Said and Unsaid

Coffee and Donuts #1

by Amanda Hamm

Alexa Fenley has some complicated relationships in her life. With her mom, she’s trying to keep her temper. With her dad, she’s trying to avoid any subject more emotionally charged than what one would write on a postcard. And with her sister, she’s just trying.

Now Alexa has met someone new. She’s trying to get to know him, trying to stop herself from falling too hard too fast, and trying not to let him know what she thinks of his name. But it’s possible that this new relationship isn’t nearly as complicated as Alexa thinks it is.

The first book in the Coffee and Donuts series, Said and Unsaid is a love story with Christian characters.

Genres: Romance

Unknown Binding

First published August 1, 2015

About the author

Most of Amanda's books are love stories featuring Christian characters, which sounds way less preachy than Christian love stories. Two books have received the CWG Seal of Approval: Andrew's Key (2014) and The Art of Introductions(2021). Three books have earned Catholic Media Association Book Awards: They See a Family (2019), What Goes Around (2021) and The Art of Introductions (2022).

Reviews

[Cordelianne · Rating 3 out of 5]

Said and Unsaid is a cute romance novel, but it was not my favourite. I could not relate to the main character and her family problems, because the way she treated them was so far from where I normally stand. I did not like the fact that she could not talk about it, but immediately went arguing again. Because of this and the situation with her dad, the book felt a bit repetitive. The ending was abrupt as well, which was a pity as well, because I would have enjoyed a few more pages to finish up the story a bit better. I did like the friendly relationship Alexa and Tracker get at first, but the miscommunication made the book drag on a bit. Overall I enjoyed this story to some extend.
*I received a free ebook in exchange for an honest review*

[Stacey · Rating 3 out of 5]

This book was not quite my "cup of tea" but it was still enjoyable for a quick, undemanding read. The repetitiveness of the main character having issues communicating with her family started to become annoying since it felt like an old vinyl record getting stuck & repeating the same phrase or stretch of music over and over again. I did enjoy that Alexa was able to connect with her half-brother and his family. I thought there was a lot of potential there & I would have liked to have seen that area of the story develop further but this is a love story predominantly so the focus was on the relationship developing between Alexa & Tracker.

I found the interactions between Alexa and Tracker to be amusing. Many times I find myself alternating between chuckling & shaking my head at the miscommunications. The whole story was written from the first person perspective, and at times I wished the author had included a few chapters, or even paragraphs, from Trackers perspective, but I suppose our own lives are lived in the first person so I can't really complain (sigh).

This was a clean novel with a feel good ending even if it did end a bit abruptly.... Since this is the first of a series perhaps we may see a few more glimpses of this couple & other characters in future novels.

I was given a free eBook in exchange for an honest review.

[Emmie · Rating 3 out of 5]

A quick read. I did have trouble getting into the book. The main character, Alexa, was a bit akward and I had trouble relating to her. Otherwise the book was good. There are a lot of interesting characters. Tracker was also a bit akward as a character.

I think because this is the first book in the series there are some teething problems. The second book should flow better.

Thank you to the author and free ebooks for review, for providing me with a copy of this book.

[Tara Durham · Rating 3 out of 5]

I received this book in exchange for an honest review on ebooksforreview.com.
Alexa decided to move to a town away from her family and all of the drama that they create. She’s had a hard time fitting in but has found a small group of friends with a church group. Between their meetings and her dog-she feels fulfilled.
Her family is a constant mess. Her dad has been married 3 times-has children that the other siblings don’t even know, her mom is very dramatic and immature-only calls to argue or talk about Alexa’s sister and her sister is a mess-always being evicted and taking off with no one knowing where she is.
She spends most of her time after work at the dog park with her dog Paws-the one thing that has never let her down. While at the park one day, she meets another dog lover named Tracker. After casually visiting a few times, they decide to exchange numbers.
Sadly, when their first “get together” happens, Alexa has a family emergency that throws all of their plans out the window. Tracker stays by her side-taking care of her every step of the way. Through family drama and miscommunication-I really liked the whole Alexa/Tracker chemistry. They both have witty personalities and enjoyed their bantering as they’re getting to know eachother better. At first, I wasn’t crazy about Tracker because he seemed to always be fishing for more details-almost too full of questions. But then you see that he’s just a sincerely nice guy that truly wants to know all he can about Alexa.
Some of this story felt like it drug on a bit but I have to say that I kept reading because I absolutely loved Alexa. I didn’t necessarily like how she sometimes responded to her family, but her OCD cracked me up (considering that I am too). Nice and clean read-lighthearted reading.
I will definitely check out more in this series.

[Donna May · Rating 3 out of 5]

I’m not sure this book can be considered a romance novel. There was so much confusion and drama, and as soon as the romance started, the book was over. Seriously, when things started getting interesting and I was like FINALLY, the book ended. I hated that aspect of it. But the author is very detailed and there were not a lot of mistakes in the book.

[Cici · Rating 3 out of 5]

This is the story of a young woman and young man boxed in. They are almost akin to an old fashion d Regency romance. There is protocol and rules to be observed. Only these two live in modern day and do not have the skill set to emote their thoughts out loud. There is always an unsure subtext. Very sweet.

[Rubina · Rating 4 out of 5]

A quick,cute and sweet romance with a beautiful and well realised plot, realistic characters and a flowing prose. I loved it and can't wait to read more from the author. The book was a one sit read for me. I totally devoured it with its masterfully structured story and a swoon worthy romance.

[Dystopian Mayhem · Rating 1 out of 5]

The dialogue is amateurish at best, I liked the inner talk better.

