Meg lives in the Rocky Mountains of Canada in an isolated cabin. When tourists’ lives are threatened in an avalanche, fiance Mitch doesn’t hesitate to help. When he doesn’t return, a desperate Meg radios an astronaut at the International Space Station, who alerts search and rescue. As Meg tries to forge a life without Mitch, she befriends the astronaut and just when you think this is Meg’s story of triumphing over tragedy, the book takes a sinister turn and Swan delivers a twist. Usually a fan of this author, this novel was too long, too wordy and just has way too much going on. The descriptions of the Banff setting were done really well though. (LF)
Christmas Under the Stars, by Karen Swan, shows the devastating power of secrets. The summary says: "In the snow-topped mountains of the Canadian Rockies, Meg and Mitch are living their dream. Just weeks away from their wedding, they work and play with Tuck and Lucy, their closest and oldest friends. Meg and Lucy are as close as sisters - much to Meg's sister's dismay - and Tuck and Mitch have successfully turned their passion for snowboarding into a booming business.
But when a polar storm hits, tragedy strikes. Alone in the tiny mountain log cabin she shares with Mitch, Meg desperately tries to radio for help - and it comes from the most unexpected quarter, a lone voice across the airwaves that sees what she cannot.
As the snow melts and they try to live with their loss, the friendship Meg thought was forever is buckled by tensions, rivalries and devastating secrets. Nothing is as she thought and only her radio contact understands what it is to be truly alone. As they share confidences in the dark, witnessed only by the stars, Meg feels her future begin to pull away from her past and is forced to consider a strange truth - is it her friends who are the strangers? And a stranger who really knows her best?" Christmas Under the Stars is out in November 2016.