The Map That Leads to You

June 1, 2017

Heather realizes it's a cliche graduate from college, head to Europe with friends, and meet a cute guy. But when she gazes into Jack's eyes, she just can't look away. Dubious about the idea of love at first sight, Heather tries fending him off with barbed insults and flat-out rudeness. But she likes him too much. Heather and Jack have their first kiss on the train platform in Amsterdam. In Berlin they make love. In Switzerland they find the exact spot where Jack's grandfather stood in 1946. After Paris, the plan was to fly back to the States together. But things go wrong. Romance fans could hardly hope for a more luxurious love story. Heather and Jack share plenty of sensuous moments, and their banter is smart and funny. Even skeptical Heather has to admit that the universe seems to be bending around them, creating a romance that seems too wonderful to be true. Readers will be as stunned as Heather when Jack doesn't show up for the flight home. On the plane ride back, Heather finds Jack's grandfather's journal in her bag. Is the relationship between her and Jack really over? Debut author Monninger expertly captures Heather's emotional devastation; readers who love romance novels with a bittersweet twist will cling to every word. VERDICT Recommended for fans of Kristin Hannah and Nicholas Sparks.-Diane Colson, formerly at City College, Gainesville, FL

Copyright 2017 School Library Journal, LLC Used with permission.

May 1, 2017
Monninger's bittersweet love story describes one heady summer that changes a young woman's life forever. Heather and her two best college friends, Amy and Constance, are enjoying a post-graduation backpacking trip across Europe before they begin their careers back home. Aboard the train to Amsterdam, Heather meets Jack, a Vermonter who's traveling across Europe by following his grandfather's post-WWII journal. The two forge an instant connection, as does Constance with Jack's Australian friend, Raef. They change their plans to travel together, and Heather and Jack fall in love, even as their differing natures cause conflict. Jack is critical of the soulless finance job Heather has waiting for her in New York City but agrees to come back with her. When he abandons her at the airport, along with his grandfather's journal, Heather is left searching for answers, leading to a fairly predictable yet certainly satisfying conclusion. Monninger's debut novel will strike a chord with fans of Nicholas Sparks' sweeping and sentimental tales.(Reprinted with permission of Booklist, copyright 2017, American Library Association.)