Losing the ability to speak and with it the possibility of communication at a meaningful level, is an extremely scary thought. On a simple level this story is about a man and his speech therapist, who get to know and love each other as André recovers. The depth of feeling, burning need to communicate, and the loving understanding Ryan develops for André despite all the issues goes far beyond that which most couples ever experience. It may be because these men are more conscious of the effects of no/bad communication, or it may just be because of who they are. Either way, their story touched me deeply.

Ryan is a speech and language pathologist who likes his job. He is very involved and clearly cares about all his patients. He has also just gone through a breakup with a cheating boyfriend and isn’t really ready for another relationship. He is lonely though, and when André comes along, something just clicks. Yes, he is attracted to his patient, but there is more to it than the physical side. André’s courageous way of fighting to get back to ‘normal’ has something to do with it, but the man’s ability to express his feelings without words also plays a major role, I think.

André suffers an Arteriovenous Anomaly in the brain, resulting in a loss of speech and partial paralysis; they occur when an artery and vein join with few or no capillaries between them. The result is, in his case, a loss of speech and partial paralysis. There is just enough technical ‘jargon’ to explain what is going on, but the focus of the story is on the effect this his on him, his already bad relationship with his ex-wife, and the developing affair and relationship with Ryan. André’s desperation when he cannot say the words he wants to speak, not being understood while his brain is fully functional is heartbreaking. I loved his determination and willpower to keep trying.

I read this book when it first came out in 2009 and loved it. I was really happy to have an ‘excuse’ to read it again when it was re-released a few weeks ago. In many ways the romance is almost secondary; this story is about two lonely souls finding a connection. If you like stories about real problems and the men who learn to overcome them, and if deep emotions are something you like in your romance, you will probably like this book as much as I did.



NOTE: This book was provided by JMS Books for the purpose of a review on QMO Books. ( )

Finding the Words is a nice book since I found that the characters are real thanks to their many faults.

Ryan is a speech therapist in an University Medical Center. He is recovering from a broken heart: his younger lover (Ryan is 35 years old, Jeff is 25) for the umpteenth time cheated on him, and even if Ryan still loves him, this time he isn't willing to forgive. The strange thing is that the author manages to not give nor to Ryan or to Jeff the fault of the breakup. On his way, Jeff loves Ryan, only that he is really convinced that monogamy is not for men; even if from my point of view he is on the wrong side, it's clear that the author didn't want to make him a negative character, and after all, from what we are able to see of Jeff, he is really a nice guy. Maybe this is the reason why Ryan is not able to forget and forgive, he is really in love with Jeff and for him love means exclusivity. Again, it's strange, I'm all for Ryan's point of view, but the way he shut down Jeff in a way made me more sympathetic for Jeff than for Ryan. And then, even if with a broken heart, Ryan is more than willing to fall in love again so soon, Jeff's side of the bed is still warm! Well, lucky him that he finds so soon a good man.

Andre is a patient of the hospital; a divorced men with two grown son, at 46 years old he is just getting used to live alone again. And then the health issue that leave him with a body and speech handicap. Apparently Andre is a very nice character, he is almost cute when trying to speak again, and even if he is older than Ryan, he has to lean on the man for almost everything, and this makes him even more cute. But there is something more behind Andre, I'm not totally sure that he is a really strong man, even when he was in full body capacity. Andre was married, but he had doubt on his sexuality; maybe he was not exactly in the closet, he has never had homosexual experience, but he was curious. He even planned to met with a man when he was still married... all right, Andre's wife is not exactly the epitome of nice woman, but still, I don't know if I like so much a man that was willing to cheat on his wife. In a way, Andre is not so different from Jeff, and Ryan decided to leave Jeff.

But maybe between Ryan and Jeff there were also other problems and the cheating was only the more evident. I have the feeling that Ryan always doubted on the possibility to have a future with Jeff, deep inside him he knew that Jeff was not the one. And instead I didn't feel the same when Ryan is with Andre. True, Andre maybe is not perfect, but so is Ryan; as I said the story is interesting just for this reason.

Another strange thing is the apparently lack of sex even if the story is pretty erotic. Ryan is a very 'physical' man, he has naughty thing, and he has no problem to take care of himself when he is in need. So we have a lot of solo sex scene, but in the end not even one with Ryan. Ryan's relationship with Andre is very intimate and tender, but not sexy; erotic maybe, but not naughty. All in all the story is not too dramatic, but neither light: being Andre inexperienced with men, it would have been easy for the author to put one or two sex scene with a naughty core, and instead he decided to leave the mood of the story to a more chaste level, almost familiar. In a way Ryan and Andre's love is mature and comfortable, like it's probably right for their age (more Andre than Ryan).

http://www.amazon.com/dp/B001VT3L1Y/?tag=elimyrevandra-20