Heartbreaking and character-driven stories, deeply personal, as in Melissa Payne fashion, who I discovered with The Night of Many Endings and enjoyed so very much. Her ability to touch such complex human problems in a humanly way is truly a gift. Would recommend to anyone that would want to feel deeply about life and enjoy a good story.

I really loved reading 'The Wild Road Home' by Melissa Payne. This was a powerful story about people who would do anything to make sure their loved ones were safe and cared for. This book also carries some thriller elements which I truly appreciated.

This book reminds me of "The Notebook" with a psychological twist mixed in. Mack is losing his wife to cancer and decides to go to his cabin in the woods as he cannot convince his wife to leave the retirement home. He ends up rescuing a young lady who is trying to save her baby brother. As the three go on the road together, they find themselves in more and more trouble. A deeply moving book that reminds you friends become like family and to never, ever give up!

This is the first book that I read from the author and it feels like it's a warm blanket on a stormy day.

This is a story about Brandi, whose mother is an addict living with an addict boyfriend. He has a brother who is neglected. She just got out of juvie and Brandi wants to save her brother Sy from her mother's grasp.

While Brandi is trying to save her brother, she met Mack. An old guy with one hand and a wife with Alzheimer's whom he loves dearly.

I liked how Brandi and Mack just met in an unexpected way and somehow this meeting changed all of their lives. Brandi realised how there are still good people out there like Mack who loves his wife dearly and will do anything for her. Mack realised that him and Brandi have something in common which is protecting their loved ones and doing anything for their sake. He saw great strength in Brandi and this makes him want to help Brandi and her brother.

Their journey made them closer to each other. They faced some challenges which they have endured altogether.

I feel satisfied with the ending. Because of Brandi's quick thinking she was able to escape death! Thank goodness that Mack was also able to understand what Brandi meant with her words also.

Overall this is a fun read. I enjoyed it.

Thank you to NetGalley and Lake Union Publishing for the advance reading copy.

This is my first Melissa Payne book. I can't say that I loved this novel. it seemed to me so vanilla and simple and predictable. And while I understand that many readers enjoy that in their fiction, I found it very boring.

An interesting book that starts out really sad.

So sad, that I did not want to keep reading. But I decided to keep going and it got better and better, to the point that I did not want to put it down. A story about the fact that we all need each other. Everyone needs someone to love and to be loved back. We also need to be needed by those that we love. These are things that we need from childhood into old age.

This story that started out so very sad, did have the best possible ending and I was so thankful.

Child neglect because of an addicted mother is the background of this story. Brandi, now 18 but on the run from the group home, goes back to her mother’s place to rescue her young brother, Sy. The two end up out of gas in the area of Mack Anders. Mack is hiding out from society in the hopes of his cancer-ridden, dementia-burdened wife to receive insurance money to pay for her care. These lost souls need one another to move to the next step. Brandi wants to get Sy to safety as her aunt’s house in Casper. Mack needs to find a purpose to move forward, especially as his wife is slipping away.

Melissa Payne has a unique voice in that she always gives voice to those who feel unheard and misunderstood. She repeats the same with her characters of "Wild Road Home" - there is Mack Anders whose wife has Alzeimers and cancer, Brandi who is determined to do the best by her younger brother Sy, away from their drug living mother.

Over the course of the journey while helping Brandi and Sy, Mack comes to understand where his actions are taking with regards to his wife and she is it exactly he needs to do. The three of them begin to form a family of sorts, thus showing to Brandi that families are not formed by blood, but by bond.

This was a very heartwarming and sometimes wrenching story to read. The difficulties the characters are going through seems very devastating and we can't help but feel for them. I loved the way the gradual development of the love and affection between them has been written. This is a lovely read that I greatly recommend to reader in case you want to read something which explores the various facets of tackling responsibilities and handling grief.

