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Of Silence & Survival #1
All the Quiet Things
Some stories start with sparks. The best ones burn slow.
Delaney Monroe lives a quiet life. Early mornings, dog-eared books, and the comfort of her second-grade classroom in New Orleans. Love, for her, has always been something she reads about, not something she risks.
Then he shows up.
Callum Reed is all intensity and ink, with a crooked smile that hides more than it reveals. He’s a devoted uncle, a gifted craftsman, and he makes it far too easy for Del to forget every rule she’s ever made.
Their chemistry is electric. What starts with a glance turns into slow touches and whispered wants, midnight kisses that taste like secrets, and heat that lingers long after he's gone. Callum sees her in a way no one ever has. He makes her feel wanted, brave, undone.
But he’s holding back. And when the truth finally comes out, it won’t just break the rules—it’ll break her heart.
All the Quiet Things is a smoldering slow-burn romance about longing, desire, and the kind of love that leaves a mark. Set in the lush, soulful backdrop of New Orleans, it’s perfect for readers who crave poetic prose, emotional heat, and a love story with teeth.
slow burn romance, grumpy x sunshine, single POV, emotional angst, poetic prose, found family, spicy contemporary romance, secret past, NOLA setting, character-driven, teacher romance, inked MMC, women’s fiction crossover
Delaney Monroe lives a quiet life. Early mornings, dog-eared books, and the comfort of her second-grade classroom in New Orleans. Love, for her, has always been something she reads about, not something she risks.
Then he shows up.
Callum Reed is all intensity and ink, with a crooked smile that hides more than it reveals. He’s a devoted uncle, a gifted craftsman, and he makes it far too easy for Del to forget every rule she’s ever made.
Their chemistry is electric. What starts with a glance turns into slow touches and whispered wants, midnight kisses that taste like secrets, and heat that lingers long after he's gone. Callum sees her in a way no one ever has. He makes her feel wanted, brave, undone.
But he’s holding back. And when the truth finally comes out, it won’t just break the rules—it’ll break her heart.
All the Quiet Things is a smoldering slow-burn romance about longing, desire, and the kind of love that leaves a mark. Set in the lush, soulful backdrop of New Orleans, it’s perfect for readers who crave poetic prose, emotional heat, and a love story with teeth.
slow burn romance, grumpy x sunshine, single POV, emotional angst, poetic prose, found family, spicy contemporary romance, secret past, NOLA setting, character-driven, teacher romance, inked MMC, women’s fiction crossover
297 pages, Kindle Edition
Published September 15, 2025
11 people are currently reading
13 people want to read
About the author
Briar West
4 books2 followersBriar West writes emotional, messy, slow-burn love stories about people who are trying to be brave even when it hurts. Her books are rooted in longing, quiet moments, and the kind of love that changes you in small, permanent ways.
She lives in Louisiana with her husband, two kids, and two very loved (read: spoiled) dogs. When she is not writing, she is probably knitting something she does not need, tweaking a Canva template, guzzling coffee while reading, or dreaming up the next story that will break your heart just a little.
Her work blends romance with deep emotional realism, because love is never simple and healing is never linear. If you love found family, broken heroes, soft but strong heroines, and stories that stay with you after the last page, you are in the right place.
Find her online at briarwestbooks.com
and on social media at @authorbriarwest.
She lives in Louisiana with her husband, two kids, and two very loved (read: spoiled) dogs. When she is not writing, she is probably knitting something she does not need, tweaking a Canva template, guzzling coffee while reading, or dreaming up the next story that will break your heart just a little.
Her work blends romance with deep emotional realism, because love is never simple and healing is never linear. If you love found family, broken heroes, soft but strong heroines, and stories that stay with you after the last page, you are in the right place.
Find her online at briarwestbooks.com
and on social media at @authorbriarwest.
