THE ROAD TO ROSWELL by SF champion and multiple award winning Connie Willis is an uproarious, rip-roarious Contemporary SF/Romantic-Comedy/Road-Trip romp throughout New Mexico, Arizona, Nevada, and back to New Mexico again.

It all started with wedding plans: no, not the protagonist's! Francie flies to New Mexico to be Maid of Honor to best friend/college roommate Serena (who has a history of poor choice). Serena's wedding is planned for Roswell's first week of July UFO Festival, and she's marrying a UFO True Believer! Francie is determined to stop her, until Francie herself encounters out-of-this-world trouble! I could hardly catch my breath for laughing and beaming throughout this novel. So refreshing, so riveting!

Connie Willis is back at it with wacky hijinks and romance. A cute little alien road-trip diversion for your summer.

This book wasn’t exactly what I was hoping for, however it was fun overall. If you’re looking for a true alien focused book, I wouldn’t say this is for you. It’s very silly and light hearted and more of a road trip book. Great book to read while on vacation.

Thank you to NetGalley, the publisher, and the author for an eARC of The Road to Roswell in exchange for an honest review!
The Road to Roswell took me completely by surprise in the best way. I went in pretty blind, having requested the book based off of genre filters and the title/cover art, which heavily imply some sort of alien aspect. This book had me laughing out loud multiple times. I enjoyed the diversity of the casts' personalities, and the way the events unfolded and connections were made was so incredibly well done. This was also such a unique approach to aliens even with all the references to actual conspiracies and alien pop culture. I would absolutely recommend this story to anyone who's looking for a fun adventure. Easy five stars.

I love Connie Willis, and she obviously loves screwball comedies with sci-fi elements. I wasn't as big a fan of her previous book, Crosstalk, because I found the main character to be kind of an idiot in many ways. I'm happy to say that I had much more fun with The Road to Roswell.

Francie is in Roswell to be the Maid of Honor for her somewhat flighty college roommate Serena. Serena has a habit of picking the wrong guys, and this one just happens to be a UFO nut. Francie considers it her duty to be around as a sounding board while Serena talks herself out of the marriage. In the meantime she's stuck in a terrible bridesmaids dress and being forced to fight her way through hordes of people who are in town for the local UFO festival. Of course all of her plans go out the door when she is sent out to the car to pick something up and is abducted by a real life alien. The alien looks kind of like a tumbleweed, and seems to have very little idea of where it actually wants to go or what it needs to do, except to insist that Francie act as driver. Along the increasingly bizarre road trip they pick up several more travelers, visit a few casinos, watch a lot of westerns, and learn to communicate. There's also a bit of a romance for Francie alongside the adventure.

The Road to Roswell is a low stakes comedy that owes a lot to both western movies and golden age Hollywood comedies (think, It Happened One Night or Bringing up Baby). Like many of Connie Willis' stories there is a large focus on missed connections and communication (or lack thereof). All of the characters along for the ride are entertaining, and though it did take awhile for them to get somewhere I didn't really mind because the trip was fun to read. Francie is a sweet main character who just wants to help her new friend, while still making time to hopefully stop Serena from marrying the UFO nut. The story is frequently very silly, so if you're looking for a serious first contact story then you might want to go elsewhere. This is just a fun road trip with a very eclectic group that includes a few aliens who communicate partially in dialogue from western movies. It's fun, quick moving, and has no major drama or danger. A perfect non stressful read for fans of Connie Willis, golden age Hollywood, or those occasional comedic episodes of the X-Files.

I'm a long time Connie Willis fan, and, while The Road to Roswell was not among her best, it was still a thoroughly entertaining read. If the motion picture industry would get over it's current super-hero binge, this would be a riot on the big screen. Many thanks to Del Rey and NetGalley for the opportunity to read The Road to Roswell

My favorite parts of this book were the New Mexico setting and the charming and lovable characters. At times hilarious. Other times frustratingly repetitive.

This was my first read of a book by this author and I was not disappointed, the book is not a true sci-fi, but anyone can enjoy the colorful characters and plot in this novel. It was hard to put this one down and the story will keep you wanting more. A great read and one not to be missed.

Thank you to #NetGalley for the ARC in exchange for my honest opinion.

