Genre Fiction
![Danielle Steel - [object Object] author](https://res.cloudinary.com/readsomnia/image/upload/authors/a_B000APK2GC.jpg)
Nine Lives: A Novel
NEW YORK TIMES BESTSELLER • A woman who longs to avoid risk at all cost learns that men who love danger are the most exciting in this moving novel from New York Times bestselling author Danielle Steel.
After a carefree childhood, Mary Margaret Kelly came of age in the shadow of grief. Her father, a dashing daredevil Air Force pilot, died when she was nine. Maggie saw her mother struggle to put their lives back together. As the family moved from one city to the next, her mother warned her to beware of daredevil men and avoid risk at all cost.
Following her mother's advice, and forgoing the magic of first love with a high school boyfriend who was too wild to feel safe, Maggie instead sought out all the things her mother had lost-a predictable partner, a stable home, and a regular paycheck. She chose to marry a dependable, kind man who was a reliable husband and successful accountant. Together they had a son and found happiness in a conventional suburban life. Until tragedy struck again.
Now on her own, feeling a sense of adventure for the first time, Maggie decides to face her fears, setting off on a whirlwind trip from San Francisco to Rome, Paris, and Monaco. But when her travels reconnect her with the very same irresistible, thrill-seeking man she's spent thirty years trying to forget, Maggie becomes terrified that rushing into love and sharing his life may very well end in disaster. But ultimately, while Maggie tries to outrun her fears and painful memories of her past, fate will surprise her in the most astounding of ways, as she walks the tightrope between danger and courage, and between wisdom and love.
After a carefree childhood, Mary Margaret Kelly came of age in the shadow of grief. Her father, a dashing daredevil Air Force pilot, died when she was nine. Maggie saw her mother struggle to put their lives back together. As the family moved from one city to the next, her mother warned her to beware of daredevil men and avoid risk at all cost.
Following her mother's advice, and forgoing the magic of first love with a high school boyfriend who was too wild to feel safe, Maggie instead sought out all the things her mother had lost-a predictable partner, a stable home, and a regular paycheck. She chose to marry a dependable, kind man who was a reliable husband and successful accountant. Together they had a son and found happiness in a conventional suburban life. Until tragedy struck again.
Now on her own, feeling a sense of adventure for the first time, Maggie decides to face her fears, setting off on a whirlwind trip from San Francisco to Rome, Paris, and Monaco. But when her travels reconnect her with the very same irresistible, thrill-seeking man she's spent thirty years trying to forget, Maggie becomes terrified that rushing into love and sharing his life may very well end in disaster. But ultimately, while Maggie tries to outrun her fears and painful memories of her past, fate will surprise her in the most astounding of ways, as she walks the tightrope between danger and courage, and between wisdom and love.
Readers Top Reviews
embrosinaSandra
Yet again you are transported into the lives of other people. You learn their personalities, lives and lives. You are drawn into the story and characters like no other storyteller.
LindseyembrosinaS
Oh Danielle you've done it again with a superb book all the way through it and what a lovely ending . I thoroughly enjoyed yet another great book from you. Thank you Danielle.
donna duffyLindse
Read cover to cover in 4 hours. Always a comfortable old friend read. Predictable as always but great if you love (as I do) to just lose an afternoon with a good story. Wish more were made into films
a readerdonna duf
DS can be forgiven for her imperfect writing that is sometimes repetitious because she tells great stories. Nine Lives tells a great story about a never forgotten sweet high school love that is rekindled later in life when both characters have fulfilled their youthful dreams. Maggie had a stable marriage and son in the suburbs after experiencing the death of her father, brother, and mother who couldn't bear the losses. Paul turned his daredevil ways into a fortune built on Formula One racing & daring financial maneuvers. When they're reunited when Maggie is widowed young, they embark on a love affair that neither allows to become more. Paul knows he lives for danger & never had children because of that. Maggie had a safe adult life but even a stable, solid husband died; she's not going to risk heartbreak again by fully committing to a man who loves danger. Their affair takes them across Europe and the Caribbean in full DS splendor. One of them is going to have to make a sacrifice if they want to be together - Maggie who suffers PTSD & wants to be a stable parent for her college-age son or Paul prematurely giving up his dangerous occupations. The predictable conclusion begs for a sequel. I want to see more of these characters.
