You did it! We figured this one out! It is a truth universally acknowledged (by me for certain) that the Bitchery pretty much knows everything, and really, it's true. Scroll down to see the solution for this HaBO - and many thanks!
This HaBO is from Chris, who wants to find an older Harlequin:
I want to say this is a Harlequin book. I would say it was published mid to late 1990s.
The hero is an injured veteran. I don’t remember what happened, but his major injury is that he’s now mute. At the the beginning of the book, they are unsure if it will be temporary or permanent.
The heroine is the town librarian. I believe he’s in this town to be away from his well-meaning family. The town is familiar to he and his family because they either grew up there or vacationed there.
Ring any bells for anyone?
I hope somebody knows this book. Hellooooo catnip!
Definitely catnip! While looking for this HaBO I marked several of my books to reread and added a few others.
I know this isn’t the book you’re looking for (and I hope some knows it because I’ll third the catnip!). But Anna Richland’s “His Road Home” has a vet with head injury aphasia who has great difficulty speaking (so there’s a fair amount of texting in the story). It’s a lovely.
Boy I should proofread when editing!
I also know that “His Road Home” isn’t the book, but if you haven’t read it you should. It’s one of my go-to’s when I need to read something that’s going to give me all the feels.
I hope the Bitchery finds the book! And can I just say – I love how everybody here gets the catnip thing and suggests additional books. <3
Kresley Cole’s “Demon from the Dark” is also not the right book, but if hunky, damaged dudes with communication problems are your thing (literally, they don’t speak the same language for most of the book), you’ll like this one. Bonus points for a little kid character that isn’t completely annoying.
I’ve heard fabulous things about Kresley Cole’s books, I just haven’t picked any up yet. This one is on my mind because Eden Summers have a mute hero book due out next month.
*has (I really need to proof read more often)
Good grief and gravy. I’ve recently read a romance with a mute hero. Was he a veteran? ARGH I can’t remember
I could swear that within the last year I read a book with a mute hero that I would have learned about in the SB recommendations. Was he a veteran? I don’t remember.
I’ve just read several of Kresley Cole’s books. In fact, I seem to have read an entire series in reverse order b ut it didn[t seem to matter at all. How weird is that? Obviously, I liked them well enough to read several of them but in every case, there was a part in the middle that just dragged and dragged. At least it did for me.
Not the book you’re looking for, but Archer’s Voice by Mia Sheridan has a mute hero (not a vet, he was in an accident as a child). I didn’t enjoy it as much as the people who squee’ed about it to me, but it was a decent read. What I Didn’t Say by Keary Taylor has a mute hero as well (again, accident), it’s more YA but pretty good.
I’m intrigued to know if anyone finds the HABO title, though!
I think this was an early temptation romance; I can’t find my copy to get the author and title, but if I recall correctly it takes place in Texas, the librarian heroine has a big dog named Doofus that needs training. I think her name was Lee Ann, and she was Asian. His name was Keller, but I forget whether that was first or last.
Ah, the fiction db comes to the rescue: More than Words, by Elizabeth Glenn
Ding, ding, ding! I think we have a winner! Memory was faulty and made him a vet rather than police officer, but The Bitchery comes through again!! Hmm. I wonder if my library has a copy. I’ll have to check or spring for a paperback. Thanks so much ladies!!
Also, check out the cover. *laughs*
https://www.amazon.com/More-Than-Words-Elizabeth-Glenn/dp/0373252951
The cover model looks like David Hasselhoff. LOL.
Another great book with a deaf/mute hero is Maybe Someday by Colleen Hoover. I love the way the leads communicate through texts and email. Thanks for all of the other suggestions – definitely a catnip!
Hooray HABO! That cover, though! What is going on there? Agreed, he definitely looks like the Hoff.
EEK! He looks like he’s about to eat a mannequin’s face off… Always love it when the Bitchery works its magic and connects a creepy cover model with an eager reader.
Ditto on reading Richland’s His Road Home. Follows a similar premise and is an amazing read. Hmm, might go re-read it tonight now that it’s on my mind 🙂
Rachel Lee’s Conard County series is full of wounded hero stories. She started with Vietnam vets and has continued up to today.
Laura Kinsale’s masterpiece Flowers From The Storm features a hero with aphasia resulting from a CVA. It’s historical romance. Superbly done. If you listen to audiobooks I highly reccommend the audio version performed by Nicholas Boulton.
One of my favorite of Rachel Lee’s early Conard County series is Miss Emmaline and the Archangel (a Silhouette Intimate Moments from 1993). I didn’t like the buttoned up tight librarian stereotype and there is a “trigger warning” for rape. But something about the moral force she welded appeals to me. If you run across any of her books from that period is a booksale, they are worth picking up for a read.