Customer Reviews

The Road Home (Warner Forever)

5 star:		(5)
4 star:		(0)
3 star:		(1)
2 star:		(0)
1 star:		(0)

 

 

I loved this book! Expertly interwoven are the childhood memories of the main character, Lily Holt, and the reality of her complicated, adult life. We follow her on her road back to Glens Crossing, Indiana--a place that holds a mixed bag of memories. The reader grows with Lily as she comes to terms with her new life, past secrets, and new relationships. A definite winner that's guaranteed to tug at your emotions.

Ummm - um, I like this author. I just penciled Susan Crandall's name on my automatic buyer list. This author has an easy style of writing and an amazing talent for storytelling.

Lazy adventure, liberation, and future memories usually fill a teenage summer. But then again, some memories are hard to forget! How well Lily Boudreau remembers the summer of her eighteenth year - she has a keepsake - her son, Riley!

Clay Winters was an element of Chicago wealth. He was a kid from a rich, successful family. Every summer he vacationed in Glens Crossing, Indiana and enjoyed the pleasures of summer. Lily Boudreau was one of those pleasures.

As the years slipped away, Clay Winters continued to dismiss Lily Boudreau from his mind. He dismissed her betrayal, her disloyalty, and her marriage to his best friend.

Susan Crandall takes that betrayal and runs with it and the reader is along for the glorious ride. Crandall's journey is gentle and convincing, displaying the power of dishonesty and its lifelong influence. THE ROAD HOME is storytelling at its best and accented with her Crandall's ability to write strong secondary characters. These traits make for great reading.

My complaint? The hurried feeling surrounding Riley's golden moment in the sun. This entire affair felt brisk and jagged. And I wish the author had not finished her dazzling story with that wide open ending . . . setting up for a sequel . . . great . . . but this should never be done at the expense of closure!
Grade A-

MaryGrace Meloche
Reviewer for: Romance Designs.com

This book kept my interest...the story line was fantastic! You felt like you were there. I am so happy to see that she has a new book coming out!

Lily Holt is anxious to make a new start for herself and her wayward teenage son Riley. She decides to head home after her divorce, hoping the small town she grew up in will help. Lily and Riley are barely back in town when Riley gets in trouble. Riley has to work off his debt at the marina. Lily is shocked to see her first love Clay Winters as the owner.

Clay Winters had returned to the one place that felt like home to him. He never thought Lily would come back after she married his best friend. Now Clay has to supervise her strong-willed son. Lily and Clay keep getting thrown together. They realize their past never really went away.

The Road Home by Susan Crandall has such heart wrenching emotions and joy of life. Her characters just touch a chord and will not let go. You feel like you are a part of their lives.

I am glad I found her books, she is an auto-buy for me.

This was the first book I've ever read by Susan Crandall and I'm not so sure if I'll read more by her. The book was kind of confusing and a little frustrating at first. I didn't feel like the story flowed all that well. I like the idea of reading in present times then going back to the past in the book but sometimes I felt like she was covering too many things in one paragraph and it got too confusing. I found myself just skimming through the book waiting for the good parts, which there were some but I needed to know more about the main characters and why they were attracted to eachother. I didn't find the main character too attractive myself and I want to know why the guys in the book were so attracted to her. She was this strong person with her dad but when it came to her son she was this whimp. I think it was a good story idea but I like detail and I like dialogue, which there wasn't enough of in this book. If there is a good book by this author please, someone say so. I would like to give her another chance.

Can Lily Holt's life be more of a mess? The divorced mother of out-of-control teenager Riley has moved back to her childhood home of Glens Crossing, Indiana. She has moved herself and her son back to her childhood home to get him away from his grandparents in Chicago. Lily is afraid their interferring in Riley's life will do him more harm than good. With his dad in rehab for alcohol Lily is on her own raising her son. But the quiet, peaceful life she is looking for in Glens Crossing eludes her when her son gets in trouble and she is reunited with someone from her past. Lily is faced with her past and trying to keep her son's future positive and trouble-free.

The Road Home was the second Susan Crandall book I read. It was very enjoyable and entertaining. There is something for everyone in this book: money, lies, secrets, love. The storyline of the book was excellent and the characters very life-like. The setting of this book was good too. Ms. Crandall does an excellent job of portraying Indiana the way it is. Being from Indiana myself I appreciate this. She really paid attention to detail. Especially when she has to run an errand she doesn't want the entire town to know about. Living in a small town has it's disadvantages as well as perks.

The Road Home is a book to be read and enjoyed. Ms. Crandall writes about small town life with characters who seem to be real. An excellent novel to recommend!