I wish that I could give 'Speechless' more than 5 stars! This was such a unique story, and I really connected to it. Lucy is 30 years old, and she is starting her next chapter. Her husband divorces her, and she is moving to live with her best friend in L.A. When she's at the airport, Lucy's best friend calls her to say that Lucy can't live with her anymore. Now, she is stuck! She has nowhere to live, and she doesn't know what to do. A handsome stranger,Henry, overhears, and he offers to have Lucy live with him and his friends. Lucy accepts the offer, and she moves in with Henry and his friends. Each friend has a unique personality, and it really added to filling out the story.

Lucy and Henry connect on so many levels, but she is worried that she will never be enough for him. Lucy is battling a silent, chronic illness, and I really connected with this because my mom suffers from a silent, chronic illness. My mom struggles everyday, and she didn't even tell her co-workers or some family members about her illness. I felt for Lucy every time she struggled through pain and heartbreak. Her character was so real.

Henry is a musician and composer. Henry suffers from anxiety, and he has difficulty talking with new people.. He immediately connects with Lucy, and she brings out a new side to him.

Both of these characters felt so real, and I have never read a story that showed how two imperfect people can find each other. Nothing is perfect, and no one is perfect. This story showed that we can choose our own fate. Our happy endings might not be planned out the way that we thought that they would be, but that's okay. We can start over again. I loved the quote 'Don't choose to be unhappy'. This stood out to me so much.

Thanks to NetGalley and Victory Editing for this amazing ARC. I will definitely purchase this book when it comes out so that I can reread it again and again.

Speechless by Lindsey Lanza
⭐️⭐️⭐️⭐️ 4.5/5 stars!!!

To say I’m obsessed is an understatement! Speechless (for lack of a better word) left me speechless. Lanza shows much promise as a romance author and I cannot wait to see what she does next!

Lucy is a sweet and talented young woman who is struggling to find her place in this world and find her worth in herself. She feels like such a real character with relatable hardships and experiences. She’s hilarious, cute, fun, and just perfectly relatable in a lot of aspects (which I always appreciate in a main character). Henry is such a swoon-worthy love interest. I wish I could just pick him out of the pages and keep him. I love his character so much! I appreciate Lanza keeping his backstory mysterious and vague throughout the story until the very end when his history becomes a vital turning point for this plot. Henry is the perfect knight in shining armor in this fairytale-esque romance.

I will be perfectly transparent here. I put off reading this novel for several weeks. I I totally started it and as we got to the point when Lucy has moved in with HAAAM, I did NOT like the direction it was going. I was really concerned we were gunna have a cringey “oh my god I’m living with 5 super hot men what am I going to do” thing. & I am so glad that I pushed past my initial hesitations. Because OH MY GOD.

“Because you are special, Luce. You are my anomaly.”

Not gunna lie. I may have cried a little when I read that part. Having anxiety is truly a struggle but when you have your anchor, your person with you, you feel like nothing else matters as long as they’re with you. I adored that aspect of Lucy and Henry’s relationship. Also, I was NOT expecting the spice in this book to be THAT DAMN GOOD EITHER. It was hot. It was salacious. It was swoon-worthy. Henry is the expectation that all men should strive for.

“I want to taste every inch of you. I want to hear every sound you make. You are my favorite melody.”

I really enjoyed the parallelism Lucy is experiencing between her real life versus the stories she’s writing throughout the entire story. In the beginning, she references that fairytales always end after the “happy ever after”. We never get to see what these characters experience after they achieve what they want. We never get to see the story play out. Lucy got what she thought was her happily ever after (with Jack….yuck) but it was just the beginning. As Lucy begins experimenting with her writing process, when she used to write the ending first and work backwards. Now she’s trying to start from the beginning and letting the story form on its own. In that same manner, she was looking at her own life and trying to piece together the ending while her story was still being written. Now she realizes that life is an organic thing. Everything happens exactly as it should have and for a specific reason. The entire aspect of her personal writing style reflecting what is happening in her real life fairytale was amazing.

“…finding the perfect partner or having the perfect family isn’t an ending at all. It’s more like a prologue. What happens next is the story.”

