A coming-of-age romantic mystery -- that takes place, in part, along historic Route 66 -- written by USA TODAY bestselling author Marilyn Brant! Sometimes the only road to the truth...is one you've never taken. "Until I found Gideon's journal in the tool shed -- locked in the cedar box where I'd once hidden my old diary -- I'd been led to believe my brother was dead. But the contents of his journal changed all that." THE ROAD TO DISCOVERY Two years ago, Aurora Gray's world turned upside down when her big brother Gideon and his best friend Jeremy disappeared. Now, during the summer of her 18th birthday, she unexpectedly finds her brother's journal and sees that it's been written in again. Recently. By him. THE ROAD TO DANGER There are secret messages coded within the journal's pages. Aurora, who's unusually perceptive and a natural puzzle solver, is hell bent on following where they lead, no matter what the cost. She confides in the only person she feels can help her interpret the clues: Donovan McCafferty, Jeremy's older brother and a guy she's always been drawn to -- even against her better judgment. THE ROAD TO YOU Reluctantly, Donovan agrees to go with her and, together, they set out on a road trip of discovery and danger, hoping to find their lost brothers and the answers to questions they've never dared to ask aloud. "In that expectant space between silence and melody, our trip began..." **AN EXCERPT FROM CHAPTER ONE** I could count on one hand the things I knew were true about Donovan McCafferty: He was twenty-three -- just over five years older than I was. He'd escaped into the Army at age eighteen and, except for a few quick but memorable visits, hadn't returned to Minnesota until this past winter. He had an excellent mechanical mind. And he made me very nervous. Underneath my skin, every nerve fiber was fast twitching. Just thinking about Donovan always did that to me but, this time, it was also about the trip. I couldn't have been more eager to get on the road to Crescent Cove, and I really didn't want to make a stop at Donovan's workplace. But, awkward though it would be, he knew a few things I didn't and might signal to me (whether he realized it or not) some very useful directions. It was 7:05 p.m. by the time I got to the shop, and I parked a fair distance from the entrance. They closed at seven, but the work light in the back was on and two out of the three garage doors were still open. I knew he was in there. Not because I'd caught even one glimpse of Mr. Tall, Dark and Intense yet, but because the only other car in the lot was a crimson Firebird Trans Am with the giant bird decal in black and gold across the hood. His, of course. I pushed open my car door, grabbed my tote bag with my brother Gideon's journal tucked safely inside and inhaled several lungfuls of the cloying summer air. So early in June and already every breath was wrapped in sticky-sweet bugginess. I didn't make it more than five steps before he came out. A solid, broad-shouldered, six-foot-two mass of frequently impenetrable emotions. Not impenetrable enough this time, though. Even at a distance of half a parking lot, I detected two powerful sensations that crashed, one after the other, into my awareness: One, he was hugely curious about why I was here. And, two, he very much wished I hadn't been. He walked up to me and cleared his throat. "Car trouble, Aurora?" He glanced at my hand-me-down, smoke-blue, five-year-old Buick Century, which had done nothing but purr contentedly during my drives around town. Donovan was the type to have noticed this, so I could tell he knew it wasn't the car. I shook my head. "I need to show you something," I told him. "Privately."
Marilyn Brant has been told she writes with honesty, liveliness and wit (descriptors she's grown terribly fond of) about complex, intelligent women-like her friends-and their significant personal relationships. Although her favorite pursuits undoubtedly involve books, she proves she's not just a literary snob by confessing her lifelong fascination (read: obsession) with popular music, especially from the '70s and '80s, most flavors of ice cream and a variety of sensuous body lotions/oils. As a former teacher, library staff member, freelance magazine writer and national book reviewer, Marilyn has spent much of her life lost in literature. She is the USA TODAY bestselling and award-winning author of eight novels to date and, recently, the Illinois Association of Teachers of English (IATE) selected her as their 2013 Illinois Author of the Year. Her debut coming-of-age/new adult novel, ACCORDING TO JANE (Kensington, 2009), featuring the ghost of Jane Austen giving a young woman dating advice, won the Romance Writers of America's prestigious Golden Heart Award and the Booksellers' Best, and it was named one of the "Top 100 Romance Novels of All Time" by Buzzle.com. Her second novel, FRIDAY MORNINGS AT NINE (Kensington, 2010), was a Doubleday and Book-of-the-Month Club pick in women's fiction. And A SUMMER IN EUROPE (Kensington, 2011) was featured in the Literary Guild and BOMC2, and it became a Top 20 Bestseller in Fiction and Literature for the Rhapsody Book Club. The Polish translation of the novel was released in June 2013. She's also a #1 Kindle and #1 Nook bestseller, who writes fun and flirty romantic comedies, like her stories in THE SWEET TEMPTATIONS COLLECTION, that involve sweet treats and large doses of humor. THE ROAD TO YOU-a coming-of-age/new adult romantic mystery-is her latest release. Be sure to look for more romantic fiction, coming soon! Marilyn currently lives in the Chicago suburbs with her family. When she isn't reading her friends' books or watching old movies, she's working on her next novel, eating chocolate indiscriminately and hiding from the laundry. Please visit her website: www.marilynbrant.com
