After my kids grew up and left home, I discovered a newfound sense of freedom and a way to keep feeling young: take a solo road trip. Leaving the nest for a while was a great way to overcome any empty nest doldrums. It also renews friendships and inspires stories.

When I’m not on a road trip, I’m anticipating the next one! So imagine the thrill of picking up Janine Rosche’s novel, The Road Before Us. Not only is it about a road trip, the road is Route 66! Not only that, it’s a triple timeline, each one a different trip along the same road. 

After reading it, I wanted to hit some of those Route 66 landmarks. I immediately went to Google and figured out which ones will coincide with my November trip to the Southwest. I happily discovered that I’ll be able to follow Route 66 through Illinois and parts of Oklahoma, Texas, and New Mexico. I’ve already figured out my road stops—some of which are in the book.

Janine invites readers to send her their road trip pictures of Route 66, so I’ll have to get at least one or two unique photos. She has traveled all 2448 miles herself.

But The Road Before Us is not just a carefree drive across the country. There’s plenty of drama, discord, disappointment, and devastation. However, it’s mixed with humorous touches and vivid characters who are trying to reconcile their past by driving forward. 

Blurb

How far would you go to fix the mistakes you’ve made and regain the trust you lost? For Jade Jessup, the answer is 2,448 miles. Once one of Chicago’s significant financial advisors, Jade lost her credibility when her fiancé (and coworker) stole millions of dollars from their clients in a Ponzi scheme. Now she’s agreed to help one of them–an aging 1960s Hollywood starlet named Berenice “Benny” Alderidge–seek financial restoration.

Jade sets off along Route 66 with Benny and her handsome adult foster son, Bridger, who is filming a documentary retracing the 1956 trip that started the love story between Benny and her recently deceased husband, Paul. Listening to Benny recount her story draws Jade into memories of her own darker association with Route 66, when she was kidnapped as a child by a man the media labeled a monster–but she remembers only as daddy.

Together, all three of these pilgrims will learn about family, forgiveness, and what it means to live free of the past. But not before Jade faces a second staggering betrayal that changes everything.

************************

My Thoughts

You don’t have to love road trips to enjoy this story, but it might enhance your experience. Get ready for some armchair travel. 

Great writing, vivid imagery, and high stakes confirmed my connection to the characters. Besides feeling the wind breezing through my hair in a 55 Chevy Bel Air convertible, I was bombarded by family dysfunction, PTSD, racism, and dementia (to name a few). 

Jade is a former financial advisor who accompanies her former client, ex-Hollywood star Berenice (Benny) Alderidge, on Route 66. Benny and her deceased husband Paul once fell in love along Route 66 and she wants to relive those days. Now she’s in her 90s. Benny’s adult foster son and caregiver, Bridger, is the videographer of the documentary about the trip. He’s from Samoa.

Route 66—also known as the Mother Road—is a character in its own right, from Chicago to California. This isn’t a romance but it has romantic elements in two of the three timelines. The romance aspects are well done and complement the Route 66 nostalgia.

The triple timeline encompasses 1956 (Benny’s point of view), 2003 (Jade’s childhood at age 8), and present day (also Jade’s POV). Benny, who exhibits some dementia, is trying to remember the past, while Jade would like to shake off horrible memories. 

The journey is fun with its banter, nostalgia, and Hollywood references from the 1950s and 60s. It’s also filled with both fun and meaningful stops along the way at real places, such as:

• Rialto Square Theater in Joliet, Illinois
• The old Chain of Rocks Bridge—between Illinois & Missouri
• Gateway Arch—St Louis
• Galena, Kansas & Cars on the Route (at Kan-O-Tex service station) with restored vehicles on display. The tow truck was the inspiration for the character “Tow Mater” in the Pixar movie Cars
• Big Texan Steak Ranch—Amarillo, Texas—has a 72-ounce steak-eating challenge
• Winslow, Arizona Eagles statues on the corner

A few things bothered me. It took a while to get used to Benny’s name (nickname for Berenice). I had to keep remembering she was a woman. 