The ending was absolutely incredible. Usually, no matter how much I enjoyed the story, I always end up feeling a bit unsatisfied with the ending. But I really think this ending/finale was perfectly written. This novel has drama. It has romance. It has devastation and grief. It has spice. You literally couldn’t ask for a better story.

Oh this book! It starts off with a little meet cute in an airport- picture a fan meeting her celebrity crush. From there, through a series of events, Lucy ends up moving in with Henry and his band of musicians. The book is well balanced between cute and discussing hard topics, i.e. endometriosis and mutism and the side characters are fleshed out enough to add to the story without being overwhelming.

I truly enjoyed this book and how relatable it felt at times when discussing the hard topics.

Thank you to NetGalley and Victoria Editing NetGalley Co-op for the opportunity to read this book in exchange for an honest review.

Firstly, thank you so much for letting me have early access to read this amazing book.
I have never read a book so fast, I literally couldn't put it down.
I loved getting to know Lucy and Henry and their struggles and how they could help eachother out.
I highly recommend this to everyone!

I loved this book so much! I loved the relationship between Henry and HAAM, they were so much fun to get to know. I loved the writing and the characters in this book. I loved the way Lucy develops her friendships and seeing Henry grow. The selective mutisim rep was so interesting and I really liked getting to learn more about Endometriosis.

When I read a 5 star debut I want to shout it from the rooftops. Here I am, SHOUTING. I loved this book so much, I devoured it. It was a cute strangers-to-friends-to-lovers romance, but it didn’t stop there. There was a found family with the HAAM boys and THRONE OF GLASS REFERENCES!! I absolutely hated Sarah and d***head Jack (Graham’s words, not mine) and I love the relationship between Lucy and Henry (and of course between Lucy and the rest of her roommates). The most important part of this story was the mental 👏🏼 health 👏🏼 rep 👏🏼 !! It was so well done and not at all cringey (which I find some stories are if they try to introduce it). Both Henry and Lucy had their own mental and physical issues to work through and I loved seeing them help each other out.

This comes out in January so preorder, request on NetGallery, just give it all the love ok? It deserves it. Our fellow bookstagrammer deserves it.

Thank you to NetGallery and Victory Editing NetGallery Co-Op for this eARC!

Going to go ahead and round this up to 5⭐️s!

When I finished this book I had the biggest smile on my face and my cheeks were for real hurting already. Hella cute!! 🥰

𝙃𝙚𝙧𝙚'𝙨 𝙬𝙝𝙖𝙩 𝙬𝙚'𝙫𝙚 𝙜𝙤𝙩:
🎶 Strangers to friends to lovers
🎶 Forced proximity
🎶 Mutual pining
🎶 Dual POV
🎶 Found family
🎶 Chronic illness (endo)
🎶 Selective mutism caused by severe anxiety

𝙏𝙝𝙞𝙣𝙜𝙨 𝙄 𝙡𝙤𝙫𝙚𝙙: (besides all of the above)
🎹 Henry. Sweet, sweet Henry. I love him so much! I also LOVE that Henry is a composer and music was such a huge part of the story.
🌅 The beach house. Also, speaking of the house...
🧡 Roommates. I adored them and the friendships they formed with Lucy 🥹 They kind of had some New Girl vibes going on. Like I said– found family 🫶
✨️ The little details. Like how Henry picks sushi for their first date. The games the roommates play (again with the New Girl vibes!). The kitchen scenes 🥣
😂 The humor. Lol
🐶 And of course, we cannot forget Rowan, the most adorable service dog!

Friends, put this book on your radar if it isn't already. And when you finish reading, I urge you to read the Author's Note at the end. One of the things I love about reading recent contemporary romance books is how much it opens my world and widens my perspective. I really appreciate when authors can shed a light on what it might be like to live in others' shoes, and in this case what it might be like to live with a chronic illness or debilitating anxiety. It's eye-opening, and I can't be more thankful for these learning experiences even if they're fiction.

