The Runaway Wife by Elizabeth Birkelund

NOTE:  Release date of this book for purchase will be July 12, 2016.

WordsAPlenty received from the author a copy of The Runaway Wife by Elizabeth Birkelund in exchange for an honest review.

 

In between jobs, dumped by his fiancé and faced with starting all over, Jim Olsen heads off to the Alps with his best friend.  Captivated by the snow covered Alps and the rigorous climbing Jim is relaxed and ready for the next adventure.  His next adventure is served up to him by three gorgeous French sisters – Clio, Thalia and Helene Castellane.  They implore him and his best friend to search for their missing and most likely runaway mother while they return to their everyday existences.

“We want to save Maman not only from the snow but also from her marriage.  Please, let’s give her one last chance to come down the mountain on her own terms and get on with her life.  Give her the option to escape what awaits her if she returns to Father.”

Complications set in – an impending snow storm, a best friend who is far too smart to get trapped in the snow storm and a politician who is also a cheating husband searching for the missing mother, his wife.

Jim continues the climb searching for the missing woman hoping he can find her and beat the storm to safety.  As with all best laid plans, Jim finds the missing woman named Calliope and nothing is ever the same.  During his encounter with this mysterious Calliope Jim goes through an intense period of self-discovery and learns his priorities have changed.  Calliope challenges Jim to think beyond his boundaries and experience all life has to give him.

“When I met you, he said, looking up at the sky, “it was as if my boat had capsized, and I’d hit freezing water.  I slipped into an unknown world and stopped breathing.”

As with all life changing adventures, there is a cost – will Jim be willing to pay it?

Elizabeth Birkelund has carefully woven a romantic and survival adventure around an age old question.  Her story is written in poetically light words that connect the reader to her characters and the story.  Birkelund uses her words and connection to probe the mind of her readers to question themselves.

 “Every night, he thought, transformed a person in a small way, with the dreams and the tossing and turning of thoughts in the rolling water mill of the mind.  Sleep was not a break from life’s continual sweep.  In it, you were still living life, seeing things you would never see come morning, and it could age you as quickly as daytime.”

Birkelund is a masterful crafter of words; carefully weaving her story pulling the reader in and not letting go for days long after the book has been read.  Her use of dialog is wonderful and light.  Her characters are familiar to her readers as each one has some characteristic or flaw we see in our friends and family.  Birkelund’s story is clever and polished.

I recommend this to anyone who loves adventure with a dash of romance.  Beware though – once you begin, you will not put the book down until the end.

WordsAPlenty gives this book a 5 star review!