“Delancey Stewart’s Without Words had me by the heart from the first chapter.” -Mary, USA Today Happy Ever After After an accident in the line of duty, firefighter Roberto DeRosa’s life is turned upside down. His career fighting fires is over, and he’s left with an uncertain future and an injury that makes communicating difficult for him. The only time words flow easily is when they’re lyrics … words flow easily is when they’re lyrics and he has a guitar in his hands. Talking to women is definitely out, especially if they have bright blue eyes that seem to see right into his soul.
Dani Hodge is on the brink of realizing her dream of opening a small combination wine and book store in San Diego’s funky Ocean Beach neighborhood. But before she can open the doors, there’s work to be done, more work than she can do herself.
When the tattooed guy who completely ignored her at a bar walks by and offers her a hand wrangling a tile saw, Dani can’t afford to say no–and why would she say no to Mr. Strong and Silent when his stare conveys more than words could?
Each book in the Under the Pier series is STANDALONE:
* Without Words
* Without Promises
more
Every now and then you read a story that is so beautiful it leaves you in the state of awe for a long while after. Without Words is one of those stories. It is heart-shattering with its pain, torment, x1band agony, it is raw with life-like emotions and deep feelings, yet it heals all the wounds with the devotion and tenderness, the pure joy of life shining through.
Roberto DeRosa and Dani Hodge have a nearly magical connection, the energy around them sizzling in the air with heat and yearning. It is like their broken souls recognize the need for comfort in each other – like they are the two half’s of a whole finally coming together.
Both Rob and Dani had issues from the past, from their childhood, that comes to the surface mudding the waters and churning the emotions. With Dani’s trust issues and fear of abandonment Rob’s problems to communicate might seem like the worst match, but they have to learn to connect on a deeper level to get over the hurdles and interact in a way that is suitable for both.
The process of healing, learning and growing as a human being is a delicate and fragile development for both Dani and Rob, however with the support of their loved ones, and with each other, they find the safe haven, the place of trust, faith, and hope where this kind of flourishing is possible.
Without Words amazed me with its beauty and depth. The dual first person point of view gave the insights to Rob’s mind that was needed with his challenge to communicate and brought alive the intensity of those two bruised souls seeking for each other. It made me want to believe in love at the first sight and in soulmates, in the one true match. It captivated my mind and charmed my heart, it filled me with joy, left my smiling and believing in serendipity.
What an alluring story of love and life!
~ Five Spoons
Without Words is sweet and sexy and has a standout character in Rob. Rob is a lost man, he’s just trying to get his life back on track after an accident that took away his career and his speech. He’s had months of intensive therapy to relearn everything, his speech being the most important. And yet, he still struggles for words, struggles to put his thoughts into the words his brain once didn’t even take a second to form. Then he meets Dani and she makes him lose his train of thought, makes his world tilt on its axis. “I don’t know how I kept playing, because the world tilted wildly, like something had broken loose.”
Dani is entranced when she sees the hot guy playing guitar in the club she’s at. But, when he seemingly snubs her, she doesn’t know what to make of it and dismisses him from her mind. And she figures she’ll never see him again, until one day he offers his help over her broken tiling as she’s trying to do a job she clearly doesn’t have the know how to complete.
Rob, and his adorable dog Sampson are soon making Dani swoon, and I really enjoyed reading them together. They have sexy chemistry and are a great couple with that whole opposites thing going on. Rob, especially, stood out for me, though, because he’s such a sweet, swoony guy who offers Dani his heart on a platter. Yet, Dani carelessly hurts him, because of her lack of sensitivity for his medical condition. I mean come on, the man had a seriously devastating brain injury!! But, Dani is guarded, because she’s been hurt, and she allows it guide her actions and it ends up hurting Rob. I can’t say I like Dani for that, but I give her a pass, because hurt makes a mess out of us all at one time or another.
If you have a thing for sweet, sexy guys and their 4 legged companions, give Without Words a click, you won’t regret it!
This is the first book I’ve ever read by Delancey Stewart and I’m a bit … conflicted … about my rating. It was nothing big and it’s not that the book was bad … I never would have given it a four star rating if it was, but there were parts that I just felt pulled the speed of the book back from a pretty cantering unicorn to an uncoordinated turtle.
Is the speed or pace of a book that important? I sure think so. Here’s the deal … I’ve got two kids (boys – aged 14 and 10) on summer break right now and I’ve got to put down my Kindle every few minutes to break up a fight, be a maid or help decide who gets the last Cheez-It that is stuck between the couch cushions because apparently, those taste better than the brand new box sitting in the pantry and why not fight to the death for a stale, lint covered cracker. I need something that I can put down quickly and pick back up without having to reread the same sentence that I already read seven times because someone keeps asking me at 7:20am when lunch is. To put it bluntly, I just don’t have the patience to read the long, descriptive paragraphs about someone’s feelings. I end up just skimming paragraphs to get the gist of it and then move on to some exciting stuff.
And that’s what I had with this book. Now, the book was well written and maybe to someone else with less neurotic reading preferences, it will be perfect. The storyline was great though, I really liked the unexpected twists that happened a couple of times and you are left at the end of the book feeling completely fulfilled as a reader.
Our main characters, Dani and Rob were written pretty perfectly. Dani has such a kind heart and sweet disposition. She’s the kind of girl that you want to be friends with because you know she’s going to always be understanding and empathetic. That’s not to say she’s flawless, she isn’t, she has flaws but I’ll leave those for you to discover. Now on to Rob. To put it plainly, I adored him. He is perfectly imperfect. Especially in his mind. You’ll find Rob endearing and sweet and completely oblivious to how amazing he is. But that’s the cool thing about Rob … you get to experience his character growth and that is truly one of my favorite things about a flawed character.
All in all, pretty good book and maybe if it weren’t for my two minions, I would have given it that one extra star. As it is, this is a book that I won’t soon forget and one that I’ll probably read again. I think I may have found another author to book-stalk.
* I received this novel in exchange for an honest review *