What He Always Knew by Kandi Steiner Series: What He Doesn't Know Duet #2
Published by Self Published on 3/29/18
Genres: Contemporary Romance
Pages: 246
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Left or right.
It’s that simple, and it isn’t simple at all.
If I turn left, the road will lead me back to the man I promised my life to, the one I’d imagined building a family with, the one who’s done everything in his power to get me back.
If I turn right, the road will take me to the man I loved first, the man who brought me back to life, the man who would do anything to keep me.
I knew the fork in the road was inevitable; it was the decision I never wanted to make between choices I didn't know I had.
And I love them both.
My heart is destined to exist in two equal halves — one with each man. But one half beats stronger, the vein running deepest, and holds my choice in silence long before I know it for myself.
The realization of what I have to do, of the heart I have to break, just might break mine too.
Left or right.
All I have to do is take a breath and turn.
It’s here. HOLY SHIT. It’s here. I am so excited that both books in this duet are now LIVE on Amazon. That means you can binge read this series if you haven’t started. To say we are OBSESSED with this duet is an understatement. It is EVERYTHING! You can read our review for the first book here and check out our review for the second one below. But man, this is going to rock your world. You must read it. It’s ANOTHER LEVEL.
Purchase Bk #1 – What He Doesn’t Know
Purchase Bk #2 – What He Always Knew
Angie’s Review
5 “This was Everything” Stars!
“I hated them both.
But I loved them both, too.
And for that, I hated myself.”
I don’t know where to begin. I don’t even know how to wrap up my thoughts. Everything I thought I knew at the end of the first book shifted violently in What He Always Knew and I have so many feelings when it comes to these characters. So. friggin. many! This duet is complicated. A messy, dysfunctional, agonizingly turbulent ride that encompasses so many things! And oh my gosh, what a wicked web Kandi Steiner weaves. It is whoaaaaaaaaaaaaa!
The first book, What He Doesn’t Know, truly destroyed me, single-handedly becoming my best reading experience of the year. But the sequel, What He Always Knew, took that and expanded on it, amplifying my already crazy feelings by 1 million. It was EVERYTHING! Everything I wasn’t expecting. In fact, this duet is wholly UNPREDICTABLE. The twists are wild and you never get a handle on them. Reese and Cameron and Charlie are dysfunctional people with a tumultuous dynamic.
In this sequel the angst packs an even bigger and more powerful punch than it did in the first book. We pick up right where we left off and hit the ground running. And I’m telling you, I have never felt so twisted up, so infuriated and devastated at the very same time. There are moments that cut you, that make you bleed in ways I can’t even describe. What He Always Knew is truly a whirlwind. A knotted, mangled mess of heartbreak that BLEW ME AWAY.
And you know what? I thought I knew what I wanted to happen going in. I thought I knew EXACTLY who the characters were. But I knew NOTHING. Kandi took everything I thought I knew and added new dimensions. She peeled back layers, unearthed ugly truths that convinced me I loved characters I thought I hated in the first book. And I had to ask myself, “How did that even happen?!” In all the time I’ve been reading, I have never fallen in love with both guys in a love triangle.
NEVER.
EVER.
EVER.
EVER.
I have always had a team.
I DON’T SWAY!
Yet in this duet I swung back and forth the ENTIRE time. It’s unbelievable. My opinions on Reese and Cameron are intense, so loud and passionate, I can’t even go into them or I’ll just end up spoiling things! That said, these two drove me insane. Almost as insane as Charlie did. There were moments where I hated these men almost as much as I loved them. And man, did I cry! I cried so hard my eyes hurt. The journey is excruciating. The emotions take on a life of their own. It’s so all consuming.
Overall, I don’t know what else to say. This duet is unforgettable. It challenges you. Challenges your boundaries. And makes you uncomfortable. It definitely made me think, analyze, and obsess. And it is hands-down one of my most favorite duets I’ve ever read. I know this review says nothing about plot. That’s intentional. I can’t go into detail without making this a spoiler review, and I would never do that. So I’ll say this, read this story. It’s layered. Messy. Complicated. Unexpected. And angsty. And I’m in awe of the journey. 5 stars!
