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Silent Notes
Silent Notes by Alandra Hensley is a gripping, dark romance with a morally grey male lead that delves into fame, obsession, and survival. Zara Vyxen, once a world-renowned pop icon, is rebuilding her life and career after surviving a brutal home invasion that left her scarred and her assailant behind bars. When her attacker escapes to finish what he started, Zara disappears to Colorado, seeking refuge and anonymity under her real name, Elissa Ashthorne.
Darby Zev, a former pro drummer turned enigmatic influencer, hides his identity behind a custom-made LED mask. When his path crosses with Elissa's, his dangerous fascination evolves into a mission to protect her at all costs. Under the guise of an FBI agent, Darby moves into her home, his secret kept by his friend Agent Lenox Clark, the head of the FBI. As Darby grapples with his obsession and newfound purpose, Elissa must learn to trust the man with too many secrets.
In this intense tale of survival and redemption, Silent Notes blurs the line between savior and stalker, proving that love can thrive in the darkest places.
Darby Zev, a former pro drummer turned enigmatic influencer, hides his identity behind a custom-made LED mask. When his path crosses with Elissa's, his dangerous fascination evolves into a mission to protect her at all costs. Under the guise of an FBI agent, Darby moves into her home, his secret kept by his friend Agent Lenox Clark, the head of the FBI. As Darby grapples with his obsession and newfound purpose, Elissa must learn to trust the man with too many secrets.
In this intense tale of survival and redemption, Silent Notes blurs the line between savior and stalker, proving that love can thrive in the darkest places.
290 pages, Paperback
Published June 3, 2025
2 people are currently reading
14 people want to read
About the author
Alandra Hensley
24 books7 followersAlandra Hensley is a disabled up and coming Sports Fiction Romance and Dark Romance Author. Her books Nerd Like Me and First Strung are available now. Her two mini series are both complete. Silent Notes is available for preorder releasing June 3rd, 2025.
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Displaying 1 - 9 of 9 reviews
May 13, 2025
First, I want to say thank you to Alandra Hensley for allowing me to be an ARC reader for this book.
I was very intrigued by the topic of this book when I first read about it.
This book had me confused in many spots. There was so much happening all at once, and the story would take a turn that made it more confusing. There was insta-lust right off the bat, which isn't necessarily a bad thing, but it just felt almost too fast.
I did enjoy the dual POV. I've always liked being able to see POV in different ways to help understand the story and characters better.
I was very intrigued by the topic of this book when I first read about it.
This book had me confused in many spots. There was so much happening all at once, and the story would take a turn that made it more confusing. There was insta-lust right off the bat, which isn't necessarily a bad thing, but it just felt almost too fast.
I did enjoy the dual POV. I've always liked being able to see POV in different ways to help understand the story and characters better.
June 24, 2025
I found a streamer that reads books live. They started this book yesterday and according to the announcement today, even they couldn't handle it anymore.
This book is terrible. I usually don't like saying that, but I can't find a more accurate word. The streamer only read the first like 5 chapters but the amount of unbelievable stuff that happens with no explanation is INSANE. The author either plans on revealing why anyone makes a single move later in the story, or has no idea how to properly set up realistic situations and responses. The characters do and say idiotic things and everyone accepts that as normal with no questions. It's truly unbelievable. It was so insane and the author was in the chat the whole time and kept saying it was only going to get worse. WORSE?! HOW?!
I was actually going to keep listening to this book despite it being absolutely terrible because it was sort of like a train wreck. Plus I'm honestly curious as to how it could get even worse. But the book isn't able to be borrowed and I'm sure as hell not funding this mess.
So, for the breakdown, and the absolute insanity:
A pop star is brutally attacked by a masked serial killer. He's caught and put in prison and she lives, though with scars. A year later (the start of the book) the serial killer has escaped and the pop star is trying to commit suicide (literally the first line) and fails before she gives up to go scroll on her phone.
The exact same app that the killer used to hunt btw. She's still using it.
She finds a thirst trap of a drummer in a mask. (You'd think someone who was stabbed multiple times by a masked guy only a year ago would have an aversion. Apparently not.)
She makes a request, he plays it, he messages her his number. (She's in protective custody, but she texts the strange number anyways.)
They flirt, she tells him to find her, then he says he will, which scares her, she blocks him.
