REVIEWED by Caroline
TITLE: Signs of Life
SERIES: Resilient Love
AUTHOR: Melanie Hansen
NARRATOR: Robert Nieman
PUBLISHER: Dreamspinner Press
LENGTH: 8 Hours 13 Minutes
RELEASE DATE: March 21, 2017
BLURB:
Successful lawyer Jeremy Speer has it all—a loving husband, a beautiful home, and a cherished dream that’s about to become reality. He’s learned not to take happiness for granted, meeting the challenges of life and love head-on with unwavering commitment and fierce devotion. A series of tragic events leave Jeremy shattered, adrift on a sea of unimaginable pain. He’s able to piece his life back together, but instead of embracing it, he merely exists, using isolation and punishing physical exertion to keep the world at bay.
High school teacher Kai Daniels has a heart for at-risk kids—he was one himself, and a teenage brush with the law and some troubled years behind bars left him scarred inside and out. With courage, hard work, and the support of friends, he’s built a fulfilling life that leaves no time for a relationship.
An intense encounter with Kai at a gay club ignites a spark in Jeremy that he thought was extinguished forever, but he’s unwilling to destroy the fragile peace he’s managed to create, and he leaves Kai humiliated and disappointed. Things should have ended there, but a bizarre occurrence brings the two together in a way neither of them expected.
REVIEW:
Signs of Life is just as heart-breaking, just as gut wrenching and just as difficult to read the second time round. I think it is a testament to Melanie Hansen’s writing that you can go back to this story, knowing what is about to take place, and still be left as devastated as you were the first time round. It’s not all doom and gloom though and you will also still be left feeling much better about where Jeremy is in his life by the end.
The story starts with a teasing interlude into Jeremy’s life as he and his husband prepare for the birth of their first child. Jeremy’s husband suffers from depression and their life is anything but easy but they love each other deeply and are committed to making a family together. Two events lead Jeremy to walk away from that life, or at least what’s left of it, and he doesn’t stop running until he has hit rock bottom.
A random hook up in an alley with sexy school teacher Kai, the first sex Jeremy has had in a couple of years, leaves Jeremy feeling guilty and Kai angry as all hell at being used. That should be the end of it but a series of coincidences mean the two men come face to face few weeks later and sparks are soon beginning to fly once again.
Kai devotes his life to the kids that society would rather not see. He’s walked in their shoes, literally, and is all too aware of being given a second chance. He fights in their corner and it’s one such fight that means he has to spend time around Jeremy every weekend for the foreseeable future. He’s tough and delicate all at once and he slowly but surely coaxes Jeremy back to the land of the living and hopefully back to a place where he can love again.
I loved this book the first time round and I loved it even more on audio. Robert Nieman added so much to the story – his voices for each character were perfect. Signs of Life is a beautiful second chance story and I would highly recommend it.
RATING: 
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