Rachel Fordham has written a beautifully, heart warming romantic historical fiction. I loved this book from the very first chapter. It is such a beautiful story, full of forgiveness, hope, new beginnings, love and new friendships.

The book opens with a quote from Jane Austen's Persuasion - <i>"You pierce my sole, I am half agony, half hope, I have loved none but you"</i> This for me set the tone to a well researched, and thought provoking novel.

Nora is a hard working young woman who works the farm that was left to her by her parents. She is behind in mortgage repayments, and local man Jake has made her a reasonable offer to pay the bank the money owing in repayments in return for her hand in marriage. Nora accepts this practical deal as she is 22 years of age, has no other marriage prospects or means to pay the debt owing on the bank. She is not hopeful of a love match so she feels this is a practical and sensible solution to her problems.

Whilst having a dip in the lake on her property, and just 1 week prior to her intended marriage, Nora discovers a man on her property who is unconscious, he is covered in blood, has bruises all over his face and body, his hair is matted and stuck to his face. Nora uses all her strength to drag this man, Quincy, back to her house and nurses him back to health. Nora feels comfortable around Quincy, even though he is stranger, and finds him easy to talk to, and makes her laugh, like she has never laughed before. There are sparks between the two of them, but neither Quincy or Nora acknowledge them as Nora is due to be married in less then 1 week. Within a couple of days Quincy leaves Nora's home and hospitality and goes upon his own path, as it is not good for Nora to have a strange man staying in her house, especially as she is unwed.

Quincy has had a rough life, he was on his own since the age of fourteen, to try and make ends meet he was boxing for cash. Nora has also had it quite difficult, her parents dying young, loosing her brothers at a very young age, and having to work the farm on her own. Both of them having difficult beginnings, but have both made the best of their circumstances.

After leaving Nora's property, Quincy ends up doing quite well for himself and becomes a business man, he purchases a run down hotel, and works hard to bring it back to life. With the profits from the Hotel he then goes on to purchase the local cafe and the supermarket, not to make profit but to support the previous owners who needed some help at the time. Due to his successes in business, Quincy would like to repay back Nora for her kindness and hospitality and writes a letter to Nora and posts her some cash with it. When the letter is returned to Quincy as undeliverable, Quincy sets out to find Nora and to find out why his letter was not accepted.

What Quincy finds, when he returns to Norah's hometown, everything is not as he expected.

<b>“Nothing in my life has gone how I thought it would, but it’s all getting me to where I want to be. I’d live it all again. It was my road to you.”</b>

Thank you NetGalley and Tantor Audio for this audio book. This book was available to purchase from 7 June, 2022

5 Stars: It was amazing. It was compelling, well-researched, entertaining and/or moving and often complex. I will definitely want to read more books by this author.

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A beautiful story of redemption and second chances. Set in the 1880s in Iowa, this moving romance is full of poignant dialogue and character development. Norah and Quincy form an inexplicable bond right away, but for honorable reasons, Quincy moves on, leaving Norah to marry another. Despite multiple twists and turns, love triumphs and abiding friendships form. I love the descriptive account of how one decision can have such a rippling effect on so many others. The thread of redemption runs strong throughout the storyline, infusing hope all along the way. I thoroughly enjoyed this story by Rachel Fordham and highly recommend for those who enjoy inspirational historical fiction with great dialogue and deep characters.
The narrator, Coleen Marlo, is talented and brings the story to life with her character voices and representations. She captures personalities as well as accents, in both men and women, and is just enjoyable to listen to.

I received an advanced audiobook from the publisher via NetGalley. All opinions expressed are solely my own and freely given.

I enjoyed this sweet historical romance. Redemption stories have a special place in my heart, and this one was very well done. The narrator did a good job. I received a copy from NetGalley but all opinions are my own.

