STRUCK SPEECHLESS

A successful Atlanta sports agent must work with the man who broke her heart a decade ago.

Jackie Miles doesn’t want or need a relationship. She has great friends, a full client roster, and the best dog in the world. She also has a nemesis: rival agent Antonio Steele. Ten years ago, they spent one perfect night together in Las Vegas as he was shifting his career from NFL player to agent. The next morning, she overheard him making a suspicious phone call and left without asking him to explain—but all these years later, Antonio still considers Jackie his perfect match. The sports world is small, so if their paths cross, Jackie treats Antonio with icy professionalism. When a merger between their companies is announced, Antonio hopes that closer proximity will create new opportunities for courting Jackie. This is the second book, after Losing Sight (2025), in Richardson’s series exploring the relationship between a woman’s personality and her senses, and after an interaction with a stranger in the vet’s office, Jackie mysteriously loses her voice. The woman, a mystical figure calling herself Mother Mary, tells Jackie, “You need to quiet your tongue and speak with your heart.” Jackie is sure she’s been hexed, but readers will understand the malady is meant to teach her to listen rather than jump to conclusions. A voiceless Jackie needs help signing a boxer hiding out at a lush Mexican resort, and their agencies send Antonio along, hoping that together they’ll be able to land the new client. Antonio and Jackie reconnect and finally resolve the long-ago events in Las Vegas, but Jackie is too prickly and independent to let her guard down for long. Richardson adeptly creates sympathetic characters in a richly layered world while maintaining a light, humorous tone. Jackie and Antonio are each fully realized adults on their own journeys, which makes their romance and happily-ever-after all the more rewarding.

A terrific romance, both poignant and funny.