The Runaway Wife, Rowan Coleman

The Runaway Wife
Rowan Coleman
ISBN: 9781476725239
Slice-of-life "finding yourself " romance set in England/Scotland.
Read July 22, 2014

I actually read a grownup book start to finish!  It's been a long, busy, internet-distracted summer.

Rose had a rough life.  Her alcoholic father walked out when she was nine, her mother walked into the ocean when she was 16, and she walked down the aisle with the first man who told her she was beautiful.  He was an abusive creeper, natch.  Now she's 31, has a daughter of her own, and after her husband finally crosses the line (her lines were set way the hell too far back, by the way) she's run away to her "picture postcard fantasy" village where she hopes to meet one man she has built up in her mind into being a prince charming.  Predictable heart-warming slushy read.


Good characters:  Maddie, John (before he went all soft and squishy), Jenny and Brian the B&B owners, poor Ted.

Less developed characters: Rose herself (a bit of a problem when she's the reason for the story), Prince Charming, Richard the evil doctor husband, Shona.

Good bits: Rose's teenage fumblings with sexuality at age 31.  Coming from a repressed childhood myself, that rang really true.  Maddie's peculiar quirks and personality.  The connection between John and Maddie as artists.

Less good bits: The contrived drama with Ted, Jenny and Frasier.  John getting all sappy and parental.

Predictable bits: The entire last third of the book.  Not that this is necessarily a bad thing, just I was hoping that at least one of my predictions would end up being somewhat subverted (the prince charming letter bit at the end was just wayyy too much for this cynical girl to manage.)

Enjoyable, but not really my cuppa.