Of all the things we do at She Reads, I have to admit that my favorite is announcing our featured book each month. It’s like Christmas twelve times a year. And this month is no different. Unlike many of the novels we’ve chosen, The Mountain Between Us by Charles Martin is a book you can pass on to your husband, your brother, or your father. It’s that good. And it won’t offend their masculine sensibilities. Especially if they shy away from books with Christian themes.

Today was the first time in months that I’ve turned on the heat. It’s getting colder. We’ve been lighting fires and buying egg nog. Something about this time of year begs us to curl up with a blanket and a good novel. And our prize reflects that change in mood and temperature. If announcing the books is my favorite part of this job, then giving stuff away runs a close second.

This month’s grand prize winner will receive a 100% cashmere teal scarf and two copies of The Mountain Between Us (one for you and one for a friend – Christmas is coming up you know), along with signed copies of three other novels by Charles Martin, including: The Dead Don’t Dance, Maggie, and Chasing Fireflies.

The 1st Runner Up will receive two copies of The Mountain Between Us and one signed copy of When Crickets Cry.

And the 2nd Runner Up will receive two copies of The Mountain Between Us.

As usual, all you have to do to enter is leave a comment on this post or sign up for our free monthly e-newsletter. Or do both and your name will be tossed in the hat twice.

Charles Martin earned his B.A. in English from Florida State University, and his M.A. in Journalism and Ph.D. in Communication from Regent University. He served one year at Hampton University as an adjunct professor in the English department and as a doctoral fellow at Regent. In 1999, he left a career in business to pursue his writing. He and his wife, Christy, live a stone’s throw from the St. John’s River in Jacksonville, Florida, with their three boys: Charlie, John T., and Rives. When he’s not writing, Charles fishes with his boys, works in the yard with Christy, coaches T-ball, and kneels by his boys’ beds at night. Right now, the boys are praying for two things: a boat with space for a cooler, three or four people, and five or six rods because they’re not catching any fish off the neighbor’s dock, and Daddy’s book.

A little about that book:

On a stormy winter night, two strangers wait for a flight at the Salt Lake City airport.  Ashley Knox is an attractive, successful writer, who is flying East for her much anticipated wedding.  Dr. Ben Payne has just wrapped up a medical conference and is also eager to return home to Jacksonville, FL for a slate of surgeries he has scheduled for the following day.  When the last outgoing flight is cancelled due to a broken de-icer and a forthcoming storm, Ben finds a charter plane that can take him around the storm and drop him in Denver to catch a connection.  And when the pilot says the single engine prop plane can fit one more, if barely, Ben offers the seat to Ashley knowing that she needs to get back just as urgently. And then the unthinkable happens.  The pilot has a heart attack mid-flight and the plane crashes into the High Uintas Wilderness– one of the largest stretches of harsh and remote land in the United States.

Ben, who has broken ribs and Ashley, who suffers a terrible leg fracture, along with the pilot’s dog, are faced with an incredibly harrowing battle to survive.  Fortunately, Ben is a medical professional and avid climber (and in a lucky break, has his gear from a climb earlier in the week).  With little hope for rescue, he must nurse Ashley back to health and figure out how they are going to get off the mountain, where the temperature hovers in the teens.  Meanwhile, Ashley soon realizes that the very private Ben has some serious emotional wounds to heal as well.  He explains to Ashley that he is separated from his beloved wife, but in a long standing tradition, he faithfully records messages for her on his voice recorder reflecting on their love affair.  As Ashley eavesdrops on Ben’s tender words to his estranged wife she comes to fear that when it comes to her own love story, she’s just settling.  And what’s more: she begins to realize that the man she is really attracted to, the man she may love, is Ben.

As the days on the mountains become weeks, their survival becomes increasingly perilous.  How will they make it out of the wilderness and if they do, how will this experience change them forever?

Both a tender and page-turning read, The Mountain Between Us will reaffirm your belief in the power of love to sustain us.

You can read the first chapter here.

As is often the case, The Mountain Between Us, was inspired by real events. And this one actually happened to Charles Martin himself. He explains in his own words:

Survival Stories from Author Charles Martin on Vimeo.

Thanks for stopping in today – especially those of you who found us by way of the Proverbs 31 Ministries devotion. You’ve found a safe place to talk books and grace and we couldn’t be happier that you’re here. So please enter today’s drawing. We’d love you to win one of these amazing novels.

About Ariel Lawhon

Ariel Lawhon is the co-founder of She Reads, novelist, blogger, and life-long reader. She lives in Texas with her husband and four young sons (aka The Wild Rumpus). Ariel believes that Story is the shortest distance to the human heart.

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