I must firstly apologise for the amount of time it has taken me to provide a review of this book, my health was rather bad for quite some time, something that had me in hospital on numerous occasions and simply didnt leave me with the time I once had to do what I love most.

Unfortunately that does mean I have missed the archive date for many of these books, so It would feel unjust throwing any review together without being able to pay attention to each novel properly.

However, I am now back to reading as before and look forward to sharing my honest reviews as always going forward. I thank you f0r the patience and understanding throughout x

This was a beautiful story, much more than the cover made me believe, it’s so much more deep and thoughtful a romance, but it’s definitely full of great characters, romance, classic misunderstanding and ultimately communicating, I love how Naima developed their friendship and relationship as they grow together and deal with their pasts , it’s definitely slow burn, but I love that.

Thanks to netgalley and the publisher for a free copy for an honest opinion

Another delightful Mills and Boone story.. Some great characters, an appealing setting, romance, misunderstanding and redemption all feature is this enjoyable story. A lovely conclusion which makes everything right again. What more could you want!!

The Road to Rose Bend is a beautiful story of homecoming and finding new beginnings in the last place expected. Sydney decides to come home to Rose Bend to give the baby she's expecting the best possible start in life. The sense of home in Rose Bend is like nowhere else and she wants her baby to have that.

Back in Rose Bend, she meets Cole, her best friend's older brother who is now the town mayor. They share in instant attraction upon meeting again but shackled by his past, Cole struggles to navigate his relationship with Sydney and hurts of old make Sydney wary of committing to another relationship which doesn't give her what she needs and wants for her baby.

I absolutely loved this book. Naima Simone has created a wonderful small town with all the feels and the characters have you cheering for them right from the first page. The chemistry between Cole and Sydney was electric and I really loved the way the different relationship dynamics were explored in the book.

Recently divorced and pregnant, Sydney is determined to give her child the life they deserve and after eight years, she has decided that is in her hometown, Rose Bend. She may be known as a troublemaker and her family may not be supportive with a lot of her decisions, however, Sydney knows this is the best place for her and her child – it provides a safe and warm environment, with a small community surrounding them. Rose Bend is also the place where she reunited with childhood friend, Coltrane Dennison – Coltrane is town mayor, lawyer and widower to his high school sweet-heart and unborn child. Whilst the return of Sydney intrigues and excites him, he decides to keep a barrier up between the two of them, as he isn’t prepared to take a chance on what could be and worrying about the health and safety of another unborn child. However, the more time he spends with her, he can’t seem to pull himself away and the baby growing within Sydney becomes a little person he wants to protect with his life.

I would definitely say, don’t be fooled by the absolutely stunning book cover and the charm it holds, as this is one deep book with a lot of angst and two devastating story-lines. Sydney was a likeable leading lady who’s life had eventually caught up to her, forcing her to realise that she had married much too young and that she was no longer the woman her now ex-husband had married. I really loved that it wasn’t your typical story-line of the husband cheating and running off with another woman, leaving his wife as a single mother. All of the decisions made was Sydney’s own doing and despite the pressure to return to her old life, this new path was worth taking and the two would have to learn to co-parent. Her return wasn’t all sunshine and rainbows, as the relationship she had with her parents was extremely tense, much of it coming from a lack of communication and misunderstandings of all feelings included. Sydney’s parents were a lot more likeable than made out to be, it just took a lot of time throughout the story to really be able to see that – all they wanted was the best for the daughter they still had and found it a little hard to understand Sydney’s new intentions, prior to having such a perfect life. The thing is though, Sydney’s life wasn’t the way they had shaped it to be and it is no one’s choice but their daughter’s on her wanting to move away from that part of her life. Let’s just say, they had a very traditional way of thinking and I think most parents are the same when it comes to marriage and having children!

Coltrane’s story-line was also a very difficult one to read about, after he unexpectedly lost his wife and child two years prior, during childbirth. He is the first Latino town mayor and uses this role, along with his career as a Lawyer, to keep him distracted from all the grief that consumes his entire being. He currently lives and breathes his pain, which he eventually learns to balance out with other more lustful feelings when Sydney returns home. With an extremely supportive family, Coltrane is slowly allowing himself the space to breathe and move forward with his life, even if that means allowing another family in to his life, whilst still holding on to the ones he lost. What I loved most about Coltrane and Sydney’s relationship is it was never intended to replace the loved ones they had surrounded themselves with once, it was about allowing new people in and continuing to make new memories. For Coltrane, this wasn’t the way life was supposed to be, but that is the way it became and Sydney was never going to make him try to forget about his late wife and child, in order to focus on her and her child – the memories once shared were always going to be cherished by her and the entire family. In fact, the dynamics between Coltrane and Sydney were flying everywhere from the moment they reunited and from then on, it was up to them to see where that would lead.

