Life challenges us all at one time or the other. For several teenagers that challenge comes early. These guys have been close friends for ages, This summer a beautiful young teenage girl joins them for some of their adventures. A sudden rainstorm changes their picnic into a nightmare they will never forget. All around them, their parents and the community are being challenged by life and death struggles, flawed relationships, and growing pains. This story differs from some of Ms. Steele's typical roman novels. The romance is there but the challenges are a little different and the stories are layered to include the small cliche of young people and their families. As always I thoroughly enjoyed this latest in Ms. Steele's prolific publications. Thanks to #NetGalley@The Challenge for the opportunity to read and review this book.

Thank you to NetGalley and the publisher for allowing me to review this book.

This book revolves around a group of young teenagers and their families. The first half of the book is about a day trip that five teens and a six-year-old take to a waterfall. They decide to cross a dry riverbed and get stranded on the mountain after a flash flood. Their survival depends on their wits and the story is intriguing if not original. The back half of the novel focused more on the parents of the kids after their harrowing adventure and that's when I got bored. So many cool areas of the book could have been more fleshed out and the characters could have been built stronger. Instead, it was more like a sketch without any color to fill it all in or detail to make it pop. I could see glimpses of a good story here, and it was enough to keep me in it even if I skimmed a lot in the last half. Not the worst Steel novel I've ever read, but definitely not the bed. Middle of the road, at best.

Thank you Net Galley for an ARC of The Challenge by Danielle Steel. I loved this book! A group of 7 children get lost on a mountain and lives are changed forever. Loved loved loved!

The Challenge is an enjoyable read. Danielle Steel always delivers a wonderful story. The characters face real-life drama that is very relatable to the reader. I highly recommend.

I love Danielle Steel's books but I found reading her latest novel to be a 'challenge.' While I appreciated the time she spent introducing the characters, letting some of their stories develop organically would have better captured my interest. By the time, I reached the end of the introductions, I was confused by the timelines and how everyone fit together.

That being said, the friendships secured, I enjoyed the protagonists' bonds. The strongest section was the struggle to survive and how the missing children impacted their families. The second half was foreshadowed and readers were waiting for new relationships to emerge instead of being surprised by them.

Overall, I enjoyed the novel and some characters more than others. At times, I wished for my favorite protagonists' stories to take center stage and wanted to hurry past the others to get back to the action. Danielle Steel fans will recognize the author's trademark style and care about her characters.

When you read the synopsis for this book, you immediately believe that the title "The Challenge" refers to the terrifying episode that the 7 kids endured on the mountain. You'd be partially right.

In reality, while the mountain plays a pivotal role in tying all the families together, I feel like the title referred to all those every day challenges we all face. Some are big, like death, divorce, and substance abuse (all also themes in this story), some are smaller, like teenage angst at starting a new school. People learn about themselves and in turn, open themselves up to others.

I wasn't sure if I'd like this book. The beginning was a little slow for me, the author carefully laid out all the characters and their backgrounds. Once it got moving, though, I was hooked, and enjoyed it. I'm glad I stuck with it.

Thanks to the author, publisher and NetGalley for the opportunity to read and review this book, but my opinions are my own.

Danielle Steel brings us a story set in Fishtail in the foothills of the Beartooth Mountains near Billings, Montana.. We are introduced to four friends and their families who live there. We meet the Pollocks who manage the family horse farm and their son Peter; the Browns who own a neighboring dairy farm and their sons Matt and Benjie; the Taylors and their son Tim who was born with a hearing problem and whose father left after learning of this; and the Wylies who moved there and opened a law practice and their sons Justin and his younger brother Noel who was diagnosed with juvenile diabetes and was fitted with a pump. These four best friends are never far apart from each other. There are times when they have to bring their siblings and have gatherings with their families. This dynamic changes after meeting Juliet Marshall and inviting her to hang out with them when they find themselves at the same diner. Juliet is visiting her father who recently moved there after his divorce.

I always enjoy Danielle Steel's books, but this one wasn't one of my favorites.

As acutely stated, the way to overcome a challenge is to see through it. When the group was stranded for three days, they were cold and frightened; however, they saw through it and knew they would be rescued. No one was left behind. Even in a small town such as Fishtail with a population of 479 people, real life challenges were in abundance such as adultery, divorce, substance abuse and death. The strong friendships created between Marlene, Patti and Anne or Noel, Tim, Peter were real and helped overcome obstacles. They were each others families. A strong representation of characters and love was in abundance. Great read.

The Challenge is another wonderful book by Danielle Steel. The story is about everyday challenges we face. Tom divorces his wife and moves from New York to Fishtail Montana. He was ready for a quite life. His daughter visits and goes on a picnic with 6 other local boys. The get lost in Granite Peak. They do get rescued and this is the start of a lifelong friendship with the families and the children. The challenges they face are surviving divorce, death, infidelity, alcoholism, drug use, and new love interest. The ending was a little unexpected. As always, a wonderful fun easy read. Loved it!

Thank you NetGalley, Random House Publishing Group and Danielle Steel for the opportunity to give my honest review of The Challenge.

There were seven kids that were stranded on granites peak. They had to get thrm all off safely somehow. They used like 100 national guard and helicopters to do it. The children helped themselves too They used a shirt like a flag to get their attentionm. They had to do it to save themselves their lives their was forest fires all around them. It just if you work together all things are possible. This book was approved by netgalley and the publisher.

