An emotional novel of family, friendship and forgiveness from Courtney Walsh, the New York Times bestselling author of Hometown Girl.Lyndie St. James is thrilled that her best friend, Elle, is getting married but unprepared for the emotional storm of the wedding week and returning to her childhood summer home of Sweethaven. The idyllic cottage community harbors some of her best—and … of her best—and worst—memories. It’s not only the tragic death of her childhood friend Cassie that has haunted her for ten years, it’s the other secrets she’s buried that have kept her from moving on.
But Lyndie isn’t the only one with secrets.
Cassie’s mother, father and brother, still struggling with the loss, have been drifting further and further apart. And Elle herself, the last to see Cassie alive, carries an impossible burden of guilt. Now reunited, each of them has a choice: to reveal the truths of that night or continue to live in its shadow. That means embarking on a personal journey of the heart—to escape the darkness and all its regrets and to finally come to terms with the past and, especially, with each other.
more
Courtney Walsh is another author new to me, yet I’ve been blown away by the unspeakable hurt she’s captured on paper and the gradual, yet satisfying healing that ensues. Things Left Unsaid recounts the story of multiple childhood friends who travel back to Sweethaven, a place of great joy and heart-wrenching tragedy, for a wedding. Lyndie, Tucker, Elle, and Travis learn to unshackle themselves from the hurt and shame of the past and live as new people, free of fear and blessed by grace. It is an excellent read.
Things Left Unsaid is chock full of emotion. I connected so much to the characters that in the first half of the story I would have to stop and breathe on occasion. But, I couldn’t stop for long because the characters called to me and I had to read more. By the second half of the book I didn’t want to stop reading. There were moments of tears and joy. Beautifully written. I did not want to leave these characters at the end of the book. Highly recommended.
A wedding reunites the friends and family of a girl who died in high school in this contemporary story of secrets and healing. Someday I must meet Courtney Walsh so I can tell her how many nights she kept me up with her books! Couldn’t put it down!
I really enjoyed this book. There were some twist and turns as you go through the pages. That’s something I love in a book.
The characters were well developed and you found yourself loving some and hating others. Your heart will ache at some of the experiences they endured in their teen years. There are lots of things that are left unsaid. But you will slowly learn of the secrets, the feelings of guilt, thoughts of insecurity that have kept them captive for 10 years.
The sense of forgiveness, compassion, and grace flows throughout the story. While you will get to the point where you want to say, “Go ahead and just say it!”, the wait is worth it.
Thank you to NetGalley for an ARC in exchange for my unbiased review. I am looking forward to more books by this author.
Emotional. Raw. Powerful! I devoured this book in about 7 straight hours. I couldn’t put it down. It’s beautifully written, captivating, and oh so powerful!
I love all of Courtney’s books. Great for anyone who loves touching women’s fiction with a good amount of romance, or vice versa!
Every now and then it’s good emotional exercise to pick up a book that deals with the tough parts of everyday life that few of us like to talk about–forgiveness, grace, getting over the darkness of our past. All of us have something that haunts us from “back then”–a decision we’d have made differently, words we’d take back if we could. But it isn’t easy to face grief and forgiveness separately, let alone when there’s cause to face them together.
Walsh does a beautiful job weaving the points of view in this story to create an emotional, heart-warming tale of how ten years past a tragedy can seem like either days or an eternity when it comes to how the mind and the heart work together to weigh us down with our mistakes. The best part pf the story comes, in typical Walsh form, with the proverbial “light at the end of the tunnel” sentiment–the hope each and every one of us has in getting over our past. We see it play out in the lives of these characters and it’s realistic and relatable enough to make us believe happy endings can be for everyone.
Courtney Walsh is a beautiful writer. The way she taps into your emotions and brings you right into the book is so amazing. This story about friendship and loss is one you won’t be able to put down. No matter what topic she writes about, I feel like I can connect and relate to so much of their story. It is one that will stay with you even after the pages have ended. I highly recommend her books!
I received a copy of this book from Netgalley, but the opinions are all my own.
I don’t even know where to begin, I’m so disappointed in this book. This is an author I like and this book has received 4 and 5 star ratings from several reviewers I trust. I jumped at listening to this when I discovered it was a Kindle Unlimited Read and Listen book. Maybe I’m just too old to read a book about a group of 18 year olds that make youthful mistakes and have spent the next 10 years dealing with the consequences while harboring guilt, resentment, shame, and unforgiveness against themselves and their friends. For 80 percent of this book all I could think was that these (now 28 year old) young people held on to their teenage angst for ten years too long. None of the characters were even likable for that 80 percent. There was not enough time in the last 20 percent of the book to come close to making them likable. The author tried, but it was not a believable change for me. Such drama! Why did I stick it out?