Such fun! The publisher's copy calls this a romantic comedy, but I don't think I'd classify if that way. Francie lands in Roswell, the home of the UFO festival, to be maid of honor in her best friend's wedding to a UFO nut. With many an eye roll, Francie steels herself to talk her friend out of this wedding, but before she can make any progress she's–you guessed it–abducted by an alien. A rollicking adventure ensues.

This novel is fun without being frothy, and takes an unexpected approach to the typical close encounter story. I loved the ending.

Francie Driscoll is on her way to Roswell, New Mexico to attend her best roommate Serena’s wedding. She’s been down this road before and is planning on talking her out of it. Especially when she finds out Serena’s new beau is a UFO enthusiast, the wedding is at the UFO museum and there’s a UFO festival happening at the same time!

By the time Francie gets to Roswell, Serena needs so much help prepping for the wedding because her fiance is raving about a new UFO sighting in the area. Being the best roommate she is, Francie goes out to Serena’s car to pick up decorations but she runs into an alien! A tumbleweed tentacle creature that pins her to the car seat and just points ‘drive’. It’s a close encounter of the fourth kind - abduction!

Now Francie is stuck being a driver for an E.T. and picking up various characters along the way like Wade, a UFO abduction insurance selling conman, Lyle the UFO nut, Eula Mae the gambling granny and Joseph the owner of an RV (“Western wagon”). They get to know and care for the little alien they dubbed Indy and will protect him at all cost from the government and other extraterrestrials.

My favorite parts were when Indy was trying to communicate and I ADORE how they were talking in threes. The relationship Francie had with Indy and then Wade was so sweet. The first half of the book was a bit slow and repetitive, but around the halfway point it really took off and I finished in one sitting.

This was right up my alley, aliens, fun characters and shenanigans. I am the biggest fan of the TV show Roswell (‘99 version) so I couldn’t jump on reading this fast enough. It would be a lie to say I wasn’t planning my trip to Roswell for years now and this road trip novel just might make it happen this year!

Thank you to NetGalley and Random House for the ARC, this is my honest review.

5 outer space stars for this adorable cozy sci-fi!

As someone who has recently discovered cozy fantasy and sci-fi, this is definitely checking off all my good vibe boxes. It was a funny adventurous low stakes entertaining journey that Connie Willis just took me on. I've never read anything by this author previously but after looking her up, that seems to be something I should have rectified a while ago! But I'm glad I finally got here because I've already added two of her most popular books to my TBR ASAP list.

The Road to Roswell follows Francie, a loyal friend who has just flown over to be part of her best friends UFO themed wedding "located in Roswell". She arrives during the annual UFO festival and is surrounded by people who she quite frankly thinks are wackos. But she loves her best friend and she'd never miss being a part of her wedding....until she's abducted by an alien. The rest of the adventure packs a color cast of characters an adorable alien and a very sweet little romance. The story is tight, wonderfully written and made me feel like I wanted to stay on this cozy sci-fi world for a while longer. It also gave me the itch to vacation in Roswell!

Thank you to NetGalley and Random House Publishing group for this e-ARC so that I may share my honest review.

I found the plot in the road trip so much fun but found the book was way too long I love the fact the author didn’t make every alien enthusiast an idiot in the ones to dead stereotypes or stereotypes for a reason lol! I enjoyed the western class with Professor Wade but found those two a little daunting after a while but having said all this had it not been so long I would’ve definitely given it five stars but because I felt it should’ve ended the six chapters before it did I’m only giving it four but a strong for The had some great characters in here including the old gambling attic the alien Sloan Wayne and her best friend whose wedding she was supposed to go to I truly enjoyed this book for the most part but would’ve absolutely loved it has not been so long I still do recommend it though because once you get into it you will want to know the ending I noticed another reviewer said it wasn’t that great of an ending but I thought it was a great ending and couldn’t see how it could’ve ended any different. I received this book from NetGalley and the publisher but I am leaving this review voluntarily please forgive any mistakes as I am blind and dictate my review.

