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RUN AWAY WITH ME by J.L. Simmonds

RUN AWAY WITH ME

by J.L. Simmonds

Pub Date: Oct. 14th, 2025
ISBN: 9781250402202
Publisher: Henry Holt

Two girls run away together, perhaps toward more danger than they’re leaving behind.

Jessie Swift, who feels like the weird, poor kid at school, has one goal—get to the bus station and out of town. A traumatic discovery at home spurs her to leave Seattle, where she lives with her single mom, who’s “well known to CPS.” As she struggles with her duffel and backpack, none other than gorgeous, popular, and wealthy Brooke Summer, Jessie’s longtime secret crush, offers her a different way out. The girls, who are cued white, agree not to pry into each other’s reasons for leaving, but as they drive across the country in Brooke’s red Mustang, a vintage convertible, the magnetism between them becomes impossible to ignore. When they end up in the crosshairs of a pair of dangerous criminals in Utah, they’re forced to run from more than just what they left behind in Seattle. Though at times Jessie and Brooke come across as hardened by their circumstances, they find time for much-needed fun, like makeovers, and engage in some solid soul-searching. The deep emotion and strong suspense are wrapped up in a tidy ending that doesn’t quite live up to the story’s promise. Nevertheless, the journey is rewarding and readers who come for the plot hook will stay for the character development.

Seedy motel rooms and cassette tapes blend with a sweet, slow-burn romance on a twisty road trip adventure.

(Thriller. 14-18)