{Review} "Sierra" by Taylor Dean

Title:  Sierra
Author: Taylor Dean
Publisher:  CreateSpace
Publication Date:  June 13, 2012
Genre:  Contemporary Romance
Format:  Kindle 634 KB  |  Paperback 342 pages

Buy this book on Amazon:  Kindle Edition  |  Paperback
Author's Website:    http://www.taylordeanbooks.com/ 
Author's Goodreads Profile:  Taylor Dean

Synopsis from Goodreads: 

Alyssa Fontaine's life, loved ones--everything familiar and dear--are brutally taken from her. Taken captive by two men, she endures a horrific nightmare. A new life is forced upon her and even a new name. Just when it appears that no hope is in sight, she is saved by an unlikely twist of fate. Trapped in the beautiful Sierra Nevada Mountains, life will open its arms to her again and she will embrace it. She will find love such as she never knew existed.

Sierra is a heart-wrenching story of the power of the human spirit to survive amidst impossible circumstances and severe losses. It is a story of survival . . . and hope.

Diving In...

This is another one of those books that I started and finished in one sitting.  I am finding a lot of those lately.   Before you have this picture in your head of my kids running around like wild people and laundry and dishes piling up around me while I read, let me tell you that I read at night when my kids are in bed.  Now, I may still have laundry and dishes piled up, but it's not because I read too much!!

This was a fantastic story and I will say again that Taylor Dean is a wonderful story teller.  There were times during this story that I was in tears, times that I was yelling at Alyssa to run, times that I was on the edge of my seat and times that I was praying for her safety.  This story literally goes from one extreme to the other.  I don't want to give anything away so I will keep my comments brief.

Alyssa goes from the high of coming home from a great mini vacation with her family to the lowest low in literally a couple hours time.  She is taken hostage by two "mountain" men, think Deliverance and you have the right idea.  They have bizarre reasons for taking her and forcing her to walk for days in the mountains to where they are building a new life.  Just when she thinks that she would rather die than endure another day like this, she is given a chance to start again in the only way that she really can given her circumstances.

I adored Alex from the minute he is introduced into the story.  In an attempt to run away from things that have happened in his life he finds himself seeking the solitude that he finds in the mountains.  He has created a very simple life for himself and he is completely content with it.  That is, until Alyssa walks through his door.  In an instant his life is changed.

This story spans the space of a year and there are so many things that happen to each of them.  This is a story about love and loss and second chances, but more than that it's about how you can survive even when it seems like all hope is lost.  It's a beautiful love story, but it's so much deeper than that.  I think this is a story that every woman should read.

I would recommend this to anyone who likes a good love story.  It a story that I would definitely read again! I can't say enough nice things about Taylor Dean and I am looking forward to reading and recommending more of her work.

There are no content concerns in this book really.  I don't really remember any profanity and all the love scenes are tastefully done in a fade to next scene kind of way.


*Disclaimer: I was provided with a copy of this book, courtesy of the author, in exchange for my honest review.