I don’t know what’s with Mia Sheridan’s writing but I fall in love with her books each and every time.
A well deserved 5 out 5 stars for ARCHER'S VOICE. This review may contain spoilers, read at your own risk.
Blurb:
A well deserved 5 out 5 stars for ARCHER'S VOICE. This review may contain spoilers, read at your own risk.
Blurb:
When Bree Prescott arrives in the sleepy, lakeside town of Pelion, Maine, she hopes against hope that this is the place where she will finally find the peace she so desperately seeks. On her first day there, her life collides with Archer Hale, an isolated man who holds a secret agony of his own. A man no one else sees.
Archer's Voice is the story of a woman chained to the memory of one horrifying night and the man whose love is the key to her freedom. It is the story of a silent man who lives with an excruciating wound and the woman who helps him find his voice. It is the story of suffering, fate, and the transformative power of love.
THIS IS A STAND-ALONE NOVEL. The first three books in the series need not be read to enjoy this book. New Adult Contemporary Romance: Due to strong language and sexual content, this book is not intended for readers under the age of 18.
Leo pulled me in, Carson made me stay, but Archer kept me for forever. ARCHER’S VOICE, much like the other books in Mia Sheridan’s A SIGN OF LOVE series was alluring, sexy, and downright enthralling. Right from the beginning, readers are pulled into Archer’s world. It starts with a prologue depicting the day that ended Archer’s life as he knew it.
Seven-year-old Archer grew up in a very dysfunctional home. Although loved and cared for by his mother Alyssa, Archer grew up scared of his dad. Marcus Hale has a temper on him and Archer feared for his mother whenever he gets in one of those moods. Marcus hit her often and his extramarital activities were not unknown in their small lakeshore town of Pelion.
On the day that was supposed to change Archer’s life for the better, his world crumbled all around him. He has never been the same ever again. That is, until he encountered Bree Prescott, the new stranger in town, picking up her scattered Almond Joys and tampons in front of the convenience store.
Bree Prescott was dealt a shitty hand. Cancer took her mother and a tragic incident ripped her father tragically away from her. All she ever wanted after her father’s death was to escape her life and maybe find peace somewhere far away. That snap decision brought her and her dog, Phoebe, to Pelion, a quaint little lakeshore town in Maine.
As Bree spends more time in Pelion, she can’t help but feel curious about the strange, quiet man she ran into on her way out of the store. She couldn’t get those whiskey eyes out of her mind. Archer Hale was an enigma to her. There was something about that man that set her one fire and she’d do everything to find out.
And she did. Bree went out of her way to understand the man who shut himself away from the rest of the town and holed himself up in his isolated property on Briar Road. What she learned about Archer only made her want to know more. His gentle soul, his kind eyes… she was inexplicably drawn to him. The fact that Archer cannot speak didn’t even faze her.
Seven-year-old Archer grew up in a very dysfunctional home. Although loved and cared for by his mother Alyssa, Archer grew up scared of his dad. Marcus Hale has a temper on him and Archer feared for his mother whenever he gets in one of those moods. Marcus hit her often and his extramarital activities were not unknown in their small lakeshore town of Pelion.
On the day that was supposed to change Archer’s life for the better, his world crumbled all around him. He has never been the same ever again. That is, until he encountered Bree Prescott, the new stranger in town, picking up her scattered Almond Joys and tampons in front of the convenience store.
Bree Prescott was dealt a shitty hand. Cancer took her mother and a tragic incident ripped her father tragically away from her. All she ever wanted after her father’s death was to escape her life and maybe find peace somewhere far away. That snap decision brought her and her dog, Phoebe, to Pelion, a quaint little lakeshore town in Maine.
As Bree spends more time in Pelion, she can’t help but feel curious about the strange, quiet man she ran into on her way out of the store. She couldn’t get those whiskey eyes out of her mind. Archer Hale was an enigma to her. There was something about that man that set her one fire and she’d do everything to find out.
And she did. Bree went out of her way to understand the man who shut himself away from the rest of the town and holed himself up in his isolated property on Briar Road. What she learned about Archer only made her want to know more. His gentle soul, his kind eyes… she was inexplicably drawn to him. The fact that Archer cannot speak didn’t even faze her.
...It's like, the second I saw him, my life started. The second I started loving him, everything clicked into place for me...
Archer lived in silence. After the accident and tragedy that took away his ability to communicate vocally, he went to live with his war-survivor uncle who was not exactly right in the mind all the time. His disability kept him from living a normal life. Nobody understood him and that held him back from having any real social interactions with other people. He spent his whole life post-accident without leaving his uncle’s property. He became even more of a recluse after his uncle’s death, only going out to the town to get supplies. He lived in a dark, silent world on his own… until Bree bounded into his life and coaxed him back to the land of the living. A part of him died the day of his accident, and he lost more and more pieces of himself every day after. Bree brought him back to life. Well, no, not exactly. Bree made him WANT to come back to life, to claw back up to the light and leave his solitude behind him because for the first time in a long time, Archer was no longer alone.
Bree understood him, literally (she is fluent in ASL and can communicate with Archer) and figuratively (she just got him, plain and simple). She became his lifeline. And that became one of the turning points in the story.
Bree understood him, literally (she is fluent in ASL and can communicate with Archer) and figuratively (she just got him, plain and simple). She became his lifeline. And that became one of the turning points in the story.