The other thing is the prologue. It’s so well written, but it confused me because it’s something that happens later in the story. It took a while to figure out where. I don’t mind prologues, but I prefer them to be scenes that happen prior to the rest of the story. Otherwise, it breaks the fictional dream for me. Yes, chapter 2 was clearly present day, but it still bugged me. I’m only bringing this up in case it bothers you, too. Regardless, just keep reading. 

Sometimes I thought the author had thrown too many themes into the story pot. Besides the few I mentioned earlier (family dysfunction, PTSD, racism, and dementia), there are adoption scams, prisoners of war, parental custody battles, parental kidnapping, and sexual harassment. That’s a lot, which seems spread rather thin.

The main thing is, the emotional journey parallels the geographical one—thrilling, scary, happy, and sad—but not predictable.

Join me for some Q & A with Janine Rosche.

**********************

Questions about The Road Before Us

What was your inspiration for writing this story? Do you have a personal connection to Route 66 or any of the settings along the way?

Janine: In 1961, my father (at only 18 years old) took Route 66 out to California in his 1957 Ford Fairlane convertible. Once he arrived in Southern California, he met my mother while cruising Main with an oversize teddy bear in the passenger seat! So, Route 66 has always had a place in my family’s story. While my novel is completely fiction, I did write it to honor my parents’ 50+ year marriage. Hence, my dedication…

For Mom and Dad: Thanks to Route 66, you found each other once. I pray you’ll find each other again, this time on streets paved with gold.

How did you decide on the characters and situations of your heroines Jade and Berenice (Benny)? Did you plan it to be a triple timeline tale from the get-go or did that evolve?

Janine: When I was younger, I used to dream of moving to Hollywood to become an actress. Since Route 66 ends in Los Angeles, it just made sense to have my Chicago-based heroine share that dream. But Benny’s starry-eyed naivete needed something to counterbalance it.

I found that in Jade, whose reality included pain from many people throughout her life, including her well-meaning father. I imagined the confusion a child might experience when the man she looks up to is a criminal and the heartbreak when even HE doesn’t want her in his life anymore.

But what crime could he commit where he thought he was saving her? That’s where the kidnapping aspect came in. Although I’d first planned for it to be dual timeline, I really wanted to show the sweetness of Jade and her father’s 2003 relationship as well as the life-changing moment when she saw her face on this missing child poster.

How well did you know Jade, Bridger, and Benny when you started out? Did any of them hijack the story or did you have full rein?

Janine: Jade was a minor character in With Every Memory (my 2023 release) so I knew her pretty well starting out. Benny came alive as I researched older women with incredible personalities and histories facing a dementia diagnosis. Bridger was my hijacker.

I have a habit of writing heavy storylines, so when Bridger kept popping in with his quips and quirks, I welcomed the lightness. He brought out the best in both Benny and Jade. And what a testament to living with joy despite all the mess he’d been through!

Just for fun—what would Jade and Benny have to say about you? 

Janine: I think Jade would find me to be a loyal friend. Even when some readers spoke out about not liking her in With Every Memory, I stood by her, believing her story would make people understand her. Benny would love me because I love, love, love hearing people’s stories and soaking in their wisdom.

What’s your biggest challenge in writing a triple timeline story like this? What are your strategies for putting everything together smoothly?

Janine: The trickiest part was matching locations between all three timelines. Very few sites on Route 66 remain the same in 1956, 2003, and the modern day.

Lucille’s Service Station in Oklahoma is a great example. Three major scenes happen there yet it is remarkably different in each generation—fully functioning in 1956, closed and rundown in 2003, and restored and memorialized today. Its condition at the time needed to match the tone of the scene and fit the narrative for that timeline. My strategy involved a lot of research and a massive, color-coded plotting board!

What’s the most unusual thing you had to do or research to create this story?

The obvious answer is to solo-drive all of Route 66. I just knew I couldn’t write the heart of the story without experiencing it firsthand. I did that in 2022 and it was the most incredible experience! But the not-so-obvious answer is probably the amount of chili dogs and root beer I consumed to stay “in the mindset” of a Route 66 road trip!

