There are only a few books out there so compelling they seem to take control of you and force you to read them as quickly as possible. You can’t put them down. You just want the world to go away and leave you alone until you can finish this story. <i>Alone</i> by E.J. Noyes is that book for me.
This novel is absolutely wonderful. The pacing of the story is perfect. It grabs you, pulls you along and will hardly let you stop to breathe. The main characters are realistically created with both strengths and flaws that affect their personalities and interactions with each other. Celeste is especially well drawn. The tale is written in first person through Celeste’s eyes, and I am amazed at the depth of her character. Ms. Noyes makes the reader feel every emotion, hear every thought, and experience the world as Celeste experiences it. This is a fine example of this author’s wonderful talent.
<i>Alone</i> is the first novel I’ve read by this author, but it won’t be my last. This book has my highest rating and is definitely going into my favorites folder. Don’t miss this fascinating and brilliantly written novel.

I received an ARC from NetGalley and Bella Books for an honest review.

I received an ARC copy of this book from the Publisher via Netgalley and voluntarily leaving my review.

Celeste is working when she sees an ad about an unusual job she decide to answer it and grant a interview. The job entail that she must spent 4 years in secluded without any human contact and if she succeed she will receive millions of dollars.

The book start off with Celeste in her third year already where she has a strict routine but because of this she going through hallucinations and hearing voices of people who were in her life. Then out of the blue she not alone anymore when she sees a injured woman decides to help her even though it's against the rules. As she cares for the woman who name is Olivia they become closer.

Enjoyable read EJ Noyes is a incredible writer that her stories just pull you in.

I recall reading on an E.J. Noyes blog that she writes books as a hobby while holding down a full time job. How she managed to create Alone, which I will boldly call her Masterpiece, during her free hours is truly amazing.

When I was introduced to the book synopsis a few months ago on the Bella Books website I knew immediately that I wanted to read Alone. When I began to read this psychological study / romance I was immediately carried away to the main character's, Celeste's world of being cutoff from civilization and human contact. As I read each word I seemed to feel each emotion that Celeste was feeling during her extended multi-year stay at the habitat. The pacing of the book is good and I did not want to stop reading once I started.

I will admit that the book is highly emotional and raw feelings get exposed. It left md in tears on multiple occasions. I truly cherish every moment of reading this book and again I will state that this is E.J. Noyes Masterpiece. I highly recommend this publication to other readers.

I received an ARC from NetGalley and Bella Books in exchange for an honest review. I feel very fortunate to have received this book prior to the publication date.

* ARC received from NetGalley in exchange for a honest review.

I had the feeling that this book would be one of the best 2019 reads for me and I after I finished it I can say that I was totally right!
This book is different from Noyes previous works and the pace is slower but once you start reading it you can't stop!

Celeste works as a barista when one day she sees an unusual job advertisement just outside of her workplace. She goes to the interview and shortly agrees to sign for an uncommon deal - she has to live for 4 years in a secluded habitat without any human contact, both physical and audible. Her compensation will be half a million dollars.
When the book starts, Celeste is already in her third year of the experiment. She has a strict daily routine but the isolation already causes some side effects like the hallucinations that she has and the voices that she hears. Unexpectedly one day Celeste finds and accidentally shoots a woman just outside the borders of the habitat. She rescues and takes this stranger inside the establishment without knowing if she somehow compromises the whole experiment by breaking the non-human contact rule. Olivia is beautiful and smart and Celeste is attracted to her immediately but is it for the right reasons or is it because she just craves some human contact? The lines between what is real and what it isn't are blurred.

I don't want to spoil the book but I totally recommend it with all my heart. My feelings were all over the place after I finished it. This book has it all, the love, the pain, the forgiveness, the sexy times etc. I got emotional and I cried several times in this book, something that doesn't happen often to me.

A must read

The first thing I must say is that E.J. Noyes knows how to write a great romance. Seriously! She takes an interesting concept and she seems to live it and breathe it to life. This has to be one of the best books I have read this year.

So what is Alone about. Celeste Thorne has signed up to live in a remote location and alone for up to 4 years for 500k. Even if she only makes it to 3 years she will get a portion of it. The story picks up when she is 3 years and a few months into her 4 years. It seems that around year 3 she started hearing voices of her deadbeat mom, her dead sister, her dead foster mother and a couple of friends. She really doesn't have anyone else. As the story progresses in comes Olivia Soldano. She becomes injured and Celeste feels obligated to her help. Celeste knows she is breaking the rules by not reporting that Olivia is there, but she is drawn to her. As each day progresses they become closer and closer. So, I really can't go into much more detail here because I will give away the story.

