Review: Silence Speaks for Love by Emma Goldrick

July 23rd, 2010 | 4.5 Stars, Animal or Horse Lover, Arranged/Forced Marriage, Book Review, Category, Contemporary, Farming, Foster/Orphan/Adopted, G-I, Heiress, May/December, Mute, Secretary or Assistant, Survival, Virgin Heroine, Writer

Silence Speaks for Love is one of my favorites stolen from my mother’s stash of categories. It’s held a loving position amongst my keepers for years because of the oddball side characters, the evil other woman, the dog, and because of Mandy the heroine.

Amanda Smalls suffers under the effects of a childhood trauma that’s left her mute and an orphan. She and her money have been under the care of a group of lawyers until her 21^st birthday where they formally discharge her. When a coworker of hers discovers she’s not out celebrating her birthday he insists she comes with him to a charity ball at the home of the author Brian Stone.

When Brian spies Amanda he first thinks she’s a child of 16 not 21 because there’s an innocence to her that he doesn’t expect. He’s very protective and scolding when it comes to her wellbeing which is jeopardized more than once that evening. When she gets sick he sets her up in one of his guest rooms and guards her along with one of his dogs. After that he decides she must stay – be his secretary – his aunt thinks she’d make him a great wife.

Some of the cutest moments in the book are how Brian watches out for Amanda. He learns sign language under her tutelage. He sets up the house with chalkboard easels in every major room and puts pads of paper and pencils everywhere so Amanda has a way to communicate at all times. Actions speak louder than words throughout the book in a lot of ways.

The evil other woman is more of an add-on then anything, but she still works for the story. She was invited by the aunt to visit before the aunt had met Amanda. The aunt’s original intention of getting the woman and her nephew back together evaporates upon meeting Amanda but it was too late to retract the invite. So she does the next best thing to neutralize the situation she gets the dog to put Amanda and Brian into a compromising situation, conveniently stumbles upon them, and demands that they get married immediately!

Silence Speaks for Love is one of my comfort reads and subsequently it’s one of the 5 romances that won't leave my shelves, not even for a loan!

Rating: 4.5 Stars