Runaway Mountain, Tess saw it on a map and knew that she needed to be there to deal with the pain of loss. Everyone is ready for her to move on, but grief has a time table of its own. But it turns out that she's not the only runaway on the mountain, and there is a whole community in need of her stubborn care. Ian North, is also on the mountain for peace... but sometimes you find peace by dancing in the rain.

Why I started this book: I've been haunting Netgalley and was thrilled to see this book months before the release date. Phillips has be a long time favorite author and I'm always ready to read her stories.

Why I finished it: Charming and heartbreaking, Phillips explores the pain of lose and the strength it takes to love again. Tess, is a great heroine... ready to give everyone a piece of her mind... and heart.

I was a little uncomfortable how Tess tried to trick Wren's grandparents. I didn't think this had the same humor as Phillips's past books.

Susan Elizabeth Phillips is one author that never ever disappoints! This is an emotional read, with both a heroine and hero who have lots of baggage from their pasts, and they each must dig deep to find a way forward together. I loved it all - Tess, Ian, the vividly drawn secondary characters, and the setting of Runaway Mountain in East Tennessee. Highly recommended!

Loved this book.
She's always been one of my favorite authors and this book does not disappoint.
Great story and characters.

I love SEP, so this is saying a lot - I think this was one of the BEST books I've ever read in a very long time. It was deeply emotional with twists and turns that made the book un-put-down-able. I loved the characters, not just Ian and Tess, but all of the inhabitants of Runaway Mountain - I was constantly surprised by them. I loved their development, their revelations to each other, and their willingness to understand each other. The pace was perfect, the setting descriptions made me want to move to Tennessee, and the heartfelt angst of both Ian and Tess made me cry more than once. I LOVED their HEA - so deserved. Another thing I really enjoyed was the snark from Tess that Ian totally got and appreciated. I also liked that Trav wasn't posthumously sainted.

All in all, I would recommend this book to anyone, not just romance readers. It is a wonderful study of how we find each other despite ourselves.

Dance Away with Me is excellent, emotional, endearing, and enlightening. Susan Elizabeth Phillips has written an exceptional book.

Finally! So many of our readers have been waiting, asking "when is the next Susan Elizabeth Phillips book coming out?" Well, it is here, and it is a great read. It is the story of a young widow who moves to a remote mountain village to escape her sorrow, and finds a great love. I look forward to recommending this book to veteran readers of Susan Elizabeth Phillips as well as readers new to her work.

After reading First Star I See Tonight and Heroes Are My Weakness I was expecting another zany, hilarious adventure as only Susan Elizabeth Phillips can write. But this felt tired and outdated, with bland characters that I had trouble connecting to. The spirited young progressive who ensures condoms are available to youths in the sleepy conservative town, the tortured artist (whose street name continually reminded me of a strain of flu virus), the flighty but beautiful model... it was just cliche after tired cliche. It is a darker tale than I was expecting with very little of SEP's trademark humor. Overall, I was very disappointed with this one.

Thank you to Netgalley and HarperCollins Publishers for an advanced copy in exchange for an honest review.

Everything about this book drew me in and kept me reading non-stop until the end. Tess, a widow, expressing her grief through her outside dances, is heartbreaking and empowering at the same time. The emotions came through so clearly that I could feel them. When she meets grouchy Ian, a frustrated artist, and is drawn into his life through his wife, and then by a terrible tragedy, the book takes an even darker turn. However, there is a lot of humor in the story, as Tess deals with the locals, that provides some lightness to the characters. Ian and Tess's relationship is slow to develop but worth it. Highly recommended.

Pub date: Jun 2020 (tried to wait, but could. not. even.)
SEP has never failed me before and after a bit of a wait for this new romance, she hits it out of the park again! This story of Tess, a widow coming to terms with her loss and Ian, a famous artist struggling with his work, is wonderful! They are fully fleshed out characters, who do everything backward: become parents to an infant, then get married, then fall in love. The romance is a slow and steady burn, and man does it burn! Their banter and Tess's testy interactions with the folks of the Broken Chimney made me laugh and then I cried about Sophie and when Tess freaks the f-out when confronted with a difficult choice. Highly recommended to those who love good, deep characters in their romances, which would include all SEP and Julie Anne Long fans.

Susan Elizabeth Phillips' latest book is fabulous! Her storyline is very unique and her setting descriptions are wonderful.

I love Susan Elizabeth Phillips. I’ve read every one of her books, multiple times. But this book is much darker than her others.Though darker it still ropes you in and keeps you, fascinated, until the very end. Her main characters, Ian and Tess, are so finely drawn, heroic but real to the reader. As big as the building wall canvases Ian paints and as familiar to us as the kids who come to Tess’s door for advice. Though the plot is HEA it builds with intensity peppered by subplots with characters who are truly dear.
I would recommend this book to my patrons.

Definitely 4 stars and worth reading. Haven’t read any of Ms. Philipps books in quite awhile, this was a good story and yes probably a romance but not the sweet kind, which was good. Thank you netgalley for the advanced copy.

I loved, loved, loved this title. SEP does not disappoint. Watching Tess process her feelings of grief and love was beautiful. The characters were realistic and every-town has them. I cannot wait to share this with my readers.

Tess moves to mountain country, TN to heal from the death of her husband, where she meets a host of interesting local characters, as well as famous street artist Ian North and pregnant model Bianca. Ian has moved there because he’s lost his focus in art and to keep an eye on the irrepressible Bianca. As a midwife Tess is summoned to their home to help Bianca deliver her premature baby.
This is the story of how their lives entwine, how people need to connect to one another, and seeing the already strong willed characters of Ian and Tess grow.
I consider Phillips to be the best romance author out there, especially her Star series, and my favorite ever, “Match Me if You Can”. I’m always delighted when a new Phillips book comes out.

This might be my hardest review yet. There's no spoilers, but I will go into detail of the beginning at least. The start of this book was bizarre to me. It was kind of like starting a series in the middle of the third book. The first paragraph of the book I was lost. I was confused as to why she was dancing in the first place, why Bianca got naked in front of her?? I felt like I was missing few pages of introduction. Once I was past that (and it took me a day to just get back into it), I was able to continue.

Tess was a strange character for me. Obviously, she's still grieving the loss of her husband, and trying to start fresh in a small town, but my god was she too brass for me at the coffee shop. It was almost unreal the way she stuck to her convictions. Almost to the point of being cringey. About 3/4 of the way through the book, I almost gave up with it completely based solely on Tess. I loved Ian and Bianca and even the side characters, but it was like Tess was written by someone else. I love Susan Elizabeth Phillips' books normally, but I didn't like this one.

Side note that's not a real reason for giving this book a lower score: Authors, please never use the word underpants to describe underwear. It dates you, and is a horrible word. I read it three times in one paragraph and couldn't get over it.

Once again, Susan Elzabeth Phillips give us an emotional roller coaster of romance. Tess and Ian are well rounded characters who grow throughout the novel. The secondary characters feel like true people as well, which is an area a lot of novelists in any genre fall short in. Readers have waited a long time for another novel by Phillips and they won't be disappointed with the wait.

Unfortunately, the secondary characters were more enjoyable than the main characters. There was no chemistry between Ian and Tess. I liked how Tess couldn't keep from helping all the townspeople, though. There also wasn't as much humor as there normally is in Ms. Phillips's books.