Get Your Copy The Long Road Home Authored By Mary Alice Monroe Available In Online Book

is a rerelease of a book written before Monroes Beach House series, Some stilted dialogue and a pretty predictable story make it just ok, Her writing has gotten so much better since this book, After Nora MacKenzie's husband Mike's suicide, and the overwhelming debts threaten to turn her world upside down, she escapes to the Vermont sheep farmthe one holding she has managed to salvageand the promise of a new future.


A mysterious man has taken up residence at the farm as a hired hand, And "C. W. " somehow manages to gain her trust over the months that follow, despite her initial resistance, as he teaches her how to run the farm and learn how to navigate this new life.


Back in New York, the attorneys that are in charge of the MacKenzie estate arrange the upcoming auction that will either bring in enough to clear her debts.
. . or not.

Meanwhile, what effect will the secrets C, W. is keeping from Nora have on her plight, and will these doom their budding relationship Will the trust she has placed in him be her undoing

The long journey toward love, hope, and a new life can lead to joy or it can turn into another disappointment.


I thoroughly enjoyed the story of Nora and C, W. , and kept turning the pages as the characters made one choice after another that could have turned out well or badly, The characters were very real and likeable, and there was that hint of mystery that kept the story from being just a romance, Themes of right vs. wrong, peace vs. chaos filled the pages and created a tale that will hold the interest of anyone who loves these kinds of issues,

Four. Some parts of the story, like the detailed descriptions of farming and financial maneuvering, were a little tedious, but not enough to spoil my enjoyment of "The Long Road Home.
" Mary Alice Monroe has a lovely way of taking her readers into a world they

may not know and making them feel as if they have lived there their while lives.
This book is no exception, even though this world is a Vermont sheep farm rather than the low country of the south, Nora and C. W. 's story is captivating. Wow! This book was great, I couldn't put it down, The main male character in this book was brilliant, meaning the author is brilliant! I wish I could think of plans like the one in this book, Wow, just wow. I definitely recommend this book to anyone who likes a good novel, Sure, there were parts that were cliched and predictable, but overall the book had a great storyline that was unpredictable and the writing style was one that made me not care that it was a little predictable here and there.
A long read, but well worth all the pages, I absolutely loved all the twists turns and plotlines, There was a wealth of characters, but each unique and added a little piece to the story,

I was captivated to the very end hoping that it would all work out like I assumed, I loved how a part of the story was sort of predictable, but there were still a few spots where I was completely surprised, For the life of me, I can't think of anything critical that I would say to improve the book, There may have been a few descriptions that I would have ommitted, but nothing was excessive, I felt that the characters were real and the situation could honestly happen to any widow,

As for those I would recommend this read to definitely a read for the women folk, I would not pass this onto the younger crowd, they would not relate well to Nora and the trials that she endures, but most women would enjoy the drama and romance of the book.
As I continue reading Mary Alice Monroe in this stayathome world, I just finished The Long Road Home that displays life in New York City and in the state of Vermont.
Nora MacKenzies husband, Mike commits suicide in front of banker Charles Walker Blair and Noras world plummets out of control, In the flash of a gun, the glitzy life of a pampered society lady turns to a life of hardship in the wild, chilly mountains of Vermont, Nora has only this primitive and unfinished house and acres of pasture and sheep to keep the wolves at bay, This is a story of new friendships forged and trust restored, and love awakened, The story is beautifully written, but the events and outcomes of the story are predictable, I've loved every Mary Alice Monroe book I've read so I'm on a mission to read them all, I didn't think anything would top the summer girls series or beach house series, but I believe this was my favorite so far, Just so well written. The characters are described so well that you almost feel as though you know them,.This is a sweet story, Certainly no literary masterpiece but then it wasnt meant to be, I loved the characters and their zest for the good and the simple life, I enjoyed the book. Mike MacKenzie commits suicide in his banker's office, His wife, Nora MacKenzie find out he is just about bankrupt, She options to take over the sheep farm in Vermont, over a cash settlement, She meets CW, a hired hand on the farm, CW helps her figure out how to make the farm more profitable, They are falling in love,
A year after Mike's death, Nora auctions off all her art, furniture, etc in NYC to pay off her remaining bills,
CW, who is really the banker, Charles Walker Blair, discovers someone at the bank loaned Mike money, using CW's name, He returns to NYC to save his reputation and Nora's farm, Mary Alice Monroes first book, Her style has changed somewhat, but she has always been an excellent writer, I cant help but wonder what brought her from the mountains of Vermont to the shores of the Carolinas where her books are now set, but thats only for me to enjoy, not really to ponder.


For a book that begins with a suicide in a bankers office in New York City to travel high to a sheep farm in rural Vermont with a few masterful clicks of the keyboard before you are really sure of all that is happening is a sign that Mary Alice Monroe was going places in a hurry.
Nora, the widow of the man who shot himself in the bankers office, chose to take the land and house in Vermont in her part of the bankruptcy settlement in the financial mess her husband saddled her with, a move that turned out to be very wise indeed.