How is this a debut novel?! It’s so good! It’s so touching, and deals with issues like anxiety and fertility insightfully. The found family aspect to it is really heartwarming as well. It’s a must read. Also, Rowan 🫶

4 ⭐️ 0.5🌶️
This book is about Lucy who moves to LA to live with her best friend following her divorce. Her best friend flakes on her leaving her homeless. On the trip over she meets Henry who turns out to be the creator of her favourite music. He offers for her to live with him and his friends while she figures something out. Lucy becomes friends with everyone, and starts to fall from Henry. But Lucy knows she can’t have a long term relationship with Henry but won’t tell him why.

This book has chronic illness was representation which I think was done really well. It wasn’t the whole focus of the book but worked in well with the story.

I enjoyed the relationship Lucy created with everyone Graham, Preston, Jayce and Henry of course. I particularly loved the friendship that grew between Lucy and Graham. I did think that she got over her fear of the ocean so quick when he was teaching her to surf. I can’t recall being told why she had a fear as well.

Henry and Lucy’s relationship mimicked a real life relationship more than a lot of books do (minus the living in the same house from day 1 of meeting). The songs they created at restaurants about the food they were eating, how Lucy was there for him when he struggled, and just how they interacted I really enjoyed. I loved how much Henry loved music as well, it helped understand him more.

There was minimal spice but I think that it worked with the story. If there was graphic scenes I just don’t think it would have worked.
This was a feel good novel that I read quickly and would read again.

Not a bad book. Likeable characters and a good storyline. However, the book didn't hold my attention as long as I would have liked. I was hoping for more in the story. It was kind of slow for me.

If a Hallmark movie was a book, it would be “Speechless” by Linsey Lanza.

Sometimes moments take our words away, other times it’s something beyond our control. Lanza’s “Speechless,” reminds us that navigating the world is harder for some, whether it be a disability or circumstances in general, it’s important to be patient because we never fully know what others are dealing with.

After her divorce, best-selling author Lucy flees Boston to Los Angeles for a sunny start moving in with her bestie to commiserate in break-up misery. While her flight is delayed Lucy finds out her bestie got back with their boyfriend, stranding Lucy with a destination but without a place to live. Enter Henry. Handsome across the airport Henry Turner steps into Lucy’s rescue offering her and her rescue dog a place to stay. They immediately hit it off when Lucy discovers that Henry is her favorite composer. Back in his Malibu mansion she meets his roommates, the team he works closely with to create the music Lucy loves. Lucy fits right in, hanging with the musicians as Henry spends most of his time in his basement studio working. He ventures out for a couple dinner dates with Lucy. With obstacles abound what will come of their chance airport meeting? Read this one to find out!

Thank you to @netgalley and Lindsay for allowing me to read this early! I’m sure you’ll be hearing all about it when it’s finally released in January 2023!

☽𝔹𝕆𝕆𝕂 ℝ𝔼𝕍𝕀𝔼𝕎☾

💐Coming out 17 Jan 2023💐

Thank you to Netgalley and Victory Editing NetGalley Co-op for sending me this ARC in return for an honest review.

Overall:
2/5 ✰
2.5/5🌶

Lucy Gold has devoted her entire life to the creation of fairytales. She is, in fact, a best-selling author, which is ironic considering Lucy's life isn't quite a fairytale. Her husband and she just divorced, she has a chronic illness, and her closest friend just called to tell her that she is back with her on-and-off lover, which means she can no longer stay with her.

Lucy is now in the airport with her most devoted companion, Rowan, her puppy, and a playlist of music by her favourite composer. She is, however, fatigued and has nowhere to go.
Surprisingly, an extremely attractive stranger approaches her and offers her a room in his house. And that renowned stranger is none other than her favourite composer, Henry Turner.



𝕋𝕙𝕠𝕦𝕘𝕙𝕥𝕤:

This novel's main downfall was its writing. It felt unrealistic and childlike, making it difficult for me to connect with the characters and the plot.
It was incredibly difficult for me to connect with the writing or be interested in it. I forced myself to go on several times.

The main characters were also not for me. At times, their connection felt hurried and irrational. In a couple of paragraphs, they went from strangers to friends.
Lucy seemed naive, and I forgot she was 30 years old most of the time. Henry, too, felt silly.

