Book Review: Run Rose Run by Dolly Parton and James Patterson

RATING: 4 out of 5 Stars

RUN ROSE RUN by Dolly Parton and James Patterson is an exciting suspenseful story of a young singer/songwriter trying to make it in Nashville with a mysterious past that she refuses to share with anyone. It has been a while since I read a book from the prolific Patterson co-author line, but I could not pass up a book co-authored with the fabulous Dolly Parton and I am so glad I didn’t.

AnnieLee Keyes has dreamed of making it Nashville. She writes and sings her own songs, is naturally beautiful and more than willing to put in the work to make it, if only someone will give her a break. She shows up broke, homeless and on the run but when a local bartender finally gives her the chance to sing, she shocks everyone with her talent including Ethan Blake who is sitting at the bar and who plays studio guitar for the bar owner and famous retired country legend Ruthanna Ryder.

Ruthanna takes the feisty and proud AnnieLee under her wing and helps her navigate the music business and Ethan helps with her protection, but AnnieLee still keeps her past a mystery even as her feelings for Ethan grow. When Ethan opens up about his painful past, AnnieLee gives him a small amount of her own past, but not everything. After another attack, AnnieLee runs away back to her hometown to settle the mystery from her past to be able to grab hold of her promising future.

I really enjoyed AnnieLee and her rise from nothing. Her character pulls you in as you follow her from running away to becoming a rising country music star. Later in the book, when you know her complete backstory, her survival is truly heartbreaking, inspirational, and realistic. Ruthanna and Ethan are both fully drawn, and you become as engaged in their personal stories as you do with AnnieLee’s. The plot moves along at a good pace as the reader follows AnnieLee’s rise in the music industry, the mystery of her past and romantic elements with Ethan all coming to a satisfying conclusion.

I really enjoyed this engaging suspense book with a memorable protagonist with a mysterious backstory and romantic elements.

***

About the Author

Dolly Parton is a singer, songwriter, actress, producer, businesswoman, and philanthropist. The composer of over 3,000 songs, she has sold over 100 million records worldwide, and given away millions of books to children through her nonprofit, Dolly Parton’s Imagination Library.

About the Author

JAMES PATTERSON is one of the best-known and biggest-selling writers of all time. His books have sold in excess of 375 million copies worldwide. He is the author of some of the most popular series of the past two decades – the Alex Cross, Women’s Murder Club, Detective Michael Bennett and Private novels – and he has written many other number one bestsellers including romance novels and stand-alone thrillers.

James is passionate about encouraging children to read. Inspired by his own son who was a reluctant reader, he also writes a range of books for young readers including the Middle School, I Funny, Treasure Hunters, Dog Diaries and Max Einstein series. James has donated millions in grants to independent bookshops and has been the most borrowed author of adult fiction in UK libraries for the past eleven years in a row. He lives in Florida with his wife and son