Review: SILENT NO MORE addresses some really serious issues.
Rating: 4 out of 5
Date: 06 11, 2014
THE STORY:Shannon Taylor thinks her life is perfect. She's engaged to her college boyfriend, has a best friend who is more like a sister, a thriving photography business, and a photo book about to be published. But her perfect world comes crashing down when she catches her fiance and best friend in a compromising situation. Hurt and betrayed, she goes to her favorite hotel bar, and it's there that she meets Nicholas Lockhart.Nicholas Lockhart is a successful businessman, being owner and CEO of Lockhart Publishing and The Cover Hotel, but his heart is cold and he never sleeps with a woman more than once. The knowledge of his father's abusive nature toward his mother and woman in general has left him cynical when it comes to love and relationships. But when Shannon Taylor falls into his life his heart begins to thaw.While Shannon and Nicholas explore their feelings for each other, their relationship is tested when a terrifying figure from Shannon's past comes back into her life, with an unbelievable connection to Nicholas' life. Can Shannon find the strength to finally tell the story of what was done to her 10 years earlier, or will she keep forever silent of that horrific day?SILENT NO MORE addresses some really serious issues, mainly being physical (spousal) abuse and rape (sexual assault). Some of the scenes in this book can be difficult to read. We learn early on in the book that Nicholas' father is physically abusive to his mother, and Nick hates his father with a passion because of it. ---->>>>POSSIBLE SPOILER<<<<---- And we also learn that Shannon had been raped on her 17th birthday, her virginity stolen. Neither Nick's mother or Shannon have ever spoken out about the abuse done to them. While Nick's mother never says anything, SILENT NO MORE shows the struggle Shannon goes through to try and talk about what happened to her. It shows her strength in the face of such a horrible and traumatizing experience. I truly admired Shannon.SILENT NO MORE ends in a pretty big cliffhanger, and I'm just dying to read the rest of Shannon's and Nick's story in Silent Guilt.THE CAST:Shannon: A successful photographer. Owns Art Through A Lens, her photo gallery. Has a new photo book being published by Lockhart Publishing. Meets Nick at the bar of his hotel after witnessing her fiance's infidelity. Has stayed silent about the time she was raped on her 17th birthday, 10 years ago. Took up boxing as a way to cope and feel safe.Nick: A successful businessman. Owns Lockhart Publishing and The Cove Hotel. He had noticed Shannon in his office six months prior to their official meeting at the bar. Hates his abusive father for what he has done to his mother. Has uncontrollable rages.Nikki: Nick's younger sister, dating his best friend Jase, but it's complicated. Hates her father possibly more than Nick does. Owns the boxing gym Knocked Out and manages for Jase in the fight circuit.Jase: Nick's best friend, and Nikki's boyfriend. Professional MMA fighter. Knows how to handle Nick when he goes into one of his rages.Luke: Shannon's ex-fiance, who she caught cheating on her with her best friend. Continues to try to get her to take him back, even becoming abusive in his attempts.THE VILLAIN:There are two villains in SILENT NO MORE. There is Luke, Shannon's ex-fiance, who she caught cheating on her. I thought it was completely unbelievable that he thought that she'd actually take him back after what he did. I just wanted to punch him in the face. And then when he started getting so aggressive that he started hurting her...The main villain is Nick's father. This sadistic and abusive man hides behind the facade of a respected judge, but behind the scenes he's anything but respectable. For years, he has physically abused his wife, Nick's mother. Witnessing this abuse for so many years is what has caused Nick's uncontrollable rage at him. The judge believes that no one can touch him and that he's in complete control. But that's not the case when something even more horrific is revealed about his abusive past. There are no words to describe how much I despised Nick's father as I was reading. Nick's rage and hatred are easy to understand, that's for sure.THE ROMANCE:Usually in contemporary romances I don't like relationships that seem to happen instantaneously, but in SILENT NO MORE it didn't feel that way. Though Shannon's and Nick's relationship moves pretty fast, it was written in a way that didn't feel like it. Shannon and Nick have a lot of obstacles in their way - his rage, her past, his father, her silence. These things threaten to destroy what they have over and over again, and there are times when it feels like nothing will bring them back together, while there are also times where it feels like nothing could tear them apart. Their relationship goes one way and then all of a sudden is taken in another. I think that if they can get past those four things I mentioned, that their love could last forever.