nope just couldn't get into this book!

also please note I will not be leaving a public review for this book as I have not paid for it.
the ratings were low for this book

EXCERPT: Kassie spent much of the first half of their marriage trying to save it, and most of the second half trying to escape it.

Several years ago, well at least over the last four to be sure, she'd start each year with one goal: get the hell out. And then something unpredictable, either work or family related, derailed her, making her put off what she knew deep in her heart she had to do.

ABOUT 'WHAT'S NOT SAID': Kassie O’Callaghan’s meticulous plans to divorce her emotionally abusive husband, Mike, and move in with Chris, a younger man she met five years ago on a solo vacation in Venice, are disrupted when she finds out Mike has chronic kidney disease—something he’s concealed from her for years. Once again, she postpones her path to freedom—at least, until she pokes around his pajama drawer and discovers his illness is the least of his deceits.

But Kassie is no angel, either. As she struggles to justify her own indiscretions, the secret lives she and Mike have led collide head-on, revealing a tangled web of sex, lies, and DNA. Still, mindful of her vows, Kassie commits to helping her husband find an organ donor. In the process, she uncovers a life-changing secret. Problem is, if she reveals it, her own immorality will be exposed, which means she has an impossible decision to make: Whose life will she save—her husband’s or her own?

MY THOUGHTS: I started What's Not Said by Valerie Taylor with high hopes. Unfortunately, as I read, I became increasingly disenchanted. No doubt there are plenty of people who have marriages like Kassie and Mike. But the more I read of them, the less I liked them, and I really didn't care what happened to them. They were as bad as one another and probably deserved each other.

Then we meet Kassie's lover, and the storyline deteriorated even more. Large tracts are given over to the characters sexual exploits. While it is not explicit I didn't find it particularly enjoyable and I found myself skimming and even skipping pages. By the time I got to 44% I was skipping more than I was reading, so I decided to abandon this read.

I am no prude and I don't mind sex scenes in my reading matter as long as it is relevant and fitting. With What's Not Said, I felt that the storyline (if indeed there was one) existed merely as a device to string the sex scenes together.

I am well aware that I am very much on my own with my feelings on What's Not Said, and that it may well be a book that you enjoy, so please check out a selection of the very many positive reviews.

⭐

#WhatsNotSaid #NetGalley

I: @valerieetaylor @ shewritespress

T: @TaylorsTracker

#contemporaryfiction #domesticdrama

THE AUTHOR: Valerie Taylor was born and raised in Stamford, Connecticut. She earned a B.S. Marketing degree and an MBA from Sacred Heart University, as well as a graduate certificate in health care administration from Simmons University (formerly Simmons College). She had a thirty-year career in the financial services industry as a marketer and writer.

After her divorce, she spread her wings and relocated her career to Boston and then to Seattle. When she retired, she resettled in her home state to be near her two grown children and granddaughter. She enjoys practicing tai chi and being an expert sports spectator.

DISCLOSURE: Thank you to She Writes Press via Netgalley for providing a digital ARC of What's Not Said by Valerie Taylor for review. All opinions expressed in this review are entirely my own personal opinions.

For an explanation of my rating system please refer to my Goodreads.com profile page or the about page on sandysbookaday.wordpress.com

This review is also published on Twitter, Amazon, Instagram and my webpage

A good read!!

Kassie O'Callaghan has been stuck in an dead and emotionally abusive marriage for over 30 years. When she finally gets the courage to divorce her husband, Mike, and move in with her lover of 5 years, Chris, she gets a bombshell of her own. Kassie finds out from an ER doctor that her husband has been lying and hiding a serious medical condition from her. He has stage 4 chronic kidney disease. Now all her plans to leave him are put on hold.

When Kassie packs his bag for the hospital, she finds more secrets and lies that he's hidden from her over the years. Unbeknownst to her, Kassie's Mom, Patricia, has left a letter 1 year after her death, for her daughter detailing Mike's lies and a deal she made with him. Kassie had always wanted a child, only to find out that after she suffered a miscarriage, he went and had a vasectomy, but never told her. But he did have a child with another woman in college that they gave up for adoption.

Mike doesn't think that his wife will go through with the divorce, due to his health. But when Kassie tracks down his son, she's in for the surprise of her life when she finds out who he is.

A must read!!

Kassie and Mike have been married for may years after meeting when Kassie was in college. Mike has been known to have a wandering eye, and Kassie is feeling unloved and wants a divorce. She had met Chris, who lives in San Francisco, during a solo trip to Italy. Their bi-coastal romance has been taking place for the last 5 years and Chris finally decides to move to Charlestown to be with Kassie. The weekend that Chris is set to move, Mike is admitted to the hospital with Stage 3/4 kidney failure.

Kassie thinks that she is the only one lying in this marriage, but she finds out that Mike has plenty of lies of his own - some that she discovers and some that she doesn't. Mike finds out that he needs a kidney replacement, but with no family of his own, he thinks that he is in trouble.

