarcoat the indignities of getting older, but she offers a hopeful vision – that reinvention and romance can happen at any age – if you are willing to step out of your comfort zone. The Vacation Bubble made me laugh, nod in recognition in places, and made me wonder if it was time to revisit Barcelona once again!