Where the Road Bends by Rachel Fordham | Review

This was my first read from Rachel Fordham, but it won’t be my last. Before I share my review, take a look at the back cover below.

Back Cover

As Norah King surveys her family land in Iowa in 1880, she is acutely aware that it is all she has left, and she will do everything in her power to save it–even if that means marrying a man she hardly knows. Days before her wedding, Norah discovers an injured man on her property. Her sense of duty compels her to take him in and nurse him back to health. Little does she realize just how much this act of kindness will complicate her life and threaten the future she’s planned.

Norah’s care does more than aid Quincy Barnes’s recovery–it awakens his heart to possibilities. Penniless and homeless, he knows the most honorable thing he can do is head on down the road and leave Norah to marry her intended. But walking away from the first person to believe in him proves much harder than he imagined.

Rachel Fordham invites you to experience the strength and beauty of love forged in the crucible of hardship in this heartwarming story.

My Review

When considering if I would review this novel, I did something I don’t usually do—I downloaded the preview/teaser. And those first few pages hooked me so hard I couldn’t wait until it arrived. Then I read it in mere days.

This book was pretty much what I love about historical fiction. Dire circumstances, seeming impossible-to-escape-hardship, danger, justice . . . redemption. And of course, a sweet love story so easy to cheer for. In fact, I was cheering for it long before Quincy had a penny to his name. Money isn’t everything, and this novel highlights that so well. For Norah, happiness, protection, likeable companionship were far from reach and her path was leading her to a loveless and peace-less life.

The road to her happily ever after was downright horrid, but the light at the end of that tunnel was more beautiful than she could have hoped for. And a story that readers will not be able to put down as they travel back to a time in 1880 Iowa when a woman’s future depended on her father or her husband. Without neither, well … you’ll have to read the book to find out just how difficult life was for Norah King at the start of Where the Road Bends and her journey to something worth it all.

5 stars for Where the Road Bends from me! You can get your copy on amazon.ca and amazon.com.

This review is brought to you by Graf-Martin Communications.

About the Author

Rachel Fordham has long been fascinated by all things historical or in the words of her children “old stuff”. Often the historical trivia she discovers is woven into her children’s bedtime tales. Despite her love for good stories she didn’t attempt writing a novel until her husband challenged her to do so (and now she’s so glad he did). Since that time she’s often been found typing or researching while her youngest child naps or frantically writing plot twists while she waits in the school pick-up line. In addition to her passion for storytelling she enjoys reading, being outdoors and seeing new places. Rachel lives with her husband and children on an island in Washington state.

Learn more about current projects at rachelfordham.com