This book is by a Christian author and if ever a story was dramatized for the effect of redemption, this one was. That’s why I’m disappointed. I’m trying very hard not to disclose any spoilers, but Lyndie’s secret is a subject that should have been dealt with in a much more serious fashion in a Christian market book. Her secret was revealed around that 80 percent mark, and I thought finally this author would wow me. I was underwhelmed. What a redemptive story this could have truly been if the author had dramatized less, revealed the secret sooner, then walked each character through some real spiritual growth. She did a difficult and important spiritual issue an injustice when she glossed over it by trying to heal it with a budding romance.
I was also disappointed that an opportunity to present a spiritual truth, otherwise known as The Gospel, was met with a rather New Age philosophy. I don’t think this will qualify as a spoiler since it really doesn’t reveal Lyndie’s big secret. At one point, Lyndie is advised by a supposed mysteriously wise and spiritual woman that she has to give away what she wants to get. If she needs hope, then she should give hope. If she needs forgiveness, then she should give forgiveness. Sounds good, right? Only it will never work that way in Christian reality. And it especially did not work within this story because the author had written Lyndie into a box of her own emotions. The reality of The Gospel is that we cannot earn our salvation by good works or as in the case of this story—work our way into hope or forgiveness by giving away what we do not have. We must first receive what we need from the God of all comfort. Then we will be able to comfort others with the comfort we’ve been given. (2 Corinthians 1:3-7). A gal doesn’t spend 10 long years blaming and resenting a guy for her “unforgivable sin” (the author’s words, not what I would say about it and not what God says either) then have a good cry on his shoulder and suddenly find herself able to put it all behind her with just a kiss. No. Just no.
4.5 stars
“Some things have to be said out loud, . . . . That’s how they lose their power.”
There had been so many things left unsaid on that fateful night ten years prior; a painful argument between the best of friends, a foolish decision to throw caution to the wind, an unplanned rendezvous with disastrous results, a mature love ripped in half from top to bottom, a life disappearing into the depths of eternity. Will a hometown wedding bring back too many memories or can a reunion of regrets become a healing balm? It will take some pretty amazing grace, but oh, how sweet the sound.
As the author weaves three story lines into one, her readers might very well be left with the feeling that somewhere in this story, their own might be told; an emotional, relational, inspirational, exceptional read.
Well written novel with realistic, painful life events life events that are conquered by the characters after failing as we all do sometimes. Very compelling as well as entertaining.
I loved visiting and becoming a part of the wonderful community of Sweethaven through these characters I championed for.
Loved the book. Several people taking blame for a tragic accident. Go to the end to find out!
One of the best books I have read in a while. Skilfull writing and timing.
I didn’t care for this book. If you like a alls well that ends well, you might like this one. Most of the book was a emotional downer. Too negative. People who are suppose to be friends that don’t talk to each other? Not my kind of book.
When Cassie Jacobs drowned, she left behind a lot of messed-up people blaming themselves for her death.
Ten years later, people are pretending they’ve moved on. Cassie’s mother has organised a memorial party. Her father is withdrawn. Her brother owns an adventure tourism business. One of Cassie’s best friends getting married. Another is on the verge of a career breakthrough … if only she can open herself up to feeling emotion again.
Things Left Unsaid is one of those novels with a slow build. We’re introduced to each of the characters and their somewhat petty present-day problems (many of which are caused by the interfering Nora, Elle’s future mother-in-law). But as the plot develops and we get to know each of the characters, we start seeing beyond the petty and into their hearts as Walsh takes us into the hidden places and we see the hurts and where they’ve come from.
And that’s neither petty nor pretty. But it is powerful. And it’s worth reading. But, as I said, the novel has a slow build. The first quarter feels almost confusing as it changes point of view often: Lyndie, Elle, Karen, Tucker. The story settles into itself in the next quarter, but it still feels like it’s lacking something. It’s lacking emotion, but that’s deliberate: all the characters are holding back emotionally, and that comes through in the writing.
The novel really comes into itself in the final quarter. Secrets are acknowledged, things once left unsaid are said, and the emotion arrives like a roller coaster on that final downward swoop. Things Left Unsaid definitely hits all the right spots for a contemporary Christian romance with a side of real life.
Recommended for fans of authors like Robin Lee Hatcher, Denise Hunter, Kara Isaac, Amy Matayo, and Becky Wade.
Thanks to Waterfall Press and NetGalley for providing a free ebook for review.
