Changes

by Danielle Steel

Top TV anchorwoman Melanie Adams had given up on love after a failed marriage and an unhappy affair. With her two twin teenage children and her television news career, she had no room in her life for a man. Then she met famous heart surgeon Peter Hallam; a widower with three children of his own.

Suddenly Melanie was experiencing feelings she thought were forever gone. But two families (one in New York and one in Los Angeles), two exciting careers, and two strong-willed people were challenges that were not easily resolved or handled. And Melanie faced a painful choice between her glamorous life in the public eye, her private life, and the new family they would form. Changes lead each of them to new places, new problems, new people, and the new life they begin.

Genres: Romance, Fiction, Chick Lit, Contemporary Romance, Contemporary, Adult Fiction, Womens Fiction

311 pages, Hardcover

First published August 1, 1983

About the author

Danielle Steel has been hailed as one of the world's bestselling authors, with almost a billion copies of her novels sold. Her many international bestsellers include All That Glitters, Royal, Daddy's Girls, The Wedding Dress, The Numbers Game, Moral Compass, Spy, and other highly acclaimed novels. She is also the author of His Bright Light, the story of her son Nick Traina's life and death; A Gift of Hope, a memoir of her work with the homeless; Expect a Miracle, a book of her favorite quotations for inspiration and comfort; Pure Joy, about the dogs she and her family have loved; and the children's books Pretty Minnie in Paris and Pretty Minnie in Hollywood.

Facebook.com/DanielleSteelOfficial
Instagram: @officialdaniellesteel

Reviews

[Shelley · Rating 2 out of 5]

I spent the better part of High School buried in a Danielle Steele novel. They are all about gorgeous women and handsome men with loads of money. All the women have beautiful hair and legs for miles. They all blow the men away by wearing summer dresses with espadrilles. They all have happy endings. For a High School girl they are a grown way to continue to play with Barbies. For a grown woman with kids and a mortgage they're fluff I simply don't have time for anymore.

[Suz · Rating 3 out of 5]

Nope. Don’t remember this one. Even after reading an amazing detailed review from what seemed like her biggest fan. This type of plot line seems like the ones I like though.

I’m pleased I review all books as I go now! It’s part of my combined joy of reading!

Addendum. 08/09/2022
Watched the DVD today from the library. It was ok! In a saggy 90’s way.

[Mitsu Vaishnav · Rating 4 out of 5]

Changes is yet another of Danielle Steel Novels I have liked immensely. This novel is something each and every one of us can relate to at one point of time. It depicts human emotions nicely. Even though the end is predictable, in order to enjoy this one you need to read in b/w the lines.

Changes: As the Title of the book suggests this novel is all about “THE MOMENTS OF IMPACT” which can change our lives forever:)

There are two center characters in this novel: MELANIE ADAMS , a HOTSHOT TV ANCHOR in NEW YORK and PETER HALLAM, a RENOWNED HEART SURGEON in Los Angeles.

1) MELANIE ADAMS : She is a famous TV ANCHOR. She is single mother. She has twins, Valerie AND Jessica. She is honest and decent person along with being a wonderful mom.

2)PETER HALLAM : He is a renowned HEART SURGEON in Los Angeles. His wife died due to Pulmonary Hypertension, refusing her own husband to treat her. He has three kids. Mark, Pam and Matt. He is involved in fighting odds of people’s life everyday. Deeply attached to his work and his kids, trying to juggle both the things after death of his wife .

How do MELANIE AND PETER meet ???

As a part of her latest story, Melanie follows a girl who is going to be operated by Peter. Melanie is greatly touched by the work Peter does, how he deals with DEATH and HOPE at the same time. They enter into a whirlwind romance. None of them see any future in it because they live 3000 miles apart and both of them have careers which they don’t want to give up. However, after they separate, their feelings for each other keeps on exponentially increasing. They introduce each other to their kids. Take vacations with their kids. Pam, Peter’s daughter is still grieving over her mother’s death and rejects Melanie. Meanwhile Valerie and Jessica are so used to having their mother to themselves they cant get used to the idea of sharing her with someone else.

However, even with many odds against her, Melanie leaves her job in New York and moves with twins to Los Angeles to marry Peter. When she gets married she sees that Peter’s entire house-hold still lives in the past. The house they live in still looks like his EX – WIFE is still there. While Melanie gives her heart and soul into the marriage, Peter still seems to be living in the past. Upon that Peter’s kids don’t adjust to her ways and her own daughters refuse to understand her decisions to marry Peter.

