So, a story told entirely in texts . . . . this didn’t really seem like a viable plot for a romance. However, given that the book, Way Down Deep, was written by Cara McKenna and Charlotte Stein, I HAD to read it; my curiosity was palpable. I had to know. And McKenna and Stein did indeed write a romance in which its main characters communicate entirely in texts messages. The two main characters never meet face to face. I would have sworn that there was no way this would ever work, but these two authors pulled it off, telling a powerful and emotionally wrought romance that pulled me into its web very early on.
 
 
Malcolm and Maya are two very lonely and broken people, each dealing with significant life challenges. While drunk one night, Malcolm sends a text message to his dead ex’s cell phone - and surprisingly gets a response. The two begin to text back and forth, getting to know each other even while they keep their names secret (at the beginning). I think the initial anonymity gives both characters a freedom to express themselves in a raw and unfiltered way - in a way that neither one could do with other people in their lives.
 
Malcolm is in a bad place - an American who has recently moved to England to be with a son he had little-to-no contact with for most of the boy’s life. The son doesn’t speak after having lived through a tragedy that cost him the life of his mother. Malcolm is lost, unsure of himself, unable to communicate with his son, cut off from his life in the States and a bit too fond of alcohol. He is in a dark place, but texts from his new friend provide a needed bright spot in his life.
 
Maya, on the other hand, has her own issues which have kept her house bound for a long time. She has an awful family tragedy in her background and has become a virtual recluse - even opening her windows has become difficult for her. Maya is the one who wants to keep her identity a secret during their early texts; she is the one who is reluctant to offer her name and become more intimately acquainted.
 
But Malcolm and Maya do become more intimately acquainted, in what is a very short time (although it doesn’t feel that short while reading). They go quite quickly from sexy, flirty texts to full-out dirty sexting - which was surprisingly effective for developing an intense connection and romance between the two. These sexual texts were hot and revealed the deep-seated  need that both Malcolm and Maya have for a real connection. And I guess this is the part of the story that readers need to buy into in order to believe in the connection that these two are developing.  I found the relationship to be real, honest, raw, painful and intense. In some ways, these two connect on a deeper emotional level because they feel safer with the barrier of electronic communication and reveal more than they might have if they had met in person.
 
At its core, Way Down Deep is a unique romance which is indeed told entirely in texts. You may ask about the ending; can their be an HEA for two people who have never met? Oddly enough, the ending is where this book really shined for me. It was the make or break point. I would definitely consider the ending and HFN rather than an HEA, but it made me believe in Maya and Malcolm’s romance. I admit that I would love a followup story to Way Down Deep that explores what happens next, but think that McKenna and Stein pulled off something special in this book.
 
This one may not work for all readers, but Charlotte Stein and Cara McKenna wrote an intensely passionate and painfully open romance between two people who could only have met via text. It isn’t an easy read, but it is unforgettable, thought provoking and romantic.

At first- I really, really really liked it.

Mid way- I really liked it

3/4 done- I was over the texting already and wanted them to actually, finally meet. The shtick grew weary.

100% done- I was glad it was over. Didn't like the ending. I hate books that are so open ended. If it is a standalone novel- wrap it up 100%.

The last line of the novel made 100 feelings course through me. One of them righteous anger- serious! That is the last thing!?

I DNF and thus there will be no review. I could not engage with the characters. I tried three different times to resume reading and still could not continue. The back and forth messaging did not flow well for me and thus I could not get into the story.

My romance reader dreams have come true.

Two of my favorite authors, Charlotte Stein and Cara McKenna, got together and made a book baby. The result is Way Down Deep—a sexy, unique novel written entirely in text message format. That’s right—text messages. I wasn’t sure what to expect with this format, but I knew the story itself would be amazing, coming from these authors. This is an emotionally charged romance that left me smiling and still, craving more.

We start with a series of dark, heavy messages from an unknown sender. Those messages are raw and somewhat vague, yet brutally honest. The sender doesn’t expect a reply—for reasons made clear later—but receives one anyway.

Through the many messages that follow, slowly more is revealed about the sender: a single dad named Malcolm, originally from the U.S. but now raising his young son in England. The recipient is an agoraphobic young woman named Maya, also living somewhere in England, who alludes to a traumatic past. Malcolm and Maya reveal bits and pieces of themselves to each other with every message that they send. Sometimes those tidbits are mundane and seemingly trivial, like favorite songs, movies, and books. During other moments, their interactions are deeply personal, with the anonymity of words and without the potential awkwardness of face-to-face contact.