After talking with Mike's ex, Karen (one of the many secrets), Kassie learns that her new paramour is Mike's son, Chris, who Karen gave up for adoption. Although Chris is not a match, he needs to reconcile about his biological parents.

I really enjoyed reading a book that didn’t have really defined “good” and “bad” people. It was a refreshing take on marriage, infidelity, adoption and the complex emotions that come with all of them.

This was a fun read; I found myself rooting for Kassie, laughing with Kassie, and crying with Kassie. I’m adding Valerie Taylor to my list of authors to continually scan for new works from.

This one was a tough book to get through for me - parts were really hitting a little too close to home and made me look at myself as a person. While I'm sure that wasn't the author's intent, I think I was able to come to grips with a few things in my life because of Kassie's jourmey.

Kassie has finally found the strength and the time to leave Mike, her selfish, ignorant husband of many years. ‘Good for you’, you may think, it turns out it’s not that simple for Kassie, she has to navigate a complex web of hospital visits, ugly secrets from the grave and a new love before she can finally make the break.
This novel is well written for 80% but as the conclusions draw in, the ending comes too clumsily and almost wrapped up a little too conveniently for the reader. This is a shame because the novel is interesting and generally well composed.

This book reminds me of the little bit of summer I got to enjoy, at a water park, you wait on line, to get on this ride, your heart is racing, you are excited, you finally get on the ride, and you have this feeling that this ride is going to be so much fun, then it starts off, some parts of that ride are not as enjoyable, then some parts just make you scream and your heart is going CRAZY, you feel like its about to come out your chest, then the ride ends and you are like, WOW, we need to get on more of THOSE types of rides. THAT’S WHAT THIS BOOK DID TO ME!!!!!!!!!!

I know I know, it was a long description, I don’t even think I reads right, but I don’t care, lol, this book was so good. So, Kassandra and Mike have been married for a long time, and this couple intrigued me so much, because of how they started, how they went about their marriage and the secrets that Mike, and even her own mother had carried with them throughout Mike and Kassie’s marriage, it was WILD. I felt so bad for Kassie, don’t get me wrong, she was not a character that I liked in the beginning, but when I see that Mike was a DOUCHE, I was loving her more and more.

I wont give it away, this book was a short read, got to the point, which I like, the author delivered, but I feel like the ending left me a little down, because I would’ve loved to find out what happened with Kassie, Mike, and the important people in their lives up to the end.

Many thanks to Netgalley, the author and the publishers for giving me the opportunity to read this book.

This was quite a ride. I enjoyed the book but I found the characters were a little hard to like, especially Mike. He was horrible to Kassie. I mean I know Kassie was going through some things but she could have let her hair down once in a while. I don't feel like Chris was the right one either for Kassie.

Imagine planning to serve your husband with divorce papers due to years of neglect and emotional abuse, only to have him wind up in the hospital! Once there, Kassie finds out Mike has been keeping secrets from her and they unravel during this weekend hospital stay. Now, she has been no angel throughout their marriage, and she has tried.

Kassie works to helping Mike get back on his feet and trying to find him a match for a kidney transplant while she moves out and onward.

This was a great read and had subtle twists and turns. Some I saw coming, others smacked me in the head. I look forward to more novels from this author.

Thanks for letting me preview What’s Not Said. I thoroughly enjoyed the book but thought the ending was predictable. The story was based on the unravelling of the marriage between Kassie and her emotionally abusive husband Mike. Sex, lies, and secrets abound in their lives as Kassie has been having an affair with a younger nan and finally decides to ask Mike for a divorce after being unhappily married for 30 years. But things arent that simple and the plot twists and turns. This book teaches you the lesson that communication, honesty and respect are the foundation of any relationship and without it there is no success

Such a fun light read. A few twists and turns kept me reading this story of Kassie, a Boston gal, in the middle of filing for a divorce from her creepy husband. Both are successful and well traveled, and should have divorced years ago. So the story goes..... enjoy!

Captivating from the very beginning, full of secrets, twists, and turns that kept me eager to find out what was going to happen next.

Kassie the main character, is a very successful, marketing executive, who is trying to save a marriage that ended many years earlier. Mike her husband, and Kassie have been living as strangers in the same house. When she takes a solo trip to Italy, her life takes a turn with a chance encounter.

The storyline is exceptional and easy to grasp. Tailor has an impressive talent to capture her audience. I thoroughly enjoyed reading this book, and am looking forward to Tailor's next sequel.

Summary: A wonderfully written novel, one that deserves attention.

In a nutshell, Kassie wants to divorce her husband and just as she plans to tell him, she discovers he has a chronic disease he has concealed for years.

I find myself with very mixed feelings about What's Not Said. I am so appreciative of the fact that the main characters are in their 50s. That was refreshing to read.

