Title: Everything I Left Unsaid
Author: Molly O'Keefe
Series: Everything I Left Unsaid #1
Genre: contemporary romance, romantic suspense
Release Date: October 13, 2015
Fans of Jodi Ellen Malpas, K. Bromberg, and Joanna Wylde will be unable to resist this sexy, deeply intimate tale of a woman running from her past, and the darkly mysterious man who sets her free.
I didn’t think answering someone else’s cellphone would change my life. But the stranger with the low, deep voice on the other end of the line tempted me, awakened my body, set me on fire. He was looking for someone else. Instead he found me.
And I found a hot, secret world where I felt alive for the first time.
His name was Dylan, and, strangely, he made me feel safe. Desired. Compelled. Every dark thing he asked me to do, I did. Without question. I longed to meet him, but we were both keeping secrets. And mine were dangerous. If I took the first step, if I got closer to Dylan—emotionally, physically—then I wouldn’t be hiding anymore. I would be exposed, with nothing left to surrender but the truth. And my truth could hurt us both.
FLO'S REVIEW
Everything I Left Unsaid by Molly O'Keefe
My rating: 4 of 5 stars
3.75 **cake for breakfast** STARS
“Somehow the world seemed like it was just too heavy a place right now. All the hard edges were out tonight and I felt each one of them.”
Fascinating read.
Molly O'Keefe is a completely new author for me and I couldn't be more happy to have requested this book on Netgalley. A friend of mine reviewed it and I was immediately on board with the premise and the feel of it.
I'm happy to say Everything I Left Unsaid did not disappoint in the slightest. It is the first book in a duet and after reading the cliffhanger I am in desperate need to get my hands on The Truth About Him as well.
Let's talk story...
“When we are pushed to the edge we were capable of anything. Surviving was the only thing that mattered..”
Annie is on the run!
That is seriously one of my favorite ways to start a review. Only topped by someone having very big problem, and yes Annie has those as well. Copious amounts in fact. Finally after years she has gathered the strength to leave her abusive and controlling husband and ends up in a trailer park in the middle of nowhere. Anonymous, away from people, but most importantly...safe!
That is until a phone rings. On the other end? A mysterious stranger who wants her to spy on a Ben, a man living right next door.
“In the end it wasn’t a decision. Dylan was an instinct. An urge, like a tide in my blood.”
Now this is where it all becomes really fascinating. Annie and Dylan have an immediate rapport - for lack of a better word. I struggle describing their connection. They have never met and just start to talk. Both are intrigued to say the least and there is some flirting going on.
Annie struggles with the way she connects and feels about this man. She is a wonderfully difficult character. Had a tough upbringing, was conditioned by both her mother and her husband and her relationship with said husband was the epitome of difficult. Annie is both innocent and tough as nails at the same time. Hard worker, with unimaginable strength, but very naive in her knowledge about the world, which in return makes her vulnerable and an easy target.
“All parts in sync. He was the sun, the people around him the planets, and the rules he lived by kept it all in line. Controlled.”
Now Dylan is no less compelling as a character. Even though the book is written in dual POV we only find out little by little about who he is and what he wants. And I'm not going to give much away here, but I'll say he has money, he likes engines and his past is just as troubled if not more. He has hermit tendencies and likes to hide on a mountain.
I actually think there is a slight hint at a beauty and the beast theme here. For some reason Annie lands in Dylan's clutches and they can't really let go once they connect. He dares her to break her boundaries and enjoy life, she in return gives him something to look forward to and maybe live for?!
“We could all be so many things. Victims and criminals. Sinners and saints. Devious and virtuous.”
I very much enjoyed the cast around the main characters. Ms. O'Keefe did a splendid job building this world, introducing the strange characters living in a trailer park, as well as the very few people surrounding Dylan.
Now I know what you are wondering...why the 3.75 stars? Well, it's basically a book broken into two and I feel like I judge a story before I finish it. I just don't know where this is going and there was a big cliffhanger and one thing that bugged me a little was some of the reasoning between Annie and Dylan over the last 20%. Not sure how to say this without spoiling things and I'm sure there was a point...I just need to read book #2 to find out. So, I'm going with almost 4 Stars. A really good read and yes, that's a good rating. ;D
All in all, a very interesting read. Great character development, excellent writing and scorching hot chemistry between the main characters. I’m itching to get my hands on The Truth About Him and I really need the open questions to be answered. ;D
**ARC very kindly provided by the publisher via Netgalley in exchange for an honest review.
Excerpt
“Try it while you’re talking to me, Layla.”
I swallowed and blinked. This . . . this seemed oddly intimate. Eating cake he’d sent me while I
was on the phone with him.
A chill raced over my skin, and my nipples were hard. My mouth was salivating. It was a full body
response to this gift. To its implications. I was . . . utterly charmed.
Delighted.
Turned on.
By cake.
By Dylan.
I smiled and pulled one of my three forks out of the drawer.
The first bite of the cake made me moan. “Oh my God,” I sighed. “That’s . . . that’s amazing.”
“Tell me.”
“It’s so moist. And sweet. Really sweet. It’s kind of carmelly somehow and coconutty.”
“That’s how my mom made it. With the coconut.”
I took another bite, the sweetness gathering in the back of my throat. “Oh, God . . . Dylan. It’s so
He was breathing hard. I was breathing hard.
I felt the emptiness inside of me. The place in my body where he would go if he were here. I
wondered, suddenly, what else he would do if he were here.
“The frosting is whipped cream.” I put some on my finger and sucked it off.
“Do that again,” he said. “That sound.”
“I’m sucking the whipped cream off my finger.”
He groaned a little, in the back of his throat.
“It’s perfect,” I whispered. “It’s so perfect.”
“Take another bite,” he said.
I did. Moaning, because I knew somehow that was really what he wanted to hear.
“No more,” I said.
“What?”
“I want to save it. Stretch it out.”
“You’re the kind of kid who had her Halloween candy until Easter, aren’t you?”
“I never trick-or-treated,” I said, putting the box of cake in the fridge. My body was humming,
from the sweetness of the cake.
The sweetness of him.
“But usually, I’m . . . greedy. I like all my treats at once.” The door closed with a small snick. “You
don’t have to do these things, you know.”
“What things?”
“These . . . nice things.”
“I like to do these nice things.”
“I don’t know how to thank you,” I said, smiling a little. Enjoying playing coy. Because I knew
how to thank him. I knew what he wanted. I wanted it too.
“Take off your clothes, Layla,” he breathed. “I’ll tell you how you can thank me.”
I went back into my bedroom and did every single thing he told me to do. I didn’t think, not for
even a second, of saying no to him.
About the Author
Molly O'Keefe has always known she wanted to be a writer (except when she wanted to be a florist or a chef and the brief period of time when she considered being a cowgirl). And once she got her hands on some romances, she knew exactly what she wanted to write.
She published her first Harlequin romance at age 25 and hasn't looked back. She loves exploring every character's road towards happily ever after.
Originally from a small town outside of Chicago, she went to university in St. Louis where she met and fell in love with the editor of her school newspaper. They followed each other around the world for several years and finally got married and settled down in Toronto, Ontario. They welcomed their son into their family in 2006, and their daughter in 2008. When she's not at the park or cleaning up the toy room, Molly is working hard on her next novel, trying to exercise, stalking Tina Fey on the internet and dreaming of the day she can finish a cup of coffee without interruption.
Great review! I've got to read this book
ReplyDelete