I’ve spent years hoping someone would finally hear me. It’s easier not to try anymore…Ten years after leaving his small Minnesota hometown in his rearview mirror for what Nolan Grainger was sure would be the last time, life has decided to throw the talented musician a curveball and send him back to the town he lived in but was never really home.At twenty-eight, Nolan has traveled the world as a … traveled the world as a successful concert violinist with some of the best symphonies in the country. But success breeds envy, and when Nolan’s benefactor and lover decides Nolan has flown high enough, he cruelly clips Nolan’s wings. The betrayal and ensuing scandal leaves the violinist’s career in shambles and with barely enough money to start fresh somewhere beyond his vindictive ex’s powerful reach. But just as he’s ready to get his life back on track, Nolan gets the call he’s been dreading.
After a stroke leaves his father a partial invalid, duty-bound Nolan returns to Pelican Bay and a life he’s spent years trying to forget. When he’s forced to use the last of his own money to keep from losing the family home, desperation has him turning to the one man he’d hoped never to see again…
Even if I could speak, there wouldn’t be anyone there to listen…
Pelican Bay’s golden boy, Dallas Kent, had the quintessential perfect life. Smart, gorgeous, and popular, the baseball phenom was well on his way to a life filled with fame and fortune. But more importantly, he had a one-way ticket out of Pelican Bay and far away from the family who used love as currency and whose high expectations were the law of the land. But a stormy night, sharp highway curve and one bad decision changed everything, leaving Dallas with nothing.
Because the accident that took his parents, his future and his crown as the boy who could do no wrong, also stole his voice.
Despised for the horrific wreck that ended the lives of two of Pelican Bay’s most respected residents, Dallas has retreated to a secluded stretch of land where he’s found refuge in a menagerie of unwanted animals that don’t care that he once had the world at his feet or that he’ll never speak again.
But when the quiet, bookish boy he wasn’t allowed to notice in school suddenly reappears ten years later at Dallas’s wildlife rehab center in desperate need of a job, Dallas is thrust back into a world he’s worked hard to escape.
Dallas’s silence was supposed to send Nolan scurrying, but what if Nolan ends up being the one person who finally hears him?
Will two men who’ve been fleeing from the past finally come home to Pelican Bay for good or will the silence drive them apart forever?
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I love all of Sloane Kennedy’s books, but the Pelican Bay Series is the one that always makes me ugly cry. This is book 1, and is the story of Nolan, a disgraced musical prodigy, and Dallas, a disgraced former town hero who lost his voice in the accident that killed his parents.
These two men are both damaged beyond repair, or so it seems, when they find one another. A little intrigue, a lot of heart, and steamy MM sex scenes fill these pages, and the ending will make you cry big, fat, ugly tears and make you want to read the book all over again.
Great characters, plenty of chemistry, but the ending had a heavy dose of deus ex machina that could have been handled better by the author, so I’m only giving this one four stars instead of five.
This first book in the Pelican Bay series is amazing! I love the emotional stories of these amazing characters and all the zany antics of the animals in the sanctuary. Dallas and Nolan are so sweet together and I love how well they communicate even and they are not speaking. I can’t wait for the rest of the series!
audiobook review:
I started listening to this audio with no knowledge of the story. So imagine me when I figured out Dallas’s “secret” – I tell you how I looked: frozen in place, jaw on the floor, goosebumps all over me.
Dallas and Nolan’s story was so, so beautiful, I really have no words. If I knew that this book is this awesome, I would have read it sooner. This book wrecked me. I don’t remember the last time I cried this much over a book.
The audio is perfect – Michael Dean’s voices for the characters are awesome, and those little plus things he did with the storyline; when he laughed, and when he tried to speak as Dallas – just AMAZING.
There were times when my tears just flowed and the only thing I wanted to do is hug Dallas and/or Nolan. It was so emotional and so good. I loved it so much. And the epilogue – I laughed, and I was so happy.
My favorite scene is that when I cried the hardest – when Dallas wrote on the wall. Just pure perfection.
