Lou’s Review: Run Baby Run, by Melissa Lenhardt

I was thrilled when I heard that Melissa Lenhardt’s next book would be a sapphic romance featuring a mother/daughter road trip. The complicated family dynamics and maternal relationship played a big part in making her last novel – The Secret of You and Me – unforgettable. Though it was her seventh book, The Secret was Lenhardt’s first sapphic romance.

I’ll admit that part of me wondered how any subsequent release could compare to such a perfect novel. Does second book syndrome still happen if you switch genres? Not for Lenhardt! On every single count, Run Baby Run delivers. Lenhardt has knocked it out the park.

The premise of this story is fun, and deceptively simple. Darcy Evans hasn’t heard from her eccentric mother Marja in three years. Growing up as the bastard daughter of a poor single mum in rural Texas, Darcy was an outcast. All she and Marja had were each other. And Marja ghosting her cut deep. But the week before Darcy’s wedding, her mum reappears in a bright red 1969 Mustang, ready for a road trip. Darcy agrees, keen to get new articles for her thriving travel site – and some answers from Marja.

But Marja, a law unto herself, remains tight-lipped. And old resentments bubble to the surface. Plus, Darcy’s still reeling from the revelation that her best friend – and future sister-in-law – Chloe has loved her since day one. Things get even more desperate when a Cartel hitman tries to murder mother and daughter. And their only ally is FBI Agent Lena González – whose relationship with Marja is almost as complicated as Darcy’s own.

Run Baby Run is a riveting read. I strongly resented having to leave my house and socialise midway through, hungry for answers and heart full of these characters. Even before the thriller aspects of the plot kick in, it has all the makings of a five-star read. The layers of Darcy and Marja’s relationship; the way their past continues to affect both women in the present; how sexism and classism shape their story, but do not define either heroine… All of these elements give the book an extraordinary emotional resonance I’ve come to associate with Lenhardt’s writing.

I love the way Darcy and Marja are characterised. However fantastical the plot gets, it always feels totally believable because our leading ladies are so real. Darcy’s confidence remains low despite her extraordinary success because of bullying in her formative years. And Marja is spiky and distant on the surface, but fiercely protective of her daughter – the defence mechanisms she’s built to survive. The psychology of Lenhardt’s characterisation is masterful.

I also adore that Darcy and Marja both get their own romances. Lenhardt delivers not one but two glorious, exhilarating love stories. As far as love interests go, Chloe is the MVP. Compassionate, generous, true – essentially the opposite of her brother. Also, she’s got serious rizz. Chloe delivers the best declaration of love I’ve ever read.

Though it’s Marja and Lena who really make my heart race. Interracial *and* Age Gap? It’s like this was written just for me. There’s smouldering passion, heart-wrenching emotion, and hottest Fade to Black I’ve ever read. If I were held at gunpoint by a Cartel hitman and had to make one complaint about this book, it’s that we don’t get a complete sex scene with these two. But that’s just my extremely horny personal preference. All levels of spice are valid, and not a single part of this story disappoints. It’s profoundly satisfying, every plot and sub-plot brought to a meaningful conclusion.

Run Baby Run is a God Tier Toaster Oven story for two generations of women. I’ve read literally hundreds of sapphic books, and this was first for me! And as a second-generation lesbian it very much rings true.

When I began learning about romance, like all newbies, I wondered how authors managed to keep it fresh with the same finite set of tropes and conventions. And Run Baby Run is a perfect example of the limitless creativity within this genre – proof that writers can combine and subvert the building blocks of romance in truly surprising ways.

Speaking of subversion: it’s brilliant that, while Marja improves her relationship with her daughter over the course of the story, she’s never defined purely as a mother. Nor is she demonised for her flaws. She’s a person with her own goals and desires.

Without wishing to spoil any part of this book, the ways in which Lenhardt depicts motherhood make me hopeful that patterns of representation and wider social attitudes are changing for the better. Parts of Run Baby Run would have been unimaginable even ten years ago in a traditionally published novel.

An important point: there are a couple of areas in this book which my fellow survivors might find triggering. One subplot was almost unbearable to me because of just how raw it feels. Even knowing the Happily Ever After is a genre requirement for romance couldn’t put my heart to rest – that’s how deeply I ended up caring for these characters. But these parts of the book, like all others, are treated with nuance and real care by the author. Male violence very much recognised and condemned. And I’m really glad Lenhardt used this story to highlight forms of abuse only recently recognised as such.

Run Baby Run is a truly great work of sapphic literature. It exemplifies the very best possibilities of romance and women’s fiction. And I can’t recommend it highly enough.

ARC received from Mills & Boon in exchange for an honest review.