A standalone teacher/student romance in the What He Doesn’t Know series. I never learn my lesson.And I always want what I can’t have.When Sarah Henderson walks into my life, I tell myself she’s off limits. She’s my student, sixteen years younger than me, and my boss’s niece. It doesn’t matter that I see the same pain reflected in her eyes that I have in my own, or that the dead organ better … or that the dead organ better known as my heart kicks to life when she’s around.
I’ve been here before, and I know how this ends.
It’s been two years since I fell for the last woman I knew I couldn’t have, the one with the ring on her finger that I chose to ignore.
Two years of trying to overcome that heartache when Sarah slides into my life.
Another woman I can’t have. Another woman I can’t stop myself from wanting.
I never learn my lesson, but with a constant reminder of how that last forbidden love burned, I think I’ve finally learned this one.
This time, I won’t chase what’s off limits.
This time, I’m staying away.
And I’ll keep telling myself that until I believe it.
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Well this was hard to read. Not because it’s a bad novel or storyline but because of the topic of rape. It’s emotional and deep through every chapter.
Reese has a new student. He just wants to get through the summer and hide from his ex.
Sarah has been through h311 and back but came out fractured.
Together these two and their story will touch your heart.
It’s emotional rollercoaster that drifts off course but brings you back….
Reese Walker is a piano genius that shied away from the spotlight and embraced a quieter life teaching piano to youths. He knows a star when he sees one and he doesn’t see it in Sarah, the quiet, angry niece of his boss. Sarah Henderson is ready to stop hiding and wants to love the piano again, but it sparks fear in her still, even after being away from her old university for some time. Reese is her one chance to make her dreams happen again and she’s ready to fight. When Reese sees that fight in Sarah he recognizes a bit of himself and as he helps her turn her emotions into notes he feels emotion stir in him again, kick starting his heart again after it had been trampled over. They both believe it’s wrong, they know everyone else will too, but the feelings they have, the hope they share, it just might be their chance to know happiness again.
“Reese was an entire universe, and the piano was a mere telescope we tried to see him through.”
There are books that make you warm and fuzzy inside, there are books that make you angry, and there are books that make you sob in sadness, or in this case, in solidarity. What He Never Knew is one of those reads that quickly became very personal for me, my connection with it may not be the same as it is for everyone else, and I ultimately loved it due to that personal connection. It’s very easy to gloss over the ugly, to allow romance to clean up the mess, or to tackle difficult subjects in a way that isn’t sensitive at all. I can name on just two hands the books I’ve read that have tackled the incident in this novel well and What He Never Knew by Kandi Steiner has just been added to that list.
Sarah’s situation isn’t unique, but Kandi’s sensitivity to it is. Sarah is at first despondent, she is defensive and angry, and she has given up the things she loves. She’s left university, ashamed and afraid of the incident that occurred. She’s left it all behind and now, after hiding, has moved to Pennsylvania to try to train on the piano again. What He Never Knew is her butterfly moment captured on pages, it’s her opening up, embracing the beautiful parts of life again, and learning that the tragedies don’t have to hold us down. She learns to love music again, to open up, and to trust. Reese Walker, who I loved so very much from the What He Doesn’t Know duet, is her piano teacher and while he is significantly older than her he sees that she is wise beyond her years. He sees a darkness in her that he sees in himself, he too finds someone to trust with the things that have weighed him down. He shows her how to harness that pain and while he watches the piano make her shine again he begins to fall.
“He searched my gaze like I was a puzzle with all the right pieces shoved in all the wrong places, and I’d never felt more pegged down in my entire life.”
Kandi Steiner is always one of my favorites, she can write angst and love in such a way that you feel it too, but in my opinion this is her at her very best. This story is told in a descriptive, lyrical way, moving much like the piano Sarah plays. It’s a story of loss and tragedy, of forgiveness and hope, and of love and strength. I really appreciated the character development in this book, especially with Reese recognizing his poor behavior and Sarah realizing that her initial choice to hide isn’t the right choice at all. While it is incredibly heavy, it features the promise of love, a feeling we all know how to cling to. Reese and Sarah, though unconventional, heal one another and no one can deny that their broken pieces fit together perfectly. They bring out the best in one another and even when things are hard they each push themselves to overcome it.