Melanie is trying to juggle her house along with a career at a new place. She faces a lot of problems with her co-anchor. Upon that Melanie turns pregnant. None of Peter’s kids are happy about that, neither are the twins and the make her life a living hell. When Melanie turns to Peter for his support, she finds he supports his kids more. Frustrated and alone Melanie, runs away from the house. Whether she comes back or not ??? And whether their marriage survives ??? Does she go for an abortion instead ???Will the children come to their senses and bury their differences???? And will Peter finally let go of his past and make the needed compromises, or risk losing Melanie forever???? Will Melanie and Peter together pull through these problems???? Will love conquer it all???? You need to read the book to find out.

This is a short synopsis. The way Danielle Steel have jotted down feelings and emotions in it, it seems very real. Definitely worth a read.

What I learnt from it ???

Anything constant in life is “CHANGE”. First of all I learnt that GIVING up your career in order to be with someone you truly love is not FOOLISH. It’s the best decision anyone could make. Careers can be started anywhere as long as you are talented, but true love comes only once. Another thing i realized was all step-moms are not bad. Some are genuine and caring and will love you as much as her own kids. Sometimes step- children are worse, they will make life horrible for their step-moms. Thirdly, don’t hang on to the past too much. And don’t move forward unless you are sure you have given up the past. Otherwise you may ruin someone else’s life. Don’t bully your parents, trust that whatever decisions they make will always will be the best ones for you.

[Carolyn · Rating 3 out of 5]

So many red flags here that she missed with him. She had the patience of a saint. Thankfully, she finally snapped him out of it to see what he was doing.

[Carol Storm · Rating 5 out of 5]

I don't know why, but this is one of the few Danielle Steel novels I was able to read all the way through. I loved the way Mel has two girls and she thinks both of them are wonderful, even though one is a straight A student and the other is sort of a clueless babe. And I liked the way Dr. Peter Hallam was so straight ahead about how his first wife was cold and perfect and how he's almost afraid to love anyone as warm and spontaneous as Mel.

The thing about Danielle Steel is that her writing has an innocent quality, almost like a little girl wrote it. Not that she doesn't understand about grown up things like sex. But she has an innocence about her characters and what they believe in. Like on the first page when the doctor is introduced and the narrator keeps gushing about "there was something unbelievably decent about him . . . something unbelievably strong . . . unbelievably gentle . . . unbelievably powerful . . . " it makes you smile, but in a nice way.

And who doesn't need that?

[Sonia189 · Rating 5 out of 5]

I've read this many times in Portuguese. Of all the four of five books by her I've read, this is my favorite and still has a special place in my heart.

[Brittany · Rating 1 out of 5]

Once again, it seems like Danielle Steel wasn't sure she knew what she wanted her characters to think or feel. The characters would go from being happy about a situation to being depressed and unsure within a one page span. It was all over the place. And Steel's "foreshadowing" was so predictible she might as well have just said right out what was going to happen four pages later. To top it all off, there were so many constant conflicts and issues arising one after another for the characters that as soon as you felt like things were going to start going smoothly something else would happen and all the characters would be fighting again. The potential for a good story was there with the basic plotline, but everything was too confused to make it worthwhile. I'm finding that Danielle Steel's books are either or hit or miss, and this one, like the majority of the rest, was a miss for me.

[Leanne Hunt · Rating 2 out of 5]

I’m guessing this is one of Danielle Steel’s early novels. The storyline is entertaining enough but the style of writing is annoyingly repetitive. Her constant use of run-on sentences makes the novel read like a children’s book. Scenes have very little detail and there is a lot of “telling” as opposed to “showing”, which puts the reader in a very passive position. Read this if you are looking for a super-simple read with a happy ending.

[Hiske Den · Rating 3 out of 5]

I liked the story. However the couple fights a lot and then falls back in love again which is a bit unrealistic to me. I don’t like the corse language. At one point she leaves her husband and kids and says “the hell with them, screw them all”. Something I would never say and if I did then it would not be a happy ending.

[lacy white · Rating 4 out of 5]

Title: Changes
Author: Danielle Steel
Genre: Romance
Format: own paperback book
Series: NA
Star Rating: 4 stars

Please note that this is an older review. At the time of writing this review, I did not keep track of trigger warnings. I apologize for this and know that going forward, my reviews will contain trigger warnings. If you know the trigger warnings for this book, please reach out to me, and I will amend my review. If I do remember any trigger warnings for this book, I will list them, but please note that it is not an extensive list.

