Publisher: Harper Audio / William Morrow
Published: June 9, 2020
Source: Audio via Library / Print: Hardcover via Publisher
Summary:
At long last, the legendary New York Times bestselling author returns with a heartfelt novel of womanhood, a wild heart, and the healing power of love.
Run, run, as fast as you can!
When life throws her one setback too many, midwife and young widow Tess Hartsong takes off for Runaway Mountain. In this small town high in the Tennessee mountains, surrounded by nature, she hopes to outrun her heartbreak and find the solace she needs to heal.
But instead of peace and quiet, she encounters an enigmatic artist with a craving for solitude, a fairy-tale sprite with too many secrets, a helpless infant, a passel of curious teens, and a town suspicious of outsiders, especially one as headstrong as Tess. Just as headstrong, is Ian North, a difficult, gifted man with a tortured soul—a man who makes Tess question everything.
In running away to this new life, Tess wonders— Has she lost herself . . . or has she found her future?
My thoughts:
It has been a long time since I’ve picked up a book by Susan Elizabeth Phillips. I remember reading, and loving, her Chicago Stars and Wynette, Texas series – and I think I have some catching up to do in the Chicago Stars series because if I’m not mistaken, she’s written a few new ones in the last few years. But, this one is a stand-alone and I’m so glad I finally got to it because I loved it! It has all the trademarks I remember from her earlier books and has me longing to read more of her.
This story grabbed right from the get-go, and while it definitely has it’s moments of sadness, there is so much more to it than that. This book is such a beautiful, emotional journey about overcoming grief and learning to find yourself again. It’s learning to let go of who you think you need to be and finding who you want to be. And it’s learning to stand up for yourself and the rights of others even when so many are against you.
I fell in love with these characters and even though I had an inkling where things would ultimately end up – it is a romance after all – I was all about the journey, which I loved! That is why I read these types of books, even though I don’t read a ton of them. But the journey that Tess and Ian take is filled with many obstacles and they have lots of bumps along the way.
I really enjoyed this book and this only reinforced my love of this author’s writing. I definitely plan to revisit her backlist and catch up on those books I missed in the Chicago Stars series and see what else she has written that I might have missed.
Audio thoughts:
This was such a great book to listen to and I thought Nicole Poole did a fantastic job bringing the book to life. She gave the characters unique voices and personalities to make them stand out and I really enjoyed the way she told the story. I think this is the first book I’ve listened to of SEP and I am definitely going to see if I can get others of hers on audio – it really translated well.