...We communicated a thousand words,
without a single one being spoken...
Just when they thought they’ve finally figured everything out, thought they’ve found what they’re missing in each other, a series of events threaten to destroy what they have. Archer can’t let go of his insecurities thinking that he couldn’t be the man that Bree deserves to have. Bree is still plagued by the tragedy that made her run to Pelion in the first place. Every time they figure something out, life throws a wrench in their plans again and again and again.
I felt both Bree and Archer’s desperation to stay in each other’s lives. I loved that about Mia Sheridan’s writing. She brings to life all these emotions and you can’t help but FEEL everything. There are moments that are so poignant and heart-rending that it feels like you’re in the book yourself. Mia Sheridan delves deep into the mind of her characters and that’s why they jump out of the page.
Like I usually do, I appreciated how they started off as friends. The build up of the relationship was exquisite and it makes their coming together all the more beautiful. The relationship angle was handled well and it just worked. This kind of romance is loads better than those insta-loves. As a reader, it was really beautiful to see how Archer and Bree’s relationship evolved. It was a treat to witness how they grew into their love with each day and each moment that they spent together.
Mia Sheridan’s writing style really works for me. The flow was flawless and the story was weaved into a beautiful tapestry of love lost and love found.
After reading the blurb, I was expecting the story to be kind of straight-forward but I was pleasantly surprised by the complexity between those pages. So many things happened throughout the course of the book but it didn’t feel long. I kept turning page after page not realizing how much I’ve read. I breezed through to the end, and damn, Mia Sheridan knows how to induce a heart attack.
I still cannot understand how she found a way to shatter my world and put the pieces back again all in one chapter. Another thing that I found absolutely maddening, in a good way, of course, was the way she builds up the suspense after a particularly emotional moment before delivering the killing blow.
I just thought that the way the antagonists were handled was a bit rushed. I would’ve loved to see Tori Hale getting bitch-slapped. Although, come to think of it, the whole book still worked since the real villain wasn’t some vindictive, manipulative bitch, but the internal demons that kept Archer and Bree from living a life worth living.
It was amazing to read about Archer and Bree’s journey to overcome those demons and find happiness and strength both on their own and with each other. I guess I loved that, too. Even though there was and “Archer and Bree” and a “Bree and Archer”, there was still a “Just Archer” and a “Just Bree”, if you catch my drift. Each of them are characters, are persons, all on their own and that’s what some romance novels lack.
I think I got a little carried away with this review. I loved it THAT MUCH. So, bottomline is, ARCHER’S VOICE is a worthwhile addition to Mia Sheridan’s A SIGN OF LOVE series. I’m definitely making space on my bookshelf for the rest of the series.
Oh, and just for the record, the fact that I’m a Sagittarius did not have any effect on my opinions about ARCHER’S VOICE. Much.
I felt both Bree and Archer’s desperation to stay in each other’s lives. I loved that about Mia Sheridan’s writing. She brings to life all these emotions and you can’t help but FEEL everything. There are moments that are so poignant and heart-rending that it feels like you’re in the book yourself. Mia Sheridan delves deep into the mind of her characters and that’s why they jump out of the page.
Like I usually do, I appreciated how they started off as friends. The build up of the relationship was exquisite and it makes their coming together all the more beautiful. The relationship angle was handled well and it just worked. This kind of romance is loads better than those insta-loves. As a reader, it was really beautiful to see how Archer and Bree’s relationship evolved. It was a treat to witness how they grew into their love with each day and each moment that they spent together.
Mia Sheridan’s writing style really works for me. The flow was flawless and the story was weaved into a beautiful tapestry of love lost and love found.
After reading the blurb, I was expecting the story to be kind of straight-forward but I was pleasantly surprised by the complexity between those pages. So many things happened throughout the course of the book but it didn’t feel long. I kept turning page after page not realizing how much I’ve read. I breezed through to the end, and damn, Mia Sheridan knows how to induce a heart attack.
I still cannot understand how she found a way to shatter my world and put the pieces back again all in one chapter. Another thing that I found absolutely maddening, in a good way, of course, was the way she builds up the suspense after a particularly emotional moment before delivering the killing blow.
I just thought that the way the antagonists were handled was a bit rushed. I would’ve loved to see Tori Hale getting bitch-slapped. Although, come to think of it, the whole book still worked since the real villain wasn’t some vindictive, manipulative bitch, but the internal demons that kept Archer and Bree from living a life worth living.
It was amazing to read about Archer and Bree’s journey to overcome those demons and find happiness and strength both on their own and with each other. I guess I loved that, too. Even though there was and “Archer and Bree” and a “Bree and Archer”, there was still a “Just Archer” and a “Just Bree”, if you catch my drift. Each of them are characters, are persons, all on their own and that’s what some romance novels lack.
I think I got a little carried away with this review. I loved it THAT MUCH. So, bottomline is, ARCHER’S VOICE is a worthwhile addition to Mia Sheridan’s A SIGN OF LOVE series. I’m definitely making space on my bookshelf for the rest of the series.
Oh, and just for the record, the fact that I’m a Sagittarius did not have any effect on my opinions about ARCHER’S VOICE. Much.
LINKS
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OTHER BOOKS IN THE SERIES
 LEO A Sign of Love #1  |  LEO's CHANCE A Sign of Love #2  |  STINGER A Sign of Love #3  |
