Maybe he has a few control issues, but for someone who is used to being in charge of everything in his life, it can be disorienting to suddenly realize you aren’t in control and to be thrown into the chaos that is a small child. It’s clear that Kade isn’t heartless, as Mia suspects, but just out of his element. Both were raised by similar men, and evolved very differently, Mia by rejecting what her father taught her and Kade by embracing it. That said, I liked Kade and Mia as characters. The result was that for a while, the book felt repetitive, and then it felt unbelievable. It seemed like they weren’t going anywhere, but then suddenly they were in love. Kade and Mia kept taking two steps forward, one step back, two steps forward, one step back, over and over again. The pacing of this book left a bit to be desired.

But Kade isn’t as heartless as she thinks. Mia refuses to allow Kade’s formality and businesslike demeanor to weigh on Tilly’s spirits, and as the daughter of a cold businessman herself, Mia knows the challenges of having a parent value money over family. Imagine his surprise when the first lesson involves making popcorn. He expects Mia to stay confined to the space allotted for sessions and for the therapy to be formal and professional. Kade is told that Mia is the best, so he goes to her supervisor and arranges for her to spend 2 weeks at his estate in the Australian Outback for intensive therapy. While he loves Tilly in his own way, he is not prepared to be a parent, particularly not to one who has a speech development disorder. Kade Reid is a very successful business man, who was given stocks instead of toys as a child and taught that money is the most important thing in life. Tilly’s parents recently died in an accident, leaving her in the care of her uncle Kade. Mia Windsor went into speech therapy after overcoming a stammer as a child, and feels an immediate kinship with Tilly Reid, her new patient. The book tells the story of a speech pathologist, a businessman, and his niece. I debated for a long time between a B- and a C+, before finally settling on the lower grade. What Love Sounds Like was a tough book to grade.

What Love Sounds Like by Alissa Callen