REVIEW - The Road That Leads To Us - Micaela Smeltzer

TITLE - The Road That Leads To Us AUTHOR - Micalea Smeltzer Synopsis: Things are about to get rocky for Dean Wentworth and Willow Wade. Willow Wade is used to living in the spotlight, with her father a famous drummer in the band Willow Creek—her namesake—it’s been a lot to live up to and oftentimes she doesn’t feel she’s enough. But there has always been one person she could turn to. Dean Wentworth knows a thing or two about how crippling a name can be. His family is worth billions after all. But Dean’s always been content to do his own thing. Play his guitar. Work on cars. And geek out to his various “nerdoms”. But when Willow turns up unexpectedly, he realizes maybe there is more in life he wants. Her. One trip will change their lives forever.  My Review: The Road That Led to Us is a start of a new series, but also a new generation. It is the first book in the Us series, but the characters in the book are the children on the characters in the Willow Creek and the Trace + Olivia series. So this series is good for those who want an update on their favorite characters, while falling in love with a whole new set. The Road That Led to Us follows Willow and Dean. Willow is the daughter of Maddox, the famous drummer from the band Willow Creek. She has had a hard time being in the spotlight as she is a free spirit at heart. Dean is a Wentworth. The Wentworth is a name that is well known as well, but Dean lives his life as a mechanic, which is what he loves to do. Dean and Willow have been best friends their entire lives. Willow, itching for an adventure, goes to Dean and they end up deciding to go on a cross country road trip. What ensues is a wonderfully sweet story of two friends exploring more than the country. Dean is the first character I really see starting to change. I think this is because he has a calm and accepting personality. This is a nice contrast to Willow's spunky and spontaneous personality. Willow really brings out the adventurous side to Dean, which is a role reversal for most books you read. Willow has some evolving to do as well. She is nineteen and has no clue what she wants to do with her life. I really enjoy her story because most nineteen year old's have similar thoughts about their lives and not wanting to disappoint. This story is more sweet, but does have some heat. As the road trip progresses, these two best friends learn more about each other and bond after sharing experiences together. This evolves fairly quickly, which I thought was a bit quick, but enjoyed nevertheless. Their interactions with each other are some of the sweetest I've ever had the pleasure to read about. The plot of this story I felt was lacking. I enjoyed the idea of where the author was going, but I feel like there was something missing. I didn't feel fully satisfied with the way the story was developed. This is my only real complaint though. I liked the book otherwise. Overall, this was a wonderful book. I really like Micaela's stories and I love that she decided to show the next generation. This book was both humorous and philosophical. Some of the best quotes I will now think of comes from, this book. I would recommend this book to others. Favourite Quotes: "People expected greatness from me. I just wanted to graduate college without slitting my wrists." Willow, The Road That Led to Us I clucked my tongue. “You got her the wrong chocolate for Valentine’s day, didn’t you?” He laughed fully at that. “Probably. We just weren’t a good match. She kept trying to hide my Pokémon cards and that wasn’t cool.” Willow and Dean, The Road That Led to Us “Don’t you see, Willow, getting lost is all part of the fun. Sometimes you have to get lost in order to be found.” Dean, The Road That Led to Us “It’s there for a reason so you can discover something great! Without the unknown life would be a stale cheese goldfish cracker!” Willow, The Road That Led to Us Star Ratings: Plot: 3/5 Characters: 5/5 Heat: 4/5 Writing style: 5/5 Overall: 4/5 CLICK THE COVER TO PURCHASE: