Mati and Cheryl (who is pregnant with their daughter, Olivia) have stopped for refreshments, and Mati accidentally backs over a motorcycle belonging to a motorcycle gang member. Instead of staying at the scene, Mati panics and takes off with Cheryl…

It has been a long time since I’ve read a romance novel.  I must admit, they have never been my favourite genre.  However, Bridge Over Sorrows, although billed as a romance novel, has enough adventure, tragedy, and secrets to make it an interesting read.  It certainly held my attention!

The book has three main characters — Mati, her girlfriend Cheryl, and Shanti.  As the story opens, Mati and Cheryl (who is pregnant with their daughter, Olivia) have stopped for refreshments, and Mati accidentally backs over a motorcycle belonging to a motorcycle gang member.  Instead of staying at the scene, Mati panics and takes off with Cheryl in her old truck.  The bikers catch up with her and Cheryl, but we don’t find out what happens right away.  This part is woven throughout the rest of the story.

The story then introduces us to Shanti, a young woman of Indian descent, who has come to Kitewa Perch to escape her family and the arranged marriage they have planned for her.  Her father has hired two men to find her and bring her back.  When they find her, she races onto an old bridge over a river and stands upon the railing to avoid being caught.  As the men plead for her to come down, she starts to relent but slips on the railing.  One of the men catches her but can’t hold on.  She plunges into the rushing river.  Miraculously, she doesn’t die but washes ashore far downstream.  A strange woman finds her and takes her back to her cabin to nurse her injuries.

As Shanti begins to heal, she becomes curious about who this woman is.  She has lived by herself in the cabin for eleven years.  As they become friends, Shanti recognizes the woman as Matilda Kaczowski (Mati) an expert in wilderness survival who wrote a book Shanti read years ago.  As the story proceeds, we learn what drove Mati to the wilderness as she unfolds the story to Shanti of what happened to Cheryl.

Bridge Over Sorrows is a quick read that will have you hanging on to the edge of your seat throughout to see what happens next.