HIGHLY RECOMMEND THIS AUDIO.
I’ve read this author before. This is a mm contemporary story based in the USA. Book 1 of the series and a great start. I’ll read more from this author and series.
The brooding and silent Dallas was able to find love with the quiet and talented Nolan while slowly building a life together. The dynamic between these two characters was amazing. The story did break your heart a bit but thankfully put it back together piece by piece. I cannot wait to read more in this series!
This book captivated me from the first word, the story is so beautiful and haunting I can’t wait to read the rest of the series!
Sloane is an author I started reading last year, and I am obsessed with her books. So when I saw that she was starting a brand new series, I was beyond excited!
If you’ve read Sloane’s other books you know they can be very angsty. This was less so. It was very emotional, so don’t worry about that. It’s just not on the same level as some of her other books. I won’t say much about the plot, just reading the description is all you need to know going into this.
It’s the characters that make this story so wonderful. Her books are always filled with flawed and well-rounded characters, Locked in Silence was no different. Dallas and Nolan are two very different characters, and each are going through their own set of issues. Individually, they are such interesting people, and together, they make an amazing couple. This is also filled with a lot of secondary characters. They all seem so interesting, I can’t wait to see their stories.
Also, Dallas takes cares of unwanted, exotic animals. So animal lovers out there, there are a lot of cute pets in this story! And Nolan is adorable. I just want to hug him and never let go.
Sloane has this incredible gift of just making you fall in love with her characters. I definitely recommend this one! I can’t wait for the next book in the series. (Each book will follow a different couple.)
I knew when I started reading this book that it would be awesome, and Sloane Kennedy didn’t disappoint! It was full of pain, anguish, love and forgiveness. When I was finished I was overwhelmed with emotion, the book was so engaging and riveting.
Nolan Grainger, talented violinist, comes back home disgraced and down on his luck. Due to him wanting to be loved he trusts the wrong person who leaves him in the dust alone and being accused of something he had no part of. He has to go back to his home town that never made him happy and struggle again.
Dallas Kent, school star and athlete, proves that one mistake even made by someone else can cost you your dreams and your family. But still he manages to thrive in the town full of hate and animosity.
The meeting between them happens by pure chance and from that moment on it snowballs into something big and beautiful. They are sweet and sexy together. Their time spending in the Wildlife Sanctuary emphasizes how much they crave the same thing – to love and be loved. And it does not matter that Dallas can not speak because Nolan can still hear him. There are a lot of questions answered, many past deeds revealed and forgiven, and these two wonderful men find happiness they both deserve.
I loved all the animals in the Sanctuary, how Dallas and Nolan tirelessly worked and interacted with them. What happened there, the brutality of it was sickening, but I am glad to say that justice was served in the end, Nolan and Dallas were vindicated for things they were unfairly accused of and families grew close together.
It’s a wonderful book about inner strength of character and power of forgiveness. Every page is filled with different range of emotions, a little bit of a roller coaster for both Nolan and Dallas but the love between them withstands difficult times. I thoroughly enjoyed this book! It was wonderful read! And, as the critique Anton Ego, in movie Ratatouille said, I will use his words and say: “I will be returning to Pelican Bay, hungry for more!”
Amazing, heart-wrentching book. Two lonely people, ostracized from society, find eachother and help each other heal. Steamy and tender sex scenes. And you can feel them falling in love. Must read series.
I really enjoyed this book. I don’t know why I waited so long to read it! It’s the first book in the Pelican Bay series. The book is mostly about Nolan and Dallas but it also sets the stage for the rest of the series. Both Nolan and Dallas are a bit broken but they just seem to understand each other. Watching them fall in love through the pages is a beautiful adventure. Add an animal sanctuary and I was hooked! I can’t wait to jump into the next book of the series.
This one had all the feels…wounded hero, animals in jeopardy, and two men who’d been betrayed by the world. It was so, so, so good!! Definitely one to go on my favorite, reread list. I loved this book!