PAULA'S REVIEW:
Wow what a wild ride of a road trip. It was supposed to be for a documentary of movie star Benny Alderidge and her trip down the Mother Road with her husband from Chicago to LA in 1952. It was nostalgic, too, for Jade Jessup and her trip with her father in 2003.
Lots of connections for me, also, since I grew up outside of Chicago and now live in a town on the old Route 66. One of my favorite groups is The Eagles and I love old cars.
This book had all the feels, from joy to tears. A swoony hero to a troubled heroine. Family angst to faith and forgiveness. The author wove everything together with poignant lessons and descriptive scenes.
So glad I read this wonderful blast from the past and a realistic present.
* I received a complimentary copy of this book from Revell via NetGalley. All opinions are mine alone.*5 stars and a solid faith thread
REBECCA'S REVIEW:
"A moon and star in the night, as far as one horizon to the other, yet in time, we'll meet again when my path crosses yours and yours mine."
"I prayed every day that we'd end up on the same road."
The heartfelt poem of a girl wishing the safe return of her childhood crush from the Korean War. The sincere prayer of a soldier damaged on the inside more than the scars on the outside would indicate. They took the trip of a lifetime, down Route 66.
Decades later, one of those two is traveling down memory lane with her adult foster son and a young woman whose before and after life . . . well, neither had been pretty . . . except for a short time in between. Trust. It had been completely shattered and while Jade Jessup was hoping that helping Bridger film a "tale as old as time" documentary about an outstanding woman's life, the story begins in reverse with the two admitting, " . . . we're stuck in the middle of nowhere without a car, without clothes, without . . . "
Layer upon layers; so many layers. Not the bundled up in cumbersome snow clothes kind of layers, but the delicate, delicious, great-grandmother's famous coconut cake recipe kind of layers. So sweet, incredibly tasty, and beyond difficult to get right. In this case, the characters feed the story while in return, the story feeds the characters.
BackCover Blurb:
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.
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