The relationship quickly becomes intimate—not just in a sexual way, though fear not, it certainly makes a turn in that direction as well. Additionally, though, Malcolm and Maya see in each other a commonality that they’ve each been missing in their lives. In each other, they become seen for possibly the first time in a long time—maybe ever—and in turn, they each become known.

Way Down Deep is a unique twist on the epistolary novel: one that’s brutally honest, raw, and scorchingly sexy. Fans of Stein and McKenna will recognize each author’s distinct voices in Maya and Malcolm. Together, it’s a combination that I adored. When it was over, I didn’t want it to be—I wanted more from these characters I’d fallen in love with. I highly recommend this book and hope that Stein and McKenna will collaborate again in the future.

Lola reviewed this on the blog, here's a link to her review...I have to say, I pretty much agree with everything she says!

Review posted at Heroes & Heartbreakers.com

Charlotte Stein and Cara McKenna are go-to authors for me when I'm looking for an edgy, sexy romance and this first collaboration shows their trademark styles combined in one intriguing package. Way Down Deep is an epistolary romance, told entirely in the form of text messages between the hero and the heroine. It's common to have text messages or email make up part of a novel, but to have the whole story told this way is pretty unique. The result is a super sexy and enthralling romance.

The story begins with a text message to an unknown number, from a depressed writer who never expects the message to be returned. But to the writer's surprise, someone does reply, a stranger, who tries to send some encouraging words to the initiator of the conversation. It's gradually revealed which writer is male and which is female, and the slow unveiling of their lives takes place. Malcolm is a single dad, adjusting to being the sole parent of his toddler aged son, and Maya is a homebound young woman. Can two strangers find companionship and even love from an online relationship?

I loved how this story unfolds, with intimate details given out over time. And then, because they are strangers and sharing things with each other, things take a more dramatic and sexy turn. Soon they've got their day and night messages arranged so that at night they can share some of their deep sexual fantasies with each other, while during the day they relay more of the day to day details of their lives.

They both have some trauma in their pasts that has affected them deeply, and makes an online friendship one that is safe as it comes without the risk of rejection. But they also develop feelings for each other and come to a point where writing to each other isn't enough anymore. I don't want to give away any spoilers as it's the kind of story you'll want to experience for yourself. The two writers are distinguished by the use of different font styles which made for a much easier read than I'd anticipated so the story flows smoothly and once started, is hard to put down. The ending suits the story and will leave you satisfied with the romance and the connection between the characters. I would definitely be interested in reading a collaboration by this author duo again!

This review has been posted at Straight Shootin' Book Reviews and feedback updated with the link. It will be posted on sale sites during release week.

4.5 stars for this incredibly unique and well written romance. A relationship that starts out through texting, to sexting - this book was pretty hot. I really enjoyed this story and it would've been a 5 star book for me if the ending hadn't have left me wishing for more. Hoping these authors write a sequel!

I'm sorry but this book didn't work out for me. I thought the text message idea was great. I just didn't connect with the story enough to hold me interest so I gave up. I'll remove the book from my shelves. Thank you.

The idea of this book intrigued me. I have to be honest, at the beginning I was bored and thought about stopping but instead persisted. I became more involved around half way through the book. It was well done I have to say and I was curious as to how it would end. Then there was the ending.....what????? Gahhh I want to know more!

3.5 stars

The premise of this book is interesting. Romance through text messages? SIGN ME UP.

But while the text messages between Malcolm and Maya made me ache, I can't help but wish there was more beyond texts. Don't get me wrong; the authors did a great job making sure the main characters truly connected, which is a great feat, but I found that I need that face-to-face interactions as well.

Overall, this book is full of longing and heartache. Some points in the story broke my heart but I wish the ending was more solid and wasn't as rushed. I still recommend this for people who are looking for angsty reads.

When I saw the blurb for this I was immediately intrigued and especially as it's written by two of my favourite MF romance Authors.


The story opens with Malcolm sending a desperate text message to someone who he never expected to respond.The number he sent the message to now belongs to a different person....Maya.

As the blurb suggests the only communication between them is via text-I did wonder at this as some of the messages are extremely long.They gradually get to know each other through these messages and the more familiar they get,the more comfortable they feel with each other.....which leads to stexting.....
and there's a lot of it!

Both characters have traumatic back stories and the overriding feeling I got while reading this was one of sadness...that's not to say that I didn't enjoy it.This(for me) was one of those books I couldn't put down.I was racing to get to finish line-I had no idea how things would turn out but I couldn't wait to find out.


