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 … 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?
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Tess Hartsong is a thirty-five year old widow. It’s been almost two years since she lost her husband, Travis but she still can’t seem to get on with her life. Tess decides to move to Tempest, Tennessee on Runaway Mountain to get away from everything and try to heal. Living in a run down cabin on the mountain in the middle of no where, Tess is trying. While dancing outside in the cold in her pjs in the middle of the night, she is interrupted by a big, burly, mountain of a man. Turns out he is Ian Hamilton North IV, the renowned artist. Ian’s “wife” quickly shows up too. Turns out she is Bianca Jensen, a former model and she is about eight months pregnant. Bianca quickly attaches herself to Tess. When Bianca goes into premature labor, they summon Tess, who is an experienced midwife. When things don’t exactly as planned, Tess finds herself with a new job, taking care of newborn baby girl, Wren.
As Tess and Ian spend more time together, she starts to realize that he is not the monster that she first thought him to be and she realizes that he has many demons from his past. Can these two emotionally broken individuals find a common ground because of a baby? Just when it looks like Ian and Tess may have found a new happiness, their worlds come crashing down around them. It will take a lot of soul searching on both of their parts to get past their internal demons so they can find their happy ever after, but they both eventually do it.
I really enjoyed this story. The beginning was a little confusing, but once I got into the story I couldn’t put it down. I really loved Tess. She was stuck in her life because the loss of her husband, but she did really try. I also really loved how Tess and Ian both just got each other. It was fun watching them go from acquaintances to something more. Overall, another great story from Susan Elizabeth Phillips.
This was my first book by this author and I’ll definitely be reading her others. I loved the banter between the main characters, Tess and Ian. A great story set in the Tennessee mountains with great character development. I listened to this on Audible and the narrator did an excellent job.
When I first started reading this I was a little concerned that SEP was taking me somewhere I wasn’t really sure I wanted to go. I should have known better. This is classic SEP with a few twists. A heroine you can definitely root for and a hero to make you swoon. Both are classic SEP and take bit of prodding to figure out what is right in front of them the whole time.
I always look forward to new Susan Elizabeth Phillips books, but I have to admit this one was not my favorite. There wasn’t as much wit as usual, and the characters had some very deep emotional issues. It’s still definitely worth reading, but I likely won’t be rereading it every few years the way I do some of her books.
Dance Away With Me by Susan Elizabeth Phillips
There’s a reason this author is continually on The NY Times bestseller lists. It includes phenomenal writing, multi-dimensional characters and a story to invest your emotions and time in reading.
This story includes a street artist learning to let go of his anger, a widow learning to live with her grief and learning to live and love again. And a small town learning to encompass change.
Overly dramatic? I will admit to shedding some tears in a couple of the emotional scenes.
A story of family, renewal, and accepting change.
I loved it. It is darker than the usual by this author.
I won an early copy of this book from the publisher through a reader conference.
4.5 rounded up.
Susan Elizabeth has caught my attention with this book. Her way of giving details of scenes in the book with big words, helps me stay focus to the point of the book. She explains the story in simplest form without these drawn out details that have no relation to the point that she is trying to make, at the time in the story. The story was light. It was heart warming and the story was far from being boring.
Tess and Ian suffer almost the same tragic stories.I love Tess, I don’t care attitude. I like when she told the man that she will not sell him cigarettes. Then she gave the man the riot act of the leading cause of death to smoking. There are other things that Tess does that pushes the envelope with Phish her boss, but she does them out of she feels that she doing her part in helping that person lead a healthier life.
I feel that Tess is suffering from depression over the loss of her husband and this is also the reason why I think that she is trying to be everyone’s savior. Ian, he expresses himself through his painting. He’s suffering from not knowing how to socialize with another human being. He comes from an abusive background where he has no one to turn to. I also think that he is attracted to Tess, from the first moment that he saw her.
I think this is why he doesn’t want her around Bianca, but with Tess’s I don’t care attitude. She continues to befriend Bianca. Poor Bianca, I think that she is clues by all that is happening around her. But she has a big heart and that is why Tess continues to be her friend. These characters are thrown together through some of their most difficult times.
Susan invites into this world with the help of the story to see how they fin d their ways back to themselves. I voluntary reviewed this ARC after receiving a free gifted copy.
The author drew me in and kept me there while telling the story of Tess and Ian who both moved to the mountains in a small town to find peace and something more. Her journey of pain and loss from her husband’s death to finding acceptance and a new kind of life. His artistic, troubled and emotionally held in journey to finding himself and learning to open up to others. So many people who interrupt to cause pain, love, humanity and add so much more to the story. Laughed, cried, smiled. Terrific writing. Recommend highly.