Danielle Allen (2)

5 stars!! This was exactly what I needed! fun, flirty, confident, and full of feel good vibes. This book had me smiling the whole time. The romance was swoony, the chemistry was off the charts, and Aaliyah? LOVED her. She’s bold, beautiful, and completely owning who she is, which made the whole story feel empowering and refreshing.
The writing is super easy to get into, and the banter? So good. There’s that perfect balance of fun summer romance and genuine moments of growth and self-love. show more I also really appreciated the representation, it wasn’t just about the romance, it was about confidence, joy, and feeling worthy exactly as you are.
This one made me feel seen, hyped me up, and had me rooting for the characters from start to finish. show less

RATING: ✿✿✿✿✿
Heat Level: SCORCHING HOT!!
I have to say that I was trying to find something negative in this story because it is difficult for me to give an adult contemporary story 5 stars. It happens with YA's but Adult? That is very rare. There is always something I absolutely don't like but with this one? I couldn't find a negative thing.

I started with Mya—a woman who isn't afraid to speak her mind whenever she wants and is the rebel of the three triplets. She works as a show more bartender at Dukes & Duchess and she has sworn off guys, thanks to daddy dearest, getting married to someone 6 months after burying Mya's mom. Kelsey, her best friend and coworker, tells Mya she needs to have fun and hook up with someone fast.

Maybe Kelsey's right. Maybe a fling could help take my mind off of things. Operation Fling Finder will be in full effect on Friday. And there's no stressful situation that a hot man and a cold drink can't solve.

Colton Davis arrives at Dukes & Duchess to celebrate his nephew's birthday party and his eyes set on a beautiful bartender. He waits for his turn at the bar and when the wait ends ...

... I was caught off guard by his eyes. More brown than hazel in color and fiercely piercing, they were expensive and beautiful. I could feel their intensity and it was alluring. His eyes seemed to darken in the sexiest way as we stared at one another.

The flirting starts immediately and the chemistry between them is palpable to everyone around them. Unfortunately, Nicks, Mya's boss calls for her to return to work and ...

Magic was happening with Colton Davis. Sexy, chemistry-filled, sexually compatible, get-me-out-of-my-months-long-sexual-draught magic was happening ... And I was just cock-blocked...for a tampon!

Colton returns the next night in hopes to see Mya at work and when they meet again, they go out to eat and give in to their needs. Mya spends the night and she doesn't like what that means so she leaves. Colton isn't a man that gives up easily so he goes after Mya and Mya starts opening up to Colton until she realizes she is way too deep.

"What does 'Imitation makes you who they are; Individuality makes you who you are' mean to you?"
"It was the last thing my mother told me...before she passed away."

Mya has commitment issues and, at first, I wanted to dislike her. But let's face it. Her male example failed entirely and she truly believed that men were like that, as well. That's why I couldn't dislike Mya. It is very understandable what she went through and I would have done the same thing, guard my heart.

Colton is the definition of sex...I am not kidding. The guy is handsome and His voice rich and textured like music. He is very confident in himself and he knows what he wants: Mya. Nothing will stop him from having her. Colton is a very nice guy and very wild in bed. Two perfect combinations that a woman wants, am I right, ladies?

Colton and Mya remind me of my boyfriend and I—neither my boyfriend and I nor Colton and Mya wanted a relationship. I like their relationship because I related to them immensely. Colton adores Mya, even when he knows Mya doesn't want anything serious. And I am sad to admit, that happened with me too, until I finally admitted my feelings.

"I got your message and I heard you. I heard it in your voice," I read quietly. "So no I'm not going to chase you... But I'm not going to give up on you either. But when you're ready to admit it, know that I feel the same way."

I am very positive Colton and Mya's love for each other will never fade, whether they are together or not. Their love is great and amazing and ADDICTING! My heart was racing for the majority of the book! Plus, I read it in an hour and a half. I couldn't put it down! show less

5 "I could not put it down" stars!

ARC provided by author in exchange for an honest review!

After reading Back to Life, I knew this story would only get better. In Back to Reality, Sahara is faced with a lot of tough choices. She needs to decide to take back her life and live it the way she wants, not the way she feels she deserves. She also must decide who she wants to share that new life with.

Her new love, Ty, is sex-on-stick wrapped with confidence and drive. Her first love, Emmanuel, is show more panty-dropping gorgeous with eyes that could claim your soul.

Uh, choose?! Well that's not exactly an easy thing to do!


Before she can choose, she needs to take a long hard look at herself. Holding on to ten years of guilt has done terrible things to her confidence.

"Everything is not always my fault."-Sahara

These words become her mantra because for so long she's blamed herself for things beyond her control and it needed to stop. She has to admit and accept some very hard facts about her herself in order to change and finally allow herself to be loved.

I loved that I could not predict how things would turn out in the end. I could easily see her with either guy. They both had qualities that made them equally irresistible. But...I did make a choice...and so did she!

"You're it for me. Even if the only reason you've come here is to break my heart and to tell me you want nothing to do with me anymore. That doesn't change anything on my end. You are the one." - Sahara



Yay! Let's just say that I got my wish!! It was an incredibly powerful moment! I felt that both Ty and Emmanuel were fairly represented and that the author treated them both with so much dignity and respect. No heartbroken guy hovering in the corner, thankfully! It just all made sense in the end and came together beautifully!

So to recap: I loved the plot, the characters, and the playlist. I devoured the life lessons on heart break and the renewal of spirit but my most favorite part was... ALL OF IT!

I'm a huge fan of Danielle Allen's and will read anything she writes!

For more reviews, book chat and other craziness visit our blog at http://www.rebelbookchicks.com/ show less

This was a solid execution of the friends to lovers and miscommunications tropes and would generally be a 4 star read. What elevated it was that I found the FMC's family dynamic to be incredibly relatable and couldn't get enough of the sassy and snarky banter between the FMC and the MMC. The narrator did a great job bringing the characters to life and had me donning my headphones every chance I got.