Was I happy with the ending? Well I definitely wanted more but given the subject of the book,I think it's the only way the Authors could have gone to keep the story credible.

If you fancy reading a completely different kind of romance I would recommend this....the writing is very good which is no surprise with these Authors.

I liked the premise of this story but I guess I wish they would have met and then that story would develop. Good story though.

I love Cara McKenna’s Desert Dogs series so I was ecstatic to get my hands on the ARC copy of this book before it released in exchange for an honest review. Years ago, I read Goodnight Tweetheart by Teresa Medeiros and loved it, so I was curious to see a book laid out in text messages rather than tweets. This story begins when Malcolm sends a desperate text to a number that should be out of service, but gets a reply from Maya, encouraging him and telling him to hold on to hope. Thus, a relationship between two lonely people coming from challenging circumstances begins. Both are “way down deep” in the well of their lives and the other becomes the bucket on the rope and even a small patch of sky far above for the other.

This book isn’t for everyone, but if you’re willing to detour from typical romance stories, you’ll experience pain, sorrow, tragedy, desperation, joy, euphoria, love and elation in equal measure. It will make you think, make you yearn, squeeze your heart and touch your soul. One of the beautiful things about this work is that it turns back the pages of time, using technology as ink and paper to pen actual letters, complete with asking and answering and the anticipation of a reply. It’s one of those books that, each time you read it, you’ll see something new that you somehow missed previously.

Only one thing would have made me like this book more, and that would be to have been given an epilogue so we could get a more complete picture. We are told what happens but not how, or what took place in order for it to happen. And we’re told nothing of what occurs after the fact, which left me feeling incomplete. I suspect the authors did this purposefully and there is enough left unsaid that it could easily fill a second novel about Malcolm and Maya. Their story is different than I expected, but a rewarding, heartwarming read, all the same.

Lonely, hurting, and more than a little drunk, a person reaches out with a distress signal via text - not really expecting an answer. Shockingly, someone responds - tossing out a lifeline via a return text – offering a willing ear, a few encouraging words. And thus slowly, a friendship begins that grows over time to an intimate affair . . . all via texts. I admit I was skeptical going in – not sure an erotic romance could be adequately relayed without any personal contact between the characters. I’ll have to say these authors proved me wrong.

Through text messages, two people are stripped naked as they each bare their souls to a stranger – each safe in their own little world. At first, they have no idea whether they are “talking” to a male or female – not knowing the other’s name, age, physical attributes, or personal situation. As the story plays out, they begin to engage in a type of game ultimately sharing more personal details including their most intimate desires and fantasies. Safe in their cloak of secrecy, – after all, they both know they’ll never meet - their games grow to an erotic fever that erupts into a shared intimacy that many couples never accomplish in the flesh. To say it’s erotic and hot is a gross understatement – it is indeed as flammable as gasoline! Lost in an avalanche of desire, they cross a line that neither may survive.

Way Down Deep is a raw, riveting, seductive character driven story that I read in mostly one sitting. Surprisingly, it has a very intimate and honest feel to it as it becomes clear these two lost characters were brought together by fate. The plot line is intriguing as there are other things at play here that I won’t reveal due to spoilers, but through a series of twists and turns, readers learn what brought each person to this place and time. I had my doubts that a virtual erotic romance was possible – but in this case, it works! A Must Read!

Way Down Deep is a different kind of romance – or rather, it’s in a different writing format. It’s told entirely through letters – text message exchanges, technically. There’s nothing else, no other paragraphs or inner dialogue, nothing like that, just the messages. Now, I know you’re probably imaging the text exchanges that most of us probably send and receive – short, quick, possibly full of abbreviations, probably not grammatically correct sentences, the liberal use of emojis, etc. But that is NOT how these texts are. They truly read more like, well, emails I suppose, as far as length and grammar/sentence structure.


Their text exchange starts when Malcolm sends a text one night, drunk and depressed, to the old number of a person in his life (we don’t find out who that person is until much later in the book and I won’t ruin it for you here). This person is now dead and he knows he’s not going to get an answer back, it’s more about just needing to send the message. Imagine his surprise when someone does answer back – though no, it’s not the person back from the dead, but rather Maya, who apparently now has the same number. She originally answers back to let him know that he’s not alone and not to give up, etc., but they keep texting and the relationship builds from there.

Malcolm is an American but is currently living in the UK, raising his recently-discovered child, whose mother was a brief hookup he had when visiting the UK; the mother recently passed and now it is up to him to raise his toddler. He has no idea what he’s doing, is having trouble with some depression and borderline alcoholism, as well as dealing with the effects of some trauma the young boy went through before he found out he even had a son (again, I’m being vague because it’s not revealed until late in the book what all went on in the past).



