Title: Everythign I Left Unsaid (Everything I Left Unsaid #1)
Author: M. O'Keefe
Date of publication: 13 Oct 2015
Genre/themes: Erotic Romance, Abuse

Author's links: Website / Twitter / Facebook / Goodreads
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My rating: 4 Stars

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.

Review 

I loved the Boys of Bishop series which I read last year and was ecstatic when I got the chance to read an ARC of this. This story is a somewhat dark erotic romance and fair warning from the start, it's part of a duology and ends on a cliffhanger. 

It's a powerfully written story told from dual POV. This is the story of Annie's journey towards herself - a sort of sexual (and emotional) awakening . At times it read like Dylan was healing her through sex and I'm not a big fan of this trope. What makes this story stand out for me though, was Annie's will, her strength, bravery. Dylan was certainly influential to her growth and change but ultimately it was her who took the challenge, who pushed herself to discover her boundaries. I loved how she went (a little scared and a lot of determined) after the things she wanted. The author didn't hide her fear and hesitancy, there was also her desire to try new things, to actually learn what she likes/dislikes, to discover and go after some dreams of her. For someone with her background of physical and psychological abuse, it was a miracle how much purity, innonce, light and hope she carried in herself and shared with others.

Dylan remained quite an enigma throughout the story. We see just glimpses of him and his past and present and what we get is a tortured man, strong and self-sufficient, yet one that has never truly managed to let go of the past.

I wanted to see more development of the romantic relationship, besides the sexual chemistry and all the challenging, provocation and experiments in this regard. We get just the first stages of the deeper connection forming between them and have to wait for the next book to see if/how things between may grow into something positive, good for both of them, something like a well-deserved HEA.

The plot was interesting, even intriguing at times, the twists and turns felt natural and fitting the characters. The cliffhanger was bit of a letdown for me because I'm not generally a fan of those and I feel the story could have continued perfectly well in the next book without it. 

I liked the the way the author explored the intricate relationships between the characters, they all felt real in their complexity and multi-layeredness. The focus was on Annie's journey, and it was not easy one and far from complete by the end of the book. We also meet some well-built and very intriguing supporting characters (who I'm happy to share are getting their own stories soon).

This is an intense, dark and very erotic story, yet there is certain light and hope in it. And a brutal cliffhanger, so I'd suggest if you plan on reading this book (as you should), you need to get it together with the second book, The Truth About Him (I've already read it and you can check my review on Thursday, Oct 8).

My reviews of the Boys of Bishop series:
Never Been Kissed (book 2) - 4 stars
Between the Sheets (book 3) - 4 stars
Indecent Proposal (book 4) - 4.5 stars