What do you do when you find out you aren’t a true part of your beloved family? Gracie discovers her feelings of not belonging have a basis in fact so she takes off to try to find the one memory that has surfaced from her past. In her investigations, she finds Mark & trouble. Mark doesn’t want to remember his past & all of the pain. He’s blocked part of it. Now Gracie is bringing it all up. Why can’t she leave it be?

This was a wonderfully emotional book about Gracie’s journey. She had to discover that family isn’t always blood but can be emotional. The Rockwell’s were her family in any possible way other than blood. Mark had to realize that he was a child too & wasn’t to blame for anything that happened. He needed to stop blocking the memories so he could live a full life. I enjoy the fact that the author revisits the other family members & brings us up to date on their lives. This can be read as a stand-alone but each story gives us backgrounds on the individual member of the family & their interactions with each other. ( )

My emotions were all over the place with Mark and Gracie. What began as a sweet journey becomes an emotional maelstrom. The Runaway is a tale of young hearts revisiting old heartache. Bernard delves deep into the quagmire that makes us human and delivers a long awaited trek to home. From heartache to everlasting is only a second chance away. ( )