Run Rose Run by Dolly Parton and James Patterson

AnnieLee Keyes is a young, beautiful and talented country music singer. She's determined to make a name for herself so heads to Nashville looking for her big break. AnnieLee is broke so has to sleep rough, busk and beg at bars to perform. Luck is with AnnieLee when she's allowed to perform at The Cat's Paw. What AnnieLee doesn't realise is that the bar is owned by retired country music legend Ruthanna Ryder. It looks like AnnieLee's fortune is about to change when Ruthanna takes a shine to her, however she hasn't told people that she's on the run from a past that is determined to track her down.

Run Rose Run opens with a tense prologue that immediately grabs you, leaving you wondering where the story can go from such a definitive opening. The reader is then transported eleven months back in time to introduce our lead character, AnnieLee Keyes. We discover that AnnieLee will stop at nothing in her quest to perform.

Along the way Annielee meets retired music legend Ruthanna Ryder and session musician Ethan Blake. However things are not as simple as they seem, we soon discover that everyone is hiding secrets. I really wanted to be invested in the characters but felt that AnnieLee, Ruthanna and Ethan were all too similar - independent, tough, stubborn. As the story progresses each characters secret unfolds, however AnnieLee's was a bit too drawn out.

As a "rags to riches" story this works well, showing that fame doesn't come overnight. The story will appeal to true country music fans as there are lots of references to artists and songs but for the general reader these references add nothing to the story. The story contains a number of songs written for the novel and there will be an accompanying album of those songs.

Run Rose Run by Dolly Parton and James Patterson will be published in hardback and ebook on 7th March 2022. My thanks to NetGalley and Random House UK for a review copy.