Everything I left Unsaid by M. O’Keefe

Everything I left Unsaid

5** Review

Purchase Everything I Left Unsaid: A Novel

Everything

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.

Emma received a Netgalley arc in exchange for honest review.

I would say the best way to read this book is BLIND. Don’t read any reviews (including mine although it’s spoiler free, I hope!), don’t read the synopsis… Just read it!

I loved this book! It’s a contender for top read of 2015 for me!

Cake for breakfast…check!

Skinny dipping….check!

Hot phone sex…check!

Annie McKay is a woman on the run. She’s running from an abusive, controlling husband. After finding herself in The Flowered Manor, a run down trailer park with an old converted RV she feels a semblance of safety. At peace with herself after so many years of being controlled.

“No one missed me. Or worried. Or wondered. I’d vanished and the world just kept spinning.”

Dylan Daniels lives on the mountain he owns, a life of solitude. One phone call between him and Annie change everything. He find’s himself drawn to Annie, breaking all his rules…intrigued by her meekness, he wants to break her out of her shell.

“Daniels was the beast. He was the bad guy in the stories. Some other asshole could be the hero, save the day and get the girl.”

Their story progresses at the perfect pace. Without giving too much away, Annie and Dylan don’t actually lay eyes on each other until about three quarters of the way through the book. Their relationship is based solely on phone calls until then. That being said every single moment and encounter between them is rife with want, longing and need.

“In her voice he could hear every dark and forbidden thing she craved. And he wanted to give it to her.”

“The distance between us throbbed. With anger. With lust. Questions and huge fucking secrets.”

“Now what?”
“Now, take off your clothes.”

Secondary characters play a huge part in this story. Who is Ben? Why does Dylan employ someone to watch him? Is Joan everything she seems? Tiffany the woman in the trailer by the Rhododendron bush?  They all have their own person hardships, financial struggles, drama, past, secrets but still M. O’Keefe has created a community within the trailer park. Without seeing that community, I think the story wouldn’t of been as good for me.

I found myself wondering, only a page or two into Everything I left Unsaid… why have I never heard of M. O’Keefe before? Rest assured I have now added more books to my TBR (like I really had to!). She previously published with Mills & Boon under Molly O’Keefe and has books dating back to at least 2008 on amazon.

So a summary… A quick roundup of Everything I Left Unsaid, if that’s possible.

Discovery. Community. Cake for Breakfast. Skinny Dipping. Lust. Want. Need. Hot. Steamy. Some of the best phone sex, I’ve ever read.

Cliffhanger!

Yes, it ends on one hell of a cliffhanger. Book Two The Truth About Him is releasing November 24th. I’ve had the pleasure of reading book two already and can’t wait to share my review with you!

“This is what it’s like between two liars, baby.”

A note from Emma: due to illness review is late, Everything I left unsaid was released October 13th.

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Shelter by Ashley John (5**)

Fresh from his fourth stint in rehab, Elias James doesn’t have much to live for. His relationship with his family has never been so strained and with no real life of his own, he has nothing to live for. His overachieving twin sister and his ruthless mother’s political success as Mayor of Havenmoore has left him empty. Getting high started as an act of rebellion but the addiction soon controlled his every waking moment.

Aspiring writer, Caden Walker, thought he had the perfect life until he discovered his boyfriend in bed with his best friend. Leaving everything behind in New York, he returns to Havenmoore to re-evaluate his life from his parent’s guest bedroom. When his mom offers him a job working for the charity she runs, helping people struggling with addiction, he’s not in a position to turn it down.

Caden never expected to find what he did, but when he is assigned to work with Elias, a reluctant attraction quickly blossoms into something deeper. Can Elias find in Caden the one thing he’s always searched for or will his addiction drag him under once again? Is Caden ready to let go of his New York dream to take a chance on something unexpected? Both men are faced with difficult times of change, but can they make it through the storm to find the shelter?

Shelter

 Shelter

“You make me feel safe.You make me feel calm and you make me feel normal.It’s like your’re Shelter from all the things that make me bad…”

This is the fifth book by Ashley John that I (Vicki) have read and it will not be the last. Shelter is such a well written, emotional M/M read and yet it is so much more. The character’s are believable and I was drawn into the story right from the start, and the Epilogue was perfect for their HEA. I don’t want to go into too much of how their story unfolds-but I will say this, Elias had no self-worth, thinking he has nothing to live for, his initial struggle to cope outwith his fourth rehab stint for cocaine addiction.

I was angry at the ways and lengths his mother the Mayor of Havenmoore went to make sure no one knew of her son’s existence-only his twin sister Ellie being more acceptable for Public knowledge. Caden, who tired to resist his attraction to Elias, the inevitable finally happening resulting in both male leads finding something that was missing in each other, was tastefully done yet not making it the main focus.

For me this story is more about healing, repairing relationships between brother and sister, finding the strength to confront the one who has used their power to control situations and finding the unconditional love and respect deserved.

It is an absolute must read and is worthy of more than 5*’s

You can find out more about Ashley John HERE!

Note from Emma (Tech Rockette): Apologies for this review being posted later than promised on the website, I’ve been poorly sick and am only now just catching up!