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Displaying 1 - 13 of 13 reviews
October 10, 2025
A contemporary slow burn that will have you sitting in your feelings after reading. Delaney and Callum have attraction from the beginning. Callum is a private person who is hiding his flaws from Delaney. The things Callum is dealing with is something that some will feel hit close to home and will make feel the same emotions. There is a twist at the end I didn’t see coming and now have to wait until book 2 is out to see what else is waiting for this couple.
October 4, 2025
wow this book pulled at my heartstrings! 💕 if you enjoy lush poetic writing and slow burn romances you need to check this one out! 👀
Delaney is a schoolteacher in New Orleans. One day, outside her school, she notices a handsome, tattooed man, their eyes meet. The encounter leaves her unsettled for days, thinking about him constantly. A week later, fate intervenes at a bookstore. Their paths cross once more, and the attraction between them is palpable. It seems like a meet-cute that you would see in a movie!😍
The story is full of little awkward-yet-relatable moments make Del so endearing. Del pours her heart into her diary, especially after encounters with Cal. Her reflections capture the slow-burn attraction building within her, and the author’s prose mirrors that pace beautifully.
Delaney is a schoolteacher in New Orleans. One day, outside her school, she notices a handsome, tattooed man, their eyes meet. The encounter leaves her unsettled for days, thinking about him constantly. A week later, fate intervenes at a bookstore. Their paths cross once more, and the attraction between them is palpable. It seems like a meet-cute that you would see in a movie!😍
The story is full of little awkward-yet-relatable moments make Del so endearing. Del pours her heart into her diary, especially after encounters with Cal. Her reflections capture the slow-burn attraction building within her, and the author’s prose mirrors that pace beautifully.
October 6, 2025
When a book manages to warm your heart and break it at the same time.
All The Quiet Things is a slow-burn contemporary romance that I devoured in a matter of days. It was so precious in so many ways, and yet it also managed to break my heart towards the end.
The story follows Delaney, a second-grade teacher who lives a quiet life in New Orleans. She’s the type that doesn’t take risks. There is friendship in her life, but love is that thing she reads about. But then she meets Callum, the uncle of one of her students, a gifted craftsman and also a drummer. Things between them start slow, and they build a meaningful, beautiful relationship. Del feels seen and understood with Cal. But as much as she’s feeling herself falling, there’s the shadow of things Cal is not saying hanging over them…
This book was simply beautiful, starting from the author’s wonderful prose. The descriptions, especially of feelings, are so well done, and we get to explore them on an even deeper level in some of Del’s journal entries. I loved the conversations Del and Cal had, I loved seeing them falling in love. Their story was the sweetest thing, which is why I wanted to scream when Del’s doubts start creeping in—because she was right, and I wanted to shake Cal. And when the truth finally comes out, my heart broke! I also adored Del’s friendship with Jules, and as a fellow dog lover, I loved loved loved seeing how she adopted her dog Cosmo and how the two grew so close.
Here are some tropes!
🎺 New Orleans setting
🔥 slow burn romance
📝 emotional, lyrical prose
🫂 found family
🍎 teacher FMC x inked MMC
Thank you to the author for gifting me an ebook. Opinions are my own.
All The Quiet Things is a slow-burn contemporary romance that I devoured in a matter of days. It was so precious in so many ways, and yet it also managed to break my heart towards the end.
The story follows Delaney, a second-grade teacher who lives a quiet life in New Orleans. She’s the type that doesn’t take risks. There is friendship in her life, but love is that thing she reads about. But then she meets Callum, the uncle of one of her students, a gifted craftsman and also a drummer. Things between them start slow, and they build a meaningful, beautiful relationship. Del feels seen and understood with Cal. But as much as she’s feeling herself falling, there’s the shadow of things Cal is not saying hanging over them…
This book was simply beautiful, starting from the author’s wonderful prose. The descriptions, especially of feelings, are so well done, and we get to explore them on an even deeper level in some of Del’s journal entries. I loved the conversations Del and Cal had, I loved seeing them falling in love. Their story was the sweetest thing, which is why I wanted to scream when Del’s doubts start creeping in—because she was right, and I wanted to shake Cal. And when the truth finally comes out, my heart broke! I also adored Del’s friendship with Jules, and as a fellow dog lover, I loved loved loved seeing how she adopted her dog Cosmo and how the two grew so close.