So back to why I love this one. Noyes writes beautifully, she doesn't miss a beat!. The story moves smoothly and makes you feel like you know Celeste in an intimate way. There were times I felt like I was walking in her shoes....like I could understand how being alone for over 3 years could make you go insane and to have a person come out of nowhere and throw you for a loop. I believe I mentioned this before, but Noyes does tend to write alot about people who are flawed because of something that has happened in their lives. Alone is one of those books. Celeste has had a traumatic childhood and it shaped the adult she is today.

Anyway, I can't say enough good things about this one. Loved it and will gladly give it 5 stars!

Alone is a fantastic emotional book. The writing and characters are well developed. I would love to read more from this author.

This has been another excellent book by this author, in which the detailed description of the feelings, thoughts and physical and psychological situations experienced by the main character reaches a level higher than usual, almost to the point of making you share what she's feeling. It is inevitable to feel the great amount of different emotions that Celeste experiences within the scientific study program to which she accedes to be part and that forces her to spend a long period of time alone and isolated with the only contact through computer conversations with several  external controllers. Actually the author manages to describe them thoroughly and in a very credible way.
The story has a bit of predictability that does not diminish its appeal at all and that in a certain way makes it more interesting to guess how conflicts that seem insurmountable will be overcome. As always, the protagonists are adult and focused women although that does not mean they are perfect at all, but it makes them reflective in the face of difficulties and very communicative.  Also as always, from my point of view and for my taste, very much appreciated.
So this book is undoubtedly an excellent story from beginning to end, without tricks or inconsistencies, without lacking anything to be a meaningful and powerful romance. Recommended absolutely and without reservations.

Once again this author has been able to rip apart any semblance of common or formulaic lesfic romantic themes to come up with a story entirely unique. Beyond that is the depth of emotion between Celeste and Olivia that is built masterfully through Celeste’s first person POV that is just so intensely raw and visceral. There is a pervasive heaviness throughout the book and executing the story through Celeste’s first person POV captured a deep and lush emotionality that would have been filtered and dim otherwise. I don’t dare expound too much more about the plot without giving away spoilers but you will enjoy a few brilliant plot twists. The takeaway for Celeste and Olivia is that romance is so much more about the falling, but rather about the connections between their souls and the defining impact their pasts can have on their present. Waging war on your past to become free to love in the present and to grow into caring human beings deserving of exquisite love became the defining moment for both of them. Truly an exceptional study of the human psyche and emotions, this is a book I won’t ever forget.

Alone was an amazing story. Initially, I didn’t think that was going to be the case since one of the main characters, Celeste, was by herself- totally isolated from civilization- for a period of time. But the author effectively engaged the reader from that very first page with both humor and raw emotions…such as Celeste’s various versions of herself playing monopoly to the earth shattering impact of Olivia in Celeste’s world.

There was so much depth to the characters that you cannot help but become invested in their lives. They felt real and believable, and you felt their pain and anguish along with their happiness and love.

This was the type of book that you want to read as fast as possible because it is that good, yet at the same time you want to savor every moment simply because it is that good. But ultimately, this book wasn’t just good, it was great.

Very highly recommended!

4.5 stars. The book might appear to be predictable but the story is far more poignant and engaging. The author is one of my favorites for creating emotional and complex characters in the context of a rich and moving story. This is a great example of her talent.

Noyes creates a captivating story that focuses on physical and emotional loneliness.

Celeste answers an advertisement that leads her to live in a habitat without physical or audible human contact for 3/4 years. She is deep into her routines when an unexpected visitor arrives just after the 3 year mark. She is afraid that this contact has broken the rules and jeopardized her arrangement. But Celeste is so deprived of connection, she considers allowing the stranger to stay in secret for awhile.

This is a very heavy read. Celeste is secluded for a long time and we get a lengthy view into what life is like in her habitat. The mundane, the repetitiveness, the desperation, and the hallucinations. The main characters' pasts are filled with painful experiences. Thankfully we are just told about and not shown them.

At times, I felt that Celeste was too 'oh woe is me' and self deprecating but I had to keep reminding myself of the situation she has been in. That made interpreting her actions different than you might consider in other stories.

Above all, this is a love story. It was mostly predictable with exception to the length of time it took to have a resolution. Nobody will be able to claim it had an 'abrupt ending.' But I felt it. It hurt. Then kept hurting. I had a lump in my throat and glossy eyes for the last 1/4 of the book. Some of the scenes were so filled with tension, I could hardly stand it. The dialogue shines in this one.

I recommend to those who love romance, science, seclusion, tension, and Montana.