Maya has her own traumatic past – also not known until later, so again, no spoilers – and because of that experience, she is now an agoraphobia. She doesn’t leave her house for anything, hasn’t in a long time, and fears opening a window or door, even for a moment.



The two quickly grab on to one another, to the messages about their day, and their interactions, though purely through text (no phone calls or anything else) are the most solid and consistent things in their lives right now. They slowly start to find out things about each other, playing a game of Truth (no Dare), where they each ask a question and answer it, though either one of them can choose not to answer the question, no pressure. Their questions start out quite mundane, things like lists of favorite movies or books, places they most want to go, and so on. But over time, it moves into more personal questions, and, eventually, they tip from just friends chatting to something more, something tempting and erotic.



And oh, man, when they start their deal of “mundane SFW texts during the day and sexting after 10pm”? Things. Get. So. Damn. Hot. Ridiculously hot, and I loved every teasing, dirty minute of it. The anticipation, the buildup as they both set the scene, using all sorts of details, as well as the actual dirty-talk bits as they both got off. It’s probably one of the hottest things I’ve read in a while, and definitely one of the hottest sext/pseudo-phone sex I’ve ever read.



Bonus! We get a little hint of some femdom in a few scenes, as some of Maya’s fantasies involve being the one in charge, of making him wait to orgasm until she gives him permission, until she’s done with him. God, I loved that. (Seriously, we need more full-on femdoms in romancelandia.)

Again, to avoid spoilers, they do have their “Oh shit, no” moment around the 85% mark or so, when something happens that keeps them from being able to contact each other (remember, all they ever had was the phone number and a first name), and my heart was breaking during those unread texts, worried right along with them that that was the end and they’d never “see” each other again. Don’t worry, it’s not the end! But I must warn, while still being vague, that the ending is more HFN with an implied off-page HEA. You won’t reach the end and throw the book or anything, but if you’re hoping for a neatly wrapped up on-page HEA, I’ll just let you know right now that you won’t get that. You’re left with the implication and solid hope that they’re going to try to be together offline. And you know what, for me, that was enough.



That’s not to say that I wouldn’t have loved to see a bit more after that moment, to see their HEA actually taking place – preferably not in text form at that point, though I suppose that jump in writing style might mess with the book’s flow. Anway, I would have loved to see that. But I didn’t actually *need* it in order to love this book. Hence my high rating – I was more than happy with what was here, and while I will never turn down more when it’s being added to an already amazing book, I didn’t require it here.



That also applies throughout the book. Because of the format of this story, there are definitely things that we don’t get from the story, from the characters, like we would in almost any other romance: we don’t get the character’s inner dialogue, we don’t get to see any other characters or the world outside their messages, we don’t get to see these two together (offline), we don’t get a ton of in depth backstory and character building – at least not to the degree we’re used to in other books. But again, what we DO get here was more than enough for me, and while I can look back and say “Okay, well, this was missing” or “This could have been expanded”, etc., my critiques do not take away from my overwhelming love for this book.



As an example, though it’s a minor detail: we never learn what either Maya or Malcolm do for a living, which is something that’s usually a good base for building any character. While I wish we had received this bit of information, I don’t feel like it’s absence ruined anything.



And I know what some readers might say, upon starting this book: “But their “texts” aren’t realistic. No one sends well-crafted essays for every text exchange like that!” And that’s certainly true (though I’m sure there are one or two exceptions of people who do text like that, somewhere, but I digress). However, I didn’t stop and think of their exchanges that way, I just enjoyed them for what they were – beautiful, nearly lyrical, letters from one lost soul to another, intimate and carefully crafted conversations between two people who needed comfort and friendship and love. A bit of a romantic, nostalgic feel for old time letter writing mixed with the modern-day drive for instant gratification. It worked so well for me, even as I realize it may not work as well for others. And that’s okay! For me, McKenna and Stein’s writing voices, vision, and talents made this unique and beautiful story flow. I wanted nothing more than to roll around in Maya and Malcolm’s messages, in the lovely writing being shared from their very souls (or so it feels). I never wanted it to end, didn’t want to leave their intimate little world.


I’m not sure if this approach to a romance novel will work well if others try to replicate it. It’s limiting, I can’t deny that. But I do know that McKenna and Stein pulled it off, and they pulled it off fantastically so, weaving a sexy, breathtaking and emotional romance into such a unique storytelling experience. And I truly loved every single moment of it.