Questions about writing

Which books and/or authors have most inspired you in your writing journey? 

Janine: I love a good classic novel, especially by John Steinbeck. I love how he brings locations and experiences to life while weaving unique relationships between characters. I think I mention one of his books in every one of mine!

I love Denise Hunter’s knack for romance, T.I. Lowe’s thematic depth, and Bethany Turner’s humor. I try to incorporate all these elements into my stories!

Where do your story ideas usually originate from—character, plot, setting, theme, or a combination?

Janine: Mostly, my stories are first sown via the questions I have about faith and life. For instance, in The Road before Us, that question was “Where do you go when everything falls apart?” In Wildflower Road, it was “Why does God allow bad things to happen to good people?” In With Every Memory, I asked, “What happens when a family loses the one person that holds them all together?”

From there, the setting and basic plot concepts sprout, mostly from things I’ve seen and places I’ve been. The characters are most like the blooms that draw people nearer to the heart of the story. Once I have the basics, I plot, mostly following the stages of “the hero’s journey.”

Which of your books is the best introduction to you as an author and why?

Janine: I always like to direct people to This Wandering Heart. Like The Road before Us, it’s a road trip romance that incorporates the most important things to me: family, faith, travel, and romance. And it’s available on Kindle Unlimited!

You’ve written romances in various settings, including Christmas novellas. Please share something about a current project or the direction you want to go as an author.

Janine: Sometimes I’m tempted to lean into my sense of humor more for future stories. Other times, I imagine myself writing stories that verge on gothic and suspense. Yet I feel like I’m only now finding my romance and women’s fiction readers.

As you can see, my future is up in the air a bit. All I know is I want to keep inspiring people to love well, dream more, and have faith.

What writing advice do you wish you’d known 10 or 15 years ago?

Janine: I had two significant and trusted people in my life who discouraged me from pursuing my calling to write, and I listened to them. I wasted years, only to discover that both people had ulterior motives for keeping my words unwritten. I wish I’d trusted God enough to go where he led and believed in myself enough to know I was capable of so much.

**************************

Back to Laura . . . On a similar note . . . 

If you like dual timeline fiction, you might enjoy my novel, A Hundred Magical Reasons. This story spotlights L. Frank Baum, author of The Wonderful Wizard of Oz, his friendship with a young girl, and his impact through the decades. Set in Holland, Michigan, this novel alternates between 1980 and the early 1900s. 

Like Berenice Aldridge in The Road Before Us, Baum has ties to Hollywood and filmmaking, too—long before the 1939 MGM movie came along! The story won a Scrivenings Press novel contest last fall and will be published by them in January 2025! Read more and watch the book trailer here.

If you like small town/rural stories about family dynamics and secrets, you might enjoy my re-launched novel All That Is Hidden. Set near North Carolina’s Smoky Mountains in 1968, the story spotlights the bond of family and the connections of a tight-knit community. Northern exploitation threatens as a father’s hidden past catches up to him and tests family ties. Learn more and watch the trailer here.

All That Is Hidden awards:

• Winner of the Artisan Book Reviews Book Excellence Award
• Semifinalist in Serious Writer’s Book of the Decade contest

I invite you to join my monthly newsletter for writing updates, freebies, and giveaways. Sign up and I’ll send you a free gift: www.StandoutStoriesNewsletter.com

**************************

Janine Rosche bio

Prone to wander, Janine Rosche finds as much comfort on the open road as she does at home. This longing to chase adventure, behold splendor, and experience redemption is woven into each of her women’s fiction and romance novels including With Every Memory and the Madison River Romance series. When she isn’t writing or traveling, she teaches family life education courses to college students, takes too many pictures of her sleeping dogs, and embarrasses her four children and husband with boy band serenades. Learn more on her website, janinerosche.com.

*****************

Join me next time for a visit with author Linda Dindzans.

Meanwhile, have you read The Road Before Us or any others by Janine Rosche? Which road trips have you enjoyed? Answer in the comments below.

Ever reading,

Laura

Sign up for my monthly newsletter and receive the prequel for All That Is Hidden: www.StandoutStoriesNewsletter.com