I found this book while going through all my books. I had thought that I hadn't read it and was excited to find a Danielle Steel book that I hadn't read. I’ve read quite a bit of her older stuff, so it was a surprise to me to find out I might not have read this book. But as I progressed through the book, I discovered that I had read it. But that’s okay, too. I still enjoyed this book very much. Plus, I needed to write a review on it for Goodreads.

This is the typical Danielle Steel fluff that her readers have come to know and love. It's the story of Mel, who is a big-time news anchor in New York with twin girls, and Peter, a heart surgeon in LA who is considered one of the best, with three kids and a wife who recently died.

Mel is given the story of a very sick little girl who needs a new heart like yesterday. She is to convince a heart surgeon to do it for free so Mel can get an awesome story about it. Peter is willing to do it. One thing leads to another, and I'm sure you can guess what happened if you know anything about Danielle Steel. Her books follow a pretty specific formula, and this one was no exception.

One of the big things that I like about this book is that it documents the struggles of blending two families. Mel's twins are 16. Peter's kids are 6, 14, and 18. So I bet you can already imagine the issues and problems that would arise from blending families at such a trying age. It is pretty difficult to capture the tension and awkwardness of blending families, but I think Steel does it perfectly. It didn't consume the book, but it definitely had a major part in it.

Okay, now don't get me wrong, but I'm going to be a Debby downer for a minute. I am an avid Danielle Steel reader. I will read all of her books, no matter what they are about. But she seems to do instalove constantly. I've grown to get quite annoyed with it. Love comes from months of being with the person. Learning about their quirks and all the other things that make them tick. Not spending a couple of days with them. But that is how Danielle Steel works, and I shouldn’t expect anything less of her. But something about Danielle Steel just makes me keep coming back to her.

Overall, I enjoyed this book quite a bit. I certainly had some problems with the instalove stuff, but that happens a lot with Danielle Steel and her novels. I enjoyed the way that she captured what it’s like to have blended families and try to make them work. This is certainly one of her better books.

[Denisse · Rating 2 out of 5]

Últimamente estoy escuchando audiolibros ya que no tengo mucho tiempo para leer libros físicos. Quería escuchar algo de romance por lo que me decidí por esta autora.

Melanie es una mujer de 33 años que reside en Nueva York, presentadora de noticias y con dos hijas mellizas de 15 años llamadas: Jess y Valerie.

Un día la cadena de noticias donde trabaja Melanie, decide enviarla a California hacer un reportaje con el famoso cirujano cardiovascular Peter Hallam.

Peter es viudo con tres hijos, dedicado a su trabajo; cuando conoce a Melanie se siente atraído como nunca antes. Lamentablemente ambos viven en lugares muy distanciados por lo que tendrán que luchar por sacrificar sus intereses y encontrar la felicidad.

Los personajes principales tienen mucha química pero a la vez son muy egoístas con sus carreras, anteponiendo sus intereses antes que los de la familia.

El libro en general me aburrió mucho porque es repetitivo la mayor parte del tiempo. La historia empieza a ponerse interesante en el 75%, que a mi entender es muy tarde. Encontré que los problemas se resolvían muy rápido entre ellos, dando muy poca credibilidad a la historia.

[Dalyia · Rating 3 out of 5]

طبيب القلب هالام ومذيعة الأخبار ميل بعد ألتقائهم معاً ووقوعهم فى الحب وكل منهم مرتبط بعملة بشدة .. وتبدأ سلسلة التغييرات فى حياة الطرفيين من أنتقال ميل للوس أنجلوس والتضيحة بمهنتها لمستوى أقل مع أبنتيها التؤائم.


تستقر حياة ميل وبيتر الجديد مع خمسة من الأبناء وتمر العديد من المشاكل على الأسرة ومواجهة الأسرة بأفرادها الستة لكل الضغوطات للتأقلم مع حياتهم الجديدة ومحاربة شبح الزوجة الأولى لبيتر ، الحاجة لمنزل جديد، مشكلة تمرد أبنة بيتر وحمل أبنة ميل وأجهاضها من أبن بيتر وأخيراً وصول الجميع بعد سلسلة طويلة من المشاكل لنوع من الرضا والأستقرار النفسى

الرواية جيدة _ أن كانت تصيب القارئ بالملل _ ببعض الأجزاء.
الفكرة أجتماعية كعادة دانيال،النهاية بها الكثير من الأحداث التى توالت بشكل سريع بينما منتصف أحداث الرواية كان ملل

[Elizabeth · Rating 3 out of 5]

Danielle Steel is my go-to when simply reading for pleasure. I prefer her older books with wonderfully complex characters woven into historical times in our history.

