REVIEW: Everything I Left Unsaid by Molly O’Keefe

In Everything I Left Unsaid (Everything I Left Unsaid #1) by Molly O’Keefe, One phone call changed Annie McKay’s already messed up life. On the run from her abusive husband, she found herself hiding out in a rundown trailer park in the middle of nowhere. When she answered the cell phone she found hidden in the chair cushions of her rented RV, Dylan Daniels’ voice became a way to feel grounded and to live out her before unknown fantasies. But will the darkness shrouding their pasts shatter their instant connection?

‘I wanted to call Dylan. And I was terrified of that. Terrified of what it meant. About me, about my decision-making. All of it. Everything about Dylan felt risky. Calling him was an invitation to something dangerous.’

Dylan didn’t expect to want to know more about Layla, if that was really her name, but there was something in the way he could hear her force herself to be brave on the phone, saying things she normally wouldn’t dare say. That strength intrigued him from their first conversation. It also brought out Dylan’s protective side. Knowing he should leave Layla be, yet unable to do so, he falls further and further into their sexy phone conversations, longing to make it physical. Unwilling to put her in any more danger, he’ll try to distance himself from her. Until there is no other choice.

‘In her voice, he could hear every dark and forbidden thing she craved. And he wanted to give it to her. Everything she wanted and the things she didn’t know to want, yet. How far would she go?’

Holy Mother of Cliffhangers! Talk about an exciting, complex, hot-as-sin good time. Whew! Everything I Left Unsaid had me breathless and definitely wanting more out of this new series by Molly O’Keefe.

‘I wanted to wrench everything out of me that was left over from my old life. The voices, the fear, the guilt and shame–I wanted it all gone.’

I have to say that as much as I adore happily-ever-afters and lighthearted romance, it’s nice to occasionally delve into characters with a darker past and grittier stories. Molly O’Keefe has a wonderful knack for creating complicated situations involving people who have been to hell and back. They are completely believable while they tear at your heartstrings–to the point that you can’t help but cheer them on toward happiness. And that was exactly what happened here when I got to know Dylan and Annie.

Our hero and heroine so deserved some good things in their lives. Annie was amazingly brave leaving behind her abusive life. And watching her transformation into a more confident woman aware of her wants and needs was great. Dylan was a bit harder to figure out at first until we learned more about him. I loved his protectiveness of Annie/Layla. Even if he thought he was a monster because of his past, we readers got to see that he had only good intentions when it came to his Annie/Layla.

I also really liked the tone of the book. There was a delicate balance between the erotic, suspense, and almost a new adult feel to it. I say new adult, because this switched back and forth between Annie and Dylan’s first person POVs, plus it had that sense of personal growth that is prevalent in the genre. But the edge of mystery as well as the eroticism of the phone sex kept things from getting tedious or angsty.

A brave young woman trying to take back her life. A reclusive sexy stranger with a fabulously dirty mouth. Hidden secrets that could be their undoing. Sounds intriguing, right? If you agree, then Everything I Left Unsaid is absolutely for you.

Book Info:

Publication: October 13th 2015 | by Bantam | Everything I Left Unsaid #1

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.

Advance praise for Everything I Left Unsaid

“Exquisite, thrilling, and toe-curlingly sensual . . . a delicious guilty pleasure I never wanted to end!”—New York Times bestselling author Katy Evans

“I am head over heels in love with Everything I Left Unsaid by M. O’Keefe. Everything about this book hits the mark—the exceptional prose, the brilliantly defined characters, the delicious plot, and all the wonderful, dangerous secrets. It’s an absolute must-read keeper-shelf book!”—New York Times bestselling author J. Kenner

“I couldn’t put this book down. Annie’s story is heartbreaking, liberating, sweet, and sexy—I want more!”—New York Times bestselling author Monica Murphy

“Sweet, sizzling, sexy, and heart-wrenching, Everything I Left Unsaid broke my heart and left me yearning for more.”—New York Times bestselling author Megan Hart

From the Trade Paperback edition.