The Road Before Us by Janine Rosche Book Review

About the Book:

How far would you go to fix the mistakes you've made?
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 her dad.
 
Together, these three travelers 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.

You can read an excerpt here.

My Review:

This is sort of an adult coming of age story told around the framework of traveling Route 66. Benny is reliving an earlier journey along the route and while her companions, Jade and Bridger watch out for her and have a very rocky potential romance.

The writing style of the novel is a bit unusual with three different time periods involved. There is the present day journey along Route 66, the time of Benny and her future husband's trip along the same route in 1956 and a journey Jade took with her father in 2003 when she was eight. The current journey is broken up with flashes back to the two previous journeys. The first person viewpoint consistently used can be confusing if one forgets which time period is currently in view. I did appreciate all the motels and diners visited along the route.

There are a number of issues explored in the plot including child kidnapping, Alzheimer's, financial fraud, forgiveness, and one's identity in Christ. Benny was my favorite character. So nice, so giving. Jade and Bridger needed to mature and frequently acted immature. Thank goodness for Tim and Sandy showing up from time to time.

This is a good novel for readers who would like one about people dealing their past actions in the context of traveling along Route 66.

My rating: 4/6.

About the Author:

Janine Rosche is the author of With Every Memory, as well as the Madison River Romance and Whisper Canyon series of novels. Prone to wander, she finds as much comfort on the open road--including Route 66--as she does at home. This longing to chase adventure, behold splendor, and experience redemption is woven into her stories. When she isn't traveling or writing novels, she teaches family life education courses, produces The Love Wander Read Journal, and takes too many pictures of her sleeping dogs. Photo Credit: Sarah Moan Photography.

Revell, 336 pages.

I received a complimentary egalley of this book from the publisher. My comments are an independent and honest review.

(My star ratings: 5-I love it, 4-I like it, 3-It's OK, 2-I don't like it, 1-I hate it.)