NanaCava readerdo
I love Danielle Steele's books and Nine Lives did not disappoint. Maggie's mother warned her to stay away from Paul as he was an adrenaline junkie and would only break her heart. She took her mother's advice and let him go but she never forgot him. Thirty years later Maggie has become a widow just a year ago and has a son on his way to college. She is still grieving her husband and is barely existing. Her neighbor, Helen, helps her come back to the living. She also suggests Maggie take a trip to places she always wanted to go. She took her advice and while vacationing in Europe runs into Paul. All the old feelings come back for both of them but he is still an adrenaline junkie. To find out where things go between them you will have to read the book. I loved every minute of it and didn't want it to end.
Short Excerpt Teaser
Chapter 1
Mary Margaret Kelly, Maggie, had lived on four military bases by the time she was eight years old. It was the only life she knew, and she liked it. Her father, Kevin, was an Air Force test pilot, and had been decorated for the missions he flew in Vietnam. Her paternal grandfather had been a Navy pilot in World War II.
Maggie worshipped her father. He was handsome and tall and funny. She loved watching him fly planes, although she knew it scared her mother. Nothing scared her father. He was very brave, and he always told Maggie to be brave too. She tried to be. Her brother, Tommy, also tried to be. He said he was going to be a pilot one day like their dad. Maggie was five years older than Tommy, and she helped her mom take care of him when she was busy. Emma was a nurse before Maggie was born, but she stayed home with the kids now, and she always had a lot to do. The Air Force gave them a good life. Her father was a squadron leader and flew training missions. They moved to a new base in Nevada when Maggie turned nine. Her mom didn't like it. It was hot most of the time, except at night, and she said that their dad's missions were going to be more dangerous now, but she didn't say why. Maggie heard them arguing about it sometimes. But her dad loved what he did. His eyes and his whole face lit up whenever he talked about flying. He loved everything about planes.
They'd only been there for three months when Maggie's dad went out on a routine training mission. He kissed Maggie in her bed early that morning before he left. He kissed Tommy, who was sound asleep. Emma got up and watched him from the kitchen window while he drove away. By the time Tommy and Maggie were having breakfast, two men in uniform knocked on the door, came in, and sat in the living room with their mother. Emma didn't make a sound. She just sat there, sobbing quietly, so her children couldn't hear her. After a while the men left.
She told Maggie and Tommy afterwards that their dad had died. She said his plane had malfunctioned and spun out of control. The officers told Emma that if Kevin Kelly hadn't been able to stop it, no one could have.
Three days later, Maggie and Tommy went to their father's funeral. Years later, Maggie could still remember how terrible she had felt, and how impossible it was to believe that her dad would never come home again. The men in his squadron had folded the flag on his casket and handed it to her mother, who had clutched it to her chest with her eyes closed. Maggie had thought she would faint, but she didn't. Maggie kept telling herself to be brave the way her father had told her to be. And she was, braver than she ever thought she could be. She took care of Tommy when her mother stayed in bed and cried all the time after that. Emma hardly ever got up, and Maggie cooked dinner for them.
They went to stay with Emma's parents in Oklahoma for a while, then they came back and moved off the base to Las Vegas. It was the first time Maggie had lived among civilians and gone to a local school. Emma got a job as a cashier in a casino. She didn't want to go back to nursing, she said it had been too long. They stayed in Las Vegas for six months, living on her salary and their dad's pension. After that, they moved to three different states, and finally made their way to Miami, where Emma got a better job at a resort hotel, working as a manicurist in the spa. She lived a quiet life, and never went out on dates, until she met Harry Sherman.
Maggie was fourteen and her father had been dead for five years when Emma met Harry at the resort in Miami where they both worked. He was the catering manager. He wasn't handsome like Maggie's father. He wasn't exciting. He wasn't a hero and didn't fly planes, but Maggie's mother told her that wasn't important. What they needed was a man who wasn't going to risk his life every day when he went to work. She told Maggie that if her father hadn't been in love with the thrill of flying planes, he'd be alive today. He could have been anything. A carpenter, a plumber, a teacher, a contractor, but instead he loved danger. Every time Tommy said he wanted to fly planes too when he grew up, Emma told him, in a harsh voice, that he'd better think of something else to do if he didn't want to kill himself. They learned not to talk about their father, or flying.