[CA · Rating 1 out of 5]

Debut y despedida de Danielle Steel.

Todos los temas que abarca este libro son tratados de manera horrible o estoy en completo desacuerdo con ellos desde el matrimonio, familias monoparentales,matrimonios en segundas nupcias, el rol de las mujeres en una relación, es que no hay una solo tema que no me hiciera querer gritar de frustración.
En parte es mi culpa por esperar algo más de un romance de más 40 años pero no vuelvo a cometer el mismo error. Danielle Steel se queda en mi lista de no volver a leer nunca más.

[Desha Liyanarachi · Rating 5 out of 5]

The plot unfolded nicely, and also, I love how the female character is self-sufficient and independent. The male character was also well written and lovable because of his sad backstory.

[Isla · Rating 5 out of 5]

It was a roller-coaster of emotions but well written, and the characters are very loveable.

[Nancy · Rating 1 out of 5]

Start was okay .. but it tanked drastically about midpoint.

[Ashley · Rating 3 out of 5]

I enjoyed the writing and the characters of this book, but after reading Journey some of the storyline felt repetitive. I also felt this book was unnecessarily long.

[Ghaida Alkhateeb · Rating 5 out of 5]

I recently had the love to old novels and though this book was in 1983, I had the feeling that it gonna be awesome just as Steel's modern books! And I was not actually mistaken; Steel always attracts my full attention while reading her novels, she never fails to give us a detailed description of every character from all aspects and mainly psychological. I like how she properly interprets the feelings of her characters. Another thing I admire about Steel is that her subject of the novel that always matches the title and it is not easy to tell that in the beginning of reading the novel, however the image becomes clearer toward the end of the novel and you sit and say 'yea, that's right'. Changes is an amazing novel that touched me personally as I consider myself a person fearing changes in critical aspects of my life such as my career or leaving my home, but when love is in the air, you became happily ready to quit all that for the one you love, to put him a priority and to both make adjustments to fit their new life together... Thanks for the times of enjoyment this novel gave me :)

[Page Passion · Rating 3 out of 5]

For a book written in 1983, it was surprisingly not too dated. Typical things like not having a cellphone are expected, but the casual misogyny was surprising. I know attitudes towards gender have certainly come a long way, but certainly jarring in 2022 and in such a feminist time period such as now.

However, the sexism isn't what bothered me, but the progression of the story. When the book starts off, it's perfectly nice but takes a while before it becomes really interesting. Once you get to the second half, it's nonstop! As always DS books have funny bits in them that unexpectedly make me laugh out loud as well as handling heavy topics like abortion.

Overall I enjoyed the romance of an older couple learning to balance their careers and blend their families. It certainly shows that the right person for you is never brought to your life at an ideal time. Of course, love always prevails and it was just the right amount of sappy I needed after a few stressful days.

[Tammy · Rating 3 out of 5]

This is one of them cozy romances you snuggle up with. It's about a women who is a news anchor that lives in New York who has 2 teenage daughters. She flies out to California to do a story on a doctor who is a heart transplant surgeon.he has 3 children and is newly widowed. During their time together doing the interview for a story they grow close and fall in love. They run into many obsticals trying to mix both families together. Each family has their own way of doing things and neither side wants to do much give and take. They don't want to make changes and that adds stress to the newlywed s. it reminds me a lot of " The Brady Bunch".

It was a sweet romance that has some intrigue but for the most part it was just mellow and predictable. Not one of my favorites by Danielle Steel but still a good read. So I gave it 3 stars.

[Steph · Rating 4 out of 5]

Changing, dancing, leaping,
creeping from old life into new,
wondering what I think of you,
unseen dreams, and newfound schemes,
two lives enmeshed, embroiled, enhanced at last,
and suddenly heart snagged, held fast,
no turning back, no letting go,
too late to run, too soon to know if all is well,
yet time will tell it all,
and softly in the night I call your name,
nothing quite the same amidst this total rearranging,
as everything about me is shifting, moving, changing.

Sometimes it's difficult to understand why other people do things.

When people care about each other, they get hurt. Unless you stay at a safe distance all the time.

