BOOK CLUB: Long Way Home

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By Nicola Marsh
ISBN: 978-1-4892-8116-6
RRP: $29.99
Publisher: Harper Collins (MIRA)

Long Way Home is a rural romance and a great rainy weekend read.
Ruby Aston left the town she grew up in and never looked back.  She detested the small town mentality and the fact that her Mother and her were often the center of the malicious town gossip. 

Ruby did not fit in at school and was bullied daily by a group of three of the ‘beautiful in crowd’. The taunts and nasty comments came thick and fast when the bullies discovered that the good looking Connor had asked Ruby to be his date for the school dance. 

When things escalated Ruby left town without warning standing Connor up and without his date for dance.  Ruby headed for the city where she could become just one of the crowd. Melbourne became her home and she had no desire to return to her home town at all, but when her Mother passed away she was forced to return for the funeral and to deal with the loose ends of her Mother’s estate.  

Connor and his wealthy family are still living in the small town, and as his Father is ill, Connor is trying hard to prove himself to his Dad.  He has the task of purchasing the towns local and very popular Roadhouse so that the Delaney Corp. can build their big resort and golf course.  Without the Roadhouse the resort won’t be able to be built and that includes the planned new golf course. If he doesn’t acquire the Roadhouse as planned he knows he will have failed his Father.

Ruby’s return to town throws both her life and Connors life into a spin.  The emotions that were there all those years ago are still there just simmering under the surface, but the battle for the Roadhouse adds a big complication.
Is it love or money that wins out in the end?

I found this 368 page book to be a lovely and easy read.  It has its twists and turns without being overly complicated.

A selection of our Beauty and Lace Club Members are reading Long Way Home. You can read their comments below, or contribute to the discussion by leaving your own feedback.

9 thoughts on “BOOK CLUB: Long Way Home

  1. This is such a beautiful rural romance story that will have you turning the pages as soon as read your first page.

    Ruby Aston leaves Brockenridge after being bullied by 3 girls for most of her life. She had planned on going out to their prom with a guy called Connor but that was squashed when the mean girls accused her of stealing. Ruby quietly left her home town and her beautiful mother who ran the local roadhouse.

    Eleven years later Ruby was forced to return home and she was anxious as she knew it would mean seeing the mean girls and Connor who she never explained why she left him standing alone on prom night. She had only planned to stay a short time and return to the city of Melbourne, where she had made another life.

    The storyline is so lovely in that the characters become so familiar to you the reader. It is actually three love stories in the one book. Alisha has always had a mad crush on Harry who works as a chef at the roadhouse but he always pulled away from her. Secrets abound.

    Ruby runs into Connor who has plans to build an 18 hole Golf Course which means his father’s Company wants to buy the roadhouse and pull it down. Deep down he still has feelings for Ruby so a lot of twist and turns amount from this.

    Ruby decides that the roadhouse was important to her mum and the community and decides to go it alone and fight to keep it going.

    Ruby never knew her dad or anything about him and she intends to see if she can find out who he is or was. Her mother talked to her about him and Ruby just thought he was just a passing person at the roadhouse.

    This book had me giggling in some places but then there were the tears. Sad and Happy tears while reading this book. I absolutely loved reading this storyline. The majority of the charactes in the book leave you wanting to read more.

    Thanks Beauty & Lace and Harper Collins & Harlequin Australia for providing this wonderful book for me. To Nicole Marsh I love how you write from the heart with this rural romance and hope to see more in the future.

  2. I quite enjoyed this story. It was a nice, easy read that kept me engaged throughout so it was finished in only a few days. I really felt for the young Ruby who was bullied & tormented so much that she had to leave her mother & her home just to escape the torment that was being put upon her. And that it so badly affected her that she felt she could never return until it was too late.

    I felt that the portrayal of her tormentors 11 years down the track though was a little cliched – how Ruby was the only one to make a success of her life because she escaped the town while the other three ended up having hard lives.

    But ignoring that fact, the stories of the other characters from the Roadhouse fit in nicely with the story & balanced it well.

    Thank you Beauty & Lace and Harper Collins for the opportunity to read this book.

