More Than Words
A Love Story
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4.4 • 242 Ratings
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- $9.99
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- $9.99
Publisher Description
From New York Times bestselling author of Archer’s Voice comes a second chance, childhood friends to lovers romance between a famous musician and the only woman he’s ever loved, perfect for fans of Colleen Hoover and Lucy Score.
The moment eleven-year-old Jessica Creswell met Callen Hayes, she knew he was a broken prince. Her prince. They became each other's refuge, a safe and magical place far from their troubled lives. Until the day Callen kissed her—Jessica's first real, dreamy kiss—and then disappeared from her life without a word.
Years later, everyone knows who Callen Hayes is. Famous composer. Infamous bad boy. What no one knows is that Callen's music is now locked deep inside, trapped behind his own inner demons. It's only when he withdraws to France to drink his way through the darkness that Callen stumbles into the one person who makes the music return. Jessica. His Jessie. And she still tastes of fresh, sweet innocence . . . even as she sets his blood on fire.
But they don't belong in each other's worlds anymore. There are too many mistakes. Too many secrets. Too many lies. All they have is that instinctive longing, that need—and something that looks dangerously like love.
PUBLISHERS WEEKLY
Sheridan explores the power of first love in a tale of childhood friends parted and reunited. After meeting in an abandoned boxcar in California, 11-year-old Jessie Creswell and 12-year-old Callen Hayes become friends. She reads him books from her French school and introduces him to music, and they share a first kiss. Then Callen fails to show at their next planned meeting, and Jessie is crushed. Ten years later, in the present day, Jessie is working part-time in Paris as a waitress while looking for a translating job. Callen, a famous composer with a hard-partying bad-boy reputation, comes to the bar where Jessie works. Though he hits on her and they enjoy a far more sizzling second kiss, Jessie is disappointed that he doesn't recognize her. At a chance meeting in the Loire Valley, where Jessie is translating some recently discovered cave writings that tell a love story connected to Joan of Arc, Callen recognizes her from the bar and realizes that she is the Jessie from his childhood. Jessie and Callen's touching whirlwind romance is balm for Callen's wounded soul, though Jessie remains wary of being just another conquest. Cleverly juxtaposing Callen and Jessie's relationship against the cave writings' 15th-century story of longing lovers, Sheridan keeps readers enthralled.
Customer Reviews
Love
I loved it so much. I just wanted something moreeee
It was sweet.
Don’t get me wrong, the novel was good, but I feel like the author lacked with the story compared to her other novels.
Even so, it’s worth a read!
Live Life Fiercely & Without Regret
It’s no secret that I am a huge fan of childhood friends to lovers romances. More Than Words is the story of Jessica and Callen, who on the outside couldn't be more different, but end up forging a connection that defies time and distance.
A fateful encounter leads to an unlikely friendship between Jessica and Callen, which ends up shaping both of their lives. Both were running from their own problems at home and ended up finding comfort, support, and joy with the other. Their friendship is suddenly cut short though and their lives diverge as they grow older. A decade later, fate intervenes again and throws them back together in France. Reconciling the children they were, with the adults they are now is difficult for Jessica. They can't deny their connection (both emotionally and physically), but Callen's life choices embody everything Jessica has sworn to never accept or tolerate. It doesn't help that of course Jessica is a virgin, while Callen is essentially an alcoholic and an absolute manwhore, doing anything and anyone regardless of the consequences. Callen's self destructive behavior and secrets hang heavy between them, and create a huge push and pull between the people they are and who they want to be. Will these two let their fears and personal demons stop them from finding their happily ever after?
I really loved that Mia Sheridan pointed out that change comes from within, and that no matter how supportive your friends and family are, nothing will truly change unless you want it to. I found that the book came across a bit too religious/preachy at times (especially with the addition of the Joan of Arc story line), but I still appreciated the underlying message the author was trying to convey. I do wish we would have seen more of Jessica and Callen's childhood though, since it was the foundation of the entire story. Overall, More Than Words was an emotional and entertaining read!
*I voluntarily read an advance reader copy of this book*