★★★★★ Love Comes Silently by Andrew Grey ★★★★★
The Senses series:
- Love Comes Silently (book #1) – in this review
- Love Comes in Darkness (book #2) – really enjoyed this book too! Review pending later this week.
Love Comes Silently by Andrew Grey
My rating: 4.5 of 5 stars
The blurb…
Caring for a loved one with cancer is tough. Doing it alone is overwhelming—especially when that loved one is a child. But ever since Ken Brighton’s partner left him, Ken has spent his days at the hospital with his daughter, Hanna, hoping for a miracle. Maybe the mysterious care packages that appear for Hanna don’t qualify, but they bring a spark of hope into his and Hanna’s tired life—and so does Ken’s neighbor, former singer Patrick Flaherty.
For two years Patrick hasn’t been able to focus on anything but the life he should have had. An injury robbed him of his voice, and the idea of introducing himself to new people intimidates him. But over the past months, he’s watched as his neighbor nursed his sick child, and once he meets Ken, Patrick starts to crave a life with him—a life he isn’t sure he can have.
Ken doesn’t realize he’s fallen in love until the doctors send Hanna home, saying there’s nothing more they can do: Hanna will either recover or succumb. Ken’s heart is set on a new beginning—with both Patrick and Hanna. But Patrick’s silence leaves Ken wondering what Patrick wants.
So what did I think?
This is a really sweet romance with fabulous characters and an interesting story line. What makes this story special is it’s “realness”. The love story and drama are not over-the-top, rather it is real men, facing real issues and real heartbreak and coming out the end in one piece. It is not easy, as the story has elements of tragedy, illness, heartbreak and sadness. But it is how Ken and Patrick face the world that is inspirational (little Hanna should also get a mention here!)
Ken is facing the toughest period of his life as he and his daughter face the threat of cancer. Ken’s partner has left him and he is dealing with Hanna’s illness all alone. I have been fortunate enough to never have experienced such an illness in a child but the author really seemed to capture the emotion of both father and child perfectly. I could feel the fear and the pain and the worry and the myriad of other emotions they were going through.
Patrick has had is own fair share of tragedy, losing his voice in traumatic circumstances. His pain was obvious particularly in how he saw himself. “Oh, he could grunt and make sounds like an animal, but not the sounds of a human being, not like he used to.” Just the thought of anyone, let alone an opera singer, losing such a precious gift as voice is heartbreaking. I had so much sympathy for Patrick and how isolated he felt in his life.
Both men are presented as wonderful and caring men, putting others before themselves which made them such a fabulous couple. Patrick observes Ken selflessly caring for his daughter and Patrick silently provides so much support without seeking any type of gratitude.
I loved the way the story unfolded and the love between Patrick and Ken. I loved the sensitive way the childhood cancer was managed. I shed a few tears and thoroughly enjoyed reading this book!
One last thing….I have had this book on the Kindle for a while and started reading without re-reading the blurb. I therefore made an assumption that this story was about deafness. Finding out it was about loss of the ability to communicate verbally was a surprise and it was nice to see a bit of a unique story line. I thought Andrew Grey did a wonderful job of making the relationship and love development between Patrick and Ken seem real, given the situation of limited dialogue. At first I wondered how Ken could fall in love with Patrick given they couldn’t have much conversation – how was he to get to know Patrick? But this wasn’t an issue at all. Ken falling for Patrick was totally believable!
4.5 stars
To find out more about Andrew Grey and his books visit his website.
Buy Love Comes Silently from Amazon.