When Michelle Preston is widowed she is financially comfortable, but has no family and no purpose in life. This is in the present time, 2010.

She ponders what road her life would have gone if she had not married her child hood sweetheart but followed her own career preferences.

An adventure triggered at a class reunion sees Michelle back in 1978. She manages to get a job at her old high school and meets her teenage self and friends form that time.

In an attempt to save one of her friends she turns history and her family becomes the threatened ones. Michelle must do what she can to again turn things around.

Unlike the other John Heldt books I have read I didn’t immediately warm to Michelle but as the story progresses I came to both like and admire her and was very happy she found love and happiness she deserved. But how do things finally turn out? Like other the John Heldt books I didn’t pick the ending and I’m not going to tell you.

Her second chance at life gives Michelle the opportunities to not only find love, save friends but also live a meaningful life surrounded by those most dear. Michelle has to make decisions most people would have difficulty making.

The Journey combines not only interesting characters, great storyline and attention to detail; it also triggers a mix of emotions and reactions from the reader. It is not just heartrendingly emotional, the humour is delightful and even a character from The Mine makes a ‘cameo’ appearance.

Like many readers of John Heldt books, I now have a new favourite author.

This review is also available on my website www.pam.id.au
( )

Although this book can be classed as scifi it reads more line a contemporary romance. The protagonist 49yr Michelle, make the decision to go to a 30yr school reunion after her husband dies unexpectedly. During the reunion she is literally transported back to her teenage years.
I enjoyed the story, although at times the dialogue seemed a little stilted, but all in all a nice easy read tale that crosses between the different generations

( )

Recently widowed and visiting her hometown of Unionville, Oregon, Michelle Preston is stunned when she exits the small room of the abandoned mansion to discover it is no long 2010, but 1979 and she’s all alone. She decides to make the best of things since re-entering the room that caused the initial time travel didn’t work again.

Michelle works at solving the mystery of other people she has heard about who have disappeared that have lived at the abandoned mansion. She makes some intriguing discoveries and decides to help her younger self make some different choices in life.

This story drew me in right from the first page. I wanted to know how Michelle was going to pass herself off at 48 as someone from 30 years in the past with no identification, residence, or work history. In 1979 she had been in high school. She couldn’t even use her own name. This was a small town. People would’ve known something very strange was going on.

This was a sweet story about friendships and mentors, love and companionship. Obviously it is not something that could happen because one small change in history would change so many things in the future. However, it is a fascinating thing to think about “what if I had done this, instead of that? How would my life have turned out?”

I liked the personality of Michelle. She was very helpful and kind. It was not until Michelle saw her teenage sweetheart (that she eventually married) interacting with her teenage self clearly for who he was. There were some fun twists that even Michelle wasn’t aware of until she became privy to the secrets as confidant of most of the seniors at the high school.

I loved the way the author wove real historical events into the story. These events made the story seem much more realistic.

The twist at the end of the story was both sad and heartwarming. For some it will cause a few tears to fall. But there is joy too, so you’ll have to decide where to focus your attention. Not all stories have a perfect ending, but this one had a great one.

I heartily recommend this time travel romance novel. It was an excellent escape read. I rated it 5 stars out of 5.

Thank you to the author for providing a copy of the book in exchange for a fair and honest review. A positive opinion is not required. All thoughts are my own.

To see my complete review, visit Shelf Full of Books http://kathrynsshelffullofbooks.blogspot.com/2015/06/book-review-journey-by-john... ( )

Too slow-moving for me, and not realistic enough - the main character's reactions to being thrown back in time seemed to switch from complete ignorance to complete acceptance very quickly. ( )

The Journey by John Heldt
This story is about Michelle and her friends who are at a class reunion and they go to explore the old house up on the hill.
Michelle has gone off by herself and found a room with a stairway that leads down to a wine cellar. On her way back up the door closes and when she comes out she's in a different year, back in her hometown.
She uses her head and pawns her wedding ring, gets a job at the high school and rents an apartment. She has ventured back to her old neighborhood where she spies on herself and her friends of her childhood.
What I like about this is the locale as I am familiar with Eugene Oregon area. Travels to Mt. St. Helens was memorable and will be revisited here.
Thought the book would be confusing going back and forth in time but it's not at all. Not sure what my feelings are to her telling others of the future and them doing things differently with the knowledge...
Love finding out more details as to the numerous disappearances and the number aspect of this...it helps you understand why she does some things...
Amazed at who she meets next that also knows her and what she's up to....terrified to hear of what she gave up for others...
I received this book from the author in exchange for my honest review. ( )