“‘For the record,’ he finally said. ‘I am in your corner.'”
If you are not afraid of an emotional read, get this one in your hands right away. I do recommend reading the duet first, but this book is equally brilliant as a standalone. Fans of Reese will be so happy he finally got the HEA he deserved, but fans of the romance genre in general will be over the moon about the gorgeous, realistic story Kandi Steiner has gifted us.
What He Never Knew by Kandi Steiner
5+++ Stars
OMG!! I love the hot cover and the title page! I love love love love the story!! I love everything! It captured my interest! This is very well written! Really made me feel! WOW! The feels! Really felt I was there– watching/witnessing this all go down! It is very raw and very gripping!
I really do love Kandi’s writing. She never disappoints me! Can’t wait to see what she has in store for us next time!
“My life was different before he was gone, and the person I became after he’d passed was one I never knew before.”
“It was the relief I never knew I needed, and it seemed to unleash what I’d been holding back at the piano.”
“When she told me she loved me and wanted to be with me, I’d nearly shit myself.”
“the only love I believed in was the love I left for the piano.”
“Never fall in love again.
It was more than just a plan, more than just a goal. It was a promise.
And it was one I vowed to keep.”
What He Never Knew by Kandi Steiner was a beautifully breathtaking and emotionally gripping love story that wholeheartedly captivated my heart and soul. The author FINALLY gives readers all the answers that we have been craving for months…and oh my freaking goodness does she deliver with a phenomenal storyline and unbelievably amazing cast of characters. This story left me completely breathless and I was certainly in awe as I found myself inhaling each and every angsty page!
The storyline was definitely not what I was expecting for Reese Walker, but I loved every single whirlwind moment that his story had to offer. I have been deeply in love with this character since the very beginning and when I first heard that he was getting his own happily ever after I couldn’t stop smiling because my heart broke a little for him when Charlie chose her husband Cameron over him. And while my heart did break for him, I always knew that they weren’t meant to be because she wasn’t ever truly his. Sarah Henderson, now she was without a doubt his one true love and yes he had to go through heartbreak after heartbreak to find her, but it was all worth it in the end. Their love and passion just bleed from the pages and left me so freaking emotional time and time again.
What He Never Knew was LITERACY GOLD and Kandi Steiner deserves ALL THE PRAISE for this extraordinary story! This is hands down a MUST READ and although it is technically a standalone I STRONGLY recommend that you read the first two books in the What He Doesn’t Know series to get the full experience and learn what led him to this moment…with this girl!
*** ARC Received for Honest Review ***
500 Stars
Where do I even begin? I LOVED this book. I love it so much that I almost want to keep my feelings for it to myself. It feels intimate and private. Kandi has this way of getting to you that you don’t even see coming. When I read the first two books I was utterly and thoroughly spent. I thought that it’s, I can’t take any more; those books were so good…then she comes back with Reese’s book. It’s like Kandi looked into my soul and knows what I need/want before I even do.
Reese is so damaged from the all the whole situation with Charlie and Cameron, then Kandi goes and wraps up his story beautifully. I am so thankful. This is an entire series that I will cherish. (Review by Terri “Jane”)
„We’re not destined to run from our misery, we’re destined to bathe in it –
and to somehow find a way to make it beautiful.”
The beauty of Kandi Steiner’s words is indescribable … This author like no one else can break your heart to play the doctor later and slowly glue it together. What He Never Knew is a longed-for happy ending for Reese, who readers had the opportunity to meet in the two previous books in this series. Why is it longed-for? Because this guy experienced so much pain that only music makes him feel anything.
Reese is a piano teacher whose life focuses on drinking, smoking and playing the instrument. Until Sarah becomes his student. A much younger girl than himself is haunted by traumatic experiences and just like in Reese’s case, the piano is the meaning of her existence. You could put a mirror between two of them- they both contain the same pain.
This is a story about making peace with your past. This is a story about healing. It’s a story about two broken souls who need music and each other to finally experience happiness. Kandi Steiner has created a breathtaking story that will allow you to believe in the sun after a storm. Her style of writing is as beautiful as the music that came out from under the talented fingers of Reese and Sarah. This book is a exquisite slow-burn.