The Road to Rose Bend is a moving and heart wrenching story about grief, loss and the power to move on, but it also focuses highly on taking new steps forward, allowing a second chance in life and opening your heart back up to people who would never break it. I absolutely adored the town and I can see that it was definitely inspired by Hallmark movies – if this book wasn’t so heavily sexy, Hallmark would be crazy to not turn it in to a movie! The diversity within the town as well was just so amazing to see, I absolutely loved everyone, minus one or two, they were just an extremely charming group of people who I am very excited to be returning to twice in September and October for Remi and Wolfgang’s stories!

It took me a while to get into this story, the characters have a lot of pain and grief that they are trying to work through which at times is very difficult to read. They did have a good chemistry but it took them a while to get together. When they finally did get together we didn't get to spend much time with them as a couple so the ending felt a little rushed. Maybe a follow-up is required?

I tend to be rather ambivalent towards US-set small-town romances, but kept getting alerts for this one that featured the UK cover and so highlighted its multicultural aspects. Professional grant writer Sydney Collins grew up in the shadow of her older sister’s terminal illness and carries the burden of guilt that she was not able to donate a potentially life-saving kidney transplant, as well as feeling that her parents never loved her in the same way they loved her sister. After divorcing her older, dominating husband, Sydney had one last night of sex with him and fell pregnant. Now, she’s returned to her hometown for the first time in eight years because, while her childhood was unhappy, she believes that her baby’s life will be so much better there than in the city. And just as she’s plucking up the courage to approach her parents’ house, she encounters the big brother of an old friend, who gives her a rather mixed welcome.

Coltrane Dennison didn’t expect to see Sydney while he was visiting the graves of his wife and baby son, and is taken aback when he realises that Sydney is pregnant, especially as he also feels a spark of attraction – for the first time in two years – towards her. He is further disturbed when Sydney finds herself unable to stay with her parents and moves into an empty holiday property belonging to his parents, close to the one he’s living in while he decides what to do with the house he’s been unable to visit since becoming a widower.

Cole and Sydney try to make the best of their unwelcome proximity, even as they both enjoy being cared for by Cole’s extended family, and both involve themselves in local goings-on. Cole, as Mayor, has greatly increased the attractiveness of the town to visitors and is keen to provide even more facilities for the residents. Sydney is able to put her skills to good use in helping them obtain funding for the projects, and so the pair find themselves working together more and more. Sydney’s ex-husband hasn’t vanished completely, though, and after getting engaged to his new partner, he announces that he wants custody of Sydney’s baby because he believes himself to be in a better situation than her.

Realising that Sydney would look better to the courts if she were also in a relationship, Cole proposes and the pair end up in a marriage of convenience. Sydney soon finds herself falling for him, even as he seems to be distancing himself from her. Cole, meanwhile, is terrified of losing Sydney and her baby, and is being a bit useless at telling her so. Obviously the pair need to get their act together, if there’s going to be a happy ending.

While there were some aspects of this story that appealed to me all the way through, I found it hard to connect with any of the characters. Most of the background antagonists felt a bit too stereotypical, and Sydney’s ex-husband came across as alternately triggering and as a cartoon villain. I don’t think I’ll be picking up any of the other books in this series.

Sydney is coming home to Rose Bend, She is now divorced and about to have a baby, She doesn't want to meet anyone but nature has a way of working things out.

Cole is grieving ( I found this hard, if you have lost someone recently you may as well ) He lost his family and is struggling to cope so isn't looking for romance but then he Meets Sydney.

The story takes us through their blossoming friendship and relationship as they learn to deal with their past and work towards their future. It can be slow going in parts but overall a beautiful love story!

The Road to Rose Bend
By Naima Simone
Pub Date April 27 2021
This is a lovely book to read I enjoyed so much. This is a page turn over couldn’t put it down on my kindle read it late some nights as well. I loved the characters they were amazing I loved Sydney and Cole they relationship was lovely. Even though they dealt with they own emotion and grief. The romance was lovely such a brilliant read you enjoy.

I Found this difficult to read and in fact didn’t finish it. It deals with a man and woman, both grieving different losses, and the way they were dealing with their grief. Perhaps my problem was that I have lost somebody close and was grieving too.? Certainly a lot of careful thought had gone into writing it but it’s just not for me at the moment

Sydney returns to her hometown of Rose Bend recently divorced and pregnant. She isn't looking for romance but then she meets Cole. Cole lost his wife and son and is still grieving and isn't sure he is ready for a new relationship.

It took me a while to get into this story. The characters have a lot of pain and grief that they are trying to work through which at times is very difficult to read. The characters did have good chemistry but it took them a while to get together. When they finally did get together we didn't get to spend much time with them as a couple so the ending felt a little rushed.

Overall this was an ok read for me. I liked the couple but I didn't love their romance mainly because it took them such a long time to get together. I did like the small-town setting and I am interested to carry on with the series as I enjoyed the setting and would like to see more from the town.