What We Never Say by Paulette Stout
Many of the high profile #MeToo cases and accusations we’ve seen in the news are focused on accused famous men. Whether the victims are men or women, many of the alleged and proven perpetrators are men.
I had never really considered a female predator harassing a male, even with over two decades in the workforce. Corporate American culture is one of such blatant disregard and negativity toward females, that it’s a wonder how a female in power would then use that power over males in her employ to abuse them.
However, this is one of the premises in What We Never Say by Paulette Stout (Media Goddess Inc.). While this is noted as book one in its subtitle, the story follows the same characters from Ms. Stout’s debut novel Love, Only Better.
Unlike the previous book, the main character’s arc in What We Never Say belongs to Kyle, a motorcycle-riding photographer in his early thirties. He’s been a supportive boyfriend to the female protagonist Rebecca, who in Love, Only Better found her confidence and her ability to achieve orgasm. But in this novel, Kyle has his own demons to exorcise.
A TROUBLING PAST RESURFACES
Kyle thought he’d long buried those demons until Rebecca brings home the newest “Our Favorites” edition of the industry-leading fashion magazine, MOD, with his picture in it … a full spread. It turns out Kyle had a stint as an international model, and the mentor and catalyst of his career was also his abuser.
Coincidentally, Rebecca’s blog — where she details her journey to achieve orgasm and writes as Bedroom Diary — catches the eye of a higher up at MOD who shows it to the company’s president and CEO, Jane. Rebecca agrees to write an article for MOD, and in that moment, Rebecca’s blog’s future collides with Kyle’s torrid past.
OTHER THINGS WE NEVER SAY
While Kyle goes through his journey of addressing and dealing with his abuse, many of the other characters in the novel have their own secrets that are being forced to the light.
Kyle’s sister Libby has alienated herself so much that her parents ask Rebecca — a virtual stranger to Libby — to be a bridesmaid at Libby’s wedding. Libby has always been mean and standoffish, but Rebecca senses there’s something she’s hiding that’s fueling the negativity.
When the MOD Bedroom Diary article explodes in popularity, everyone wants to know who’s behind the Bedroom Diary persona. Not to mention, Rebecca’s managers want to know why Rebecca is suddenly slacking off at work. And Kyle wonders who else is out there that may have also been the victim of his abuser.
MULTIPLE POVS DEEPEN THE STORY
Unlike Ms. Stout’s first novel, which mostly showed main character Rebecca’s internal struggle with finding pleasure, What We Never Say activates several more of her secondary characters and their secrets. This brings out so much external and internal conflict and makes for a more entertaining read.
While we’ve met most of this cast, adding Kyle’s family to the mix gave Kyle a more complex and layered personality, and made him more than just a hot, motorcycle-riding photographer — although that’s nice, too. *wink*
What also adds to the story are the multiple points of view. We don’t get only Rebecca and Kyle’s inner thoughts; the point of view shifts to Jane, the MOD CEO, and for a few scenes we see through her assistant Varej’s eyes. Having these multiple points of view give the story more depth, and they add substance to what could be flat secondary characters.
SAME CHARACTERS, DIFFERENT HEAT LEVEL
One of the things that the author pointed out in a few of her social media posts was that this novel would have a lot fewer love scenes on the page. Evidently, readers of her first novel were somewhat shocked by the amount of sex and sexual scenes present in Love,Only Better. The shock is not something I understand, given the whole premise of the book. However, for those who read women’s fiction, most selections don’t have love scenes or have very abbreviated mentions, so it’s not surprising that some of the audience would be shocked.
In What We Never Say, the lower “heat level” is appropriate for the story and will hopefully entice former readers who were not happy the first time back to Paulette Stout’s novels. Those who are looking for the romantic side of the continuing story of Kyle and Rebecca will still get all the feels from their relationship, even with the lower heat level.
This book was one that looks at sexual harassment in a different way than we normally see — from the viewpoint of a male victim who has a female abuser. It enlightened me on this group that lives with hidden shame, while still remaining a drama-filled read.
About Paulette Stout:
