Review - A Turn in the Road

Title: A Turn in the Road
Authors: Debbie Macomber
Publisher: Mira (April 26, 2011)
Format: Hardcover and Audio
Genre: Fiction
Source: Library
Series: Blossom Street #8

That had to be the longest road trip of my life. I know that some people can tolerate a great deal when a particular book in a series hits the wrong nerve, but having to put up with Annie, the 23ish year old daughter of main character Bethanne, was almost enough for me to wall bang this book and walk away from this series. If her constant whining and immaturity had been toned down a bit, I would have accepted what she had to say, but she was just too much.

In addition to Annie, other little things kept bothering me while reading this book. Why would a woman, Bethanne, whose husband left her for another woman six years prior, even consider getting back with him? What woman in her right mind, who has gone on to create a good stable career from scratch, ever considers this emotional U-turn? In addition, a little research needed to have been done on road trips - driving from Flagstaff, AZ to Albuquerque, NM takes five hours and not “a little over two”. This is where the bogging down in my reading occurred. Every time a travel distance or location come up I would have to stop and picture a map and wonder why they did what they did. Possibly, I was concentrating on the wrong parts of the story, but to be honest, I needed a break from Annie.

Ok, enough venting.

Bethanne Hamlin has agreed to take her ex-mother-in-law Ruth to her 50th high school reunion. Ruth was prepared to take the trip alone, but Bethanne was not too sure that a 70-something woman should drive from Seattle to Florida on her own. Annie, the annoying daughter, invites herself along so the three women jump into the car for a life changing drive across the United States. Being a “romance”, each woman has to come to terms with the men in their lives, Bethanne’s ex-husband Grant wants a second chance, Annie’s boyfriend realizes he has made a mistake and wants Annie to be home waiting for his return and Ruth, my favorite character in the book, agonizes over meeting up with a boy from high school.

I have enjoyed some books from this series, a few have hit the right chord with engaging characters, but other should just be skipped. Overall, I do not think that this particular story moved the Blossom Street series forward. Very little was mentioned of the original group or even Blossom Street in general.