Here are some tropes!
🎺 New Orleans setting
🔥 slow burn romance
📝 emotional, lyrical prose
🫂 found family
🍎 teacher FMC x inked MMC
Thank you to the author for gifting me an ebook. Opinions are my own.
October 8, 2025
Delaney is a school teacher living a quiet life in New Orleans. One day her favorite student is picked up by her uncle, and intense tattooed man who looked at her like he actually saw her. That one glance stated in her mind for days. Then about a week later, they met in the bookstore and it's just as intense as the first. Cal is a wood craftsman and a drummer and she feels deeply drawn to him. As they start dating, everything just clicks and she starts to fall hard for him. But there's something he's keeping from her that sometimes makes him so distant, and Delaney is afraid to find out the truth.
This story with its beautiful descriptions of the sights and sounds of New Orleans, the conversations between Cal and Del, even the journal entries that more deeply dive into Del's emotions and feelings... everything! I loved this slow burn sweet romance and my heart broke for Cal when he finally broke and told her the truth. I'm so excited to see that this is the first in a series because I want more.
I received a complimentary arc of this book. The views and opinions expressed in this review are completely my own.
This story with its beautiful descriptions of the sights and sounds of New Orleans, the conversations between Cal and Del, even the journal entries that more deeply dive into Del's emotions and feelings... everything! I loved this slow burn sweet romance and my heart broke for Cal when he finally broke and told her the truth. I'm so excited to see that this is the first in a series because I want more.
I received a complimentary arc of this book. The views and opinions expressed in this review are completely my own.
October 19, 2025
Thank you to the author for the gifted ebook copy. Opinions are my own.
If I were to assign a song to this book, it would be Begin Again by Taylor Swift.
All The Quiet Things is the first book in a slow burn romance series which follows Delaney. She lives a quiet life in New Orleans as a reader and an elementary school teacher until she meets Callum. Their spark slowly turns into a relationship, but what initially feels like a fairytale begins to be shadowed by Callum's secrets...
If you're looking for a romance that pulls you right in and cancels the world around you, this is the book to read! I inhaled half of this book in one sitting. With beautiful, lyrical prose, the author transports you into Del's life and makes you fall in love with this character. She is a protagonist many of us book girlies will be able to relate to for her love of books and romance, but I also really relate to her love of dogs! Her romance with Callum is sweet and fun, filled with the magic of new beginnings. Cal is a charmer, which makes it so easy to love him, but his secrets kept me on the edge of my seat. On the one hand it makes him even more alluring, but on the other I still don't know if we can trust him fully.
Will we figure it out in the next book? Time will tell! But after the ending I definitely have questions...
Here are some tropes!
- slow burn romance
- grumpy x sunshine
- emotional, lyrical prose
- found family
- NOLA setting
- Spicy!
If I were to assign a song to this book, it would be Begin Again by Taylor Swift.
All The Quiet Things is the first book in a slow burn romance series which follows Delaney. She lives a quiet life in New Orleans as a reader and an elementary school teacher until she meets Callum. Their spark slowly turns into a relationship, but what initially feels like a fairytale begins to be shadowed by Callum's secrets...
If you're looking for a romance that pulls you right in and cancels the world around you, this is the book to read! I inhaled half of this book in one sitting. With beautiful, lyrical prose, the author transports you into Del's life and makes you fall in love with this character. She is a protagonist many of us book girlies will be able to relate to for her love of books and romance, but I also really relate to her love of dogs! Her romance with Callum is sweet and fun, filled with the magic of new beginnings. Cal is a charmer, which makes it so easy to love him, but his secrets kept me on the edge of my seat. On the one hand it makes him even more alluring, but on the other I still don't know if we can trust him fully.
