When the Road Comes Around

An August 2025 Reading Is a Lifestyle Subscription Book Pick.

For fans of Fredrik Backman, small-town stories, middle-age characters, redemption arcs, and second chances, a clean, gently humorous contemporary novel by Katie Powner set near the mountains of rural Montana.

Tad Bungley has a reputation for trouble, but Anita Wilson believes that all Tad needs is a chance, so she convinces her husband to offer Tad a job at their ranch. She didn’t anticipate the effect Tad would have on her disabled son, and together Anita and Tad must learn when to hold on, when to let go, and how to embrace grace.

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.