Sometimes the truth is ugly.

In every society, in every community, in every home, there are rules.

[Lauren Monroe · Rating 4 out of 5]

Read this book back in the 90s, liked it then.

Got the Cheryl Ladd/Michael Nouri DVD, loving that even more.

Good depiction of long-distance romance, step-family formation, the struggles of blending two sets of children, grieving unresolved loss, and moving forward in a modern marriage with two high-powered careers -- her a TV news anchor and him a famous heart surgeon.

Some will call it cheesy. I'll buy that. Just a feel good movie for sure, and certainly having read the original book a second time in last few years...I'd go for the movie over the book. Sorry to disappoint. It's just that back in those days, pay phones and other aspects make the book seem dated.

Still a great love story...and who doesn't like that!

[Natalie · Rating 4 out of 5]

I almost forgot how much I love a good Danielle Steel novel. I haven't read anything of hers in a year or two- so I decided to come back and read another one of hers. I wasn't disappointed. It started off a little slow, but picked up steam about halfway through. I finished the last half in two days. I love the characters Steel creates- independent Mel and her beautiful twin daughters, intelligent and heartfelt Peter the heart surgeon, and his headstrong daughter and loving sons. Between the locations the characters kept jet-setting to, and the heavy descriptions of both Mel and Peter's jobs, the story flew by along with the pages. I actually had trouble putting it down. Looks like I'll be reading another Steel very soon!

[Rebecca · Rating 3 out of 5]

i was surprised by how much i enjoyed this Danielle Steel novel. it's from way back in 1983 and i was surprised that it wasn't too dated. altho there was a lot of peach and cream decor going on hahaha. a female tv anchorwoman has been raising 16 yrs old twin girls on her own since they were born. she's given up on love when she meets a heart surgeon. only problem is, she lives in NY and he lives in CA. and he's mourning the loss of his wife and has 3 kids of his own hehe :) as noted in the title, they both go thru many changes in their lives as they work to keep their relationship intact.

[Anusree Burman · Rating 3 out of 5]

Danielle Steele's Changes is a book that shares hope,joy,sorrow,love and friendship in abundance.The coming together of two people sharing entirely different lives and their struggle with realities is beautifully portrayed. It is not just a love story;it is about the sacrifices and 'Changes' that touches the lives of the people when two families come together to form new bonds.Okay, I agree its predictable in many ways but you cannot help but despair and rejoice with the characters. I would definitely not say its outstanding but its a book all can relate to. If you are a person who believes in hope,love and miracles then you should go grab a copy now.

[Victoria · Rating 4 out of 5]

I saw the movie starring Cheryl Ladd before reading the book and there are some differences between the two versions. However, I still found this book to be a great read. The drama, the passion, the romance is all there, however, I could not stand the selfishness of Melanie. She needs to understand that life is not all about your needs, especially when you move into another man's house with his three children who lost their mother. Overall, great read and one of the good Danielle Steel books that I have read thus far.

[Diane Wachter · Rating 3 out of 5]

PB-B @ 1984, 3/85. Changes are what happens when a couple, each living on opposite coasts, raising children on their own, having successful businesses, fall in love and try to blend their lives together. Okay.

[raneem · Rating 3 out of 5]

باهية قنينة لكن يبدو انني معاش حنقرا روايات عاطفيات ... تشعر بالملل الشديد المبالغ فيه

[Linda M. · Rating 4 out of 5]

I liked this book. Melanie "Mel" Adams is a single mom with two high school twin daughters. She is the anchor person for a NY news network. She is told about a young girl, Pattie Lou Jones, who needs a heart transplant. Her superiors want her to do a special about Pattie & to find a cardiologist who will perform the transplant for free & be willing to be interviewed by Mel.

Enter Dr. Peter Hallam, a cardiologist in San Fransisco. Mel contacts him & arranges the transplant. While Mel is in San Francisco, she interviews him. Over several months, she flies to the West Coast. This is the start of their story.

I liked Peter a lot until the last third of the book. He expects Mel to change her life, while he doesn't give up anything in his. He seemed very self-centered. I realize that most physicians care about their patients, but he overdoes it at times. He seems unable at time to love a woman like Mel who is an outgoing & loving person.

He also keeps saying how cold his first wife was and was a perfect wife & mother. I really disliked his housekeeper, Mrs. Hahn. Mel is very much a mother to her twins and Raquel, their housekeeper fits into their family well.