Sandy M’s review of Everything I Left Unsaid & The Truth About Him by M. O’Keefe
Contemporary Erotic Romance published by Bantam October/November 2015
I was just recently lamenting the fact that a lot of the new-to-me authors I’ve read recently haven’t really worked for me for one reason or another. I’m very happy to say M. O’Keefe has broken that chain with this two-book story about a tortured couple who find their way to each other through fate, karma, luck – maybe all of those things and more rolled into one. The universe may have brought them together, but it takes everything they’ve got in them to stay together.
Everything I Left Unsaid
13 Oct 15
Annie is on the run from an abusive husband. She’s circled and backtracked the best she can and has now ended up in a dilapidated trailer park, but at least she finally feels safe. At least safer than she has in a very long time. Before she can get settled, though, a ringing cell phone, lost between the cushions of a sofa left behind, changes her life in ways she never imagined.
The raspy-voiced stranger on the other end of the line is mysterious, compelling, and more than likely dangerous, and Annie is at first intrigued but comes to her senses. Dylan, too, is intrigued, and despite his reasons and excuses for ending up a recluse on this mountain, he wants to talk to “Layla” again and devises a plan to initiate her calling him. That plan works and thus begins hot and steamy phone sex that wakes up both Dylan and Annie from a very long emotional and pain-filled slumber.
Annie’s awakening comes fast and furious, after the basically sheltered life she’s lived, first with her overprotective mother and then with Hoyt, her controlling husband who wants her land. Once Dylan shows how hot phone sex can be, Annie is ready to experience everything she can, in between her work cleaning up areas of the trailer park and getting to know its eccentric residents – including the grumpy but nice old man, Ben, Dylan wants her to spy on.
Both Dylan and Annie know their “relationship” can go no further. They each have too many secrets, too much danger attached to them to get involved with anyone. Each has their own fantasy, though, when it comes to the other. Dylan challenges Annie, forcing her to feel and experience deeper than she’s ever done. Annie puts a huge heap of want in Dylan, something he’s learned to live without after his accident. Little by little they learn tidbits about each other and their pasts, their families, as well as their desires and needs.
The book is in Annie’s point of view, written in first person, while Dylan’s POV is in third. It’s Annie’s growth that is the focus of the story, especially how she learns to trust again – not only trusting Dylan but also herself, case in point their differing views of Ben. I read this book well into the night, and when I found out the next one is due out this month, I was quite happy to be able to read them back to back. That makes the intensity, the suspense, and the growing love between Dylan and Annie so much more intriguing and satisfying. Both characters pull you into their thoughts and fears, make you think and reassess. You delight in each small triumph right along with them. Of course, you also rail against each huge setback, and there are plenty.
I definitely will be reading M. O’Keefe’s books again, as well as those she writes under Molly O’Keefe.
Summary:
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.
No excerpt available.
Grade: A
The Truth About Him
24 Nov 15
We pick up with Dylan and Annie right where Everything I Left Unsaid left off. Annie has made the decision to finally cut the ties with her abusive husband, Hoyt – especially now that she’s consummated her relationship with the mysterious but sexy Dylan Daniels. But before she can even begin, Hoyt has found Annie and is determined to return her to their home in Oklahoma. The suspense in these early scenes keeps you tense and guessing about what’s going to happen next. Let me tell you, I guessed several different things because Ms. O’Keefe kept proving me wrong. Tight twists and turns you don’t expect one after the other.
After those scenes, though, the pace slows down quite a bit. Without the mystery of those initial cell phone calls and in the aftermath of the suspense, it’s Dylan and Annie trying to make things work between them, knowing they probably won’t, and they can’t keep their hands off one another. All well and good, because it needs to happen, but it does go on a bit too long. A hair past when I’m thinking, “Let’s move on” is when we finally do.
Dylan is the one dragging his feet to move forward. He still has a dark secret he’s not let out, just knowing Annie will flee when she knows the truth. He’s finally been able to leave his family behind, just like they did to him years ago, but they’re back now, as dangerous as ever. Trying to keep Annie away from them and safe is more difficult than he thought. His Annie is one stubborn woman the more she finds herself, thus keeps herself right in the thick of everything he’s trying to keep out of.
These two are everything to each other but afraid to totally commit. Fear and vulnerability nearly overtake all the good they have between them. Every time Dylan takes a step back from Annie, literally, I feel it as keenly as she does. I also want to shake him senseless at times like she does too. But then there’s those raw, intense scenes when nothing else in the world matters but making each other furiously wild between the sheets. The ups and downs in this story get to you on every emotional level there is.
Of course, danger does come to their door once again, and this time it hits Dylan right between the eyes. Not only does he overcome, but he’s forced into a couple of realizations too. It’s a total light bulb moment when he releases his fear and decides to truly live. There’s a couple of threads left hanging, most notably about his Dylan’s brother Max. Whether that means there will be another book, I don’t know. The author’s web site hasn’t been updated concerning these characters, but I sure hope so, because I’d love to see more between the brothers and see Max happy.
The point of view switches in this book, Dylan now in first person and Annie in third. That has a great effect on the tenor of the book compared to the first. As much as I like this story, I did enjoy the first one a bit more. That answering-the-cell-phone theme to bring Dylan and Annie together and keeping them apart for the entire book takes it over the top. I didn’t expect it to work as well as it does. But this is a terrific followup, with plenty of surprises and gentle moments to keep you hooked.
Summary:
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.
No excerpt available.
Grade: A-
Overall Grade: A
I love a book that makes me feel right along with the characters, and Ms. O’Keefe expertly does that so you don’t even realize it until much later. I’m glad we do get an epilogue to update us on their life a few years down the road, and, of course, I wanted more after going through such turmoil with them. But this is one fast and furious ride that I’m glad I took. I hope you’ll decide to take it too.