He then calls the FBI friend he has (it's not explained at any point but the author did put in the chat clarifying that the drummer is also actually FBI and actively working desk duty from home despite professionally making thirst traps with teal hair).
And asks for her name. The agent tells him that she's a famous pop star in protective custody. MMC says he wants to show her his mask, so the agent leaves to pick him up and take him to her safe house. (Which again, according to the author in the chat is not a safe house but a haunted house no one wanted to live in but also happens to have a full working music recording studio in it.)
While I did omit the reluctance from the above scene, trust me, there was no big fight or wear down, he basically just asked twice and the FBI agent was all about it.
So they head to our girls haunted house, MMC still in his custom LED mask, and knock on the door. She immediately assumes the masked, teal haired thirst trap guy from earlier was an FBI agent fucking with her.
Then shots ring out and the drummer is pushed into the pop star and told to protect her. Later we find out that the people shooting "saw people on a porch and fucked around and found out". I'm not joking. That's the reasoning why they were randomly being shot at.
Anyways, the drummer takes a video of him crouching under a table with the pop star while the actual FBI handle the situation.
Then the agent comes in and gives the drummer a fake name, says he's an FBI agent and is now assigned to protect her and will move into the house. She asks why he's wearing a mask and they tell her his identity is classified which she quickly agrees makes total sense without any follow up questions.
When I tell you it gets worse from here I am not exaggerating. This story is stupid with a capital S. The worlds most unsexy blowjob is given, ending with the word ejaculate in case it got a little hot at some point. Then we were forced to listen to it twice. It was horrible. And if you think you're missing steps between being assigned to her and the blowjob, trust me when I say, BARELY!
There is ZERO chemistry, ZERO explanation, and ZERO accountability for the characters. They literally do whatever they want with no rules and the world 'just works that way'.
It's like listening to a child make up a story on the spot and trying to take them seriously.
And I only described like 3 chapters. IT GETS WORSE! Seriously. A train wreck.
If you like those movies that are stupid for the sake of being stupid than this will be your jam. Otherwise, steer clear.
This book is terrible. I usually don't like saying that, but I can't find a more accurate word. The streamer only read the first like 5 chapters but the amount of unbelievable stuff that happens with no explanation is INSANE. The author either plans on revealing why anyone makes a single move later in the story, or has no idea how to properly set up realistic situations and responses. The characters do and say idiotic things and everyone accepts that as normal with no questions. It's truly unbelievable. It was so insane and the author was in the chat the whole time and kept saying it was only going to get worse. WORSE?! HOW?!
I was actually going to keep listening to this book despite it being absolutely terrible because it was sort of like a train wreck. Plus I'm honestly curious as to how it could get even worse. But the book isn't able to be borrowed and I'm sure as hell not funding this mess.
So, for the breakdown, and the absolute insanity:
A pop star is brutally attacked by a masked serial killer. He's caught and put in prison and she lives, though with scars. A year later (the start of the book) the serial killer has escaped and the pop star is trying to commit suicide (literally the first line) and fails before she gives up to go scroll on her phone.
The exact same app that the killer used to hunt btw. She's still using it.
She finds a thirst trap of a drummer in a mask. (You'd think someone who was stabbed multiple times by a masked guy only a year ago would have an aversion. Apparently not.)
She makes a request, he plays it, he messages her his number. (She's in protective custody, but she texts the strange number anyways.)
They flirt, she tells him to find her, then he says he will, which scares her, she blocks him.
He then calls the FBI friend he has (it's not explained at any point but the author did put in the chat clarifying that the drummer is also actually FBI and actively working desk duty from home despite professionally making thirst traps with teal hair).
And asks for her name. The agent tells him that she's a famous pop star in protective custody. MMC says he wants to show her his mask, so the agent leaves to pick him up and take him to her safe house. (Which again, according to the author in the chat is not a safe house but a haunted house no one wanted to live in but also happens to have a full working music recording studio in it.)
While I did omit the reluctance from the above scene, trust me, there was no big fight or wear down, he basically just asked twice and the FBI agent was all about it.
So they head to our girls haunted house, MMC still in his custom LED mask, and knock on the door. She immediately assumes the masked, teal haired thirst trap guy from earlier was an FBI agent fucking with her.
Then shots ring out and the drummer is pushed into the pop star and told to protect her. Later we find out that the people shooting "saw people on a porch and fucked around and found out". I'm not joking. That's the reasoning why they were randomly being shot at.