'ARC generously provided by both NetGalley and The Publisher in exchange for an honest review'

**'Description begins in the writer's imagination but should finish in the reader's mind..Storytelling reveals meaning without committing the error of defining it..'

Rich in good characterization and storyline, 'ALONE' is a dazzling narration that offers an insightful and some meaningful perspectives on what is false or real when showing endearment to another while being enclosed from the outside world. Readers might deem it impossible to imagine or believed that someone could give up everything to be secluded in a habitat to have their life continuously monitored for a span of three plus years -- from a technologically advanced society which in essence, was the melodramatic core of the storyline and what did happen.

Part of the story also delineates the noir profundity of Ms.Noyes's storytelling in the context of both leads' (Olivia & Celeste) narratives and bonding. While in her concealed domain, Celeste's precise sense of the place and painful insights about the indomitability of her true feelings parallel that of Olivia's. Plus it did pit her heart and mind against her anger towards Olivia after-the-fact.
There's also a few here-there paragraphs where the author did seem a bit obsess with the torrid abusive treatment suffered at the hands of Celeste and her kid sister's mother during their childhood and this 'loser' mentality aim at her while growing up.

Ms.Noyes did mix realism with relatability, disorienting with dreamlike, entrapment with obligations and finally keeping independence out of reach with Celeste's degeneration at times.
Overall, the writing was well written,clever,poignant and it even tried to render a significant examination about a complicated relationship -- of one protagonist needing to overcome her anger and distrust towards the other with forgiveness which led to recreating that emotional and passionate connection from before. A highly recommended book!

When you actually experience every single emotion and thought of both the MCs almost physically, you know you’re submerged in something created by a magician. This book has an unusual circumstance in which the MCs meet and that circumstance is one of the drivers or their relationship and every emotion. It is wonderfully imagined and executed.

An experiment of having a person live completely alone for a period of a minimum of three years, extendable to four years, if the person agrees to continue. Celeste Thorne is the study subject of the experiment. With lots of money at the end of four years, she opts to stay beyond three years. She is a few months into the fourth year when her solitude is disrupted by the arrival of Olivia, a wandering hiker whom Celeste shoots by mistake.

Celeste develops strong feelings very quickly for Olivia but has a hard time separating reality from the almost-hallucinations that she has been having. She even wonders whether Olivia is real or someone she’s dreamed up. She has a hard time controlling her lust, till Olivia makes the first move to giving a physical expression to their closeness.

But Celeste knows that Olivia’s time with her is limited because the experiment requires Celeste to be alone. She is dreading Olivia leaving – till she discovers a secret that Olivia has been keeping and it splits Celeste apart.

E. J. Noyes is easily one of the most gifted writers pulling us into whatever world she creates making us live and feel every emotion with her characters. She also has an ability to write equally awesome MCs and we absolutely love it when a book has two fantastic MCs. The other big, big, big comfort in Noyes’ romances is that both the MCs feel equally strongly about each other – and nothing in this world is better than reading about love reciprocated with completeness.

Definitely, loudly, vehemently recommended.

For being one of my most anticipated want to read books to read in 2019, this one sure had a lot of expectations to live up to! I can say with full authority, that it met or exceeded every single hope that I had. Noyes has done it again, cementing her place as a "must-read" author.

Ask, Tell was one of my favorite books of 2017, and sits on my all-time favorite re-read list, but I think this book actually tops it. Noyes has matured as an author, and Alone is gut-wrenching in many places. With that said, I honestly can't say that I'm normally an emotional reader. Yes, I'm caught up in the story, but rarely catch myself laughing out loud or crying or truly feeling emotion with the characters - parts of Alone left me wrecked. Actual tears. If that's not saying something for the depth and maturity, I'm not sure what else possibly could convey it more.

As the blurb mentions, one of the MCs, Celeste, spends a ton of time alone in this one. There's a lot of time spent on ordinary, daily things, but it works in this book. Yes, it's a touch slow in parts, but it's exactly what's called for in the situation and in fact, the mundane is partly what makes this book so good. I was able to spot the twist before it showed up, but I'm not sure if everyone will... It didn't bother me in any way knowing what was coming. It's handled brilliantly, and I dare you to not feel angry and emotionally wrecked yourself once it's all revealed. There's really no other lesfic books that this book compares to, and personally, I think that's another part of what makes this so great. It's an emotional, psychological rollercoaster of the best kind. I stayed up waaaay too late reading this just to finish.

And the romance... wow. Noyes can really write some steam!

Just do yourself a favor and pre-order this one now. You won't be sorry! Alone lived up to all the hype, and is easily one of the best books of 2019!

4.75 stars.

**Many thanks to Bella Books for providing me with an ARC copy in exchange for my honest review.**