No More Words: A Novel (No More, Book 1) (Unabridged‪)‬

I don’t know where author Kerry Lonsdale comes up with these amazing, unique ideas for each and every new book, but I hope she never runs out of them. The title of this book may be No More Words, but Kerry Lonsdale has great words and builds great word pictures.

These words and pictures are strong, powerful, and carefully chosen, expertly put together to craft another riveting story.

The story begins in 1995 with the Carson family – dysfunctional as they come. Parents Charlotte and Dwight treat their children Olivia, Lucas and Lily are more bothersome possessions than treasured, well-loved children. The bright spot of the year is when the children stay at the lake with family friends each summer. Those parents are caring and the Carson children feel welcome; their son Blaze and Olivia grow close as they grow up.

But, trite as it sounds, all good things must come to an end and events occur that put a stop to those special summers. Life at the Carson house gets worse. Lucas is constantly in trouble, serious trouble. Because of the difference in their ages Olivia and Lily were never close, but now it seems Lily is going out of her way to make Olivia’s life difficult. So Olivia and Lily fight, Lucas acts out and their parents’ behavior borders on scandalous. Everyone grows apart, Olivia retreats into herself.

When Lily is 16 she becomes pregnant and refuses to tell her parents who the father is. Abortion or adoption are the only choices they give her. And one day she’s just not there anymore. Olivia is a little sad that her sister is gone, but family life stinks anyway and face it, things are a little easier without Lily around messing with her stuff.

Fast forward to the present. Olivia and Blaze are a couple, kind of, but she’s not looking for commitment, a future, has no dreams of that perfect family with the perfect picket-fence house. The Carsons have drifted apart and no one seems to really care. Olivia has received a letter from Lily with a picture of her son Josh every year except this one. As with everything else in her life, Olivia is ambivalent. Doesn’t try to find Lily or make any connections.

So far so good. A solid story about a family. How things that happened in the past affected the present. Full of tension, sadness, very little hope.

And then Olivia comes home one day and Josh is sitting on her doorstep. Wow. Not only is this the kid she’s received a photo of every year for the past 13 years, but he’s all alone. How did he get here? Why is he here? Well, those are good questions – and – Josh can’t answer them very satisfactorily, because he apparently recently suffered a head injury and has Aphasia, a residual effect of brain trauma injury that affects speech, reading, writing. He can draw. Boy can he draw. So he communicates a bit that way. And while rooting around in his backpack trying to figure out what’s going on Olivia finds a letter to her from Lily that begins, “In the event I go missing ...” Olivia feels a strong, strong connection to this boy, her nephew. She didn’t want to, doesn’t know where it’s coming from, but she is determined to do everything she can to find his mother, to find Lily.

With that the story is transformed and we are transported into a world of mystery, suspense, secrets, danger, hope, love, and family. The action switches back and forth between 1995 at the lake and the present, each jump revealing a little more about who was up to what, what really happened, how things weren’t at all what they seemed.

No More Words is full of unimaginable events that author Lonsdale makes believable, full of deep, well-drawn characters that are irritating, intriguing, easy to understand and unable to fathom. The plot moves smoothly and quickly, explaining the present through the past, keeping your turning pages and on the edge of your sheet because bad things have happened and they are still happening.

You will root for Olivia, for her to open up, to trust, to let that spark that wants to turn into a blaze with Blaze happen. And for Josh, you will be so full of feelings you will hardly be able to contain them. He’s bright, artistic, sweet, troubled, impatient with his disability – and a son who needs his mother.

Thanks to the author Kerry Lonsdale and Lake Union Publishing for providing an advanced copy of No More Words via NetGalley in exchange for my honest review. All opinions are my own. This is another outstanding book by an outstanding author. I thoroughly enjoyed it, could not put it down, recommend it without hesitation and am eagerly awaiting the next two books in this trilogy.

Wow! No More Words has left me with almost no words! Kerry Lonsdale has quickly become one of my favorite authors and her upcoming release only solidifies what a fan I am. I devoured this book in two days and might have read it even faster if not for the terrible headache I had on the first day.

This story is full of mystery, intrigue, romance and countless examples of why communication is so important...in all relationships! By the time I’d read half of the book I had so many thoughts and speculations bouncing around in my head and I was excited to find that, while my intuition was correct on a few small things, I was still left surprised and stunned by the way some big things played out. Kerry, once again, does a fantastic job of taking you on a roller coaster ride and then going out with a bang.

I enjoyed getting to know Olivia through her past and present and I can’t wait for the next two books in this series so that I can get to know the other two Carson siblings better. They definitely have some stories to tell! Also, I want to note that Olivia’s friend, Amber, is my new fictional best friend as it’s noted that she always has a book with her wherever she goes.

The title could not be more perfect for this book. It represents Josh and his trouble speaking and how he has to come up with different ways to communicate. It also represents the feeling you have when you uncover secrets you can’t believe. You have no words.

I enjoyed reading this book and can tell it will be a great series. A lot of characters were introduced in this book that I can see playing a bigger part in future books. The ending is wonderful but leaves many open questions. This makes sense because there are two more books to enjoy! The author included a sneak peak into the second book and it makes me so excited for Summer 2022, when it is released. In the meantime I can enjoy this book!