Harry was a decent man. He was quiet, serious, he didn't laugh or tell funny stories like their dad, and he didn't talk to her or Tommy much. But their mom said he had a good job. They moved into an apartment together a year after they met. Their mom told them that she and Harry were engaged. They got married a month later.
Maggie was fifteen when they got married at city hall. The...
Mary Margaret Kelly, Maggie, had lived on four military bases by the time she was eight years old. It was the only life she knew, and she liked it. Her father, Kevin, was an Air Force test pilot, and had been decorated for the missions he flew in Vietnam. Her paternal grandfather had been a Navy pilot in World War II.
Maggie worshipped her father. He was handsome and tall and funny. She loved watching him fly planes, although she knew it scared her mother. Nothing scared her father. He was very brave, and he always told Maggie to be brave too. She tried to be. Her brother, Tommy, also tried to be. He said he was going to be a pilot one day like their dad. Maggie was five years older than Tommy, and she helped her mom take care of him when she was busy. Emma was a nurse before Maggie was born, but she stayed home with the kids now, and she always had a lot to do. The Air Force gave them a good life. Her father was a squadron leader and flew training missions. They moved to a new base in Nevada when Maggie turned nine. Her mom didn't like it. It was hot most of the time, except at night, and she said that their dad's missions were going to be more dangerous now, but she didn't say why. Maggie heard them arguing about it sometimes. But her dad loved what he did. His eyes and his whole face lit up whenever he talked about flying. He loved everything about planes.
They'd only been there for three months when Maggie's dad went out on a routine training mission. He kissed Maggie in her bed early that morning before he left. He kissed Tommy, who was sound asleep. Emma got up and watched him from the kitchen window while he drove away. By the time Tommy and Maggie were having breakfast, two men in uniform knocked on the door, came in, and sat in the living room with their mother. Emma didn't make a sound. She just sat there, sobbing quietly, so her children couldn't hear her. After a while the men left.
She told Maggie and Tommy afterwards that their dad had died. She said his plane had malfunctioned and spun out of control. The officers told Emma that if Kevin Kelly hadn't been able to stop it, no one could have.
Three days later, Maggie and Tommy went to their father's funeral. Years later, Maggie could still remember how terrible she had felt, and how impossible it was to believe that her dad would never come home again. The men in his squadron had folded the flag on his casket and handed it to her mother, who had clutched it to her chest with her eyes closed. Maggie had thought she would faint, but she didn't. Maggie kept telling herself to be brave the way her father had told her to be. And she was, braver than she ever thought she could be. She took care of Tommy when her mother stayed in bed and cried all the time after that. Emma hardly ever got up, and Maggie cooked dinner for them.
They went to stay with Emma's parents in Oklahoma for a while, then they came back and moved off the base to Las Vegas. It was the first time Maggie had lived among civilians and gone to a local school. Emma got a job as a cashier in a casino. She didn't want to go back to nursing, she said it had been too long. They stayed in Las Vegas for six months, living on her salary and their dad's pension. After that, they moved to three different states, and finally made their way to Miami, where Emma got a better job at a resort hotel, working as a manicurist in the spa. She lived a quiet life, and never went out on dates, until she met Harry Sherman.
Maggie was fourteen and her father had been dead for five years when Emma met Harry at the resort in Miami where they both worked. He was the catering manager. He wasn't handsome like Maggie's father. He wasn't exciting. He wasn't a hero and didn't fly planes, but Maggie's mother told her that wasn't important. What they needed was a man who wasn't going to risk his life every day when he went to work. She told Maggie that if her father hadn't been in love with the thrill of flying planes, he'd be alive today. He could have been anything. A carpenter, a plumber, a teacher, a contractor, but instead he loved danger. Every time Tommy said he wanted to fly planes too when he grew up, Emma told him, in a harsh voice, that he'd better think of something else to do if he didn't want to kill himself. They learned not to talk about their father, or flying.
Harry was a decent man. He was quiet, serious, he didn't laugh or tell funny stories like their dad, and he didn't talk to her or Tommy much. But their mom said he had a good job. They moved into an apartment together a year after they met. Their mom told them that she and Harry were engaged. They got married a month later.
Maggie was fifteen when they got married at city hall. The...