A very funny look at the UFO craze that is like a mashup of THELMA AND LOUISE meets ET. While on a last minute Maid of Honor errand Sloane gets abducted by an honest to goodness alien. Somehow they figure out a way to communicate that Iggy, the multi-tenacled alien needs to get somewhere fast and Sloane is supposed to drive. Along the way several others get snapped up with lightning speed until they end up in a grand RV whose owner tries to teach Iggy the way of the world through old westerns. Bouncing from Roswell, New Mexico to gambling in Las Vegas they have a grand adventure and become very fond of their new alien friend. Protecting him and getting him home becomes their group mission. This is the funny side of Connie Willis who has had me enthralled with her time travel WWII stories in the past. We know we are laughing at the absurdity of humans (and ourselves) but maybe there are aliens out there laughing right along with us. This light hearted approach to aliens and UFOs may have the same effect that Andy Weir's books have had in attracting new space nerds. My thanks to the publisher for the advance copy.

This was pure joy. Real world events feel like a little too much right now, and this book is the perfect antidote; it's 100% pure, zany, ridiculous escape.

Francie is heading to Roswell for her bestie’s wedding and from the get-go, she realizes this wedding is going to be different from others as she arrives in Albuquerque and sees that the UFO festival is happening. Her bestie and her fiancé have heard about a UFO sighting close by and as Francie is helping with things, lo and behold—she’s abducted. The rest of the story is a blast and I loved the characters and as a person from New Mexico who has been to Roswell and the UFO museum many times, I loved the environment and vibe of an alien abduction book!

Thank you to NetGalley for an ARC of The Road to Roswell.

My favorite television shows are The X-Files and The Twilight Zone so I was excited my request was approved.

The premise was intriguing, funny, and unique, and I've never read a book by the author before so I felt this was a great introduction to read her work.

There were parts I liked; the road trip format, the fact Indy isn't your typical looking alien (not a Gray or Reptilian), the motley crew of abductees who are not who they claim to be.

But the story was tooo long and it dragged on and on and became repetitive; Indy kidnapping people because they're in the wrong place at the right time, when Indy learns to communicate and Francie is trying to figure out where he needs to go, the copious, long winded references to Westerns, jeez, it got tedious so fast.

And the reason Indy is so intent on getting to his destination? That's it? What a letdown.

I don't think a romance between Francie and Wade was necessary; a blossoming romance at the end would have been more believable.

The writing was good, but the ending wasn't worth all the pages that came before it.

This is the most fun I've had with a book in a long time. A road trip resulting in a found family with an alien and a dash of romance? It had me hooked from chapter one. The Road to Roswell is a fun, sci-fi rom-com with some oddball characters that I quickly grew to love. The book follows Francie, who just wants to get to her college roommate’s UFO themed wedding and stop her friend from making a mistake. Instead, she ends up abducted by an actual alien. In the process, she finds some unlikely friends and a strange mission.

It had a satisfying end but left an opening for a sequel, which I’m really hoping for.
I've never read a book by Connie Willis before but I'm about to start tearing through her backlist!

Thank you to the Random House, Del Rey, and NetGalley for the advanced copy in exchange for an honest review.

The Road to Roswell by Connie Willis I am ready for another road trip with Indy. Never thought of tenacles whipping around out an alien as being cute/adorable, however Indy pulls it off. A group of odd ball characters, humor, weirdness, and a fast paced adventure make for a fun and entertaining read. My first book by Ms Willis and will be looking for her backlist.

Thank you to the author, publisher, and Netgalley for the opportunity to preview the book.

Ok, this did NOT feel like a Connie Willis to me... I am not a fan of aliens/UFO tales, but love Willis so much that I requested it anyway, trusting in her magical storytelling abilities to make this as fascinating a tale as any of her other works that I've read. Not so much...

It started out fine. I liked the setup and was intrigued to see where things would go with Indy. Unfortunately, that "where" felt like an endless merry-go-round in which the same things kept happening with only slight variation. New people were abducted. The alien kept them from leaving. They traveled around trying to figure out how to escape. Communication was difficult. On and on and on for hundreds of pages... And then when it all finally came to a head, that head was every bit as uneventful as all the preceding pages.

I don't know - maybe it really does boil down to my not finding the alien storyline an interesting one in and of itself. But I just did not enjoy this one and kept forcing myself to turn pages only out of a desperate hope of finding some of the magical connection I've found so readily in previous Willis novels and novellas. This one was a slog for me...

The premise of this book was great and the story did not disappoint. The characters were fun, but real, and I loved the amount of "inside baseball" about alien stories (and Westerns) in this tale. The humor was definitely there as well, but at its heart was a good sci-fi story the was about friendship that spanned the galaxy.