The Wild Road Home by Melissa Payne is a great, sweet, sad, and heartwarming book. It is the first book that I have read of Melissa Payne’s. The three main characters all are facing/have faced struggles and some type of heartbreak in their lives. Mack is an older Man who has lost his Son Jesse and now his wife Daisy is dying from Cancer and Alzheimer’s. He is trying to take care of her the best that he can. Brandi and Sy are siblings who come from a bad home situation and they are struggling to escape and hopefully get and build a better life for themselves. They meet Mack when they leave their home and get a flat tire and he is walking and stops to help them. They are frightened at first of course but when they travel together they become closer and they help each other through their struggles and sadness in their life. They become close and remain friends almost like family. This book is sad but it is a great story about family, friendship, and love. It also has a great message in that no matter the struggles we face throughout our lives there is always hope if we stay focused and positive. Thank you to Netgalley and Lake Union Publishing for giving me a complimentary copy of this book to read and review. Opinions expressed in this review are completely my own.

I love that Melissa Payne's books are filled with so much emotion and devastatingly life-changing situations yet there is always an element of hope and the drive of the human spirit to survive and thrive. This book touches on truly heartbreaking topics yet somehow manages to keep a light shining at the end of the tunnel and out of heartbreak comes so much beauty in found family and the caring of others. I listened to the audiobook and it's a wonderful way to enjoy this amazing novel.

Thank you to the author, Lake Union Publishing and NetGalley, for an ARC in exchange for an honest review. My apologies for the delay in posting this review, I am well behind and trying to catch up!

What a book - heavy and heartbreaking, but also so uplifting and powerful. The story is about two different kinds of circumstances, both heavy topics, hard to deal with and painful, and what happens when paths cross. One strand is that of two children of drug-addicted parents, the older girl trying to get her young brother away from their abusive and neglectful mother, and the other is that of an elderly couple who suffered a tremendous loss when their young son drowned years ago, and are now facing the loss of the love of your life to Alzheimer’s. The paths of these two very different people cross and both learn from the other. Emotional and heartwarming, but hard going at times due to the subject matter. This is the first book I've read by this author, but it won't be the last.

Payne writes with such heart. Her stories always amazes me and keeps me turning the pages.
This was a thought-provoking, emotional and suspenseful novel about secrets and the healing power of friends and family.
This was character driven story and all characters were brilliantly written.
The Wild Road Home was heart touching, deep, and emotional story.

While I liked this book and the storyline, it just was kind of flat and hard to keep my interest in. I think it was well written, but just kind of slower than I expected.

This book was a really good read! I’ve read other books by Melissa Payne but I think this one is probably my favorite. The main characters were absolutely wonderful. I grew to really care about them and felt a real connection to them and everything they went through. The Wild Road Home is a story about 2 different kinds of circumstances. The first being addiction and what that does to the children of drug addicted parents. The second is about being elderly and having suffered a tremendous loss and anticipating another loss of the love of your life due to Alzheimer’s and Cancer. I loved how the author brought these characters together, showing that opposites can come together and really feel love and concern for each other. It’s like they gave purpose to each others lives. I loved reading this and highly recommend it to others. I’d like to thank NetGalley for the arc. It’s a wonderful, feel good, optimistic story that easily deserves a 5 star rating!

This book is the true definition of you can't always choose your family, but you can make one. Blood isn't always thicker than water. Sometimes the best family one can have is the one they chose, not the one they were birthed too. This book is a testament that no matter where you started in your life, there are forces at work, that can help manifest you to better circumstances if one just believes.

In the most beautiful conceivable way, Melissa Payne's The Wild Road Home is a gut-punch and a heart-stab. This moving and heartwarming tale explores themes of loss, mistrust, sacrifice, fortitude, guilt, letting go, and deciding to support others even when one's own grief makes it difficult to do so.

After decades of marriage, Mack and Daisy are permanently changed by Daisy's devastating Alzheimer's diagnosis. Mack was certain that she would overcome cancer, but not the merciless grip of Alzheimer's. Mack went to Daisy's house on a regular basis but came to the conclusion that she would be better off without him. He made sure she was well taken care of, then pretended to be dead and lived off the grid in the untamed wilderness of Wyoming, alone with his thoughts. Daisy was not his only sadness, though.


In the interim, Troubled eighteen-year-old Brandi had just gotten out of juvenile detention, and her first priority was to get her younger brother out of his abusive and toxic "home" setting. Sy was a shadow in a corner, both emotionally and physically. The siblings stole a car and became lost without any necessities, like gas. The three immediately grew close via their common pain when Mack noticed them and understood how upset they were. They became a different kind of family because they were what each other needed at that particular time.