Will we figure it out in the next book? Time will tell! But after the ending I definitely have questions...
Here are some tropes!
- slow burn romance
- grumpy x sunshine
- emotional, lyrical prose
- found family
- NOLA setting
- Spicy!
October 23, 2025
This is a sweet story that's just so easy to read. Plus the heartwarming sentiment between the couple is so believable, especially in Del's case as she has shut herself off from love. Delaney is a school teacher, and she in happy with her life. A perfect job, a great best friend, with a lovely home next to her best friend. What more could she want. Romance. Although her romance comes in the form of books with perfect couples and perfect relationships. Until walking her class out for pickup, and he's stood there looking straight at her. Callum is a great uncle to his niece, he loves spending time with her. He's a talented woods craftsman, and a drummer. Seeing his nieces teacher when he picked her up from school, then bumping into her again at the bookstore a week later. This is a slow burn story with just enough spice, and wonderful scenic descriptions of New Orleans. But will they make a happy couple or will the secret Cal's keeping end their chance of a happy ever after.
October 16, 2025
Delaney is a private school teacher with a love of books and poetry. She lives simply and is content to read about love. Callum is the uncle of one of her students. When he shows up in the pick up line one day, Delaney is intrigued. What follows is a slow burn romance with a shocking twist.
This book was definitely a slow burn. I felt that the first half of the book trudged along. The story and the spice did pick up in the second half of the book. However, because of the secrets Callum was hiding, it felt like I was constantly missing something while reading until it was revealed towards the end of the book. The description focused a lot on the NOLA setting, but I didn’t feel that the story really focused as much on that. The story was touching and you could feel the frustration of the FMC. The ending was abrupt and we were left with a cliffhanger which is typical for a series. If you enjoy poetry and a really slow burn romance, this is definitely a good choice! *I received an advance review copy for free, and I am leaving this review voluntarily.
This book was definitely a slow burn. I felt that the first half of the book trudged along. The story and the spice did pick up in the second half of the book. However, because of the secrets Callum was hiding, it felt like I was constantly missing something while reading until it was revealed towards the end of the book. The description focused a lot on the NOLA setting, but I didn’t feel that the story really focused as much on that. The story was touching and you could feel the frustration of the FMC. The ending was abrupt and we were left with a cliffhanger which is typical for a series. If you enjoy poetry and a really slow burn romance, this is definitely a good choice! *I received an advance review copy for free, and I am leaving this review voluntarily.
October 3, 2025
All the Quiet Things (Of Silence & Survival Book 1) by Briar West is a wonderful, slow-burning romance where opposites attract.
When a second-grade teacher and a tattoo artist meet, it's love at first sight, but it takes quite a while to get to that love. West’s writing is very well balanced. He’s not heavy-handed and, in emotional scenes, can be quite delicate. He can be so tender in his prose, I thought the author was a woman, and I mean that as a compliment. There’s a twist in the story that I didn’t see coming, and that was a great surprise.
Callum is a bit of a pain in the butt, and Delany is all about platitudes filled with positivity, so it was exciting to watch they’re drama unfold. Even though we know where this is going, it was so much fun turning every page.
If you like slow-burning romance at its best, All the Quiet Things should be your next read.
October 5, 2025
One heck of a cliffhanger
“All the Quiet Things” is a touching slow-burn romance that I believe many readers will find relatable. The story unfolds with humor, warmth, and genuine emotion, making it easy to connect with the characters’ journeys and struggles. The author’s heartfelt writing shines through, blending moments of laughter with sincere reflections on love, growth, and vulnerability. It’s the kind of story that lingers long after the final page—authentic, funny, and deeply human.
“All the Quiet Things” is a touching slow-burn romance that I believe many readers will find relatable. The story unfolds with humor, warmth, and genuine emotion, making it easy to connect with the characters’ journeys and struggles. The author’s heartfelt writing shines through, blending moments of laughter with sincere reflections on love, growth, and vulnerability. It’s the kind of story that lingers long after the final page—authentic, funny, and deeply human.