  3. A tormented life lead to Ruby leaving home for Melbourne at 18 years of age and having established a successful career and leave in the city she saw no reason to return home to Brockenridge. However after 11 years she returns to farewell her mother who had passed away. Intending to stay only one night the circumstances of her mother’s will changes things.
    Conner Delaney has a past history with Ruby and suddenly finds himself back home to take over the family development business.
    Conner and Ruby’s paths meet again and with unresolved personal issues simmering and business decisions to be made, this story of rural communities rallying around romance really hit the spot.
    Take into consideration other characters of Clara, Harry and Alisha who all have some personal reasons for being a part of the decisions which Ruby makes.
    A truly genuine novel of rural romance.

    I can’t wait to read more of Nicola Marsh’s novels.

  4. Sometimes it takes a few years before karma can help out and retrieve a horrible situation in to something wonderful. ‘Long Way Home’ by Nicola Marsh tells a story of broken lies and sadness in a small town can after a number of years be faced head on, with the ability to overcome the feelings of loss to create a future of hope and love. Great descriptions of country life and the tangled way to find love and acceptance when coming the long way home. A great easy read for the upcoming summer holidays.
    Thank-you Beauty & Lace and Harper Collins for giving me the opportunity to read and review ‘Long Way Home’ by Nicola Marsh.

  5. What a great, romantic and easy read this one was by Nicola Marsh. I was going through a busy time and this was the perfect book to occupy my brain for 15 minutes before going to bed.

    Ruby Aston left Brockenridge as a teenager – fleeing from bullying at school to live in Melbourne. Ruby returns 11 years later under sad circumstances surrounding her Mum, where she reconnects with Connor – her teenage crush (which failed to go anywhere due to her leaving).

    Ruby’s plan upon her return is to fix the roadhouse previously managed by her Mum and head back to Melbourne, but Connor’s presence changes things. Connor’s family runs the local, very big and well-known construction company which is tasked with developing an 18-hole golf course – right through the path of the Roadhouse. Ruby and Connor struggle to negotiate their business transaction while old flames start to rekindle.

    While we navigate Ruby and Connor’s relationship, there is a simultaneous love story also brewing with two of the Roadhouse staff.

    Given the title on Goodreads is Brockenridge #1 – I look forward to seeing what else there is to come.

    Thanks to Beauty and Lace and Harper Collins for the opportunity to read and review this book.

  6. Thanks to you all for taking the time to read and review LONG WAY HOME.
    So glad you enjoyed it.

    Book 2, SECOND CHANCE LANE, will release next year and features Tash (with a very sexy Aussie rockstar hero!) and Jane’s stories (with all the familiar cast and a few new ones.)
    And we get to see how the ‘mean’ girls take back control of their lives!

  7. I am honoured I was chosen to review Long Way Home. I started reading while I was on holiday and let’s just say the whole day was gone!

    I felt like I was part of the story with every page turn. I fell in love with the characters and felt everything they felt.

    This book was extremely well written leaving you wanting more!
    I cannot wait to read Second Chance Lane

  8. This was a lovely read and the perfect excuse to relax for a while. It didn’t take long for me to become engrossed in the characters, their lives and the entwining stories.

    Ruby returns to the town of her youth after 11 years in the city. Life in the small country town she grew up was in Ruby’s plans, but life has a way of changing what you plan when you least expect it. Returning to this town after the death of her mum gives Ruby the chance for love and friendships to re-connect and develop and allows Ruby the opportunity to do some good in the community.
    Connor was the local rich boy who didn’t want to be part of the family business. Family has also caused his return to town, but although he joins the family business, he is firm in his desire to do things in his own way.
    This was a good read to the end – amusing, sad, relatable, but most of all enjoyable and I look forward to further books aligned to this original story.
    Thank you to Beauty & Lace and Harper Collins for the chance to read Long Way Home. I looking forward to reading further novels from Nicola Marsh.

  9. Thank you to Nicola Marsh, Harper Collins and Beauty and Lace for the opportunity to read Long Way Home.

    This book had me hooked from the first few pages until the very end. An easy read that I would definitely recommend!

    Looking forward to the release of the second book in 2020, will definitely want to read that!

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