Anyways, the drummer takes a video of him crouching under a table with the pop star while the actual FBI handle the situation.
Then the agent comes in and gives the drummer a fake name, says he's an FBI agent and is now assigned to protect her and will move into the house. She asks why he's wearing a mask and they tell her his identity is classified which she quickly agrees makes total sense without any follow up questions.
When I tell you it gets worse from here I am not exaggerating. This story is stupid with a capital S. The worlds most unsexy blowjob is given, ending with the word ejaculate in case it got a little hot at some point. Then we were forced to listen to it twice. It was horrible. And if you think you're missing steps between being assigned to her and the blowjob, trust me when I say, BARELY!
There is ZERO chemistry, ZERO explanation, and ZERO accountability for the characters. They literally do whatever they want with no rules and the world 'just works that way'.
It's like listening to a child make up a story on the spot and trying to take them seriously.
And I only described like 3 chapters. IT GETS WORSE! Seriously. A train wreck.
If you like those movies that are stupid for the sake of being stupid than this will be your jam. Otherwise, steer clear.
May 15, 2025
Elissa is a famous singer that has been through trauma when she stood eye to eye with the Trendify killer, she is fighting to get a grip of her life.
Darby, is an FBI agent that also has a masked persona on the app Trendify, this is where he first meets Zara (Elissa), the woman that will be his new mission to keep alive.
I have to be honest and I kind fell for this one just cause of the cover and yes the blurb. I do want to give Alandra a huge thank you for giving me a chance to read this ARC.
Well I need to be honest. I really liked how this book started. I like the idea of a crazy stalker that is a serial unaliver. Elissa and Darby did go through a lot of storyline and I got lost even if I did finish this one. The story started so good but at times it good a bit too much story that didn't make sense.
Rom-com or a dark romance. Sure it has the potential to become that, but then go through the story and make it have a red thread through the story and stay on one topic. There are a lot of good stories in the plot but shouldn't all be in the same book. This book ends in a cliffhanger and I'm all for that. Honestly I will keep an eye out for the next book just to see what will happen.
Darby, is an FBI agent that also has a masked persona on the app Trendify, this is where he first meets Zara (Elissa), the woman that will be his new mission to keep alive.
I have to be honest and I kind fell for this one just cause of the cover and yes the blurb. I do want to give Alandra a huge thank you for giving me a chance to read this ARC.
Well I need to be honest. I really liked how this book started. I like the idea of a crazy stalker that is a serial unaliver. Elissa and Darby did go through a lot of storyline and I got lost even if I did finish this one. The story started so good but at times it good a bit too much story that didn't make sense.
Rom-com or a dark romance. Sure it has the potential to become that, but then go through the story and make it have a red thread through the story and stay on one topic. There are a lot of good stories in the plot but shouldn't all be in the same book. This book ends in a cliffhanger and I'm all for that. Honestly I will keep an eye out for the next book just to see what will happen.
October 30, 2025
So whew where should I start, I came across this book on a whim and decided to read it because I love me some Dark Romance especially masked men. 🤤🤤
But this book was all over the place and gave me whiplash, I felt like I had to hilight and take notes to keep up with everything. What started out as a Pop Star surviving a terrible attack on her life and the Masked Man Influencer who was on Desk Duty with the FBI turned into him being her bodyguard..
But wait there was more and I feel like she was trying to make this book into more and definitely could have been great if not for the inconsistencies. It went from FBI hunting down the Killer, to starting a band and making music, to finding out they both had crazy mothers (you knew that from the beginning with Darby, but with Elissa it was a revelation out of left field). And then it turned into the killer being paid by someone in the FBI and a brother presumed dead yet not, and just a lot more? It was very confusing to keep up with everything as it was all happening at once with nothing being built up to the drama and suspense but thrown into it.
I am hoping book 2 (if there is one) will answer some of the questions that I still have because I'm still scratching my head.
But this book was all over the place and gave me whiplash, I felt like I had to hilight and take notes to keep up with everything. What started out as a Pop Star surviving a terrible attack on her life and the Masked Man Influencer who was on Desk Duty with the FBI turned into him being her bodyguard..
