BOOK REVIEW: THE ROAD BEFORE US BY JANINE ROSCHE

 GOODREAD SUMMARY:

How far would you go to fix the mistakes you've made and regain the trust you lost? For Jade Jessup, the answer is 2,448 miles. Once one of Chicago's significant financial advisors, Jade lost her credibility when her fiancé (and coworker) stole millions of dollars from their clients in a Ponzi scheme. Now she's agreed to help one of them--an aging 1960s Hollywood starlet named Berenice "Benny" Alderidge--seek financial restoration.

Jade sets off along Route 66 with Benny and her handsome adult foster son, Bridger, who is filming a documentary retracing the 1956 trip that started the love story between Benny and her recently deceased husband, Paul. Listening to Benny recount her story draws Jade into memories of her own darker association with Route 66, when she was kidnapped as a child by a man the media labeled a monster--but she remembers only as daddy.

Together, all three of these pilgrims will learn about family, forgiveness, and what it means to live free of the past. But not before Jade faces a second staggering betrayal that changes everything.

TEE'S THOUGHTS:

I live in Oklahoma, and just a few miles from Tulsa, where we have a thriving Rt 66 area, Oklahoma also has the most drivable miles when it comes to the orginal road, so I am surrounded by it daily. We love the history of RT 66 and actually this summer we will finish up our western journey of driving on it when we head out to California, we have been on it until Flagstaff where we usually turn South, but we are taking the last miles this summer. Anyway, I was excited when I was offered an Advanced Copy  The Road Before Us by Uplit Reads. I knew this would be a book I enjoyed, and I was right.

This book was am emotional journey down 66, the three main characters will suck you in quickly and hold you there until you close the book at the ending. Rosche is an exceptional writer, a writer who was not afraid to take on several tough subjects. She also included flashbacks in the story, which I am not always a fan of, but they worked wonderfully in this story, and added so much to it.

This is Christian fiction, but even me who is not Christian, rarely noticed  it. The characters did use their faith to help them find their ways , but it wasn't preachy, it felt organic, like it should be there in any book. I think many times Christian fiction gets a bad rap from those less religious, but a good story is a good story and it should be read no matter. I would definitely pick up another book written by Rosche, because The Road Before Us had me laughing, crying, singing and wishing I was already on my road trip to Cali.

This will make a fantastic summer read. Grab your sunglasses, hop in a car, turn on some great 60s and 70s music and hit the road with The Road Before Us..

** Two pictures of Atlas on our previous journey **

Atlas in Adrian Texas the half way point of the entire highway...

And standing on a corner of Winslow Arizona...

( can you say that without singing? )