When the Road Comes Around

Author: Katie Powner
Genre: Contemporary Fiction
Pages: 352
Release Date: August 5, 2025
Publisher: Bethany House Publishers

Only trouble can bring about the beauty of redemption and grace.

In the small town of Grady, Montana, twenty-four-year-old Tad Bungley has a reputation for trouble. When he lands a job at Come Around Ranch, however, his life seems to take a positive turn. As he develops a soft spot for Sam, the ranch owner's disabled son, and a special bond with TJ, a rescue horse with a poor reputation of his own, Tad becomes determined not to bungle it up this time.

Forty-eight-year-old Anita Wilson is too young to feel so old, but rheumatoid arthritis limits her ability to work on the guest ranch she owns with her husband. It was a risk to hire Tad for the summer, but Anita is convinced he just needs a bit of encouragement to find his footing. What she doesn't anticipate is that Tad's presence at the ranch will change everything, including her relationship with her son. And when Tad finds himself in more of a mess than ever, he and Anita must learn when to hold on, when to let go, and what grace really means.

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Reviewer: Lori Parrish

I just finished this powerful story and Wow! Another wonderful Katie Powner story. I think this one will be my favorite.

I devoured this book in one sitting. This was just so good that I couldn’t put it down. 

Poor Tad. My heart just went out to him. I really hated what people did and said to him. Made me so upset at times.  

Anita is the best kind of character. She’s amazing! I love her ability to keep going no matter what. 

There can never be enough prayers to go around. Lots of praying in this beautiful story. 

There are some not so nice things going on that I didn’t care for. Definitely a lot of misunderstandings and deception, but I loved it all. 

I’m giving this book 5 stars for keeping me entertained all the way through. I simply couldn’t put it down until Tad told me his story. I’m still thinking about him. I hope he gets another story. I’d like to see what happened to him and Charlie. For clarification, Charlie is a nickname, short for Charlotte. Charlie is what made this book special in my heart. Babies are a gift from God. 

For a gentle reminder, everyone deserves grace and chances no matter how many times we goof up. We are human. We have feelings friends. It’s not up to us to judge others. 

In my opinion, that’s the message this book offers. That there’s grace, hope and forgiveness for everyone. 

I hated to see this story end. 

I’ll be adding this to my shelf of favorites!

I received a complimentary copy through Bethany House Publishers through Interviews & Reviews via NetGalley.

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