One Mountain Away

Title:  One Mountain Away  (#1 in Goddess Anonymous series)
Author:  Emilie Richards
Publisher:  Harlequin Mira
Date Published:  2012
Pages:  467
Format: Paperback
Genre: Women's Contemporary Fiction
Source:  Own copy.

Summary from Cover.

With nothing but brains, ambition and sheer nerve, Charlotte Hale built a career as a tough, do-anything-to-succeed real-estate developer.  She's at the top of that mountain... but her life is empty.  Her friends are as grasping and insincere as she has become.  Far worse, she's alienated her family so completely that she's totally lost touch with her daughter. 

One terrifying day, facing her own mortality, she realizes that her ambition has almost destroyed her chance of happiness.  So Charlotte vows to make amends, not simply with her considerable wealth, but by offering a hand instead of a handout.  Putting in hours and energy instead of putting in an appearance.  Opening her home and heart instead of her wallet.  With each wrenching, exhilarating decision, Charlotte finds that climbing a new mountain - one built on friendship, love and forgiveness - will teach her what it truly means to build a legacy.

My thoughts:
I finally read this book because the next one in this series was published on June 25th 2013.  Now I am awaiting eagerly the arrival of Somewhere Between Luck and Trust in my letterbox.  I loved this one, as indeed I do generally for the books I read written by Emilie Richards.  The first chapter is a great hook in.  There is a woman writing in a journal, while watching some children on the playground - she is merely an observer, not the carer.  I ended the chapter thinking; who is she?  Who is the child Maddie that she is watching?  My interest was whetted.

This is a book about very strong women and the journeys in life that they take.  There is Charlotte who has reassessed her life and is now trying to put right the wrongs she perpetrated in her life when she was younger.  She has had some time to reflect and a life crisis to speed this up.  I really liked Charlotte, as she is revealed to us we see a complex woman but a very loveable woman.  Her childhood has had far reaching effects on her, as indeed it has on other characters in the book and no  doubt on readers lives as well.

Other characters that warmed my heart were Harmony, the young pregnant woman - I really wanted the best for her, and my heart was in my mouth, was she going to make the best choice for herself and her baby.  There was a sigh of relief when I finally felt all was well for now for her.  Another character I liked was the minister - Analiese.  She is a wonderful listener and supportive person.  I would love a book that focuses on her life.  Taylor, Charlotte's daughter was a very interesting character and as the story progresses, she too is revealed as a very complex person.  Would Charlotte and Taylor find there way back to each other?  This was my question as I read through the book.  They were so alike, mother and daughter - which is actually no great surprise.

This book brought smiles and tears.  The relationships of the characters as they took many different turns in the road kept my heart involved.  Emilie Richards has been a counsellor and she brings a rich understanding of the human heart and a person's motives and reasons for being as they are.

I came across Emilie Richards accidentally when I picked up one of her books at a Book Fair and read the story.  While it was not her most engaging one, it was enough to make me seek more.  I never regret reading one of her books.

How about you?  When have you almost accidentally found your way to an author that then becomes a 'must read'?