Fiction Friday | The Roads We Follow by Nicole Deese

Today for Fiction Friday I’m sharing my book recommendation for The Roads We Follow by Nicole Deese – an excellent contemporary Christian romance novel that’s releasing April 30, 2024.

Here’s the Book Description:

As the youngest daughter of a country music legend, Raegan Farrow longs to establish an identity away from the spotlight and publish her small-town romances under a pen name. But after her dream is dashed when she won’t exploit her mother’s fame to further her own career, she hears a rumor from a reliable source regarding a tell-all being written about the Farrow family. Making matters worse, the unknown author has gone to great lengths to remain anonymous until publication.

Raegan chooses to keep the tell-all a secret from her scandal-leery sisters as they embark on a two-week, cross-country road trip at their mother’s request and makes it her mission to expose the identity of the author behind the unsanctioned biography. But all is complicated when she discovers their hired bus driver, Micah Davenport, has a hidden agenda of his own–one involving both of their mothers and an old box of journals. As they rely on each other to find the answers they seek, the surprising revelations they unearth will steer them toward their undeniable connection and may even lead them down the most unexpected of paths.

Narelle’s Thoughts:

I enjoyed reading The Roads We Follow, the second book in the Fog Harbor Romance series. I read the book quickly, within twenty-four hours, because I had to keep turning the page to find out what happens next.

Raegan has two older sisters and their family situation is complicated. Her mother is Luella Farrow, a country music superstar. The lives of Luella’s adult daughters revolve around Luella’s music career and the family record label. Raegan’s oldest sister, Adele, is the competent and bossy sister who makes all the high level family and business decisions. Hattie is the middle sister who’s struggling to cope with a nasty child custody dispute.

Raegan works for the family business and dreams about being a published author using a pseudonym that has no connection with her famous family. The story opens with Raegan meeting Chip, an acquisitions editor from Fog Harbor Books in San Francisco, while he’s in Nashville for a writing conference. Chip is interested in pitching Raegan’s fiction book proposal to the publishing board, but Raegan’s reluctance to use her real name to build her author platform is a road block. Chip gives Raegan a heads up that there’s an industry rumor circulating that someone has written a scandalous and unauthorized biography of Luella Farrow’s life.

Micah’s mother, Lynn, recently passed away. He’s on a mission to learn more about his mother’s life during her time in Luella’s band. Micah applies for the bus driver job for the Farrow family’s cross country road trip from Nashville to Washington. He believes Luella holds the key to finding the answers from his past.

A lovely romance between Raegan and Micah unfolds as they travel in the vintage tour bus to the west coast and uncover family secrets that have massive implications for their families. I loved how the mysteries in the story were revealed and challenged the characters in multiple ways. I recommend The Roads We Follow to contemporary romance readers who like celebrity road trip stories with complex family dynamics, an intriguing mystery subplot, and a relevant faith element in the story.

Many thanks to Bethany House for the advanced reader copy.

Learn more about Nicole Deese and her books at her website.