The Runaway Wife by Elizabeth Birkelund

Happy Monday! Today I'm a stop on the TLC blog tour for Elizabeth Birkelund's The Runaway Wife.

Jim had never had time for a vacation, but after being laid off and broken up with it seemed like time. So he and his friend Ambrose took a trip to the Swiss Alps to hike and enjoy the scenery in the days before Jim was to begin a new job. 

On one of their last nights there, though, the men are approached by three sisters hoping to enlist the help of someone to find their mother. It seems the woman ran off after finding out one of her husband's mistresses had a child. And that, it seems, was the breaking point for Calliope Castellane. The sisters fear their mother will be lost or injured traveling the Alps on her own and Jim, who has more time to spare than Ambrose, agrees to take up the search on his own. The journey will be one fraught with danger - one misstep or turn of the weather could spell disaster and Jim is not what anyone would consider experienced. But it's also a journey that will give Jim time to think and maybe  also give him a chance to be a hero. 

The Runaway Wife wasn't quite what I expected. It sounded quirky - and at times it was. It also sounded as though it might be a bit light or humorous, which it turned out not really to be at all.

Jim has had his heart broken. His trip gives him plenty of time to ponder over the loss of his five year relationship with the woman he'd planned to marry. Playing the knight for three attractive sisters, then, is a welcome distraction for the man but he definitely didn't expect or prepare for the mess he'd get himself into on the mountain.

Nor did he truly prepare for Calliope, who turns out to be something of a force to be reckoned with.

But after all of that I'm not actually sure that I was satisfied with how the story wrapped up for everyone involved. In Jim's case, yes. But Calliope's story progression is one that definitely left me wanting.

I won't spoil the end but I'd be interested to see if others feel the same.

To see more stops on the tour be sure to check out the official TLC tour page here. For more on Elizabeth Birkelund and her work you can like her on Facebook.

Purchase Links: HarperCollins | Amazon | Barnes & Noble