So why 4 stars instead of 5?
Because I needed more of these two. I felt that the ending was a little speeded up. But it doesn’t change the fact that the road to the happy ending was amazingly beautiful.
Holy mother of angst!
This story is an angst fest dripping with love, lust and music!
As far as unconventional angst romances are concerned, this read was in a whole other level!
Emotional, touching and passionate with music as a backdrop. Well written this story had characters that were not always likable and certainly were frustrating. For me that made it more realistic and intriguing.
This is book three in the What He Doesn’t Know and I had not read the prior books in this series. In fact I pretty much went in blindly, and I believe that gave me a whole different perspective to the story that had me totally captivated by this story.
Angst lovers — you NEED this book! It’s forbidden, emotional, and everything you love in a heart-racing romance. It’s a teacher/student, age gap romance set in Pittsburgh. She’s his boss’s NIECE, to add to the drama. And, if you love music, this one is right up your alley, as both characters are piano players and heavily influenced by their art. <3
For anyone who has experienced Kandi Steiner’s writing before, you know her books are emotional roller coasters, full of angst and leaving you bruised & broken before she inevitably puts you back together. She’s not shy about writing about touchy subjects, ones that most people might shy away from, or refuse to read. But somehow she writes these in such a way that you can’t put them down and does them the justice they deserve. What He Never Knew is no different, embracing themes that I couldn’t even imagine writing, and giving them the most beautiful story.
“She was the light I never thought I’d see again, the purpose I thought I’d lost forever”
Reese and Sarah may be years apart in life, but they are both living with heartbreak and sadness. They are both barely surviving, and different people than they once were. She needs a new piano teacher and he needs a distraction, and somehow they forge a bond that neither expected but they both truly need.
While Reese was a central character in the first two books in the series we never really got to know him intimately. Here we got to really see his scars and heartbreaking truths, and see him in a completely different light. He’s so much more than I originally believed, and while my loyalty to him waivered in the past I found myself rooting for him from the very beginning.
Sarah is one of the strongest characters, facing a horrific past and still forging forward. She has dreams and will stop at nothing to accomplish them, even when it means facing her demons. I loved her determination, her ability to trust when she had no reason to, and the light that seemed to shine from her even when she believed it had all dimmed out.
I went into this book expecting all the angst, as I do with each book by Kandi Steiner, but this one was a series gut punch. As usual, her writing had me feeling each emotion along with the characters, hearing the music as they played, laughing and crying when they did. I admit this one took me longer to get through, I had to stop multiple times throughout. But even though it took me a while to process what I was reading, the payout, in the end, was more than worth it. This book, this series, was incredible and definitely one of my favorites.
I love an angsty forbidden romance! Add in student teacher romance and it’s a must read! Love Kandi Steiner
Art! Romance! Music! All those things share a common thread: they come from the heart. Kandi is on top of her game here with this beautiful take on forbidden age/gap student teacher romances. Angst lovers will not be disappointed!
“We are all just humans who want to feel like we’re not alone, even when we are.”
I’ve never found an author who could provoke so many emotions within the first few pages. And Kandi Steiner does that time and time again. Steiner’s writing is haunting yet beautiful, raw but honest.
I love that Reese finally gets to see his happily ever after. It was a rough journey that’s for certain. I wasn’t team Reese in the first two books but I always wanted to see him happy.
I know Sarah had a tough time. She’s been through something so evil and never gave up on her dreams. She has such a strong support system and so many people who love her. It was a remarkable journey for Reese and Sarah and I’m glad they had each other.
I’m looking forward to see what’s next!
Angst lovers — you NEED this book! It’s forbidden, emotional, and everything you love in a heart-racing romance. It’s a teacher/student, age gap romance set in Pittsburgh. She’s his boss’s NEICE, to add to the drama. Not to be missed!
Angst lovers — you NEED this book! It’s forbidden, emotional, and everything you love in a heart-racing romance. It’s a teacher/student, age gap romance set in Pittsburgh. She’s his boss’s NEICE, to add to the drama. And, if you love music, this one is right up your alley, as both characters are piano players and heavily influenced by their art. <3
I have no idea where to begin this review. I mean this book was just simply incredible and I could not put it down. I started this book at the doctors office and could not put it down. I was enraptured in this story that my heart broke at times and my heart skipped a few beats at some points in the story.