But wait there was more and I feel like she was trying to make this book into more and definitely could have been great if not for the inconsistencies. It went from FBI hunting down the Killer, to starting a band and making music, to finding out they both had crazy mothers (you knew that from the beginning with Darby, but with Elissa it was a revelation out of left field). And then it turned into the killer being paid by someone in the FBI and a brother presumed dead yet not, and just a lot more? It was very confusing to keep up with everything as it was all happening at once with nothing being built up to the drama and suspense but thrown into it.
I am hoping book 2 (if there is one) will answer some of the questions that I still have because I'm still scratching my head.
May 9, 2025
First, thank you to the author for providing me an ARC in exchange for an honest review. Unfortunately, this book just was not my cup of tea.
I was very interested in the concept: a pop star has to go into hiding after being attacked by the Trendify killer, who targets famous people. Hijinks and romance ensue after the gorgeous FBI agent starts living with her to keep her safe, with an irreverent look at the parasocial relationships we form with celebrities.
Sadly, the execution (no pun intended) fell flat. The book suffers from telling instead of showing: characters give info dumps in ways that don’t reflect how people actually communicate.
The characters themselves are not fully developed and end up overriding my suspension of disbelief. For instance, I find it difficult to believe that a FBI agent would intentionally compromise the safety of someone they were supposed to protect in order to get his friend laid.
I think this book has a lot of potential that dark romance fans would really enjoy. It just doesn’t read as a finished version to me.
I was very interested in the concept: a pop star has to go into hiding after being attacked by the Trendify killer, who targets famous people. Hijinks and romance ensue after the gorgeous FBI agent starts living with her to keep her safe, with an irreverent look at the parasocial relationships we form with celebrities.
Sadly, the execution (no pun intended) fell flat. The book suffers from telling instead of showing: characters give info dumps in ways that don’t reflect how people actually communicate.
The characters themselves are not fully developed and end up overriding my suspension of disbelief. For instance, I find it difficult to believe that a FBI agent would intentionally compromise the safety of someone they were supposed to protect in order to get his friend laid.
I think this book has a lot of potential that dark romance fans would really enjoy. It just doesn’t read as a finished version to me.
April 28, 2025
Silent Notes is a dark stalker rom-com with alit of tropes, I advise reading the content warning if you have triggers. I enjoyed this book, you get thirst trap guy, a pop singer, fbi detectives, masked men everything all in one book. I enjoyed the modern day aspect of this book as to how Lissa and Devon meet, I enjoyed the mystery of the book and the plot.
June 10, 2025
I absolutely love this book it will keep you guessing the entire time it will peak your interest almost instantaneous this book was just so good for me I can't express this in words I highly recommend you go and read it
May 22, 2025
Silent Notes was a quick and fun read for me to read! The pace was very fast, things happening very closely after each other. But the instant lust/love between Darby and Elissa spiced up the story a good way! Right from the start I was pulled into the story, the things happening made me wanna read more to know how it would end!
The author has a telling writingstyle, you'll get a lot of information about everything. I myself like this, because I can make up a good picture in my mind this way! I enjoyed reading the book very much!
Thank you Alandra Hensley for this ARC to read and review.
The author has a telling writingstyle, you'll get a lot of information about everything. I myself like this, because I can make up a good picture in my mind this way! I enjoyed reading the book very much!
Thank you Alandra Hensley for this ARC to read and review.
May 17, 2025
My thanks to Alandra Hensley for allowing me to be an arc reader of Silent Notes. All comments are my own and I look forward to the rest of this series.
Silent notes is a novel full of rom-com, twists and lots of masked men, both good and bad. If you love a cops and robbers esq vibe with dark romance thrown in this book is for you.
At the beginning we are pulled in by a morally grey but sounds delicious drummer taking part in a thirst trap- we all love a thirst trap :) who then stalks the main female character who is a famous singer recovering from a attempt on her life. The escapades they then go on together throws up many surprises and turns which you may shout at your kindle or book.
I have marked this 4 stars.
Silent notes is a novel full of rom-com, twists and lots of masked men, both good and bad. If you love a cops and robbers esq vibe with dark romance thrown in this book is for you.
At the beginning we are pulled in by a morally grey but sounds delicious drummer taking part in a thirst trap- we all love a thirst trap :) who then stalks the main female character who is a famous singer recovering from a attempt on her life. The escapades they then go on together throws up many surprises and turns which you may shout at your kindle or book.
I have marked this 4 stars.
Displaying 1 - 9 of 9 reviews