Jessica’s Review
5 “This was Everything” Stars!
Romance novels are, for the most part, predictable. Let’s face it, you know you’re getting an HEA. You know there’s going to be some conflict. You can probably gather who your hero is by the points of view the story is told from. And you can typically guess who’s going to get the girl just by looking at the cover.
But this book? Oh Lord, not this book.
Kandi Steiner has broken the mold with this romance novel and it confused the hell out of me in all the best ways. There is absolutely nothing predictable about this storyline. Who gets the girl when this story is told from the points of view of ALL THREE legs of this love triangle? Who is the hero of our story when the author crafts the story in such a way that you find yourself falling desperately in love with both of them equally right along with our heroine? And who the heck is the guy on this deliberately ambiguous cover? What He Always Knew gave me whiplash, gave my heart palpitations, left my stomach in knots and had me needing a drink. The angst and uncertainty within this breathtakingly beautiful romance is ON ANOTHER LEVEL OF PHENOMENAL and I can’t even tell you how much I loved it.
I’ve had a lot of time to obsess over who I hoped Charlie would choose after finishing What He Doesn’t Know. It was impossibly hard, but, yes, I eventually chose a team. I wavered between Reese and Cameron repeatedly as I read that first book but eventually I found myself leaning in one direction even though I had no confidence that the story would play out the way I imagined. But then What He Always Knew picked up exactly where the first book left off and I immediately found myself swept away once again in Charlie’s emotionally tortuous predicament. Once again, my heart was pummeled and pulled in different directions. It was IMPOSSIBLE to predict how this duet might play out. Even if you choose a team, as I did, you can still typically anticipate the path an author is leading you toward even when the characters don’t know it yet. But with this duet, there was no path!! It’s a relentless war we take with Charlie and the emotional uncertainty never wavers until the very end.
This is a dangerously ADDICTIVE duet. I can’t tell you the last time I read something that held me so tightly in it’s snare. Everything from the exquisite writing to the sharp dialogue to the wholly torturous heartache that bleeds from these pages gripped me. This is easily a top favorite storyline of the year. It’s perfection and it doesn’t even matter whether Charlie chose my guy or not. (I’m not telling you!) It doesn’t change how much I felt as I read, how difficult this story is, how brilliantly it evolves. It doesn’t change how sweet and romantic and heartfelt and hopeful this journey is. It’s deliciously brutal and I couldn’t stop reading.
What He Always Knew completes an unbelievably intense, spellbinding love story and, in all of its wrongness and all of its rightness, IT IS PERFECTION. I loved EVERYTHING about it. The pain, the steam, the lust, the tug of war, the fight, the heartache, the absolute joy, the blissful romance, the stunning words and the wholly satisfying finish. It’s everything, this duet. It’s better than anything I could’ve hoped for. It’s Steiner’s masterpiece. It’s maddening and beautiful and angsty and I ABSOLUTELY LOVED IT.
About the Author
Kandi Steiner is a Creative Writing and Advertising/Public Relations graduate from the University of Central Florida living in Tampa with her husband. Kandi works full time as a social media specialist, but also works part time as a Zumba fitness instructor and blackjack dealer.
Kandi started writing back in the 4th grade after reading the first Harry Potter installment. In 6th grade, she wrote and edited her own newspaper and distributed to her classmates. Eventually, the principal caught on and the newspaper was quickly halted, though Kandi tried fighting for her “freedom of press.” She took particular interest in writing romance after college, as she has always been a die hard hopeless romantic (like most girls brought up on Disney movies).
When Kandi isn’t working or writing, you can find her reading books of all kinds, talking with her extremely vocal cat, and spending time with her friends and family. She enjoys beach days, movie marathons, live music, craft beer and sweet wine – not necessarily in that order.
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