Sunday 17 February 2013

Review & $50 Amazon Gift Card giveaway: Road to Tomorrow by Mary Metcalfe

Original Title: Road to Tomorrow
Series: Look to the Future #3
Author: Mary Metcalfe
Publisher: Laskin Publishing
Release Date: September 30th 2012
Source: Novel Publicity Blog Tour
Genre: Contemporary Romance
Buy Links: Amazon | Barnes & Noble


Andrea Garrett is trying to escape her abusive marriage. Fearing for her life, she leaves behind her two small children and flees Newark the day before her husband is due to arrive back from a tour of duty. After falling asleep at the wheel and landing in a ditch, her life takes on a new direction when strangers step in and introduce her to a life she could only have imagined and one that could save her soul and give her children the future they deserve.

REVIEW

Andrea Garrett, along with her two children - Simon and Emily, has escaped from her abusive husband, which she has done after many failed attempts.  She leaves the children with her brother, Richard, and leaves the town to settle somewhere far far away from her husband.  She lands into an accident and from there, Andrea sees new people and enter a new life.  Carol and Devin, a happy couple help her and adopt Andrea as her own daughter.  The people soon become friendly with Andrea and help her in all ways to settle down in that town. But, Sean, Andrea's husband comes for her..  Will Andrea be able to escape him this time?  Andrea has found new love and life here..will she have to forgo everything again?

What I liked:

  • The novel is a fast-paced read.
  • Andrea is a strong woman.
  • 2 kids add felicitousness to the novel.
  • The characterization of all the characters are great.
  • Sean - Andrea's abusive husband, is a character to hate.  But, you can't hate the character, if you are not really into it, right?  So, yeah, the writing is nice enough to love and hate the characters.
  • Kyle - Andrea's new love interest, although shy and introvert, is still adorable.
  • The information about PTSD and brain injuries and the "Afterword" at the end with a message is appreciated.
  • The climax with the dog stunt is good.

What I don't like:
  • Not all the members in a community can be 'that' good.  It made the story a little less relatable.
  • Less romance and less action.
  • The heroine is trying to make herself a new life.  But, this new life is not something she makes for herself, it seems like there are so many good people out there to help a stranger.
  • In some places, the characters' action are not justified enough.  For instance, 
    • Andrea, who just escaped from an abusive marriage, and trying to settle into a decent life, met another handsome farm boy in less than two weeks and also decided that he will be the next person to whom her heart belongs to.  No complaints about being Andrea choosing herself a happy life, but it just doesn't feel logical to move on so fast.
    • the change of mind in Sean's parents can be explained more, because I just don't understand how a not-so-friendly mother-in-law will suddenly spill out the worst secret of her life and also apologize to her daughter-in-law, just when she is divorcing her son.

Verdict:
This novel's plot is like "Lucky Harbour" series by Jill Shalvis, but with zero adult content.  Recommended for readers, who are looking for a normal contemporary romance.

ABOUT THE AUTHOR:

Mary Metcalfe lives in the foothills of the Laurentians, northeast of Ottawa, Canada with her husband, three cats and a very large dog. Love of writing runs in the family. Their daughter is a published literary non-fiction author. Clarion Review described Mary’s debut novel as a “sparkling debut… readers will love being swept along by Winds of Change.”Road to Tomorrow is her third novel in the Look to the Future series. Connect with Mary on her website, blog, Facebook, GoodReads, or Twitter.

GIVEAWAY

About the prizes: Who doesn't love prizes? You could win one of two $50 Amazon gift cards or an autographed copy of Road to Tomorrow! Here's what you need to do...
  1. Enter the Rafflecopter contest
  2. Leave a comment on my blog.
That's it! One random commenter during this tour will win the first gift card. Visit more blogs for more chances to win--the full list of participating bloggers can be found here. The other two prizes will be given out via Rafflecopter. You can find the contest entry form linked below or on the official Road to Tomorrow tour page via Novel Publicity. Good luck!

a Rafflecopter giveaway

11 comments:

  1. Sounds like a chaste contemporary romance with great, riveting characters! Love your Jill Shalvis comparison—that gives me a relative idea :)

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  2. Thank you for your thoughts. Very helpful.

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  3. Sounds fantastic! Thanks for sharing and congrats to Mary on her new release!

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  4. Great review, Vidya. Love your run-down of what you liked and what you didn't. In my opinion, that's the best and clearest way to do a book review. Thanks for joining us on this tour, and please take a moment to cross-post to Amazon and GoodReads :-D

    Em

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  5. Thanks for sharing. It sounds like an interesting read, although maybe unrealistic regarding the kindness of strangers.

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  6. Thanks for your review! I live in a community of 550 people and can attest to the kindness of strangers after fires, flood, car accidents, cancer, etc. My husband was a volunteer firefighter, a food bank volunteer and is now a Red Cross volunteer and we are always amazed by the outpouring of support by the entire community after any disaster. That's just how we are. And yes, there are some not-so-nice characters in any community but that wouldn't have moved the story along in Road to Tomorrow.

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  7. looks a good read, one that will make me cry am sure lol, have added you to my good reads shelf and look forward to reading road to tomorrow.

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  8. Sounds like a fascinating read!

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  9. I love the Lucky Harbor series...so if this is along those lines, count me in!

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