Sahara Lee has spent the last ten years living with the guilt of a tragic accident and its aftermath. That night irrevocably changed the outgoing, fun-loving college freshman into an introverted, workaholic with no social life. Sahara isolates herself from everyone and everything that reminds her of home in an effort to forget what happened. Using art as a substitute for love, Sahara throws herself into music and art as a way to feel something other than the guilt that haunts her. She accepts her lonely existence as penance for the role she played in the accident. That is, until she meets Tyree Barker, the good looking entrepreneur with baggage of his own.
Blindsided by a legal loophole, Sahara is suddenly forced to confront the past she’s been running from. Juggling the guilty feelings of her past and the unexpected feelings of her present, Sahara’s future becomes complicated as she heads down a path of forgiveness, love, and heartbreak…and not in that particular order.
Back to Life reminds you that living and existing are two completely different ways to go through life. Grief will break you but guilt, guilt will destroy you. And once that happens, what can bring you back to life
Nicky's Review
4 Stars
Characters- Loved the characters. They were genuine and real. Very relatable in this situation.
Plot/Storyline- Plot was well written with a great flow and perfect placement of twists and turns.
Steam Factor- Very steamy!! Yummy Ty! YUMMY!
Cover- The art gallery makes sense since art is Sahara's place of solace in this story.
Cliffhanger- YES!!!!!!!!!
Overall- Really enjoyed this book and the way it had you guessing what exactly happened and then had you stunned when another fact came into light.
This is the story of Sahara, a girl who has shut herself away from any type of pleasure in her life as a penance for an accident that occurred 10 years ago with her best friend, Emily, and Emily's brother, Emanuel. Sahara distances herself from any friends or family she had before the accident. She has empty sexual relationships (not many, she has long term detached relationships) to satisfy her physical needs but nothing long term that may bring her happiness or love; she makes sure of this.
It's very sad to see Sahara punish herself for an accident that was really an accident. She buries herself in her work as a Human Resources manager and is fantastic at is since she is so introverted and standoffish. She is perfect for the job and states this fact by saying, "Not being very social is what helps us to excel at our job. [...] For instance, in order to be the neutral party one has to be entirely neutral. To handle interoffice drama, one must be outside of the fray to negate any allegations of favoritism or fraternization. So standoffish works!"
Things are going neutrally perfect in Sahara's numb life...until Tyree Barker!!! The HOT SCHMEXY guy that she keeps bumping into. He makes her body hummm and want to do things that she hasn't dared allowed herself to indulge in in a long time. In order to know what happens, you will have to read the book, but let me just tell you that Tyree is the perfect swoon worthy character and is the kryptonite to Sahara's cold barrier. Things heat up, a love triangle surfaces, and you are left wondering who Sahara is going to choose and what the hell just happened?! Friends resurface and feelings are in the balance. I know I will be picking up Danielle Allen's follow up novel as soon as it comes out. I NEED answers!!! I would definitely recommend this book for anyone looking for romance, hot sex scenes, game changing twists, and love triangle challenges. I still don't know who's team I'm on in the love triangle. Both guys are amazing and I am a bit jealous of Sahara for having such sweet guys pining for her. Enjoy!!
Favorite Quotes:
"It's been a long time since my heart has felt as full as you've made mine feel the last couple of weeks. I can honestly tell you that this has been the best two weeks of my life. You are perfect. You are absolutely perfect. But I know I don't deserve you. I'll ruin you like I ruined the lives of everyone else I've ever loved."
"'Smells delicious baby, [...].'
'Thank you! I wanted to be done before you woke up, but I had an incident.' I looked in the direction he was pointing: sauce was all over his T-shirt/
'Well, I am enjoying the show...' I flirted as he turned to face me.
'Good because I plan on giving you a more comprehensive show in the near future,' he winked.
'Looking forward to it,' I said as I kissed the center of his chest."
"'Sahara, tell me what you want for your birthday,' Ty asked quietly through gritted teeth.
'I want you,' I panted."
"'I know and I don't want to make your life difficult. I just had to tell you something and I couldn't do it over the phone. So here I am now, doing what I should've done along time ago.' Taking a deep breath, he continued, 'Right now, you're his and I'll respect that [...]. So now I'm standing in front of you as a single man telling you that I'm in love with you [...]. And if you'll have me, I'll love you for the rest.'" -quote edited to prevent spoilers ;)
Purchase this book:
Kindle http://www.amazon.com/Back-to-Life-ebook/dp/B00E5S4DAQ/ref=sr_1_1?s=digital-text&ie=UTF8&qid=1380395670&sr=1-1&keywords=back+to+life+danielle+allen
Nook Sorry N/A
Cast:
Brittany's Review
4 Stars
Characters- The characters are very realistic and easy to connect with. Perfect fit for this story.
Plot/Storyline- The plot flowed beautifully together and had just the right amount of intrigue and suspense in the story.
Steam Factor- STEAMY!! =)
Cover- I like the cover, but it doesn't portray the emotions you feel from the story.
Cliffhanger- YES! MAJORLY!! Agh! Can't wait to read book 2!
Overall- Very intriguing, heartfelt, sexy plot with yummy characters and an overall theme of forgiveness.
This book really touches on a strong theme throughout the book about forgiveness. Foregiveness in one's self and foregiveness in others. It's amazing how something can happen and completely alter the course of your life and everyone else's around you. That's exactly what happens in this beautiful novel by Danielle Allen.
We have Sahara, the main character, who has completely retreated into herself for the past 10 years because of feeling guilty over something that happened 10 years earlier. She is very different than her former self and has moved away from her past and everyone in it. You really connect with Sahara and feel all her deep, sad emotions. It makes you feel sad as the reader and you want to know what happened. Shortly into the story, Sahara meets Tyree Barker.....YUMMY! He is delicious in every way. Not only is he extremely attractive he is smooth, sophisticated and lives in her apartment complex.
As the story continues, Sahara beings to feel things again about herself and about love. She's really happy and trying to move on from her past. Danielle Allen slowly builds the relationship between Ty and Sahara. Sahara opens up to Ty about her past and her guilt. You fall in love with them and the happiness they bring each other.
Sahara goes back to her hometown for the trial of the man who caused the accident 10 years ago. She finally reconnects with her past, including her first love Emanuel. This now creates one heck of a love triangle because Emanuel is hot too!! You can instantly feel the connection between them as soon as they see each other again. The trial becomes a very emotional yet powerful scene, important details emerge and true colors are brought to the surface.
Who gets the girl? You must read to see! I will warn you...MAJOR CLIFFHANGER!! But book 2 is set to release in December thankfully =)
Favorite Quotes:
Purchase this book:
Kindle http://www.amazon.com/Back-to-Life-ebook/dp/B00E5S4DAQ/ref=sr_1_1?s=digital-text&ie=UTF8&qid=1380395670&sr=1-1&keywords=back+to+life+danielle+allen
Nook Sorry N/A
Cast:
Sahara
Tyree
Emanuel
Emily
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