The Map That Leads to You

J. P. Monninger

Jun 2017 · Macmillan + ORM

About this ebook

“Romantic and unforgettable.” —Nicholas Sparks

Two strangers take the road less traveled...

Heather Mulgrew’s world is already mapped out: she is going to travel abroad with her friends after college, come back to a great career in September, and head into a life where not much is left to chance. But that was before an encounter on an overnight train introduces her to Jack, a passionate adventurer who changes the course of her journey and her life.

Throwing Heather's careful itinerary to the wind, they follow Jack's grandfather's journal through post-World War II era Europe: Vienna, Budapest, Turkey—exotic places that serve only to heighten their feelings. As September looms, Jack urges Heather to stay with him, to keep traveling, to give in to the romance of their experience; Heather convinces him to return to the United States.

Jack has a secret that could change everything. And Heather’s world is about to be shaken to the core.

J.P. Monniger's The Map That Leads to You is a breathtaking novel about love, loss, and the best-laid plans that are meant to be broken.

Ratings and reviews

Heather has her whole life planned out and after college she is entering the corporate world and plans to make it ‘big’ in New York. After college graduation, she and her two best friends take a summer long vacation, touring Europe - making memories and most of all have fun before life intervenes and responsibilities are imminent. Jack is also touring Europe, but he is following his grandfather’s journal in which he recorded his travels after WWII. The site’s his grandfather visited could not be found in any tour guide, and they are all off the well-traveled roads, but Jack needs to take this journey to understand more of his grandfather. When Heather and Jack meet on a train, neither could imagine how well they would ‘click’. As the two travel together, they never imagined that they would fall in love – making plans for the future and treasuring each moment that they are together. With such a romantic story, I just knew that something tragic would happen, and I kept waiting for it – even having a box of tissues nearby, you know…just in case. Heather and Jack were just perfect together, and I could feel the love that they shared and I did not want anything interring with that love. While I won’t spoil the story for anyone, something did happen and it was tragic, but in the end the whole story was just so tragically beautiful, my heart was both happy and sad but amazingly enough I was completely satisfied with this love story and only happy tears fell from my eyes. Jack had given Heather hope and taught her to trust that life held surprises if she allowed it to reveal itself. She didn’t need photographs or social media posts to clutter her life. She just needed to give herself to the situation – live in the moment and love every minute of that moment. That was Jack’s great lesson and one she would hold dear to her heart for her the rest of her life. I absolutely LOVED this story! The Map That Leads to You is an utterly exquisite story. It’s romantic without being cheesy and is a story that will remain in my thoughts and in my heart for quite some time. The author’s writing is like a well-orchestrated symphony – the words flowing effortlessly and beautifully throughout. With stunning attention to details and vivid descriptions, it was so easy to become engrossed in the story and I found myself completely captivated with each and every word. The Map That Leads to You is a really sweet and touching story that is by far my most favorite book this year. J.P. Monniger truly has an amazing talent and is destined to take the literary world by storm with his outstanding storytelling abilities. Mr. Monniger is an author that will now be on my radar and I can’t wait to see what he presents his readers next. If this one book is any indication I have a feeling it will be epic! I am giving this book 5 well deserved stars but really that is just not enough for this book because it was just that amazing.

I received an e-copy of this ebook for my honest review. This book had the same effect on me that John Green’s “The Fault In Our Stars” had. No, I take that back. This book had more of an effect on me. With John Green’s book I knew after a few chapters that things may not end well, and I cried. But, it was at The End of that book that I had a book hangover and an ugly cry. In this book I didn’t realize how bad things were until the last chapter of Part 1. And that is when I had an ugly cry. By the time I was three quarters through Part 2 was when I had my Big Ugly Cry. At the end, I had my book hangover, and another Big, Big Ugly Cry. I am getting this book in print, because this is one of those books that you have to have. You need it so you can hold it, touch the pages, and press against you when you have the Big Ugly Cry. This is one of those books that you get so, when you need to, you can have a Big Ugly Cry. It’s a book you’ll have with you until the end of your days. It is That Good!

About the author

J.P. MONNINGER, author of The Map That Leads to You, is an award-winning writer in New England and Professor of English at Plymouth State University.