Kara Martinson and Harry Canton weren’t exactly high school sweethearts, but they did share one night neither will ever forget. Twenty-seven years later, Harry surprises Kara at an art gallery opening and discovers he left her with more than just memories when he went away to college. Desperate to connect with the family he never knew existed, Harry convinces his son to move to Stonehill—and … pleads with Kara to come, too.
Kara hasn’t stepped foot in their hometown since the day she was sent away to a home for unwed mothers. Now Harry’s back in her life and as they put together the pieces of his parents’ betrayal, old heartaches start to feel anew. She wants to be near her family, but returning to Iowa means facing some things…and some people…she isn’t quite ready to.
Can Harry convince her to forgive the people who betrayed her so they can embrace the future they were robbed of so long ago? Or will the pain of the past be too much for Kara to overcome?
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This is Book 1 in the Stonehill Series. Kara had one night with Harry that she has never forgotten. It was hard to forget when she was disowned by her parents because she was pregnant. But she got her son out of it so that was wonderful. Now it’s 30 years later and they meet up again. He’s still living in their old hometown, but she lives on the opposite coast. This is such an emotional 2nd chance romance that you will need the Kleenex. The choices made so many years ago and now the choices they must make today. Kara has grown so strong with everything that she’s been through. What a great book. I voluntarily read and reviewed this book that I got from Netgalley.
Forty-something hippie chick artist, Kara, is blown away when she is touched on the shoulder by a man she hasn’t seen since their one-night stand nearly thirty years ago. They had each had a secret crush on each other during high school, and after a graduation party, acted on it. This resulted in a pregnancy that, through no fault of either of them, Harry never knew about. Their son, Phil, is a father of a young daughter with Down syndrome.
How will this play out for this long-fractured family unit? Can Kara give up her resentment and anger and allow Harry to get to know his son and granddaughter? How will Harry react to finding out that he is not only the father of a grown son but also a grandfather to a special needs girl? Will Phil accept Harry and allow him to know his daughter?
What an emotional ride! This author hit all the right buttons showing the varied and varying emotional responses of the primary characters. The pain expressed by them is raw and real. She deftly reveals the past slowly so the various parties can understand the impact of decisions made by others that affected this family unit. The author writes with an emotional honesty that is breathtaking to read. I tend to move quickly through books, as I am an avid and fast reader, but this book had me slowing down and immersing myself in the thoughts and feelings of these good people who had been kept apart. It is a real pageturner, though not in the action-filled sense we usually think of one.
On the book review site where I downloaded this book from, it was listed as both Contemporary Romance and Women’s Literature. I agree with these labels; categories at both review sites and online retailers are often inaccurate. If you read romance, you’ve read the second chance at romance and the secret child tropes before a gazillion times. But in this book, these themes are explored with emotional and psychological depth, which is more common in women’s literature. Kudos to the author for creating such three-dimensional characters and an in-depth backstory. For instance, it was beautiful to read Harry’s reaction as he was thumbing through Phil’s baby pictures.
The title in this book is very apt as both our H & h return home for varying reasons, one more reluctantly than the other.
Kara runs into Harry, her ‘first for everything’ at her art gallery showing. Harry can’t fully understand her animosity toward him until he learns of her secret. Then one very sad tale of lies & betrayal by their families unveils. Both are dealing with a lot of emotion so there’s a far amount of angst in play. While Harry has returned home to takeover his fathers business, Kara has not. For these two to be together she needs to return home. Kara has spent her life running & giving her son an unstable life, in his eyes. Harry brings it altogether but she must face her demons.
Both their parents have a lot to answer for so it takes a lot for them to redeemed by their children.
Overall I suppose part of this is inspiring, to tackle the obstacles in your life & to come out of it a better person. The characters were well developed & I thought Harry went to a great amount of effort to right the wrongs. An angsty, emotional read.
I received a free copy of this book via Booksprout and am voluntarily leaving a review.
The Road Leads Back is a story of healing, forgiveness and reconnection. This was my first Marci Bolden book, but I enjoyed it very much.
When one passionate encounter on graduation night left Kara pregnant and disowned by her parents, she turns to Elaine, the mother of the boy she slept with, only to be left heartbroken when she’s sent away to a place all the way across the country. Twenty-seven years later, Kara comes face to face with Harry, the father of her child, and they quickly discover that he was deceived by his mother, who never told him of the son that Kara had carried and delivered.
Harry is not only reunited with Kara, but also with Phil, his son, and his granddaughter Jessica. As they all work to connect, they go through highs and lows, they encounter challenges and are left to deal with the deception and rejection of their parents. Harry and Kara also try to see if the relationship they never got to experience back in high school might be in the cards for them now.
This is a heartfelt book that shows how hasty decisions and words said in anger can change the course of everyone’s life forever. I found these characters easy to root for as you know that everything they are feeling is warranted based on the circumstances they’ve had to overcome. In the end though, the most important thing is realizing that life is short and time is fleeting and you have to open your heart to those you love even if it is the hardest and most uncomfortable thing to do. In the end, it’s all worth it.
Loved this emotional, heartwarming, engaging and relatable second chance romance filled with longing, regret, family dram, forgiveness and passion…. This is a thrilling and sweetly sexy romance filled with witty banter, lovable charters and life altering, regrettable miscalculations. Loved this journey and looking forward to more from this series.
This beautifully written second-chance romance immediately pulled me in and I held on for a rollercoaster ride of emotions, unable to put the book down until I read the last word. I laughed, cried, sighed, rolled my eyes, and I loved every minute of it! I felt a real connection to smart and independent Kara and enjoyed her dynamic with the other characters especially her granddaughter, Jessica, and Harry, who she hadn’t seen in 27 years when he shows up at her Seattle art gallery opening.
The Road Leads Back is the perfect debut for the Stonehill series and a must-read for fans of this genre. This is the first book I have read by Marci Bolden and I look forward to reading more by this gifted author. She far exceeded my expectations with this heartwarming and at times heart wrenching contemporary romance.
I received a complimentary copy of this book from the publisher via NetGalley and this is my voluntary and unbiased review. I liked it so much, I purchased a copy for my keeper library.
The sequels are way overpriced. Won’t buy more.
A different twist, but predictable. Likeable characters. Not real unexpected.
I enjoyed everything about this book.