This is a story of survival, love, and dealing with loss. This is about a girl named Sarah who plays the piano and is in college when something very wrong happens to her and she is violated by someone she trusts with her whole life. Suffering from everything she went through she decides to leave college and give up on piano to return home and heal from her hurt.
Reese is one of the best pianist who graduated from Julliard and is now teaching at a private school and playing piano for a local restaurant. Reese has gone through a horrible tragedy growing up and he suffers in silence making his music his life. Then he meets Sarah and decides to help her get back into playing piano when he falls in love with her. She is off limits because she is her bosses niece and he knows something has happened to her that has hurt her and made her not want to play piano but the more they practice and the more they talk Reese and Sarah open up to each other and they fall in love.
This is an amazing story that you will not be able to put down because once you start reading you need to find out what has happened to Sarah and Reese to make them the way they are.
An angsty new student-teacher treat from Kandi Steiner!
Its been a while since I read Kandi Steiner and I’m not sure why but I won’t be leaving it so long next time. She has delivered quite the emotional ride with this one.
I haven’t read the her What He Doesn’t KnowDuet but it featured Reese from what I have seen as part of a love triangle and he is still reeling from being the losing guy. He’s a Piano teacher and a bit of a loner, that is until Sarah walks into his life. Even though she is much younger then him the chemistry is hot AF and seriously combustible.
In Sarah, Reese can sense a kindred spirit, someone who is feeling the same kind of pain as him. Like Reese she has lost everyone in her life and all she has is her Piano.
Their stories seriously ripped my heart out and broke me. Kandi brought some beautifully real and raw emotions with this. These two seemed to heal each other, mending their broken hearts. They both blossomed together.
Nothing about us made sense, and yet, there was no other possibility. It was me and him and us. It just was. And it always would be.
4.5/5 stars for What He Never Knew!
I am so happy that Reese got his own story and what a story it was!
I loved Reese from the previous two books in the What He Doesn’t Know books but this read was by far my absolutely favorite!!! Such a broken, beaten down man who was just surviving. After the loss of his family, his dream, his first love, he was barely holding on. Until a new student, Sarah, entered his life and flipped it on it’s head! She was everything he shouldn’t want, didn’t think he needed and couldn’t dream of having.
Sarah was the most beautifully flawed heroine! Her traumatic past turned her into a shell of the woman she once was, forcing her to quit college, move across country to live with extended family and give up everything she had known and trusted. But she could never walk away from playing. The piano was her only solace in such a dark and depressing existence she was now living. Despite her heartbreaking history, she was somehow able to open up to Reese and confide in him. This unlikely confidant broke down her walls and showed her how to trust again. Sarah was destined for greatness and she wasn’t going to let anything stop her from achieving it!
While this couple had pretty much everything going against them, they fought for each other, for what they could be and what they truly wanted. They fought until there was nothing left to fight against. I was incredibly happy with the ending and the epilogue. I wanted nothing more than to see these two find true happiness in each other and move on from their shattered pasts, together.
The slow burn of this forbidden romance was everything you could hope for in a romance book! There was plenty of angst, drama, compromising situations, heartbreak, raw emotion and so much more. You could tell that Kandi poured her heart and soul into this book with each turn of the page!
Kandi Steiner does it again with her wonderful student-teacher romance. Romantic, haunting and overall amazing, I highly recommend this book!
I was a little torn by this book. I was so excited to read it based on the blurb and the background information, especially being a Pittsburgh girl myself, but I wasn’t as in love with the story as I read on and it might have to do with me not reading the first two books in the series. It is definitely a book filled with heartbreak and angst, and my heart personally broke for Sarah due to how realistic her circumstances are. I particularly enjoyed the strength and growth that Kandi displayed in the character of Sarah, and I also was happy that she chose Reese as the person to help her heal. On the other side of that, I feel that Sarah also helped Reese heal, which I don’t think was something he felt he needed. The underlying theme of healing was something I really enjoyed in this book and I will definitely be going back to read about Charlie and Cameron!
I voluntarily read and reviewed an Advance Reader Copy of this book.