The Challenge by Danielle Steel Down to earth and relatable characters face the challenges of life after near tragedy. First loves, divorce, death of a parent, alcoholism and an affair are some of the challenges faced. A well written and engaging story.

Thank you to the author, publisher and NetGalley for the opportunity to preview the book.

The backdrop for this amazing story is Fishtail Montana, Tom moves there from New York City after realizing he is just not happy, his wife hates him for it and refuses to go, his daughter Juliet fly’s out to visit him and while they are out at the diner she meets some of the local teenagers and this sets up the whole story.

The kids become fast friends, parents are all friends in a small town atmosphere. The 7 kids decide to go swimming up on a mountain trail and hike then end up getting stranded, so a search and rescue is set up and this detour takes off.. I really enjoyed how all the families were friends and would also have cookouts and hang out together.

This story has everything in it it, family, drama, illnesses, lots of friendship, basically everyday life issues with your friends there to help you. Loved the relationships that were formed and how everyone always helped each other. There also was a huge surprise at the end that was totally unexpected! Danielle Steels book are always such quick easy reads for me !!!

Thank you to Netgalley and the publisher for this ARC in return for my honest review. #THECHALLENGE

The Queen of bestsellers has done it again!!!!! Danielle Steele does not have it in her to write a bad book. What I love most about her books is how she can a fiction story about any kind of life situation and make it an amazing story.

This was definitely one of the better Danielle Steel books I've read in some time. I swear someone else must be writing some of the crappier ones. The story centers around several families in a small town in Montana whose lives become entwined when a disaster impacts them. The first half of the book is gripping in a manner generally not found in DS novels. The second half was more character interaction with a surprising ending . I actually came to care for these characters and could have used an epilogue. Maybe down the road, Ms. Steel will grace us with a sequel. Recommend this one for sure.

Another great book by Danielle Steel. While not my favorite of hers, a great read nonetheless.
Five families come together during a scary few days while their children are missing in the mountains of Montana. This is the snowball for many other challenges each family faces, and must find ways to overcome. There were a lot of different situations and outcomes, not all typical "happily ever after". Loved the characters and their real world problems. My only negative of the book was I felt like a few of the families' dilemmas came too late in the story and were not necessary for the flow of the plot. Overall a great beach read.
I received an advance copy of this book in exchange for my honest review.

Danielle Steel brings us a story set in Fishtail in the foothills of the Beartooth Mountains near Billings, Montana.. We are introduced to four friends and their families who live there. We meet the Pollocks who manage the family horse farm and their son Peter; the Browns who own a neighboring dairy farm and their sons Matt and Benjie; the Taylors and their son Tim who was born with a hearing problem and whose father left after learning of this; and the Wylies who moved there and opened a law practice and their sons Justin and his younger brother Noel who was diagnosed with juvenile diabetes and was fitted with a pump. These four best friends are never far apart from each other. There are times when they have to bring their siblings and have gatherings with their families. This dynamic changes after meeting Juliet Marshall and inviting her to hang out with them when they find themselves at the same diner. Juliet is visiting her father who recently moved there after his divorce.

Even with warnings of fire warnings, they get together for a picnic and a swim at the water fall and decide to take the hiking trail to meet the river and they find a dry creek bed and decide to walk across it. Unfortunately, hard rain comes down on them and flood the once dry river bed making it impossible for them to cross it over again to head back home. Because of this, the seven friends decide to go up the mountain. By nightfall, all the parents have realized that their children are up in the mountain and have called the local law enforcement in for help. With their food supply dwindling and Noel's pump level getting low, these friends must work together to stay alive and make it back down the mountain to their families. Meanwhile, there is drama going on with the families and their reactions to the news of their missing children. Will they all make it back down? What do they go through as they try to survive and bide their time until they are rescued? How does it impact their families after this event? We get to see how this event impacts each one of these families and the choices they make as a result of what happened.

Danielle Steel brings us a story of friendship and love. This is a story of betrayal and forgiveness. We see how each member of the families and those who were involved were affected by the event and how they choose to react once it is over and how even the decisions that appear inconsequential impacts those around you and your future. See how they cope with the event and how life plays out with the decisions they make because of that fateful day. The way Danielle Steel writes makes you want to keep turning the page to see what happens. You get invested in these best friends and their families to see how they tackle what life keeps throwing at them.

I look forward to reading more from this author. I voluntarily read and reviewed an advanced copy of this book. All thoughts and opinions are my own. I would like to thank NetGalley and Random House Publishing Group - Ballantine, Delacorte Press for this privilege.

Just finished reading "The Challenge". All of Ms. Steel's books are good but this one was especially good because it didn't have the endings you would expect. Although the endings for each of the families was good for them. So glad the children were rescued from Granite Peak. Glad Tom and Marlene found love although it was too soon after her husband's death. Glad Justin got the help he needed, Beth and Harvey found each other, Peter and Juliet formed a bond and Pattie found out about Bill and got rid of him! Another winner from Ms. Steel!

Danielle Steel does it again! This book was thrilling and captivating, and it kept me glued to the edge of my seat!

A small tight knit community. Kids who have grown up being lifelong friends.
Seven friends go up onto the woods and don’t come back.
The family’s must ban together to help each other, with all the emotions they are going through. There are some complicated familiar , complicated issues
but I’m true Danielle Steel fashion a quick read, great characters and an enjoyable read!

Danielle Steel books for a mindless fun read. Good story.
Thanks to author, publisher and Netgalley for the chance to read this book. While I got the book for free, it had no bearing on the rating I gave it.