ELOQUENT SILENCE by Sandra Brown
Time-Warner – 2001 
ISBN: 0446360511 – Paperback
Contemporary Romance 

Reviewed by Brenda Weeaks, MyShelf.com
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Eloquent Silence was first written under the pseudonym, Rachel Ryan. Being reissued just this year, the trends of the original publishing date are apparent, but not necessarily bothersome. It has the original trademarks of a Sandra Brown romance. It has the heroin, Lauri, a deaf education teacher, the hero, Drake Sloan, a soap opera star/conceited snob, and the true victim, Jennifer, a deaf child. After Jennifer’s mother died, Drake put her in a New York deaf school. Now he wants to move her to his New Mexico home with a tutor – Lauri. 

Romance readers know how the relationship goes. First the clash – he’s vain and rude, she’s too polite, and then the attraction – more like a seduction, but her religious background wins out (Hallelujah); now a complication or two with more clashing – enter another man and her parents, who aren’t expected. Oh boy, does her father, the reverend, have an interesting affect on this relationship! And the conclusion -- Can this guy redeem himself in Lauri’s eyes? Will he step up to the plate and be the kind of dad Jennifer needs – a patient one who can sign? What about Lauri? Can she get past the infatuation of living with a celebrity and her selfish physically desires to focus on Jennifer’s needs? And what about her parents? Will they tolerate their unmarried daughter living under the same roof with a seducing Romeo?

It was fun getting the chance to read one of Brown’s first books. I don’t think her romantic vision has changed much over the years; it’s just much more colorful. 

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