Words Unsaid by K.G. MacGregor

My rating: 3 of 5 stars


Without Warning is one of my favorite f/f books of all time. I honestly can’t say exactly how many times I’ve read it. It’s in my top five for rereading when I’m in a funk or in need of a literary hug, if you know what I mean. It has everything I want in a romance: crackling chemistry, tons of humor, sweet, sweet – but believable – angst, and developed characters that you cheer for. It’s damn near perfect for me. Maybe even actually perfect. I’ve read each of the 3 sequels and enjoyed them all but never as much as that original.

When I saw that there was a new book in the series coming up, I was literally giddy. It has been many years since we’ve had a look into the Kaklis home and I was curious about what Anna, Lily, the kids, and the rest of the family had been up to. Mostly I was excited to experience that chemistry and humor again. Unfortunately, there wasn’t any of that.

No friends, this book is solidly family drama. Timely, politically and socially relevant family drama. Anna is selling her huge auto empire for half-a-billion bucks, Lily is a judge, Andy is nearly 17 and butting heads with Anna on the regular. Georgie and Eleanor are perfect in every way from what I could tell. There are some other family things going on with George and Martine but the focus of this book is really Andy and Anna. I have to say that I really didn’t like Anna much at all. By the end, I didn’t dislike her but I never got a warm feeling for her again.

Maybe if I had gone into the book knowing it was almost solidly about “The Administration” (the word Trump is never mentioned but implied regularly), I would have felt differently about it. As it was, it was too much for me. I’m about as left as I can possibly be without being on the fringe and I think “The Administration” was evil incarnate and every one of those fuckers should be in prison or worse. But I didn’t expect this book to preach to me about the evils of ICE – particularly since I agree with the sermon – in such a heavy handed way. I hesitate to write this because I don’t want to come off as a heartless asshole who can’t appreciate the tragedy that is our immigration policy.

I expected something completely different – COMPLETELY – and was disappointed with what I got. It happens. I just took a peek at some other reviews on Goodreads and I’m clearly in the minority. Which is awesome! I’m glad that I’m the anomaly. Because Anna and Lily stories should be loved. This one just didn’t do it for me.

Thanks to Bella and NetGalley for giving me the opportunity to revisit one of my favorite couples in all of wlw. I’ll still keep on reading Without Warning whenever I feel down.



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