October 21, 2025
This was such a good read- I never normally get hooked into a slow burn but I became hooked.
Felt like a rollercoaster of emotions all at once. It felt raw and real not like a fluffy romance book and I LOVE that
I enjoyed every single second of this book and I need MORE!
I received an advance review copy for free, and I am leaving this review voluntarily.
Felt like a rollercoaster of emotions all at once. It felt raw and real not like a fluffy romance book and I LOVE that
I enjoyed every single second of this book and I need MORE!
I received an advance review copy for free, and I am leaving this review voluntarily.
December 29, 2025
All the Quiet Things is one of those stories that settles softly into your heart and stays there. It’s gentle, emotional, and beautifully intimate in a way that feels so real.
Delaney is the kind of heroine you instantly root for...quiet and thoughtful. Then Callum enters her life and slowly turns everything upside down. Their connection builds in small, meaningful moments: obsessed with their glances and their sweet conversations. I adored how unhurried their romance felt, nothing rushed, just two people finding safety in each other.
What really stood out to me was the emotional depth. Callum carries a past that weighs heavy, and watching Del learn to trust him and herself, it was tender and heartbreaking all at once. The New Orleans setting adds a soft, atmospheric backdrop that perfectly matches the story’s quiet intensity.
This book is about vulnerability, healing, and learning that love doesn’t have to be loud to be powerful.
Tropes:
✨ Slow burn romance
🤍 Soft, emotional love story
🌞 Quiet FMC x intense MMC
🤫 Secrets & healing
📍 Atmospheric setting
All opinions are my own, and I truly enjoyed every page.
Delaney is the kind of heroine you instantly root for...quiet and thoughtful. Then Callum enters her life and slowly turns everything upside down. Their connection builds in small, meaningful moments: obsessed with their glances and their sweet conversations. I adored how unhurried their romance felt, nothing rushed, just two people finding safety in each other.
What really stood out to me was the emotional depth. Callum carries a past that weighs heavy, and watching Del learn to trust him and herself, it was tender and heartbreaking all at once. The New Orleans setting adds a soft, atmospheric backdrop that perfectly matches the story’s quiet intensity.
This book is about vulnerability, healing, and learning that love doesn’t have to be loud to be powerful.
Tropes:
✨ Slow burn romance
🤍 Soft, emotional love story
🌞 Quiet FMC x intense MMC
🤫 Secrets & healing
📍 Atmospheric setting
All opinions are my own, and I truly enjoyed every page.
November 22, 2025
All the Quiet Things is a tender, atmospheric slow burn that lingers long after the final page. Briar West writes longing with poetic restraint each look, each touch, each quiet moment between Delaney and Callum feels charged with emotion and beautifully real. The New Orleans setting adds warmth and soul, grounding the romance in a sense of place that deepens every scene.
A beautifully aching, intimate love story for readers who crave emotional depth, soft heat, and characters who love with their whole hearts.
A beautifully aching, intimate love story for readers who crave emotional depth, soft heat, and characters who love with their whole hearts.
December 20, 2025
All the Quiet Things is a beautifully emotional, slow-burn romance that pulls you in from the first page. Delaney’s quiet, introspective nature feels deeply authentic, and Callum’s presence is intense in a way that’s both tender and unsettling. The chemistry builds naturally, and the emotional stakes stay high throughout.
This story balances softness and urgency perfectly, creating a romance that feels intimate, immersive, and hard to put down. The ending left me desperate for more.
Highly recommended for readers who love emotionally driven contemporary romance.
This story balances softness and urgency perfectly, creating a romance that feels intimate, immersive, and hard to put down. The ending left me desperate for more.
Highly recommended for readers who love emotionally driven contemporary romance.
Displaying 1 - 13 of 13 reviews