Dance Away with Me

by Susan Elizabeth Phillips

Overview

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? 

Product Details

ISBN-13:	9780062973054
Publisher:	HarperCollins Publishers
Publication date:	06/09/2020
Pages:	400
Sales rank:	1,179,574
Product dimensions:	6.00(w) x 9.10(h) x 1.50(d)

About the Author

Susan Elizabeth Phillips is a New York Times, Publisher’s Weekly, and USA Today bestselling author, known for her lighthearted, sparkling, and addictive contemporary romance novels which include the Chicago Stars series, the Wynette, Texas series, and multiple stand-alone books. She has published more than twenty books including It had to be You, First Star I See Tonight, and Dance Away with Me. Her novels have been published in more than 30 languages and appear on bestseller lists worldwide. Visit Susan’s website at www.susanelizabethphillips.com.

Hometown:

Chicago, Illinois

Place of Birth:

Cincinnati, Ohio

Education:

B.F.A., Ohio University

Website:

http://www.susanephillips.com

Editorial Reviews

★ 03/16/2020

Two people determined to withdraw from society instead discover the power of human connection in this deeply felt romance from Phillips (First Star I See Tonight). Midwife Tess Hartsong retreats to remote Runaway Mountain, Tenn., following the death of her husband. While letting loose with a cathartic one-person dance party, Tess provokes the anger of Ian North, a reclusive artist who just moved nearby and confronts Tess over the volume of her music. He’s quickly followed by the pregnant Bianca, who introduces herself as Ian’s wife and strikes up an easy friendship with Tess. When Bianca goes into early labor with no time to get to the hospital, Ian calls upon Tess’s help in a tense, deeply emotional scene that ends with Bianca’s death. Ian hires Tess to help take care of the premature baby and, despite her best efforts, Tess can’t help getting attached to the newborn. Raising the baby together while facing a firestorm of town gossip, Tess and Ian grow close and open up about their secrets, among them the true nature of Ian and Bianca’s relationship. Phillips layers this poignant love story with robust descriptions of mountain scenery and society, and a well-handled subplot about Tess’s fight for comprehensive sex education for the town’s teens. This stirring romance is sure to capture readers’ hearts. Agent: Steve Axelrod, the Axelrod Agency. (June)

Publishers Weekly

"...deeply felt romance...Phillips layers this poignant love story with robust descriptions of mountain scenery and society, and a well-handled subplot about Tess’s fight for comprehensive sex education for the town’s teens. This stirring romance is sure to capture readers’ hearts." — Publishers Weekly (starred review)

"In this superbly written stand-alone, this master storyteller's flair for highly imaginative plots and flawless characterization are on full display, resulting an emotionally enriching, breathtakingly brilliant tale of heartbreak and hope... lively writing liberally laced with multiple layers of delicious wit and snarky charm." — Booklist (starred review)

"Ian and Tess are pitch-perfect in this sweet and sizzling stand-alone story from best-selling Phillips." — Library Journal

From the Publisher

"In this superbly written stand-alone, this master storyteller's flair for highly imaginative plots and flawless characterization are on full display, resulting an emotionally enriching, breathtakingly brilliant tale of heartbreak and hope... lively writing liberally laced with multiple layers of delicious wit and snarky charm."

Booklist (starred review)

05/01/2020

After unexpectedly losing her 35-year-old husband to pneumonia, Tess Hartsong flees to a ramshackle cabin in the Tennessee mountains. She can't face all the pitying looks and well-meaning platitudes anymore. She's left her life as a midwife behind and plans on loudly dancing away her emotions on the mountain—until a handsome neighbor screams at her to turn down the music. The neighbor turns out to be famous street artist Ian North, who has fled to the mountain in order to work in solitude. Instead, he has to contend with a half-naked dancing woman and his longtime friend Bianca, who is pregnant. When Bianca goes into labor early and a storm prevents her from getting to the hospital, Tess is forced to use her midwife skills again and ends up being persuaded to help care for the preemie. Soon Tess finds herself becoming attached to baby Wren, prickly Ian, and the small town that needs her outspokenness. VERDICT While the multiple rare medical conditions that drive the plot may strain credulity, Ian and Tess are pitch-perfect in this sweet and sizzling stand-alone story from best-selling Phillips (First Star I See Tonight). [See Prepub Alert, 12/9/19.]—Melissa DeWild, Comstock Park, MI

Library Journal