Marriage isn't an easy ride. It requires communication and cooperation and sharing. Kassie is a woman who has always put her husband's needs above her own and Mike is a selfish man who just expects it. None of these characters is particularly likeable, but we're not meant to love every character we read about. The story isn't a polished romance either. Instead it is a stark reminder that life is happy and sad; painful and challenging; brutal and beautiful.

What's Not Said, is a slower paced novel, but with enough drama that you just keep turning the pages. It is the first in a series and I am curious as to what happens next.

I received this book in exchange for an honest review. You can purchase your copy here:
https://www.amazon.com/Whats-Not-Said-Valerie-Taylor-ebook/dp/B083BHW277/ref=sr_1_1?dchild=1&keywords=What%27s+Not+Said+Valerie+Taylor&qid=1600545010&s=digital-text&sr=1-1
This is my first book my Valerie Taylor, she was born in Stamford, Connecticut, which I visit often. There is so much to see there! I knew there was a reason that I liked this woman from the beginning!
OK, so if you follow my reviews, you know that I miss a lot because I do not read the synopsis of the books, so a lot of the times I will miss the fact that they are series books and they may not be the first book in the series. I never guess who does it in mysteries, as I have seen Princess Bride. “Where is the poison? The battle of wits has begun. It ends when you decide and we both drink, and find out who is right...and who is dead. But it's so simple. All I have to do is divine from what I know of you: are you the sort of man who would put the poison into his own goblet or his enemy's? Now, a clever man would put the poison into his own goblet, because he would know that only a great fool would reach for what he was given. I am not a great fool, so I can clearly not choose the wine in front of you. But you must have known I was not a great fool, you would have counted on it, so I can clearly not choose the wine in front of me.” So if you are as confused reading that as I was after watching the movie, well.. how can you choose who did it? Are they trying to fool you into thinking it is one person when it is them or are they tricking you into thinking it is someone when it is NOT them and they are just the Red Herring?
However, this book had me thinking…oh it has to be …xyz..

This book starts out fun- the opening Chapter is called To Om or Not to Om. Ok, I am in. This book has a lot going on in it, so pay attention. There is so much deception, secrets, lies. Remind me, when will this be on my TV, because if it is not, it best be. TV writers and producers need to pay more attention to literary fiction and stop remaking bad TV. Break out of your Vampires and zombies. This book has best laid plans, but then disaster happens and well you know what they say about best laid plans….I am afraid to give away any spoilers, but let’s just say there is some infidelity, withholding information, lies by omission, straight up lies and more. You won’t be bored reading this gem!

Far too slow of a burn. I couldn't get into it and struggled to push through. I wish it would've opened with a bang and stayed at an interesting pace. Not a single character was likable or interesting.

Read this for « A book with a pink cover » prompt for the 2020 Reading Challenge.
Not bad, but predictable. Dragged for a while, found annoying the « bad Kassie » and the « I’ll do it but not now » stuff.

Large number of readers enjoy the books that talk about two young people who fall in love, going through ups and downs during their realization time, and end up cherishing their love forever and live happily ever after.Old-time and modern fairy tales. But is happily ever after always possible? If you want to read a book that talks about the problems that may arise after the marriage vows are said, for a slightly different story, then you should definitely read ‘What's Not Said’ by Valerie Taylor.

Kassie O’Callaghan and her husband Mike, a married couple, had had the opportunity to enjoy their love and marital happiness, but somehow got lost halfway. And now the divorce is knocking on their door. Cassie is burdened by her daily life, as well as the emotional abuse of her husband. But aren’t two needed for a tango?Well, the same applies to marriage. If we put her lover, Chris and some other details in the picture, it is clear that she is far from an victim. After 30 long years, she decides that it is time to seek happiness. But do our plans and wishes always come true? Or can throw a curved ball when we least expect it?

I have to agree that parts of the book seemed a bit contradictory to me, but I have to mention that some parts are really thought-provoking and inspiring. The subtle message of open communication and conversation as an essential part of the success of a marriage is so skillfully woven throughout the story. The plot is excellent and well-presented, just enough to hold the reader's attention without bothering him.

The style of the writer is very solid, it can be said that it is excellent for a debut work. It must be noted that her skill to lead through the story, allowing the reader to understand the past as well is absolutely masterful. The perspectives through which the story is told allow the reader to have an insight into the characters, and the opportunity to look at the story from different angles and to understand it.

Yes, we definitely sometimes need to look outside of the box, outside of our favorite genre so that we can find a book that deserves to be read. A work whose hidden message requires us to scratch a little deeper under the surface so that we can see its beauty.Definitely, this one deserves attention.

This is an Amazing book! Kassie and Chris have secrets and previous traumas. This book is about love, trust, and how to get your life back on track.

I loved these characters and felt part of their story <3
This novel was an incredible experience!