When Nora King finds an unconscious man on her property she does what any normal person would do she took him in intended to his wounds. Quinton Barnes was homeless and hopeless. He found Hope and Nora and because of his quickly deemed affection for her he left so her fiancé wouldn’t find out. This book is all about how the choices we make no matter how little or how big can have humongous affects on the lives of the ones we love and our self. The best thing about this book is the redeeming love they shared and despite everything Nora went through how happiness always finds its way in the end. I loved this book so much! I love historical romances to begin with and even though this is more of a historical fiction rather than out an old romance it is still a book worth swooning over. This was such a great book and the narrator I think she did a great job with character distinction and being able to tell the difference in who was talking. I was given this book by Nat Gally and I am leaving this review voluntarily please forgive any errors as I am blind and dictate my review but all opinions are definitely my own.#RachelFordom #NETGALLY

Sweet and charming story of forgiveness and overcoming hardships. I thoroughly enjoyed this book and all of the characters. The imagery was great and I felt like I was there with them. So good!

Name of Book: Where the Road Ends
Author: Rachael Fordham
Narrator: Coleen Marlo
Publisher: Tantor Audio
Genre: Historical Fiction/Romance
Pub Date: June 7, 2022
My Rating: 4 stars!

Story is set in the 1880’s in Iowa. Norah King finds Quincy Barnes on her land who is near death. She takes him in and with the doctor’s instructions nurses him back to health. Quincy is down on his luck and has been trying to earn money the boxing ring.
Norah wants to not only nurse him back to health but to save him from his self. They form a bit more than a strong friendship.
Norah is about to be married to a man she really doesn’t love but needs to do so in order to save her farm. Quincy leaves as soon as he can as he knows that having a young man in Norah’s home may create a problem with her much older fiancé.

Story changes with some twists they kept me reading! In fact, I couldn’t put it down
I love the use of writing letters to tell someone how you feel about them ~ certainly a lost art.
The story has a wonderful message of love and being strong and honest to overcome difficult situations.
It was and enjoyable read 😘

Want to thank NetGalley and Tantor Audio for this audio eGalley. This file has been made available to me before publication in an early form for my honest opinion.
Audiobook Release Date is scheduled for June 7, 2022

Every book I read by Rachel Fordham solidifies my place as one of her die-hard fans. She has an incredible ability to build stories full of heart and vulnerability, which was definitely the case with Where the Road Bends. Through Norah and Quincy, Fordham tells a beautiful story of healing and forgiveness. My heart ached for both of these characters and the hardships they faced; yet, through faith and determination, they both came out stronger. (Though Quincy definitely needs to work on his communication skills…) While this book was heavy as it navigated loss and abuse, it struck a hopeful tone thanks to a mix of delightful glimpses into the past. I loved getting a taste of baseball fever and seeing town life in 1880 Iowa. Additionally, there are some wonderful side characters who I loved, particularly a precocious little boy who reminded me of my nephews. Adding to the story, was a wonderful narrator who brought Quincy and Norah to life. I greatly enjoyed Where the Road Bends and look forward to future books by Rachel Fordham.

*Thank you to Rachel Fordham, Tantor Audio, and Netgalley for an advanced audiobook copy of this book. All opinions are my own.

I enjoyed this second-chance romance from Rachel Fordham! It was a sweet story of redemption, change, forgiveness, and love. My favorite parts were the references to my favorite Jane Austen novel, Persuasion.

I admired Norah's compassion and work ethic. I admired Quincy's desire to change and then help others to be able to improve their lives as well. The minor characters were also very likeable. However, I found myself wanting a bit more depth to the characters. I loved their personalities, it just felt a little bit surface-level.

While this book dealt with serious issues, it felt very light and even humorous at times. I enjoyed this audiobook version and the narrator did a great job!

I highly recommend this to anyone who loves second-change love stories, clean romance, or stories with a frontier feel to them.

Thank you to NetGalley, Tantor Audio, and Rachel Fordham for the opportunity to read this book in exchange for my honest opinions.