Tuesday, October 13, 2015

Everything I Left Unsaid by M. O'Keefe - Release Day Review







Author: M. O'Keefe
Publication Date:  13 October, 2015
Publisher: Bantam Publishers
Series:  Everything I Left Unsaid, book 1
Genre:  Contemporary Romance, Erotica
Age Recommendation: 18 and up
Rating: 4 Stars
~ I received a copy of this book in exchange for an honest review ~ 


Book Description:


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.






My Review:

This is the first book by Molly O'Keefe that I have had the pleasure of reading and I have to say I am so glad that when given the opportunity to pick this one up I said yes please!  

Annie is running from a life of struggle and a man that has literally beaten her down.  One she can accept, struggle and hard work are nothing to her, the other means life and death.  


“When we are pushed to the edge we were capable of anything. Surviving was the only thing that mattered..” - Annie


She's criss-crossed her way across the east coast finally 'landing' in Flowered Manor Trailer Park, where:

"Everyone minds their own here.  They all keep to themselves... It's safe and it's quiet and we don't truck with no nonsense," - Keith

Flowered Manor is a dilapidated trailer park in the middle of no where North Carolina and it's perfect for a woman with nothing, no money, no real family, and no where to go, because it is freedom.  Freedom from repression, freedom from fear, freedom from pain.  It is nothing and yet it is everything.  

Standing in her new home, a home that most people would turn their noses at, but that Annie can't help but love because it is safe a phone rings.  Confusion seeps in as Annie looks for the source, finding the phone shoved deep into the cushions of the couch (I am not sure I could have gone there Annie, not sure at all, haha) she debates answering and her world changes instantly with a timid 'Hello'.  


I loved Annie.  I loved her strength, her fire, her will, her innocent soul and her kindness.  I really loved how she, especially after everything she has been through, makes her own decisions about people.  She isn't going to let anyone bully her into opinions anymore.  She is told multiple times by different people to stay away from certain people, but instead of continuing to be afraid she is forging a new path for herself and that means discovering who people are not listening to who others believe them to be.  This doesn't just apply to others, this is a book about Annie finding herself.   She, with the help of the residents at Flowered Manor and especially Dylan, is determined to regain her 'self', to discover who she truly is with out the influence of others.  I think one of my favorite things is about to her is something that Dylan says numerous times...She is Brave.  

Dylan, wow there isn't too much I can tell you about Dylan because honestly it feels like we know everything and yet nothing at all about him.  I also have to be very careful about what I say here because the things we do learn about him all lead to the bigger picture, a picture that is still at the end of the book not fully revealed.  I can tell you he's a bit of a hermit, having isolated himself after a horrifying accident maims him although I believe he's never been much of a people person to begin with.  He's thoughtful, although not always what we would call considerate.  He's an alpha with a serious vulnerability to him and a painful past.  Even through his more jerk fueled moments you can't help your heart from aching for him.  

"He was forgetting. She was making him forget. 
He came from a long line of villains. And that shit couldn’t be forgotten… He was still the beast. The bad guy in the stories. She just didn’t know it yet. And he was forgetting. He was letting himself forget. Because he’d somehow gotten addicted to the sound of her voice. The way her voice made him feel.
Sometimes it was nice pretending to be the hero." - Dylan

I thoroughly enjoyed this book, even though it ended on a doozy of a cliff hanger, thankfully for all of us book 2, The Truth About Him (Hello....that title!) comes out soon so we won't have to stew with that shocker too long.  I would liked to have a little more character development, I think we got a lot of it in this book for Annie, but we are kind of left hanging with Dylan, Ben, and Joan...however by title of the second book it looks like some of that may come about, at least for Dylan.  We do get a wonderful build up into Dylan and Annie's relationship, it's quick in a sense but seeing as 3/4ths of the book their relationship is strictly on the phone when they finally do meet and have a true physical relationship you don't feel as thought it came out of no where.  

In a sea of Contemporary Erotic Romances this book sets itself apart with a unique story line and writing.  This is a book you will happily read in one setting and be ready to jump into book 2 as soon as you shut the cover.  Fans of New Adult, Erotica, and Contemporary Romance will enjoy this book.  If you have triggers to domestic abuse please go in cautiously.

~ HAPPY READING ~ 



Everything I Left Unsaid Playlist




The Truth About Him
Releasing 24 November, 2015



Book Description:

We played our roles, told each other lies.

But now Dylan is no longer just a mysterious deep voice on the other end of the line. We’re face-to-face and our relationship is very, very real.

We still have secrets—but so much is crystal clear:

The thrilling danger.

The raw, naked desire.

The need to keep feeling the way he makes me feel. Forever.

Dylan is putting up walls, trying to keep me safe, but he can’t shut me out. He has seen my darkness and rescued me. Now it’s my turn, if only he will let me.



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.

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