5 STARS!

3.25 stars. This was only an okay read for me. This book is a story told all in text messages. A text is sent and the wrong person receives it, which starts a text relationship between two lost souls. I can't say much more without spoiling the book, because there are a few twists. I liked the idea for the story but I thought it could have been tightened up. I found it a little slow moving and depressing at times. The end was very open ended and I felt like I needed a lot more to have closure. Overall, this was not a bad book, but I didn't love it, either.

*an arc was provided in exchange for an honest review*

I haven't read anything by either of these two authors, but I was really excited to try Way Down Deep because it's a romance that's told entirely through texts ... and I do mean ENTIRELY. Any time a romance novel has texts or letters or emails, I'm a goner, so I knew I had to try it. Way Down Deep was an emotional, heart-aching story with a lot of depth to it, and it completely surprised me.

The whole story was intriguing. In the beginning few chapters, you don't even know who the guy is and who the girl is. I loved the way the romance developed. The two very lonely characters, Malcom and Maya, find solace in each other and develop a friendship. Both have heartbreaking backstories, that is only slowly revealed to the readers, but the amount of strength they both possessed was glaringly obvious from the beginning. There was an intensity to their relationship that I was surprised by given how they had never met, but I liked it a lot and Charlotte Stein and Cara McKenna had me rooting for the two of them.

I know that Way Down Deep is classified as an erotic romance, but I wouldn't call it that. Yes, there are sex scenes that happen throughout the story, and yes, they occur through texts and were way hotter than I thought possible, but this was more contemporary romance in my opinion. The focus is not on the sex. It's on the emotional connection that Malcom and Maya forge, and how slowly they infiltrate each others lives for the better. I do admit that I would have absolutely killed for an epilogue of sort, but looking back, the ending completely made sense given the context of the story.

There's lots more I want to say, but I don't want to spoil things for readers. This was poignant, addictive, and I could not stop reading it. Way Down Deep might be my first book from either of these authors, but it's certainly not going to be my last.

This was incredibly cheesy and predictable but I kind of really liked it. When I read the premise, I immediately requested it on NetGalley and it was a good thing that I got approved super fast because this is a book that I wouldn't have liked in any other situation than the one I am now: craving for romances that are easy to read but that are also complex and interesting to keep me reading. This one was told completely in text messages. But when I started reading it, it was completely different than what I expected. It was lyrical, poetic and it didn't have any emojis. Like, I'm talking NO EMOJIS. And that's not how normal people with a heart text and this shouldn't have worked. Except the main characters totally fit the criteria of people who would write like that. It made sense in my head and their personalities matched the way they wrote. I mean, they were passionate and pretentious and very corny most of the time but it worked.

I'm not saying this book is perfect, obviously, but it was fun and fast to read and I got very into the story and I was rooting for the characters even if I figured out how it would end almost since the beginning. Even though the premise sounds unique, the execution and the plot wasn't and it was easy to figure out how everything would go down. There are things that I wasn't on board with. I appreciated the talks on mental illnesses but they were very glossed over and they were "fixed" super easily and, of course, by the power of love. I was very interested in Malcom's story with his son, though. I loved this character that appeared sometimes but we never got to see. Even though we only get his perspective from Malcom's POV, you could see his development and the way he communicated with his father was special and I love that they didn't make a big deal out of the fact that he was a single father. My problem was with his obvious alcoholism. If there is something that I hate in books is when people are struggling and are clearly drinking more than for fun and who admit that they feel like alcoholics and nobody does anything about it. Like, Maya never said anything and it was almost like she thought he was perfect and flawless.

I actually really enjoyed their dynamics and their relationship even though it would have been unrealistic in any other situation. Like I said, it worked with these characters who didn't want to meet, who didn't want to get out of the house to see each other, who liked the romanticism of the digital letters (because they were hardly texts). They felt like people from other times and maybe that's because of how they were written and because we only got to see dialogue and maybe if we would have gotten normal narration, they would have seemed more of our times. We have to remember that they only told us what they wanted to say to each other and nothing more and it's difficult to trust characters in that situation. But this felt real and honest and totally something that could happen. My problem was around the mental illnesses and the fact that they wouldn't talk about them in depth. Like, they knew they were there but they never addressed them more than with romantic and cheesy dialogue of support for each other (which isn't bad, it's just not productive if you're trying to have a conversation about mental health). Obviously, there was a lot of gender stereotyping, saying things like "she was badass, for a girl" or that the poscards were "girly" and those are things that I couldn't overlook.