BLOG TOUR - Back to Reality by Danielle Allen

TITLE: Back to Reality

AUTHOR: Danielle Allen

SERIES: Back to Life book 2

Amazon UK | Amazon

Her past: Emanuel Mills was her first love. The guitar playing, adventure seeking, IT whiz was everything she ever wanted.

Her present: Tyree Barker was her last love. The cultured, educated, successful entrepreneur was everything she needed.

But when Sahara Lee’s past and present collided, a series of events occurred that changed her life forever, leaving her future up in the air.

As a college freshman, a tragic accident changed the course of Sahara’s life. Ten years later, just when she started putting her life back together, Sahara’s world was rocked again due to a similar accident. 

Heartbroken and guilt ridden, Sahara fell into old, familiar habits before quickly realizing that she wasn’t the same Sahara Lee anymore. Unable to live a lonely, loveless, isolated life anymore, Sahara decided that the way she coped before wasn’t going to work this time around. 

Time didn’t heal her wounds, but forgiveness might.

ARC received in return for an honest review.

This is a great series and I thoroughly enjoyed reading both books.  In the first book we are introduced to all the Sahara meets and falls for Tyree Barker.  When she then comes face to face with her past love later you know that things are just going to get messy.

This book picks up where Back to Life ended.  The mess that is Sahara's love life shows no signs of calming down any time soon.  As Sahara tries in vain to do the right thing for all those that she loves, it only compounds on her own hurt and inevitably does not make anything better for those she is trying to protect.

Again, Sahara finds herself running from her problems, only this time she is quick to realise this won't work this time around.  Too much has changed.  She has changed.  So she decides to meet her problems head on.

I found myself wanting to slap some sense into Sahara.  She was always too-ing and fro-ing and didn't have a clear idea about who or what she wanted.  Just when she thought she had made that choice, BANG, something else came up and pulled the rug from under her feet.  She wasn't the only character that made me mad, I would find myself getting annoyed with Ty and Emanuel.  I like when you get a book that makes you feel connected with the characters, that they stir a whole variety of emotions within you whilst you are reading it.  Sometimes I would find myself thinking that Sahara was weak, but then as the story progressed you could see how strong she was and despite the weaker moments, she was fiercely strong and it took her a while to see just how strong she actually was.  I felt like I took every step with her on that road of self discovery.

Danielle Allen did a really good job of painting a vivid picture of everything so clearly, you could almost envisage yourself standing off to the side and watching events unfold before you.  No part of the book was rushed and right up to the end you were left wondering who she would choose.  I thought I knew who I wanted her to be with in Back to Life, but as that story unfolded, I found myself changing my mind with Sahara.  It was the same in Back to Reality.  I couldn't make up my mind who she should choose, but in the end I was happy with the choice she made.

Feeling like you have witnessed events take place, feeling like you share the confusion Sahara had surrounding both Ty and Emanuel, feeling the pain that everyone felt throughout the story was fantastic.  Danielle Allen pulls you in and you have no choice but to ride the story out and before you know it  the words 'The End' appear on your screen.  I read both these books in one sitting and loved them both.  If I was to have criticism it would be the continual perfect tune popping on the ipod everytime it was switched on.  That said it is only a minor bug bear and could not detract from my overall enjoyment of the books.

My Rating

I am a married event planner and life coach. My awesome friends and family and my amazing husband make my life sweet. I love to have fun and enjoy the life I’ve been blessed with. I love shopping and football with equal fervor. I’m an amateur movie critic (i.e. my husband and I watch and critique a lot of movies for fun). I love to read and I enjoy sharing my love of books with anyone who will listen. I love music. A good lyric with a good melody can paint a vivid picture and invoke such a range of emotions. I have a soft spot for most mediums of creative, artistic expression.

With degrees in psychology, human services, and marriage and family counseling, I have a unique perspective on life, love and the pursuit of happiness. As an author, I combine an active imagination and life experiences to create stories that are easily relatable and intentionally intriguing. I want to offer you a peek into someone else’s life and for you to get lost in their story, their trials, their triumphs. My ultimate goal is to create a character or a story that stays with you long after you’ve put the book down.

So in a nutshell: I plan. I teach. I read. I write. I watch. I critique. I shop. I play. I love.

To know me is to love me.

XOXO

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