The side characters were possibly my personal favourites, although I still had issues with them. For instance, they embraced Lucy as if she weren't a complete stranger, opening up to each other and exposing their deepest secrets.

The book has received several good reviews, implying that this may be a "me" thing. I would advise those who are interested to check the trigger warnings.

This book was the ultimate romance. It was so raw and authentic. Its heartwarming to see Lucy find her way back into life and Henry coming out of his shell and stepping out of his comfort zone for her. Both struggle with chronicles illnesses / mental health issues. It is such a special. I loved all the side characters. I want to live in this house with awesome roomies like Graham & co.

A lovely story of two strangers who become family to each other. Henry is a famous composer with social anxiety and selective mutism (hence the title Speechless). Lucy is an author who has left her life on the East Coast (after a bad divorce) to move to LA to live with a friend. When the friend bails on her and tells her she can't move in, Lucy is stuck without a place to live in LA. Henry hears the end of the phone call that Lucy is having with her friend Sarah while they are waiting in the airport. Once on the plane, Henry saves her from a rude seatmate and the two connect on the flight to LA. Henry finds out that Lucy is a HUGE fan of his work and it was his music that has helped her when she is sad and depressed. He invites her to live in his house in Malibu that he shares with his colleagues and friends.
Lucy finds a family with these musicians and they bond over food, relationships, surfing, and movies.
I really enjoyed this novel. Lucy helps Henry when they are in public with his social anxiety. She learns to trust herself again and be brave through surfing lessons and the friend she makes in Graham and Henry.
Lucy has a major medical issue that causes her chronic pain and she has a service dog who can sense when she is going to have an episode.

I enjoyed the relationship between Graham and Lucy.
I just reviewed Speechless by Lindsey Lanza. #SpeechlesstheNovel #NetGalley

I could go on and on about how much I love this story, mutual pining, found family, close proximity….dare I go on, all things I love. I love seeing Lucy grow into herself and find a new “home” and start to move in after what she had thought was her first happy ever after. The use of music and Henry’s music to bind them together was so thoughtfully done. I love how it grasps with issues that both Henry and Lucy are going through (I don’t wanna put any spoilers). Also, I can’t believe this is Lindsey’s first book, she is such an amazing author. It’s the perfect amount of spice and build up also! And the ending !!! Talk about all the feels.

Thank you NetGalley and Victory Editing NetGalley Co-op for this ARC in exchange for an honest review.

I'll be honest, I was not expecting to like this book as much as I did.

- Friends to lovers
- Forced proximity
- Found Family
- New girl vibes
- Chronic Illness representation
- the best vibes

This was so much more than a romance. It explores chronic illness and mental health and the idea of starting over and finding your worth and happiness. The way Henry and Lucy were SOO precious and all their friends who helped and supported them were such a treasure to read about. I feel in love with this world.

Lucy, a writer of fairy tale spinoffs for teens, is flying across the country to move in with her college roommate. She is literally at the airport and getting ready to board her delayed flight when her bestie CANCELS on her. Henry, a tall and handsome Brit, lands in the seat next to her after a stranger is mean to her service dog. Henry just happens to be her favorite composer! He promptly invites Lucy and Rowan to come and stay with him and his motley crew of musicians in Malibu. It becomes a seven dwarves-like tale, with Lucy cooking up a storm for Surfer (Graham), Flirty (Jayce), Quiet (Preston) and Surly (Craig). At one point there is an authorial intrusion of writer Lucy commenting her life is like the plot of a romance novel…

Chapters are told in alternating points of view from Henry and Lucy’s points of view. Lucy is suffering from some undisclosed condition that warrants the service dog, and Henry seems to be not only obsessive or ADHD, but may also have some crippling social anxieties. Lanza does utilize the music motif well, staging the plot in terms of a classical arrangement with movements, finale and encore.

I nearly gave up early in this novel when Henry was described as a cross between two actors I’ve never heard of. At the least, this is bad writing because it runs the risk of becoming dated AND limits the audience, but at worst, it’s just lazy. I gave up in chapter 17 when Graham defines Lucy as “normal” and Henry as “not normal” based on their behavior and neuroses. There has been so much work done to destigmatize mental illness and to reframe disability that these words have no place in contemporary narrative, and a competent editor would have noted this and redirected their author. At this point I recognized that Speechless was self-published and put it down for good.

