When your need of the truth brings you somewhere and something unexpected

Synopsis

When Luna Rowntree gets an unexpected and life-changing legacy from a man she’s never met, she’s determined to find out why – even if it is Christmas Day and her family are expecting her.

So, with only her mother’s ashes for company – it’s a long story, but Luna knows her mother would have wanted to come on the adventure too – Luna sets off in her trusty Astra to the skiing resort in Chamonix, where her mysterious benefactor had lived.

But her little car isn’t designed for driving through snow-covered mountains, and when she runs out of fuel heart-breakingly close to Chamonix, Luna is relieved to be saved by her very own knight-in-shining armour. Well, knight in mountain rescue uniform anyway.

Yannick is charmed and baffled by Luna’s mission, and before he knows it, he has agreed to help. But Yannick has his own secrets calling him from the mountains, and his own reasons to run away. As he helps Luna understand her past he realises he has to face his as well if he’s ever going to risk opening his heart to love

My review

Luna Rowntree has received an unexpected legacy. As this came from a man she has never met and doesn’t even know who he is, Luna is determined to figure out why she was the recipient. So that’s why she finds herself with her mother’s ashes as comfort in Chamonix, and not celebrating Christmas with the family.
But with a car that isn’t made for mountains, and a mind full of thoughts, Luna suddenly is stranded not that far from Chamonix without any fuel. Luckily mountain rescuer Yannick is there to the rescue. And before they both know it, Yannick agrees to help Luna on her mission to find out the truth. In Chamonix, Luna discovers what it means to be passionate but also respectful about the mountains. And with Yannick by her side, she perhaps can find the courage to let go of her fears, whichever they may be. But Luna was only meant to stay for a period in Chamonix, and with Yannick’s own reasons to prefer mountains over emotions, where will this leave them? 

There are books that make you feel all warm and cosy, but there are also books that give you the shivers… And this book for sure was the latter.
Now, I absolutely adore this author, so the shivers weren’t related to the story itself, but completely to the setting.
I am one of those people that in the winter, want to sit at home, hidden under a fluffy blanket, with a hot cocoa, not caring about the weather outside, as long as I can stay in the warmth. 

Yet no matter the setting was in Chamonix, in my opinion the coldest possible place, the story itself made it possible to vanquish the cold. 

From the start, my heart went out to Luna. As I am also very close to my mother, I could understand the difficulties of letting her go. But I also understood that she couldn’t comprehend she has received a lot of money from a man she didn’t know or had ever heard of. I found that a bit of a disturbing fact, because that brings so many questions. And I think I would have done the same as Luna, trying to discover who the man was and why he left her that amount. 

In so many aspects I recognized a lot of myself in Luna. Never ask me to go skiing, because I know that it will end in disaster or in accidents. Luna is also somehow a scaredy – cat, thinking that she cannot do things. And those fears come from deep inside, also from her overprotective mother. And that is also a fact I could relate to, even if in my case, it’s my father who sees danger everywhere 😊 

But the beauty of this story is that Luna finds the courage to do things she never imagined doing. From packing and leaving to Chamonix, without an actual plan, to doing things that would make her (and me) cry out of fear.
And that is with the help of Yannick… He has so much trust in Luna, and just like Luna says herself, with that face, we would believe anything he would say. 

Don’t think that Yannick is just a character that is easy on the eyes. Because from everything around his person, we feel his pain, his losses. And because of everything he has been through, I couldn’t blame him on not letting anyone new getting close to him.
The love for his daughter is so obvious, he is an amazing dad, even if he has a job that is unpredictable and even dangerous.
I have to add, even if I don’t think I will ever get in touch with a mountain rescue team, my respect for them only grew the more I was reading. The calculated risks these people take to save someone, is truly admirable. 

Obviously the mystery that brought Luna to Chamonix was one that kept me sitting on the edge of my seat, as I wanted to know the ins and the outs of it.
But it was a story about pushing boundaries, finding courage, finding someone that encourages you to push those boundaries, to find that courage but with always following the rules and respecting the environment.
Of course this means also finding courage to open yourself, to find yourself, or rather change yourself in the real you. 

This was a wonderful, even inspiring story that perhaps didn’t have my favourite setting. But with such an amazing author, the story could take place in the North Pole, and I would still love it, as the warmth from the characters and their tales makes the cold just go away…