Love found ... love lost ... an emotional journey that brings a man and a woman together again for a second chance at love.

Danielle "Dani" Westerly was only eighteen years old when she met and fell in love with twenty-five year old Vietnam Vet Miguel "Michael" DeCara, a single father with a six year old daughter named Vanessa. Miguel had come home from a traumatizing tour in Vietnam to a wife who couldn't deal with his nightmares and didn't want to be a wife or mother any longer. Addicted to women, Miguel went from one woman to another until he meets Dani, who was spending the summer before starting college as a waitress in a California coffee shop. Dani was able to soothe his fears by holding him in her arms until he calmed down. They had a loving relationship for a few months until a sudden event occurred in his life and without saying a word, he left Dani behind. Dani's heart was broken and filled with hatred for a man who took her youth away, and she blamed him for a fatal decision that would change her future.

Nineteen years later a chance meeting in Chicago brings Dani and Michael together again. Dani is a retail clothing merchandise buyer for a large Minneapolis department store. Michael is the owner of a family coat manufacturing business, Regal Coats, with divisions in Chicago and New York. Electricity sparks between them, but Dani's hardened heart leaves Michael confused and wondering what he did to make her despise him so much.

A trail of memories will send Dani and Michael on a journey to reignite a lost love, seek forgiveness and redemption, and provide them a second chance at love.

Memories is a poignant tale of love found, love lost, and second chances that will captivate your heart and soul. The author weaves a beautiful and dramatic tale written in the third person narrative with alternating perspectives on Dani and Michael's love story.

The story opens up with Dani at Michael's funeral, then flashes back to the beginning of their relationship, leading up to their chance meeting nineteen years later and how their relationship was renewed. This touching love story takes the reader along on Dani and Michael's emotional memory woven journey, it will draw you into their lives and will pull at your heartstrings. The story is rich in detail and descriptions of the retail merchandising business and the various settings, the author easily transports the reader to California, Minneapolis, Chicago and New York. The author's descriptive writing style is phenomenal, she simply captivates your imagination and engages you to come along on the emotional roller coaster ride that is Dani and Michael's love story.

The author has created an intriguing cast of characters who are realistic and complex people that the reader can relate to. Their engaging personalities grab a hold of you with dialogues and interactions that leap off the pages. The emotions and passion between Dani and Michael are palpable, you can't help but feel for them as they deal with their past demons and relationship issues. Dani's revelation of why she despised Michael and Michael's Vietnam nightmares that still haunt him was simply heart wrenching, author Deanna Lynn Sletten sure knows how to draw out the emotions from her readers! The supporting cast of characters: Catherine and Vanessa are both wonderful additions to the storyline as their lives are intricately interwoven with Dani and Michael. This emotionally charged story is one that everyone who believes in love should read, it is a powerfully compelling story that will leave you satisfied, I could easily see this novel becoming a movie.

Memories is a beautiful story of a couple's journey to rekindle a lost love through old memories and a painful past brought to the surface and healed through the power of communication, compassion, forgiveness and redemption. This love story is one for the ages, it will resonate with you long after the last word has been read.

Disclaimer: I received a copy of the book from the author in exchange for my honest review and participation in a virtual book tour event hosted by Chick Lit Plus Blog Tours.

http://jerseygirlbookreviews.blogspot.com/2012/09/memories-by-deanna-lynn-slette... ( )

MEMORIES is a poignant story about love, loss and forgiveness. The book begins with a wife thinking back over the years she’s known her husband. Dani fell in love with Michael when she was eighteen, but he disappeared from her life without a goodbye. Many years later, a chance meeting brings them together again. She’s hated him all this time for hurting her, but Dani can’t deny that there’s still a spark between them. Just when she finds it in her heart to forgive him, yet another tragedy comes between them. The odds are not in their favor, but it seems as though fate has brought them back together for a reason.

Overall, I liked this book. The writing was strong, and the characters were well drawn and easy to connect with. MEMORIES was an emotional story, I’d even call it a tear jerker. Both of the main characters are dealing with a lot of pain, especially Michael and his experiences as a soldier in Vietnam that still haunt him. Then down the road, he must deal with an even greater suffering. Luckily Dani was strong enough and compassionate enough to forgive him and help him heal. My only complaint was that misunderstandings and/or withholding important information were what kept them apart both times. Some simple communication could have saved them a lot of heartache.

MEMORIES is a beautiful love story with a bittersweet beginning and end. Recommended for fans of romantic women’s fiction. ( )

Review first published on my blog: http://memoriesfrombooks.blogspot.com/2012/04/memories.html

Memories is a love story - love found, lost, and rediscovered. It is the story of Michael and Dani. The book starts at the end of Dani and Michael's story - at Michael's funeral. Dani is reflecting on their lives. They met. They loved. They lost each other. They reconnected.

The book then goes back to the middle of Dani and Michael's story - to the the time that they rediscover each other. At that time, Dani is a woman living with a devastating memory. She found love once in her life and then lost it. The memory of that love impacts her entire life, present and future. Michael is that love and the one responsible for Dani's sad memories. He is the Vietnam veteran whose memories of war haunt and torment him. When they first met, Dani was the one person who could calm his torment. They found each other once, only to be driven apart by circumstances. For each, the memories of the other remained. As they meet again, the question is if both can reframe the memories of the past and find each other again even though difficult circumstances threaten to drive them apart again.

The story of this book is not an unusual one. The way it's told, however, adds movement and depth to the book. It goes from the middle out in both directions - into the past to see their memories of their relationship and into the future as they rebuild their relationship. It is interesting to see how the memories of their past influence their assumptions, actions, and understanding as they rebuild their relationship.

A well told story. ( )