[Valerie (Val's Vicinity) · Rating 5 out of 5]

Oooh, this is a fun one! Alexa's "voice" feels genuine and real, and I found her inner thoughts and troubles amusing and also extremely easy to relate to...from the way she talks to her dog like he's a person, to her sticky family relationships. She has some OCD tendencies (though it's not specifically labeled that), and her noticing of things that aren't quite right or even--such as unlevel earrings or mismatched numbers on doors--are humorous and to a certain degree even reminded me of myself. I also really enjoyed how Alexa so badly wanted to further her relationship with Tracker but at the same time she was too afraid to make it known. That's just so real!

I loved how Tracker was kind of persistent--in a non-threatening way--about getting to know Alexa, but at the same time he also seemed a bit shy and unsure at times. (Great combination!) I really enjoyed the large amount of bantering dialogue between Alexa and Tracker as they got to know each other, often just asking random humorous questions to see what the other would say. Since the story is told in first person from Alexa's point of view we never get to see inside Tracker's head, but I actually like it this way as it keeps the interest alive by keeping some of his thoughts and motives a mystery, just like in real life.

The story ultimately shows how small miscommunications and mis-assumptions can easily alter a relationship and unknowingly give people a false impression of our motives. I really really enjoyed it, and there are even some good messages woven in as Alexa tries to deal with her sticky family situation (which is at times a bit comical). Some of Tracker's advice to Alexa actually came around and bit me in the back after I finished the story, and though I didn't appreciate it and it's hard to implement, Tracker really was right. The story leans more Catholic than straightforward Christian (basically they go to mass), but it's very light and nothing doctrinal is discussed so even if your beliefs are slightly different it should still be enjoyable, as it was for me.

I've read and enjoyed most of Amanda's books, but I really feel each one is getting progressively better. "Said and Unsaid" is right up there at the top of my favorites list, and I'm anxious to check out the rest of the Coffee and Donuts series as it becomes available.

Thanks to the author for providing me a review copy in exchange for my honest opinion.

[Brent Soderstrum · Rating 3 out of 5]

This is a glimpse in the life of Alexa who is a single young lady with a dog named Paws. She has a normal job, takes Paws to the dog park after work every day and deals with family issues like we all do. Her mom seems possessed by her sister Megan, who is the bad girl of the family but definitely mommy's favorite. Throw in a new relationship she wants to have with Tracker, who is a young man who starts showing up at the dog park and you have the outline of the book.

This is the first of the four part Coffee and Donuts series. It will be interesting how Amanda weaves the four stories together. I like that faith is an underlying theme in the book.

[Georgiann Hennelly · Rating 5 out of 5]

Alexa Fenley's relationships are complicated. With her Momshe just tries to keep her temper. Her Dad she doesn't really talk about any subject emotionally charged. She is just trying with her sister to have a relationship. Now she has met a new guy, she is trying to get to know him and really trying not to fall to hard and fast for him. But it's possible that the relationship just might not be as complicated as she thinks it is ...

[Amanda]

Brief excerpts for Said and Unsaid are here and here and here.

[Janine · Rating 4 out of 5]

I received this book through first reads for an honest review.

This was a pretty fun book. The characters were quirky and likable. I was a little put off by the religious aspect - was not expecting it. But all in all I enjoyed the book. I like the author's writing style.

[Megan Rang · Rating 5 out of 5]

This was a first reads free book! It was a quick and easy, enjoyable book. Very relatable characters.

[Patricia Marvin Hilfiker · Rating 5 out of 5]

I enjoyed this book. It is a quick read book about a gal and her dog. I would recommend this book to anyone that likes a love story or story about a person and their dog,

[Kathy · Rating 3 out of 5]

Alexa took a job several hours from her mother’s home just to get away from the family drama. She is supposed to call her mom every Sunday but her moms’ constant concern for her older sister drives her crazy. Alexa is taking a few weeks off to see if she can get her anger issues under control. When she first moves to Thomasville, Alexa converts to the Catholic Church and enjoys visiting with other parishioners having coffee and donuts between the two scheduled masses each Sunday. Alexa goes to the gym every Wednesday night to try to make friends with people there. Nothing seems to work for her; she has a really hard time making good friends. She really likes taking her dog, Paws, to the dog park just across from her home every day. When she meets a really nice guy at the dog park, the chemistry is instant for her but she has a really hard time reading Tracker. Every time she says his name, she thinks it should be a dog’s name. Tacker seems to be interested in her and constantly asks her questions about herself but they only see each other a few times each week. This book is well written with likable characters and lots of family drama.

[Sherry · Rating 5 out of 5]

I enjoyed this one. It is a christian romance, so no sexy scenes or bad language.

I liked the characters. Alexa is a bit too nice for her own good. At first she tends to leave a lot of things unsaid, because she doesn't want to get in a argument, hurt anyone, or let people know how much she cares about some things.

We all know, or eventually learn, that not saying things can lead to a lot of regrets.

This story is basically about her learning to say the important things, and improve her relationships. Especially the relationships with her family, but also with her church friends, and the new guy she just met.

It is well written, and moves pretty quick. She has some minor adventures, like having to chase down her neighbors dog.

This story dragged me in, and I would love to read all the other books in the Coffee and Donuts series.

[Lydia · Rating 3 out of 5]

I have a mixed review of Said and Unsaid. I appreciated that the characters were very normal, real life individuals and even chuckled over the awkwardness as they “dated”. It was refreshing to be able to relate to them, however if felt an awful lot like I was reading a journal, slow and redundant. I think a balance of real and ideal is better. That said, it was refreshingly unique.