What Nora found there were Seth, the old farmer and property caretaker who took her under his wing his several grown children: Frank and Junior Sarah and the talented but mysterious Esther his sister May with all her Ailments and, AND, C.
W. The drifter farmhand who doesnt quite fit the role and who has an attractive something that she absolutely does not need right now,

Together, the stoic Vermonters, who warm to Noras genuineness and lack of big city airs, and C, W. Help her get the sheep farm “bedded down” for the winter, She learns about birthing lambs and bottlefeeding the frail ones who need supplements and learns to think of the sheep as commodities rather than just cute little animals.
She owes so much money and there is so much work to be done that it is overwhelming, but C, W. Goes over her books with her day by day and has other plans in mind as to how to save the farm, behind the scenes plans,

Big business, intrigue, a nasty stepmother, and some backcountry love make this book more than interesting, It has a lot going for it, and the pages turn quickly to see what happens next, Not believable, the characters are up, down, and all over the place, but the worst is that the heroine, Nora, is too weak and hystrionic to root for.
And speaking of rooting, not advisable to write this about your main female character:

"Nora snuggled deeper into the crook of his arm, rooting for security as eagerly as did the runt.
" referring to a runt lamb they'd witnessed earlier, a pathetic baby animal rejected by its mommy,

Note to future authors: having your pathetic, needy main character in a romance novel rooting in a man's chest/embrace like a runt lamb is not a good look.


Also see highlights, A true jewel that I found at the library! Just became familiar with Mary Alice Monroe a few years ago, I didn't realize this was her first book! I was mesmerized by her books about the Lowcountry in South Carolina, This book did not disappoint and it had a different setting, A great read. It was hard to put down! Felt I was living the story!!!! an author who writes very well about all kinds of problems and how the characters in her books solve them.

I love this author, this book is about a woman who relocates to Vermont to the sheep farm after her husband has used all his money and others and commits suicide leaving her with nothing.
The workers at the farm really are her family now and pitch in at any time to help out, She finds out that one is not who she thought he was and he goes out of his way to change the things that happened in the past to clear her husbands name and the debts.
Really great nature scenes that as a northeastern I treasure,
Fairly forgettable plot. You know that they will end up happily living on the sheep farm together, However, this is a Harlequin, so props to the author for having any plot at all,

The salto'theearth neighbors apparently lived in the's while Nora and CW lived in the's, Probably left behind because they're not "quality, "

In,,andacres of land with most of a house and a viable business on it wasn't exactly the poorhouse, Not too shabby in, either,

Someera sexist tidbits:
Mike is a total asshole but she loves him and doesn't believe in divorce
brotherinlaw gets the family bank, sister is more qualified to run the bank but doesn't want to be more powerful than her husband so gets the ancestral home
heroine is standing in the path of a falling tree and has to be rescued by the hero
ostensibly adult hero has a jealous temper tantrum over heroine dancing at a dance with a gasp man

Surprises:
a mouse was in her bed and ran across her face and she didn't acquire a dozen cats the next day there was also no lovable scamp of a dog in the story
there was no bit at the end where his fortune pays to complete thestory,bedroom "big house" ew, shades of plantation life
there was no bit at the end where his fortune pays for new sheep
there was no bit at the end where she's pregnant so, you know, we all know she's a "real woman" after all
she was still driving the Volvo at the end buy a truck, madam, you need four wheel drive for the damn hill that you persist in thinking is a metaphor for your life
the ram/ewe mating scene what was that all about the long road home by mary alice monroe: an author who writes very well about all kinds of problems and how the characters in her books solve them.

I love this author, this book is about a woman who relocates to vermont to the sheep farm after her husband has used all his money and others and
commits suicide leaving her with nothing.
the workers at the farm really are her family now and pitch in at any time to help out, she finds out that one
is not who she thought he was and he goes out of his way to change the things that happened in the past to clear her husbands name an the debts.

really great nature scenes that as a northeastern i treasure,
I enjoyed reading "Long Road Home" mainly because of Mary Alice Monroe's writing style, Although there are a lot of characters she introduce them and the continued flow makes for a easy read, Nora was a brave and courageous woman after her husband's suicide she was left holding hims debts which were way up in the Billions, Nora gave up everything except for a sheep farm in Vermont, The courage comes in when she has to learn how to take care of Ewes with no knowledge of farm life coming from New York City, Nora mets the hired hand CW Charles Walker to Nora but to the people that know him he Charles Walker Blair a wealthy banker, Long story short Nora and CW end up falling in love, but CW has secrets of who he is and why he is on the farm that he is holding from Nora.
This could destroy there relationship for ever, I enjoyed Seth's character he was the voice of wisdom and his sister May was a funny character, I don't know how a figured that Esther had slept with Nora's husband before it was said, but I knew she was treating her mean for a reason.
Poor John Henry he really loved Esther but she never really loved him, Her passion was art she loved to paint and wanted nothing more than to move to New York to live out her dream, Mary brings all of these character's to life and I was truly reading with interest to see what was going to become of them, .