Title: Love Me Back To Life
Series: N/A
Author: M.L. Rhodes
Genre: Contemporary
Length: Extended Novella (39k)
Publisher: Amber Quill Press, LLC (June 30th, 2013)
Heat Level: Moderate
Heart Rating: ♥♥♥♥4Hearts
Blurb: The first time Noah Blackburn met Phoenix Quinlan, he’d known they were going to be best friends. It was fate, after all, since they were the same age and shared the same birthday. It hadn’t mattered that Noah lived in a sunny world where he spent his days wandering the Colorado mountains with his doting, artist father, while Phoenix hailed from the outskirts of town, where he lived with a dad who drank more than he worked and who ruled their house with a brutal temper. When the two boys were together, life was perfect, and neither of them could imagine being parted. But the spring before their sixteenth birthday, tragedy struck, robbing Noah of the father he’d adored. Shortly afterward, Phoenix began to withdraw, holding Noah at arm’s length, missing school…and then one day he just disappeared. Devastated by those events, Noah’s further shaken when, without warning, his emotionally detached mother moved them across the country, cutting Noah’s final tie to everything he’d once loved.
Now, twelve years later, Noah returns to La Paz, Colorado. He’s tired, emotionally battered, and looking for a fresh start, or maybe a restart of the life that had so long ago been derailed. But with painful memories haunting every corner, he begins to doubt his decision. Without his father, and especially without Phoenix, whom he can now admit was so much more to him than just a friend, his childhood town feels barren, absent of the connections that had once made it home.
But then, when he least expects it, Noah discovers something that shakes his world. He finds that truths aren’t always what they seem, quaint small towns can hide the darkest of secrets, and some heartaches run so deep only the strongest, most steadfast of loves can heal them.
Product Link: http://www.amberquill.com/AmberAllure/LoveMeBackToLife.html
Reviewer: GiGi
Review: I enjoyed how this author leaves us wondering what went wrong with Noah in D.C. at the start of this story. It’s always in the back of my mind as I read along, wondering how it would tie in at the end when what made him leave the east coast was unveiled. This very dramatic, heart-wrenching story does contain abuse scenarios that might be a bit too intense for some readers, but the struggles Noah and Phoenix went through, would go through as their relationship grew, and will continue to face in the future all pivot on it. It’s hard to say too much more without giving the story away. But I fell in love with both characters and felt at peace by the end of the story. If you like angst in your romance, this book is for you.