I received a free advance reader’s review copy of #Speechless from #NetGalley.

✨SPEECHLESS - LINDSEY LANZA✨

Thank you to @netgalley for another ARC! 📚This title will be published on January 17, 2023 and is now available for pre-order.

Overall 📚: ⭐️⭐️⭐️⭐️⭐️
Spice factor: 🌶️
Genre: Contemporary Fiction, Romance
Medium: Kindle
TW: Chronic Illness/Infertility

💕This book is for you if you enjoyed: Any colorful romance book with an illustrated cover

📖💭 My summary - WELL IT’S SAFE TO SAY IM OUT OF MY READING SLUMP! This BOOK! Wow… #Speechless by @readwithli was so much fun! Lucy has been dealt an unfair hand in life, and to no fault of her own, has lost everything. Her friend invites her and her ESA🐕‍🦺 Rowan out to live with her in California, BAILS ON HER LAST MINUTE, leaving her with nowhere to go… until she sits next to Henry on the plane. Through many interesting (and incredibly coincidental) turns of events, Henry allows Lucy to stay at his literal mansion on the beach, with all of his adorable friends/employees/colleagues. Lucy finds friendship and family in every person… and maybe a little more than that with Henry. This book was such a wonderful mood booster… until it wasn’t. Until it crushed me emotionally, made me cry for Lucy and cry for Henry… for reasons I don’t want to spoil.
This is an awesome book to order in January— it’ll definitely get you out of that seasonal sadness and bring some Malibu sunshine into your life ☀️📚

#bookstagram #booktok #booksbooksbooks #octoberreads #fallreads #bookrecommendations #booknerd #bookreview #booklover #reading #septemberbookstack #instagood #audiobook #kindle #bookish #homelibrary #romance #lovestory #goodreads #barnesandnoble #tbrstack #rainbowstacks #bookblogger

"I saw an entire symphony in those eyes. There was so much sadness, maybe even despair, swimming through her irises. But there was also her smile."

Let me start by saying: I loved this book. I was basically blowing up Lyndsey through the entire book. It was so unique and fascinating and I have pages and pages of highlights. I couldn't put this book down. One of my favorite things is when I stumble across a book that has pieces that I've never seen. I view a book like a puzzle. When I find a book that has special pieces in it, it brings me so much joy.

What you will find:
- Dual POV
- Strangers to friends to lovers
- Chronic illness rep
- Social Anxiety rep
- Lots of swooning
- Musical genius (he's an EGOT)
- He falls first
- An actual CUTE meet cute
- Found family
- The CUTEST service dog (that is a real life pup that I'm still standing firm is Mila's soulmate ;) )

Speechless gave me all the warm fuzzies, Lindsey brought me so much joy allowing me to blow her up with my reactions, and I love this book so much! If you like Sarah Adams writing, I feel like you would also love Lindsey. This book doesn't release until January but it was worth highlighting now because weeks later and I'm swooning over Henry and his sweet sweet heart.

⭐️Book Review⭐️

Speechless by Lindsey Lanza

4.5/5

This story follows Lucy Gold, who is a successful book author, as she goes through an abrupt divorce and moves across the country to start over. After her best friend who was going to be her roommate bails on her at the last minute, she finds herself in an unusual living situation with 5 strangers. She finds herself falling for her handsome roommate but doesn’t want to have to share her deepest secret with him.

This book explores anxiety, chronic illness and infertility in such a thoughtful, emotional way. Lindsey does such a good job of character development and helping us understand the internal thoughts and struggles. Henry’s mom was an absolute gem of a character - literally so perfectly written!

It also explores friendship - that sometimes we can outgrow certain people and find others that relate much better to us!

I found the ending a bit sudden and wanted more there - though that also speaks to how much I was enjoying it because I just wasn’t ready for the story to be over!

Publish date: January 17, 2023

Thanks to @netgalley for early access to this book!