I’ve been a fan of Courtney Walsh since the first book of hers I had the privilege of reading. She gives me such rich communities filled with relate-able people and a romance that typically isn’t over the top. Ya’ll know that romance isn’t the seller for me in a book and story is. I can take or leave a romance but when it’s built into something that captures my attention then I’ll take it. ‘Things Left Unsaid’ is a romance, it’s actually a couple of romances, but it’s so much more than that as well. It’s a known fact that earlier this year my best friend past away. Last year? Another good friend passed as well. Sometimes I feel like I’m drowning, still. Sometimes, I get caught up in life and for a moment I might forget . . . until I go to make that phone call I can never make again. I’ve not even made the one year anniversary so I certainly can’t begin to fathom the 10 year anniversary. I do hope, however, that I’ve achieved a greater since of healing in 10 years. I like to believe that I am forever moving forward, even when it feels less than incremental, and won’t stagnate like so many of this community have. I guess, literally, only time will tell.
OK, so I mentioned all the romance this book brings us. It’s the culmination of a forbidden romance a decade in the making, it’s the ignition of a romance that was avoided a decade ago, and it’s the rekindling of a romance that went stagnate for a decade. Cementing love through a wedding, finding love in a past crush, and finally finding healing in a marriage. All based around the 10th anniversary of a best friend, a sister, a daughter. I told you, all the romance. However, it was sweet and so well integrated that it didn’t set my slow burnout of romance on edge. It worked for me. Walsh avoided all the romance cliches that drive me batty. I think I adore her even more now. There are, however, a couple of things I didn’t adore. Yup, this is the part I dread.
Pacing. I feel like it took so long to actually get into the story. I had to hear everyone’s ‘head talk’ and circle talk, and almost self-pity feeling mumbo jumbo that I was ready to Gibbs’ smack every last one of them. I struggled to truly buy into the idea that some things weren’t resolved in the intervening decade of when this group was last together. The hurt read so fresh that it was hard to believe it had been a decade. I mean I can understand a lingering ache, a stab of hurt as these memories are being brought back to the forefront but I struggled to buy that it was this fresh after so much time. That is why this book is only four stars from me. The thing is though, that while I was distracted by the need to smack these guys into actual real life communication I also adored them. I was drawn into their romances and pain. I was drawn into their hurts and their joys. I highly recommend this book to anyone who loves a solid romance, a good redemption story, or just needs to work through some loss and hurt of their own. There is no wrong audience for this book!
I was provided a complimentary copy of this book by NetGalley. I was not compensated for this review and all thoughts and opinions expressed are my own. I was not required to write a positive review.
Things Left Unsaid is another heartfelt story by Courtney Walsh and is definitely worth reading. Courtney writes stories that pull you in making you feel like you are right there with the characters in her books experiencing all of the love, heartache and forgiveness that they all experience. Her books can leave emotionally raw, but all along you’re rooting for that happily ever after that you know is yet to come.
I was given an ARC from the author/publisher. All conclusions are mine and mine alone.
This book should come with a warning—your heart is going to be wrenched apart! What a rip-roaring emotional roller coaster ride this took me on. Courtney Walsh has created an amazing cast of realistic, multi-layered, and engaging characters and a background that is heart-breaking. The story is written from multiple points of view of people that are affected deeply by the tragedy of the death of Cassie Jacobs ten years earlier. Her friends, Lyndie and Elle, her brother Tucker and his family, and Elle’s fiancé Travis and his family, all come together with their deep wounds and grief, and feelings of guilt and regret. The author slowly unfolds the happenings of that long-ago tragedy and then starts healing broken hearts and lives.
The story is perfectly paced, beautifully written, and vividly shows the efffects of not communicating feelings and heartaches with those we love. I loved the tender messages of forgiveness, mercy, redemption, and grace woven throughout the story.
Things Left Unsaid is gritty and realistic, emotional and heart-wrenching, but it also left me with a feeling of hope and a resolve to show forgiveness of others. I’ve read several of Courtney Walsh’s books, but I feel this is her best yet. It’s definitely one for the keeper shelf.
I voluntarily reviewed a complimentary copy from the publisher/NetGalley. All opinions are my own.
Friends and family return to the resort-town of Sweethaven, Michigan, for a wedding exactly 10 years after an accidental drowning death that profoundly affected them all. They each bring a boatload of secrets, emotional baggage, guilt, and shame along for the ride.
One by one, these uncommunicative souls break free from a painful past by confessing their involvement in the drowning accident and their past transgressions, enabling them to begin to live freely again.
Well-written and with well-developed characters, Courtney Walsh gives you enough hints as to who has done what with and to whom to keep you turning the pages. There’s a tender second-chance romance and a peek inside the ailing marriage of a long-married couple, which I particularly enjoyed. Also includes important lessons about giving voice to your sins and forgiveness (of yourself and others).