During her research for this book, the author and her travel companion embarked on exciting road journeys across Wyoming, where they were motivated by the amazing food, people, and scenery. The route in the book was also taken by her and her mother. Discuss about entering the thoughts of your fictional characters!

The story is written with great understanding, consideration, and sensitivity. It's highly character-driven, which is exactly my kind of thing. Despite grit and anguish, everyone has a deep-seated need for love and belonging, regardless of upbringing. The difficulties are genuine.

All The Feels - Including A Few Very Dusty Rooms. Payne is very much making a career out of intricate character stories that pack a lot of emotional depth and complexity in with a fair amount of drama and action, and this book is exactly in that vein. Here, we get truly visceral looks at the emotions surrounding death and abandonment, emotions which will be difficult for some and will cause the aforementioned dusty rooms for more. The way Payne can bring these things to life via her words is truly remarkable, and that she can do so in such a story without ever appearing preachy - if anything, pretty much the exact opposite - is even more remarkable.

If you're looking for a light and breezy "beach read", this isn't that. If you're looking for a "beach read" in that you can read this book while on a beach... and bawl your eyes out in the process... yeah, this is that kind of book.

Very much recommended.

This was my first experience with this author, but I can't say that it will be my last. I enjoyed this tale of sadness, grief, and redemption. Such an engaging story from beginning to end. I just instantly feel in love with the characters and rooted for them the entire time.
Thank you, NetGalley, and Lake Union Publishing for the opportunity to read and review this advanced copy.

By the author of The Night of Many Endings and A Light in the Forest, both of which I loved. Melissa Payne has written a story here that is so filled with love and hope. Of dreams and acceptance. Of family and loss. It's such a beautiful and sad story.

This story starts out making you have lots of tears. It's a subject that is sad.. Alzheimer disease. Also drug addiction. Also the love a sister has for her little brother. A story of a man who loves his wife so much he truly believes everything will be ok if only he can take her away. To a small cabin in the woods. This is like reading two books in one that intersect in a way that will have you rooting for and weeping for the characters. The main characters that is.

Mack's wife Daisy has Alzheimer’s and her unbeknownst to him her cancer has returned. Her best friend Peggy has power of attorney over her medical decisions. Daisy knew that Mack would not be able to let go. He would want to hang on to her even knowing that is not what she wants. She thought she was making it easier on him. But was it?

Brandi manages to get away from the group home she is in to go see about her brother Sy. He's just a little boy and is living with their drug addicted mother. Nancy, their mother is hooked on Meth and puts that first. She doesn't see what she is doing or has done to her children. Brandi finds Sy and they go on the run. Sy has lots of fears and he doesn't seem to remember Brandi completely. She's thirteen years older than him and has always been more of a mother to him than Nancy.

When paths cross these three will never be the same. Things will go in a direction that Mack never saw coming and Brandi could not have predicted. The things they go through and do together make them a force for sure. They build a friendship that will last a lifetime. But the things in their lives will make it much harder for them to remain together. Things take a turn rather quickly.

This book reminds me of a Catherine Ryan Hyde story. The way it brings two very troubled families together then keeps you hoping for all to be ok. If you love Ms Hyde's books you will love this one. It has all the love and beauty that you will adore. All the ups and downs that keep you on edge hoping they make it. All the emotion that keeps you grabbing tissues.

Thank you #NegGalley, #MelissaPaybe, #LakeUnionPublishers, for this ARC. This is my own true thoughts about this book.

Five big stars.

The book sounded like a captivating offering but I felt as if I were trudging through the chapters. I found that I did not connect with the characters, Every page contained too many sorrows.
I voluntarily read and reviewed an advanced copy of this book. All thoughts and opinions are my own.

Sacrifice. Deep love, and forgiveness. Gripping story of Mack and Daisy, true love at its finest. Brandi and Sy, siblings suffering from their addicted Mother’s lifestyle.
Paths cross and the story begins. You will suffer through all of the emotions in this gripping novel.
Thank you Net Galley